Ballet
star Acosta's company is part of Cuban arts rebirth
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[January 25, 2018]
By Sarah Marsh
HAVANA (Reuters) - Former
Royal Ballet star Carlos Acosta, whose dynamic
masculinity on stage exemplified the style of his native
Cuba, is breaking more boundaries as his young dance
company showcases more foreign choreography in an
island-wide cultural revival.
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"Cuba has been isolated for many years," said Acosta in his
company's sun-drenched studio in Havana, adding that local
audiences were versed mainly in Cuban versions of classical
pieces like "Don Quixote" and "Giselle."
Since retiring from the Royal Ballet and founding Acosta Danza
in 2015 with the aim of fusing classic and contemporary ballet,
the 44-year-old artist has brought the work of many renowned
foreign choreographers like American Justin Peck to his
Caribbean island. Some have created new pieces for the company.
"We are bringing more choreographers of relevance to Cuba than
any other company but at the same time launching the career of
Cuban choreographers," he said in an interview, adding that he
hoped the new pieces would reflect the "new Cuba."

In its new season next month, Acosta Danza will perform four
Cuban premieres of pieces by foreign choreographers, including
"Rooster," created in 1991 by Britain's Christopher Bruce.
"Rooster," which Acosta performed during his 1990s stint at the
Houston Ballet, celebrates the swinging 1960s and 1970s to
Rolling Stones music once banned in Cuba.
The veteran British band's concert in Havana in March 2016 in
the wake of former U.S. President Barack Obama's historic visit,
was a symbolic moment in Cuba's cultural and political
re-engagement with the West.
Acosta Danza's "Mitos" (Myth) season at Havana's National
Theater from Feb. 9-11 will also include pieces by Spanish
choreographers Goyo Montero and Maria Rovira and Belgium's Sidi
Larbi Cherkaoui.
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Acosta said inadequate funding during Cuba's 1990s economic crisis
after the collapse of ally the Soviet Union had hurt the local arts
scene.
"Cuba didn't have the means to bring anybody in so the arts scene
was a bit tricky," he said. "But I feel that now, there is a
rebirth."
Acosta Danza, which operates under Cuba's Culture Ministry, is an
international associate company of London dance house Sadlers Well,
which provides crucial support, he said.
Greater freedom for Cubans to travel abroad, improved
telecommunications on the island and tourism growth are also
fostering more cultural exchange with the rest of the world.
The eleventh child in impoverished Havana family, Acosta trained at
the National Ballet School of Cuba and performed with many of the
world's leading ballet companies. In 2007, he published his
autobiography "No Way Home."
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Richard Chang)
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