Alfonso Catá

Alfonso Catá (3 October 1937 – 15 September 1990) was a Cuban ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company director, active in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, and France.

Early life and training

Born in Havana, Alfonso Catá was the son of a diplomat in service to the government of Fulgencio Batista, president of Cuba from 1933 to 1959. When Alfonso was a boy, his father was posted to Geneva, Switzerland, and he was educated in private schools there, adding French and English to his native Spanish. Details of his early life are obscure, but he may also have begun his ballet training with Swiss teachers. In any case, when his family moved to the United States about 1950 and settled in New York City, his interest in dance was strong enough to cause him to enroll at the School of American Ballet. There, he was trained in the principles of classical ballet technique developed by George Balanchine, to whom he would remain devoted for the rest of his life.

Performing career