© Gavin Evans Mike Dixon's Acosta interview on the National Dance Awards site Ballet.co's Acosta interview from November 1998 Acosta in reviews 'Tocororo' reviews

Carlos Acosta (31), Principle Guest Artist with the Royal Ballet, one of the leading dancers of his generation, has very little in common with the stereotypical, effeminate image of ballet dancers. A triangular-shaped face with an intense gaze and a pronounced nose, give him a most masculine strong look. Acosta’s whole figure still displays the rebelliousness of his early childhood spent in the hot, sunny streets of the poorest neighbourhood in Havana, playing football and break dancing. But one day, the life of this third son of a poor Cuban family of 13 children, is set to change forever.

His father, a truck driver, decides to enrol the young Carlos in the free state Ballet School in Havana where he foresees the opportunity to give this restless, and rebellious son a better future: “I was a bad kid and my father forced me to go to the Cuban National Ballet. I didn’t like it in the beginning as I wanted to be a football player not a little sissy”.
 

At some point, Acosta decides to take it seriously: “I wanted to impress people, you know, by jumping higher than anybody else but I was still pretty rough”. But it was only later on in 1993 when he joined Houston Ballet under the direction of Ben Stevenson that Acosta begins to realise the huge significance of acting and interpretation in ballet.

“Since Ben started giving me more important roles such as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, I have became aware that dancing is not only about being technically perfect but is also about working on the character’s emotions and making it alive. Many dancers who work really hard can eventually become very supple and skilled, however not everyone is able to interpret the roles they dance. To be able to identify with a prince or a wild creature, that is hard!”

But where has Acosta found the discipline and drive to emerge from a tough, struggling childhood into the limelight of the most famous stages in the world? “I had an advantage, the poverty and the difficulties of the environment I grew up in, which has made me feel I had to better myself. I felt I didn’t have choice as I was the only hope for my family”.

His life’s achievements still seem to surprise him as he adds: “What I have achieved in my life, it is far bigger than what I would have hoped for - I would never have dreamed of getting where I am now” Acosta has carved out a luminous international career playing most of the leading roles, in Romeo & Juliet, La Bayadere, Don Quixote, Manon, Sleeping Beauty among many others, and dividing his time mainly between London, New York, Houston and Havana, recieving the sort of praise once awarded to Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
 

“Dance means everything to me - you know it’s a loyal companion, the only thing I can really rely on. It is what helps me through when I am down and depressed; it has been my last hope to escape poverty and an uncertain life.” Acosta doesn’t mask his roots or his emotions as he talks. Whether it’s a sign of courage or vulnerability it doesn’t really matter. The result is on the stage where you sense all the vibrations of his soul. “I love the connection you can establish with the audience, it’s a feeling of flying and being in control at the same time”.

‘Generosity’ also seems to be his motto: “When I dance, I give myself hundred per cent - you know” switching suddenly into Spanish; “There is no second chance, I go on and try to do my best. I know deep inside when I look back in time I have no regret, because I have given it all, I have given my very best. People say I wish, I wish; there is no wish, just do it and do it now”.

And his dancing partners have to be generous too to create the miracle of chemistry on the stage. Leaning forwards as if to reinforce the importance of his thoughts: “You see – eye contact is very important when you dance. You don’t have to try to be beautiful but you have to project your feelings. This is powerful and generous”. Then, with a frown, “But not all dancers are like that. Some worry too much about the way they look on the stage. You shouldn’t be selfish, you have to be generous.”

He has just finished dancing in La Fille mal gardee at the Royal Opera House playing the role of a young man in love with the daughter of a rich farmer. “I feel I have outgrown the boyish roles, I feel more suited to more mature characters, you know I am thirty one now” is his conclusion despite the acclaim he has received in the role.

Although he still has many years of dancing ahead of him, his creativity seems to be taking him in new directions. “Tocororo, A Cuban Tale”, his widely-acclaimed show which mixes South American and Cuban rhythms, has been recently touring throughout the UK following a successful launch at Sadler’s Wells last year.

“Tocororo revisited the story of my life. A young country boy is sent by his father to a ballet school in Havana. The show has been a real hit. I have created, choreographed, and danced it with a company of selected young Cuban ballet dancers. This has given me the confidence to believe I can do well in other things too. I am not scared of failure, my instinct told me it was going to work. I also like writing. I am writing my own biography and a new musical too”
 

Despite his hectic schedule, which in the last two weeks has taken him from London to Houston, Mexico City and Havana - no wonder he’s a little tired - he does seem to be able to carve out time to do other things. Acting is his next major goal. Acosta is going to perform in “HAVANA” on the 20 March at the ICM movie theatre in London, playing the role of a young student set to seduce an older drama teacher visiting Cuba for a conference. “He flirts and seduces her in a very Cuban way, but then at the end she really offends him as she offers him money thinking he was after that”. Acosta is very thrilled about this second acting role; “I love the stage, whether dancing or acting, it is just an amazing feeling, I can never get tired of it”.

His personality is as striking as his talent. If you didn’t know about Acosta’s high-profile career you would easily think that he has not made it yet. A trace of the anger which gave him the motivation to become what he is now, still drives him forward. His mobile rings. When the conversation is over he seems to have lost the thread of our chat. He screws up his eyes and leans forward: “Do you know that you have an interesting way of blinking”, he says with an impish smile and long pause. Before I rush into an embarrassing “Thank you” for the compliment, he looks away and adds “that is what the student says to the drama teacher!”. He was acting. Will he be able to convince the audience about his new challenge? Well, there is no doubt about his talent. Acosta is a born actor too.