toursenlair Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 a trailer has just been released for Yuli, based on Carlos Acosta's memoir, No Way Home. It seems the movie is just doing the rounds of the film festivals at the moment. I expect its theatrical release will be next year 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 I saw a reference to Carlos talking about this somewhere - now, where was it? Also he's featuring on the Sound of Dance(?) series on BBC Radio 3 on Saturday afternoons - don't know which one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Yuli has just been released here (described as "inspired by" the life of Carlos Acosta and his autobiography). I saw it yesterday and found it very personal and profoundly moving. I hadn’t read Carlos Acosta’s autobiography or even followed him much during his career and so wasn’t quite prepared for how much the film has affected me. Wow just wow and huge respect to him for being so open as well as to those involved in creating the film for capturing not only his story but also life and events in Cuba at the time. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynette H Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 This is on at Sadler's Wells on 6 May at 6pm. https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2019/yuli-the-carlos-acosta-story/ There's a post show talk with Acosta and the director. (It's on at the Linbury too, on a different date, but I think that is sold out). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 I saw this yesterday and I would completely echo Duck's comments above. A terrific film - absorbing, beautifully filmed, extremely moving, and superbly acted. I was left in a conflicted state at the end - very sad for what Acosta lost and suffered, and very uplifted both by his achievements and by the enduring love that permeates the film. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 It was a very well done film and very much enjoyed. Incredible to see what he has achieved and how he got there. Very emotional and moving, especially to see his family watching his Lausanne performance on TV all the way from Cuba. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 On 19/03/2019 at 16:58, Lynette H said: This is on at Sadler's Wells on 6 May at 6pm. https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2019/yuli-the-carlos-acosta-story/ There's a post show talk with Acosta and the director. (It's on at the Linbury too, on a different date, but I think that is sold out). Tickets still available for Sadler's Wells, I see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryrosesatonapin Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 This film is now available on Amazon Prime and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. What a story! It is always interesting to me to learn about the human being behind the dazzling on-stage dancer, and few would have such a background as Carlos Acosta. Hats off to him, and to the film makers and actors. Thoroughly recommended if you haven't seen it already. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riva Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 7 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said: This film is now available on Amazon Prime and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. What a story! It is always interesting to me to learn about the human being behind the dazzling on-stage dancer, and few would have such a background as Carlos Acosta. Hats off to him, and to the film makers and actors. Thoroughly recommended if you haven't seen it already. Unfortunately I’m not able to find it on Amazon Prime - it may be available in some countries but not others yet. While searching for it I have stumbled across Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella though so something different to add to the watch list! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 (edited) I finally caught up with the film Yuli: the Carlos Acosta Story, which was still available on BBC iPlayer until a couple of days ago. Having seen him dance many times, I was very interested to see how this would be handled. I am not sure how much my reaction was influenced by the fact that I am a classical ballet fan, but personally I was disappointed. There was hardly any actual classical ballet. His childhood story was interesting, but he is depicted as being so badly behaved at the ballet school, I am amazed they kept him on. The fact that they did was because his teacher kept saying he was an amazing talent, but no attempt is made to demonstrate this, no clips of any boy students in class at all. Some fascinating snippets of him winning the gold medal at the Prix de Lausanne, and an enticing little clip of him dancing the balcony scene in R & J with Rojo. Personally I could have done with a bit more live footage of him dancing in his prime, and a bit less of the lengthy scenes from his own ballet depicting his life story. This may have been a huge success, I don't know, but I found a lot of these dance scenes mind numbingly boring, and in an entirely different style to the medium that brought him international stardom. Bit like having musical interludes in a film based on Pavarotti's life being sung in the style of jazz or pop. I did learn one thing, though. I never knew he had danced with ENB. Edited May 11, 2022 by Fonty 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 12 minutes ago, Fonty said: I finally caught up with the film Yuli, about the life of Carlos Acosta, which was still available on BBC iPlayer until a couple of days ago. Having seen him dance many times, I was very interested to see how his life story would be handled. I am not sure how much my reaction was influenced by the fact that I am a classical ballet fan, but personally I was disappointed. There was hardly any actual classical ballet. His childhood story was interesting, but he is depicted as being so badly behaved at the ballet school, I am amazed they kept him on. The fact that they did was because his teacher kept saying he was an amazing talent, but no attempt is made to demonstrate this, no clips of any boy students in class at all. Some fascinating snippets of him winning the gold medal at the Prix de Lausanne, and an enticing little clip of him dancing the balcony scene in R & J with Rojo. Personally I could have done with a bit more live footage of him dancing in his prime, and a bit less of the lengthy scenes from his own ballet depicting his life story. This may have been a huge success, I don't know, but I found a lot of these dance scenes mind numbingly boring, and in an entirely different style to the medium that brought him international stardom. Bit like having musical interludes about Pavarotti's life being sung in the style of jazz or pop. I did learn one thing, though. I never knew he had danced with ENB. Interesting comments, Fonty. I enjoyed this when I saw it ?last year, but I think it's unfortunately true that a lot of 'ballet' programmes/films are really much more interested in telling the personal story than in illuminating anything about ballet. (Ideally, of course, they should do both.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 1 hour ago, bridiem said: Interesting comments, Fonty. I enjoyed this when I saw it ?last year, but I think it's unfortunately true that a lot of 'ballet' programmes/films are really much more interested in telling the personal story than in illuminating anything about ballet. (Ideally, of course, they should do both.) I did enjoy it, some fascinating insight into life in Cuba, and wasn't expecting it to offer a greater understanding of the art itself. However, I couldn't help thinking that if Billy Eliot could cover the subject in a way that was popular with the general public with no prior knowledge or interest, then surely a film about Carlos Acosta could do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 2 hours ago, Fonty said: I did learn one thing, though. I never knew he had danced with ENB. Oh, I remember him at ENB - I saw him as a whippersnapper when he was there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 Me too. Dancing Benvolio in the Ashton R&J, I think. His photo used to be on the wall at Markova House along with that of lots of other principals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 I enjoyed the film but, as is often the case, I enjoyed the book more. I think Carlos’ life story is remarkable and as such the film is inspiring and has a wider appeal than for balletomanes. Having said that, I totally appreciate the point Fonty makes regarding the lack of substantial focus on the balletic qualities of his dancing . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now