Carlos Acosta - curator and star

Dance icon Carlos Acosta is set to curate and star in Cubanía, an exciting mixed programme of vibrant Cuban dance inspired by his homeland. Taking place this July at the Royal Opera House the world premieres and award-winning contemporary dance will be accompanied by a live Cuban band on stage. As a Royal Ballet Principal Guest Artist Acosta is renowned for his fantastic technique and to see him dance in a programme of this genre looks set to be an entertaining evening. Uniting dancers and choreographers from the Royal Ballet, Rambert, Cuban National Ballet and Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Acosta will dance in a new piece by Cuban choreographer Miguel Altunaga, and will partner Royal Ballet principal Zenaida Yanowsky in Edwaard Liang‘s duet Sight Unseen. Acosta will also choreograph Tocororo Suite, which he will perform with Danza Contemporánea de Cuba. Acosta was born in Havana and went on to become a principal with English National Ballet and Houston Ballet. He joined the Royal Ballet in 1998 and became a Principal Guest Artist in 2003. He recently created a new production of Don Quixote for the Royal Ballet which premiered in October 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0zgie1OBo0 Tocororo Suite is a semi-autobiographical piece set in the streets of Havana choreographed by Acosta, re-invented and expanded to appear on the Royal Opera House main stage. Acosta will be joined by members of Danza Contemporánea and Veronica Corveas, principal with the Cuban National Ballet, as he weaves narrative through classical, contemporary and Afro-Cuban dance. Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, the national contemporary dance company of Cuba, will perform the high-speed La Ecuación by Cuban dance star, and Olivier Award nominee, George Céspedes, and will also premiere a new Afro-Cuban piece. Completing the line-up will be dancer Alexander Varona who will perform contemporary choreographer Russell Maliphant’s striking male solo Flux....what an event this will be, will you be there?