Salvadorean President, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, has presented Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso, with the "José Simeón Cañas" Slave Liberator Order.

This is the Central American country’s first recognition to Alonso, who is "one of the most important personalities in the history of dance and the top classical ballet figure in the Iberian American world.” Alonso returns to the nation’s capital, San Salvador, 68 years after her first visit in 1949, shortly after founding the Alicia Alonso Ballet, which later became Cuba’s National Ballet Company.

The prestigious Cuban dance ensemble arrived in El Salvador earlier this week, following successful presentations in Costa Rica, where Alonso was honored by that country’s Legislative Assembly and received a National University Honorary Doctorate.