Press Release: CARLOS ACOSTA BRINGS WORLD PREMIERES OF SIZZLING CUBAN DANCE DIRECT FROM HAVANA TO THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE MAIN STAGE THIS SUMMER

[Jan McNulty]

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.

 

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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.