Former English National Ballet and then Royal Ballet superstar is now director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He has been proudly adopted by this country but also continues to passionately champion and nurture his Cuban homeland’s dance culture. especially among young emerging performers.
Across ten years, his Acosta Danza company has delighted audiences across the globe with its signature fusion of styles, classical and modern. With only four pieces on offer in this birthday celebration, there are so many he could have chosen from, but instead, with typical boldness, included two UK premieres.
The night opens to the wooden frame of a cube. One by one, four dancers enter and perform solos in absolute silence. The simplicity contrasts with the rapid, sharp, complex moves. As the music kicks in, all four are united, whirling to percussive beats, marimbas and then techno. George Céspedes’ La Ecuación is extraordinary, dazzling in its technical precision, yet brought to vivid life by the superb performers.
The second piece, 98 Días (98 Days), is equally complex in its narrative structure. Within a large square marked out with white tape, to an initially stuttering and looping taped narrative, a central male dancer is clearly on a journey. Everyone is clad in blue, the large company pours in and out of the space, their movements often fiercely modern and then sultrily, sexily latin as yet more gorgeous music washes over us.
It’s clearly the story of a journey, with the rising count marking out days. There are passionate homosexual encounters and a growing sense of freedom and jubilation, but also the delaying of a darker ending.
It’s gorgeously danced, but the Spanish voiceover and impressionistic storytelling leave the audience rather on the outside, unless you read the programme notes and discover that it’s the story of iconic Spanish poet Federico García Lorca’s 98-days stay in Cuba. He referred to it as the happiest time of his life, reaffirming his joy in life, love and his Hispanic roots. But on his return to Spain, he would be executed by the Franco regime. The company are, as always, excellent, but Javier de Frutos’ storytelling assumes too much and remains too opaque.
Act Two opens with Goyo Montero’s Llamada. This is the word the Spanish use for an inner call, impulse, a sense of something greater than yourself. The piece also explores the clash between following who you truly are and conforming to the homogenous social whole.
The men are in ruffled white skirts or, together with the women, in high-waisted trousers. The mood shifts between desire, romance, rejection, internal and external judgement and pain. The music, yet again, is sublime, raw gypsy vocals over stirring strings. The dancing, guess what?, is heaven but the rather melodramatic gurning silent screams at the end are unnecessary.
The finale, De Punta a Cabo, is far simpler, a perfect, irresistible reflection of modern life in Havana. A backdrop screen shows the Malecón, an 8km coastal stretch outside Havana. The view includes industrial chimneys and corroded sea walls, where the young (the company both on screen and on the stage) gather to hang out, flirt and dance.
To modern beats, choreographer Alexis Fernández joyously puts three girls en pointe while the rest are barefoot or in sneakers. It’s a hopeful, happy, irresistible explosion of youth, talent, creativity and community. Something this company has in spades, even if the sometimes uneven choreography throughout the rest of the night doesn’t always quite allow them to fully show it.
Even so, there is such joy to be had just watching these brilliant young dancers (and hearing that fabulous music,) and you should never miss a chance to see them in action.
ACOSTA DANZA A DECADE IN MOTION: SADLER’S WELLS TO SEPTEMBER 27