Who is todays most famous dancer internationally or by country?

[SwissBalletFan]

May I ask the UK based members if there was any discussion of Carlos Acosta's race when he first started dancing? I ask because it seems that Misty Copeland has really promoted her race and has spun lots of stories and promotional campaigns from it.

I assume that there was not very much talk about it, but thought to ask.

 

Also, just in thinking about past British Dancers, I was surprised also that noone has mentioned Wayne Sleep, as he seemed to be on television also very often, as a proponent of overcoming the views of shorter dancers, and of course being a world record holder for Entre Chats.

[annamicro]

May I ask the UK based members if there was any discussion of Carlos Acosta's race when he first started dancing? I ask because it seems that Misty Copeland has really promoted her race and has spun lots of stories and promotional campaigns from it.

I assume that there was not very much talk about it, but thought to ask.

 

Also, just in thinking about past British Dancers, I was surprised also that noone has mentioned Wayne Sleep, as he seemed to be on television also very often, as a proponent of overcoming the views of shorter dancers, and of course being a world record holder for Entre Chats.

 

wasn't Josè Carreno in UK before Acosta?

I saw Carreno dancing several times in Italy (with La Scala and other companies) and I don't remember anybody mentioning his skin color. His dancing was more relevant than that, I suppose.

[MAB]

Actually non white dancers had both joined British companies and appeared as guests before Acosta came along, so his colour didn't make him a rarity,  It was his strong personality and stunning technique that got him noticed.

 

If I remember correctly Carreno and Acosta danced with English National Ballet at exactly the same time.  Perhaps Carreno was a year or so older but I would call them contemporaries.

[Jan McNulty]

I thought Carreno left as Acosta joined but still around the same time.

 

I can't remember anyone mentioning Acosta's colour, just that he was another Cuban with a fabulous technique and huge stage presence.

[toursenlair]

if you do a google search you do find that it was mentioned:

 

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Carlos Acosta

www.bbc.co.uk › Factual › Life Stories

Jan 2, 2005 - Sue Lawley's castaway is the dancer Carlos Acosta. Carlos Acosta is one of the greatest ballet dancers of his generation. He is the first black principal dancer at ...

Carlos Acosta's Tocororo - A Cuban Tale - Lcsd.gov.hk

www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/FestivalOffice/latin/eng/perform/carlos.html

Sep 11, 2005 - Hot and unstoppable, Cuban ballet superstar Carlos Acosta is enjoying a meteoric rise on the international dance scene. He was the first black principal at The ...

[Jan McNulty]

if you do a google search you do find that it was mentioned:

 

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Carlos Acosta

www.bbc.co.uk › Factual › Life Stories

Jan 2, 2005 - Sue Lawley's castaway is the dancer Carlos Acosta. Carlos Acosta is one of the greatest ballet dancers of his generation. He is the first black principal dancer at ...

Carlos Acosta's Tocororo - A Cuban Tale - Lcsd.gov.hk

www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/FestivalOffice/latin/eng/perform/carlos.html

Sep 11, 2005 - Hot and unstoppable, Cuban ballet superstar Carlos Acosta is enjoying a meteoric rise on the international dance scene. He was the first black principal at The ...

 

 

But he was at ENB way before that in the Ivan Nagy days  - early 90s - and no-one mentioned it then as far as I am aware.

[Jacqueline]

As SwissBalletFan has mentioned, I would also be interested to hear the concensus on Wayne Sleep.

As I recall, he had quite a high tv profile and appeared on various programmes demonstrating his skills. Plus of course, he danced with Diana at the ROH and again after her death, when I think her absence was noted by him dancing with a spotlight marking the empty space. I don't know anyone who saw either performance. I think he is now to be seen as part of a group of "older celebrities" on some sort of holiday programme?

I have heard various comments about him as a dancer over the years, some less than complimentary. I remember his portrayal as one of Cinderella's ugly sisters being described as "offensive" at one time, although not by whom.

Anyway, his name is conspicuous by its absence. Or maybe not.

[alison]

May I ask the UK based members if there was any discussion of Carlos Acosta's race when he first started dancing? I ask because it seems that Misty Copeland has really promoted her race and has spun lots of stories and promotional campaigns from it.

 

Initially, I don't remember anything (when he was at ENB), but then I don't think we quite realised what we had on our hands at that time.  It was certainly mentioned to some extent after he joined the RB (early 2000s?), but actually I think Jerry Douglas, who joined the company in the late 90s, I think, got rather more coverage in that respect because he was perceived as being the first "black" dancer in the company.  Possibly the company had learned as a result to make less of it. Also, I don't remember Acosta doing much in the way of self-publicity.

 

wasn't Josè Carreno in UK before Acosta?

I saw Carreno dancing several times in Italy (with La Scala and other companies) and I don't remember anybody mentioning his skin color.

 

Carreno was dancing (Ashton's) Romeo at the same time that Acosta was dancing Benvolio, I think it was. 

[bridiem]

As SwissBalletFan has mentioned, I would also be interested to hear the concensus on Wayne Sleep.

As I recall, he had quite a high tv profile and appeared on various programmes demonstrating his skills. Plus of course, he danced with Diana at the ROH and again after her death, when I think her absence was noted by him dancing with a spotlight marking the empty space. I don't know anyone who saw either performance. I think he is now to be seen as part of a group of "older celebrities" on some sort of holiday programme?

I have heard various comments about him as a dancer over the years, some less than complimentary. I remember his portrayal as one of Cinderella's ugly sisters being described as "offensive" at one time, although not by whom.

Anyway, his name is conspicuous by its absence. Or maybe not.

 

I thought Wayne Sleep was a wonderful dancer - I especially remember him as Kolya in A Month in the Country. And yes, I'm sure that in the UK he would in fact be better known than most dancers because he's done a lot of TV.

[DrewCo]

I can't speak to whether Acosta's race was discussed/reflected on in the early stages of his career -- I do remember it being informally discussed by at least a small number of American fans when he first danced with American Ballet Theatre (albeit discussed in a coded way). I haven't read his memoirs but In at least one recent interview, Acosta has talked about himself as someone who broke down barriers: 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/dance/what-to-see/carlos-acosta-nobody-who-looks-like-me-has-ever-played-the-roles/

 

Even more interesting -- certainly from the perspective of an American fan perhaps (and having some bearing on the context in which Copeland has emerged) -- is this quote in a 2006 interview:

 

'"The fact that I'm the first black Romeo - and I make people forget it - is a big achievement," he says. "If they'd judged me for my looks, and put me in a box, the world would never have seen the Romeo that lies beneath me ... In New York there are black dancers and their aspirations are constantly killed."'  (My italics.) Link to interview:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/jul/15/dance.stage

Edited March 16, 2017 by DrewCo