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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

Queensland Ballet is presenting Liam Scarlett's Firebird right now, in late May 2018. The Australian Ballet presented Graeme Murphy's Firebird in March. Interesting programming, that. Queensland Ballet is presenting Ben Stephenson's Cinderella in September. TAB is presenting Ratmansky's Cinderella in November. Even more interesting programming. And in October, Queensland Ballet takes its party piece, Scarlett's Midsummer Night's Dream to Melbourne. Not Sydney, not Adelaide, but Melbourne. Home and bulwark of TAB. What do they say? Once is accident, twice is coincidence, three times is ... no, not enemy action, but action, certainly. A little context. In 2012, Queensland Ballet was a worthy provincial ballet company known for its dedication to taking ballet to regional centres throughout Queensland. In 2012, Li Cunxin, (Mao's Last Dancer Li Cunxin), was appointed Artistic Director. In 2013, he brought in Jenna Roberts from Birmingham Royal Ballet and Carolyn Judson, Texas Ballet Theatre, to help raise standards. In 2014, it was the big guns ... Carlos Acosta, Tamara Rojo and Steve Macrae (!!!), and in 2015 Alina Cojocaru. In 2016, Liam Scarlett became Artistic Associate and in 2017 Evgenia Obratzova of the Bolshoi replaced Alina Cojuocaru when she had to withdraw. (How does a small and insignificant provincial company attract such stellar names? Heaven only knows.) And this October, they're going to Melbourne. Looks remarkably like an announcement. 'We're here.' After Firebird, they are. Liam Scarlett's Firebird is unlike that of Fokine or even Murphy. It is not a battle between good and evil. At the heart of the work is the relationship between the firebird and Koschei. Both are powerful magical creatures, engaged in an eternal battle for dominance, but at the same time linked by a shared and profound sensuality. Laura Hidalgo's firebird is elemental, a force of nature; curious, inquisitive, intelligent. Koschei (Rian Thompson) is a far darker creature, one who expresses his power through sexual domination. Into their kingdom, blunders the Prince (Joel Woellner). The firebird is intrigued. The Prince is terrified. The fear and desperation to escape that the firebird exhibits in Fokine's original belongs here to the Prince, although he finally succombs to the firebird's curiosity and her sensuality. She leaves, but not before giving him a feather to summon her in case of need. From here, the story is more conventional. Koschei's enslaved maidens enter, together with the newly enslaved Princess. Prince and Princess fall in love (a beautiful, gentle pdd) before Koschei's creatures enter, followed by Koschei himself. A confrontation ensues, during which Koschei demonstrates his sexual domination, leading ultimately to the Prince summoning the firebird. Here the narrative deviates from tradition once again. The firebird does not fight Koschei; rather she causes him and his minions to fall asleep. She then shows the Prince the egg which conceals Koschei's soul. The Princess seizes and smashes the egg, thus killing Koschei. (This I think, was a total surprise to the firebird. She didn't understand humans at all ☺)The ballet ends with the firebird standing over Koschei's body, radiating grief. Laura Hidalgo as the firebird was utterly compelling, dominating the stage whenever she was on it. I could not take my eyes off her. Rian Thompson as Koschei came near to matching her, and together, these two created an utterly memorable evening. I wish I could say that Acosta's Carmen was similarly memorable. Perhaps it was, given that I thought at the beginning that I had mistakenly wondered into a performance of The Full Monty. The woman to my left fell asleep and snored loudly through most of the performance. The woman to my right turned to me after the final curtain and said, 'Well, that shows that great dancers are not necessarily great choreographers.' Just about says it all, really. But The Firebird demonstrates that we now have two serious classical ballet companies in Australia. Alleluia.

Surprised no-one has started a thread on this, being last night was the opening night. However, I went to it and thought the whole evening was lovely. Program. Winter Dreams - Farewell Pas de Deux - MacMillan - Marianela Nunez and Carlos Dying Swan - Fokine - Sarah Lamb Rhapsody - Pas de Deux - Ashton - Yuhui Choe and Valentino Zucchetti Scheherazade - Pas de Deux - Fokine - Gabriela Lugo and Luis Valle Manon - Bedroom Pas de Deux from Act 1 - Macmillan - Laura Morera and Ryoichi Harano Don Quixote Pas de Deux - Petipa/Acosta - Marianela Nunez and Carlos Part Two Mayerling - Final Pas de Deux from Act 3 - MacMillan - Laura Morera,Carlos and Valentino Zucchetti Gloria Domine Deus - MacMillan - Sarah Lamb and Ryoichi Harano Requiem Offertoire and Pie Jesu - MacMillan - Yuhui Choe and Carlos Rubies Pas de Deux - Balanchine - Sarah Lamb and Valentino Zucchetti Apollo Pas de Deux - Balanchine - Marianela and Carlos Anadromous - Reinoso - Gabriela Lugo and Luis Valle Memoria - Altunaga - Carlos Good mix of styles and types of ballet including some contemporary, the final two particularly. The highlight for me was the Don Quixote - both Nela and Carlos having so much fun with it. It included some gravitas as well, particularly Winter Dreams, Manon and Mayerling beautifully danced as were all the pieces. Carlos was in complete pieces at the final "curtain" ( except there wasn't one), plainly overwhelmed and the whole of the Albert Hall on its feet cheering to the rafters. Great send off. Great night.

He is to talk about his farewell tour.

According to the Daily Telegraph article provided in today's Links http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/12009837/Male-ballet-dancers-are-now-centre-stage-says-Darcey-Bussell.html, "The programme [Darcey's Ballet Heroes] is intended to be broadcast at the end of the BBC's Year of Song and Dance, and will be joined by documentaries about Nureyev, Acosta, and Pina Bausch." Can't say I'd been particularly aware of the "Year of Song and Dance", but there you are.

The latest Royal Ballet mixed bill opened tonight, with Viscera, Afternoon of a Faun, Tchaikovsky pdd and the new Carmen (from Carlos Acosta). Was at the dress rehearsals last week, to put together a gallery of the opening night cast: Viscera - Nehemiah Kish, Leticia Stock © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Carmen - Marianela Nunez © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Carmen - Marianela Nunez, Carlos Acosta © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set from DanceTabs: RB - Carmen, Viscera, etc mix bill Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr By kind permission of the Royal Opera House

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/carlos-acosta-to-sign-copies-of-a-new-book-chronicling-his-royal-ballet-career

The IDFB 2016 takes place in May next year. The full programme hasn't been announced yet but the following will be at the Birmingham Hippodrome, for which booking has opened. Nederlands Dans Theater 2 - 3 & 4 May Carlos Acosta: A Classical Farewell - 6 & 7 May Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan - 10 & 11 May Ballet British Columbia - 20 & 21 May

Carlos Acosta's production of Don Quixote for the Royal Ballet opens its Christmas/New Year run on Tuesday (25th November) at the Royal Opera House. Here are a few photos from the dress rehearsal last week. Jolly good fun it was too! Marianela Nunez, Carlos Acosta © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Tristan Dyer, Claire Calvert © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Thomas Whitehead, Kristen McNally © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set from DanceTabs - Royal Ballet ‘Don Quixote’ Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr By kind permission of the Royal Opera House

I suspect this was predictable, but it appears that Carlos Acosta announced at the Hay Festival that he will retire at the end of the 2015-16 season, after directing a new Carmen production for the Royal Ballet: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/10855436/Carlos-Acosta-Im-retiring-from-ballet.html

CARLOS ACOSTA BRINGS WORLD PREMIERES OF SIZZLING CUBAN DANCE DIRECT FROM HAVANA TO THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE MAIN STAGE THIS SUMMER CUBANĺA 21 to 23 July Royal Ballet Principal Guest Artist Carlos Acosta curates and stars in Cubanía, an exciting mixed programme of vibrant Cuban dance inspired by his homeland this July at the Royal Opera House, with world premieres and award-winning contemporary dance accompanied by a live onstage Cuban house band. Uniting dancers and choreographers from The Royal Ballet, Rambert, Cuban National Ballet and Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Acosta will dance in a new piece by Cuban choreographer Miguel Altunaga, and partners Royal Ballet principal Zenaida Yanowsky in Edwaard Liang's poignant and heartfelt duet Sight Unseen. The evening is curated by Acosta and will include: · Tocororo Suite, a semi-autobiographical piece set in the streets of Havana choreographed by Acosta, re-invented and expanded by him to appear for the first time on the Royal Opera House main stage · Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, the national contemporary dance company of Cuba, return to the UK for their debut appearance on the Royal Opera House main stage · Two world premieres by Cuban choreographers Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, the national contemporary dance company of Cuba, perform the high-speed and energetic La Ecuación by Cuban dance star, and Olivier nominee, George Céspedes, and will also premiere a new Afro-Cuban piece. Completing a line-up of stellar Cuban talent, dancer Alexander Varona performs contemporary choreographer Russell Maliphant's striking male dance solo Flux. In the second half of the evening Acosta presents his Tocororo Suite, a selection of highlights from his hugely popular 2003 dance work completely re-imagined by Acosta for the Royal Opera House main stage. Acosta is joined by members of Danza Contemporánea, and Veronica Corveas, principal with the Cuban National Ballet, as he weaves a partly autobiographical narrative told through classical, contemporary and Afro-Cuban dance set on the streets of Havana – all to the accompaniment of a live onstage house band. --- ENDS --- NOTES TO EDITORS: CUBANĺA 21, 22, 23 July 2014 at 7.30pm The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London BOX OFFICE Telephone - 02097 304 4000 or book online www.roh.org.uk PROGRAMME · Danza Contemporánea de Cuba perform La Ecuación choreographed by George Céspedes, and will premiere a new piece · Alexander Varona performs Flux choreographed by Russell Maliphant · Carlos Acosta and Royal Ballet principal Zenaida Yanowsky perform Sight Unseen choreographed by Edwaard Liang set to music by Arvo Pärt · Acosta will perform a new piece by choreographer Miguel Altunaga · Carlos Acosta choreographs Tocororo Suite, which he will perform in with Danza Contemporánea de Cuba Carlos Acosta was born in Havana. He trained at the National Ballet School of Cuba and won the Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne (1990). He was a principal with ENB (1991–2), danced with National Ballet of Cuba under Alicia Alonso (1992–3) and was a principal with Houston Ballet under Ben Stevenson (1993–8). He joined The Royal Ballet in 1998 and became a Principal Guest Artist in 2003. He won the 2007 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for his performances in Tocororo – a Cuban Tale. He recently created a new production of Don Quixote for The Royal Ballet which premiered in October 2013. Miguel Altunaga trained at National School of Art, Havana, and joined Rambert in 2007 after six years with the National Contemporary Dance Company of Cuba where he performed as a principal dancer. An up-and-coming choreographer, Miguel has created work for the National School of Ballet, for bands Simply Red and The Zutons, for Carlos Acosta at the London Coliseum and for Rambert's Evening of new choreography. He created the original role in Acosta’s Tocororo: A Cuban Tale when it was first performed in 2004. George Céspedes studied dance and choreography at the National School of Dance. He joined Danza Contemporanea de Cuba as a dancer in 1998 when he graduated, and as a principal dancer has performed in more than 19 works in the company’s repertoire. He is also a choreographer creating many works for Danza Contemporanea and for Ballet Naçional de Cuba, the national Ballet School and the National School of Dance. Russell Maliphant trained at The Royal Ballet School and graduated into Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet before leaving to pursue a career in independent dance. He formed Russell Maliphant Company in 1996 and has also worked with renowned companies and artists including Sylvie Guillem, Robert Lepage, Isaac Julian, Balletboyz and Lyon Opera Ballet. He became an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells in 2005.

Josephine's posting in the Period 4 thread reminded me that I'd intended to post a topic on this: I don't think it's been mentioned elsewhere: http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/cubania-by-carlos-acosta Thanks, Josephine!

Unfortunately, I've only just spotted this in this week's Radio Times: it's part 2 of a series. "Celebrated ballet star Carlos Acosta prepares to take on one his most demanding roles - to save the crumbling ruins of a ballet school in Havana." http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03tt7kx

I know that one shouldn't comment on rehearsals but I just wanted to say how lovely it was to have Lauren dancing Giselle today.

This short season starts at the Coliseum tonight, so please post any thoughts here.