Carlos Acosta
(born Saturday, 2. June 1973) is a Cuban ballet dancer. He has danced with many companies including the English National Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba, Houston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. He has been a permanent member of The Royal Ballet since 1998, and in 2003 he was promoted to Principal Guest Artist, a rank which reduced his commitment to the Royal Ballet, enabling him to concentrate on a growing schedule of international guest appearances and tours.
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CARLOS ACOSTA TICKETS
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Biography
Acosta was born in
Havana,
Cuba on Saturday, the 2. June 1973. At his father's insistence, he studied ballet at the
Cuban National Ballet School with many influential teachers including
Ramona de Sáa. In June 1991 he received his diploma with maximum qualifications and a gold medal.
Awards
- Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne (1990),
- Grand Prix at the 4th biennial Concours International de Danse de Paris (1990),
- Vignale Danza Prize in Italy (1990),
- Frédéric Chopin Prize, awarded by the Polish Artistic Corporation (1990),
- Prize for Merit in the Young Talent Competition, Positano, Italy (1991),
- Osimodanza Prize, Italy (1991),
- Grand Prix at Cuba's prestigious Union of Writers and Artists (UNEAC) competition (1991),
- Dance Fellowship from the Princess Grace Foundation, United States (1995).
- He was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2004.
Companies and Roles
From 1989 to 1991 Carlos performed throughout the world guesting with many companies including the
Compagnia Teatro Nuovo di Torino in Italy, where he danced alongside
Luciana Savignano, and the
Teatro Teresa Carreño de Caracas in
Venezuela.
English National Ballet
At the invitation of
Ivan Nagy, Carlos danced with the English National Ballet in London during the 1991/92 season. He made his debut in the
Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor and also appeared in
Cinderella
, partnering
Eva Evdokimova and
Ludmila Semenyaka,
Le Spectre de la Rose
,
Les Sylphides
and as the
Prince
in
Ben Stevenson's
The Nutcracker
.
National Ballet of Cuba
In 1992 and 1993 he was a member of the
National Ballet of Cuba under the
artistic director Alicia Alonso, rising to
principal dancer in 1994. In October 1993 and September 1994 he toured with the company to
Madrid, Spain, where he danced various roles including
Albrecht
in
Giselle
,
Basilio
in
Don Quixote
and
Siegfried
in
Swan Lake
.
Houston Ballet
In November 1993 he was invited by
Ben Stevenson, the
artistic director of the
Houston Ballet, to join the company as a principal dancer, and he made his American stage debut as the
Prince
in
The Nutcracker
.
Following this, his repertory with the
Houston Ballet included:
- Prince Siegfried
in Swan Lake
,
- Solor
in La Bayadère
,
- Basilio
in Don Quixote
,
- Stevenson's Britten Pas de Deux
,
- the male lead
in Harald Lander's Etudes
,
- Jiri Kylian's Symphony in D
,
- the Chosen One
in The Rite of Spring
.
In 1997 he created the role of
Frederick
in
Ben Stevenson's
Dracula
and in 1998 he added the role of
Misgir
in the première of
Stevenson's The Snow Maiden
, partnering
Nina Ananiashvili.
The Royal Ballet
In 1998 Carlos joined
The Royal Ballet,
Covent Garden, under the direction of
Anthony Dowell. His roles with the company include:
- William Forsythe's In the middle, somewhat elevated
. This was his first appearance with the company.
- Jean de Brienne
in Rudolf Nureyev's production of Raymonda Act III
,
- Colas in Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardée
,
- Siegfried
in Swan Lake,
- Actaeon
in the Diana and Actaeon Pas de Deux
,
- The Brother
in Kenneth MacMillan's My Brother, My Sisters
,
- Albrecht
in Giselle
, and
- the Principal Boy
in Rhapsody
.
- the Man's Solo
in Petipa's Le Corsaire
, at the Opening Celebration of the Royal Opera House,
In the 1999/2000 season he performed:
- Nacho Duato's Remanso
,
- The Prince
in The Nutcracker
,
- Solo Boy
in MacMillan's Gloria
,
- Franz
in Ninette de Valois' production of Coppélia
,
- Nijinsky's L'Après-midi d'un faune
,
- Des Grieux
in MacMillan's Manon
,
- the Messenger of Death
in Song of the Earth
,
- the Boy with Matted Hair
in Antony Tudor's Shadowplay
.
During the 2001/2 season he made his debut as
Basilio
in
Nureyev's Don Quixote
, and in the 2002/2003 season he made his debut as the title role in
George Balanchine's
Apollo
. He has created roles in
Ashley Page's
Hidden Variables
and
William Tuckett's 3:4
.
Guest artist
Carlos was a guest artist with the
American Ballet Theatre during the company's
Metropolitan Opera House season in the summer of 2002, when he performed
Prince Désiré
in
Sleeping Beauty Act III
,
Oberon
in
The Dream
,
Colas
in
La Fille mal gardée
and
Conrad
in
Le Corsaire
. He rejoined the
ABT (under
artistic director Kevin McKenzie) as Principal Dancer, for the company's 2003 autumn season at
New York City Center, to perform in the
Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux
and a new staging of
Raymonda (Grand Pas Classique)
.
He has performed
Basilio
in
Nureyev's version of
Don Quixote
, as well as
Solor
in
Nureyev's
La Bayadère
, with the Paris Opera Ballet.
Over the past few years, Carlos has enjoyed a flourishing career as an international guest artist, appearing in the United States, Russia, the Netherlands,
Chile,
Argentina, Greece, Japan, Italy, Germany and France.
In June 2008 he guested for the first time with the
Australian Ballet, in
Jerome Robbins'
Afternoon of a Faun
, partnered by
AB principal
Kirsty Martin.
Television and film performances
In 1997
CBS News filmed Carlos for a special report for their programme 60 Minutes (broadcast in January 1998), following him during his performances for the
Houston Ballet and relaxing with friends and family in
Cuba.
Television performances include two live
BBC broadcasts from
The Royal Opera House: the Opening Celebration in December 1999 when Carlos performed the
Man's Solo
in
Le Corsaire
, and in February 2000 the role of
Franz
in
Ninette de Valois'
Coppélia
. Most recently Carlos was featured in
"The Reluctant Ballet Dancer"
, a programme in the
Imagine
series shown on
BBC1 on 9 July 2003 and presented by
Alan Yentob. He was also interviewed for the BBC's
HardTalk
programme which was broadcast on
Christmas Day 2003. In 2006 he was filmed in the BBC studios performing a dance from
Tocororo
, which was broadcast on the
Newsnight
programme.
On 5 February 2004, the world première of
Dance Cuba: Dreams of Flight
, a film by
Cynthia Newport featuring Carlos and other former members of the
National Ballet of Cuba, took place at the
Miami International Film Festival.
Tocororo - A Cuban Tale
Tocororo
is Carlos' own ballet and has been touring theatres worldwide to high acclaim.
Tocororo
is the story of a young Cuban boy who leaves his family and home in the Cuban countryside to find a new life in a city. It is loosely based on Acosta's own life experiences. It is set to original music by Miguel Nuñez, which blends popular and symphonic Cuban styles and is performed live on stage by a group of five Cuban musicians.
Carlos chose the 17-strong company from dancers in Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, the Cuban National Ballet and Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba. The "young protagonist" is played by Yonah Acosta, Carlos' younger nephew, and for six performances the central role was played by José Oduardo Perez.
Filmography
- 2009: New York, I Love You
References