Dance: A joyous fusion

Acosta Danza
A Decade in Motion
artistic director Carlos Acosta
dancers Amisaday Naara, Adria Díaz, Daniela Francia, Frank Isaac, Leandro Fernández, Brandy Martínez, Cynthia Laffertte, Ofelia Rodriguez, Melisa Moreda, Thalia Cardin, Wendy Elizabeth, Alexander Arias, Aniel Pazos, Paul Brando, Edgar Zayas
Sadler's Wells, London • 23-27.Sep.25 ★★★★★

Acosta Danza celebrates its 10th anniversary with a programme of four exhilarating pieces that burst with Cuba's distinctive blend of rhythms, attitude and physicality. Performed by Carlos Acosta's company of seriously gifted and gorgeously muscled dancers, two of these works (98 Días and Llamada) are UK premieres, and all four capture what Acosta refers to as his home nation's "fusion of cultures, rhythms and dances". These are pieces that get the heart racing with astonishing choreography that expresses a pure love of dance. 

First up is La Ecuación (the equation) by choreographer George Céspedes, in which four dancers spiral around the frame of a cube in brightly coloured costumes. Their movement echoes and mirrors, in solos and groups, striking eye-catching shapes along with the jubilant thump of X Alfonso's music, which mixes marimba and maracas with rumbling techno undercurrents. With its bright colours, pulsing beats and inventive lighting, this is unusually expressive and expansive, and also acrobatic and cheeky, a celebration of soaring physicality that feels improvised but is skilfully precise.

Choreographed and designed by Javier de Frutos, 98 Días echoes the life-changing days poet Federico García Lorca spent in Cuba in 1930, rediscovering his multi-ethnic heritage. Along with music by Estrella Morente, the soundtrack features spoken words by Lorca, including a lecture about his arrival on the island and the evocative poem Son de Negros en Cuba. In cool blue jumpsuits with lace sleeves, a group of 10 dancers performs to both words and music, with gorgeous full-bodied movement that expresses the collision of cultures, highlighting Latin and African rhythms, classical flamenco and ballet flourishes, and both dancing and fighting in the streets. It's visually and emotionally breathtaking.

Even more emotive, Goyo Montero's Llamada (calling) sees the dancers on stage in white skirts and matador trousers, expressing deep yearning as thy spin both in a group and in their own spotlights. This is a rolling, floating piece with music by Owen Bolton, Miguel Poveda and Rosalia, and it explodes with passion as romance blossoms, lighting shifts to red and costumes are shed. The music and choreography are elegantly beautiful, creating wrenching connections between the dancers that evoke wider social themes, most notably that internal sense of direction that we all recognise regarding things like culture, religion and sexuality.

Finally, the entire company takes the stage for De Punta a Cabo (from end to end) by Alexis Fernández and Yaday Ponce. Set along Havana's Malecón seawall, this is a celebration of culture that depicts Cuba's unique blend of Native American, European and African heritage in both movement and music (by Kumar, Kike Wolf and Omar Sosa). In front of a projection of the bay, which sometimes features performers atop the wall, the dancers joyfully throw themselves into a range of eloquent movement, jumping and spinning as they engage with each other as if they're attending a street party. The music shifts from smooth and rhythmic to hip hop as night falls, and a pair of bongos adds enjoyable beats. It's no wonder that they strip off their sweat-soaked clothes and collapse in a heap at the end. Only to pop up for a very lively curtain call.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Hugo Glendinning, Argel Ernesto González Alvarez,
Ariel Ley, Enrique Smith Soto • 23.Sep.25

Dance: Raging bull

Acosta Danza
Carlos Acosta’s Carmen
choreography Carlos Acosta • music Georges Bizet
with Laura Rodríguez, Alejandro Silva, Enrique Corrales, Carlos Acosta, Denzel Francis, Raúl Reinoso,
Zeleidy Crespo, Patricia Torres, Daniela Francia, Adria Díaz, Jennifer Suárez, Amisaday Naara, Frank Isaac,
Leandro Fernández, Brandy Martinez, Elizabeth Tablada,
Brian Ernesto, Chay Deivis, Liana Taly
sets and costumes Tim Hatley • lighting Peter Mumford
Sadler's Wells, London • 2-6.Jul.24 ★★★★★

Expanding on his one-act production, Carlos Acosta creates a full-length ballet based on Georges Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen, infusing the action with Cuban flavours to create a thoroughly mesmerising romantic thriller. Inventive and colourful, this is the story told with humour, intensity and big emotions. And it's also very, very sexy thanks to the talented young performers, Acosta's expressively physical choreography and Tim Hatley's terrific costumes.

After a prologue introduces a demonic bull (Acosta) who is pulling the strings and recounting the story, things kick off with a flurry of burlesque in a bar, as dancing soldiers strip down to their underpants, much to the delight of the women around them. Carmen (Laura Rodriguez) engages in a witty to and fro with officer Don José (Alejandro Silva), which escalates to passion after Carmen is arrested and put under José's watch. Her skills at seduction allow her to escape, and then her head is turned by handsome toreador Escamillo (Enrique Corrales), although she rejects his advances. Carmen is just playing with both José and Escamillo, but they clash over their infatuation with her.

Each element works together gorgeously to convey this narrative and the internal wranglings of the characters. The costumes are particularly vivid, catching colours and lights in striking ways that wash the stage in shades of red and black. With clever touches, the set is dominated by an enormous circle in which video projections create both earthy backdrops and otherworldly glimpses of what beyond. And Acosta's bull towers over everything.

The dancing itself is simply transcendent, performed to perfection by gifted dancers who infuse personality and passion into each movement. Soaring, spinning and striking spine-tingling poses, this multi-ethnic cast has real power, bringing each encounter to life with an earthy honesty that extends from fingers to toes. As a result, the intense internal battles going on within each of the characters is clearly visible, expressed with a lyrical fluidity that rattles our bones.

Bizet's familiar music is given a Latin twist that adds a wonderful spark of additional energy. Delicate ballet numbers morph into brutal fights, as a series of solos and duets allow the dancers to deploy their physical strength in ways that reveal deep yearnings and intentions. This is hugely involving theatre, haunting and moving as the feisty Carmen and her besotted men circle around each other, unaware that there's a menacing force beyond them controlling their destiny. Essential.

For more info, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Johan Persson & Cristina Lanandez • 2.Jul.24