Carlos Acosta celebrates 30 years in dance

Posted on February 6, 2018

Carlos Acosta will celebrate 30 years in dance with performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall, running from October 2 to 5, 2018.

Acosta retired from classical ballet in 2016, after an international career that included dancing as principal guest artist with The Royal Ballet from 2003 to 2016, appearing with many of the world’s major companies, including dancing Spartacus with the Bolshoi Ballet. In 2003 he created Tocororo – A Cuban Tale, loosely based on his own childhood experiences in Havana. Since leaving The Royal Ballet, he has founded his own company, Acosta Danza, based in Cuba, and established his own dance school in Havana, which welcomed its first students in 2017. (See our interview with Acosta about the company and school here.)

At the Royal Albert Hall, he will perform a selection of favourite and specially commissioned pieces. The programme Carlos Acosta – A Celebration will feature a full company of dancers and a live orchestra. Tickets are now on sale.

Picture: Carlos Acosta with Marta Ortega in Mermaid, created by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for Acosta Danza. Photograph: Johan Persson

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.