Acosta Danza- Evolution
The fluidity of the movement, together with the dancers' phenomenal strength and control, is breathtaking, and lead dancer Zeleydi Crespo has a powerful presence which has the entire audience spellbound
The legendary Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta is back in Norwich this week. Those lucky enough to have been at the Playhouse Theatre on Sunday afternoon, for the screening of 'Yuli – The Carlos Acosta Story' will have been treated to a thirty minute Q&A session with the man himself. By all accounts he was charming, honest and humble in his answers.
Those present at the Theatre Royal Monday night went one better, and had the chance to watch the master in action during the European premiere performance from his Cuban dance company's thrilling new programme, 'Evolution'.
Carlos Acosta danced at the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden for seventeen years, leaving in 2015. In January 2020 he takes over as artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. But it is with his own company, Acosta Danza, that he returns to the stage in Norwich this week, and provide all the excitement.
The opening salvo, 'Satori', begins with bare-chested dancers rising from within an enormous, billowing cloak of blue. Choreographed by RaúlReinoso, who also dances in this piece, 'Satori' is an elemental and spiritual journey that, to an original score by Pepe Gavilondo, transcends sea, land and air in a search for truth, beauty and light. The fluidity of the movement, together with the dancers' phenomenal strength and control, is breathtaking, and lead dancer Zeleydi Crespo has a powerful presence which has the entire audience spellbound. The is an audible exhalation of breath from the auditorium as this piece arrives at its revelatory conclusion.
After the first of two intervals we are treated to a rumba-infused celebration of youth performed against a grassland art installation by Cuban artist Elizabet Cerviño. The dancers performing 'Paysage, Soudain, La Nuitare', conceived by visionary Swedish choreographer Pontus Lidberg, synchronize and intertwine to rhythmic movements which, although at times intentionally understated, are delivered with remarkable perceptivity and precision.
'Faun', choreographed by Flemish-Moroccan Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, is a re-interpretation of Nijinsky's 'L'après-midi d'un faune' and uses Claude Debussy's score together with additional music from Nitin Sawhney. Against a woodland backdrop two figures twist and contort with unbelievable control and flexibility – sometimes as two individuals, but sometimes coming together as if to form one creature with a single mind and purpose. A stunning performance that again brought together the taut muscularity of Carlos Luis Blanco with the long-legged contortions and elegant strength of Zeleydi Crespo.
Another interval, and another glass of red wine, and the anticipation reaches a new high as we filter back into the auditorium to prepare ourselves for the final piece, a revived version of Christopher Bruce's sassy 'Rooster', an exploration of 1960's feminism and liberation pitched against tribal masculine posturing. And, we get to see Carlos Acosta in action. To a sequenced soundtrack of Rolling Stones hits the sharp-suited males strut their way through Jagger's vocals and classic hits like Paint It Black, Sympathy With The Devil and, of course, Little Red Rooster. Meanwhile, the dancers' black dresses are cleverly cut with inserted flashes of red 'tail feathers', and in the duetted 'Play With Fire' a red boa leave a trail of red plumage across the stage. 'Ruby Tuesday', 'Lady Jane' and 'As Tears Go By', provide the contrast, and the sensitivity. 'Rooster' is a celebration of a revolutionary time, a decade that changed attitudes and lifestyles, and is visually huge fun, even if it does bring a somewhat frivolous conclusion to an evening of such beauty and grace. And it does remind us that even a 46 year old superstar of the ballet will not forever be able to dance with the seemingly endless energy of a twenty-something. Even if their name is Carlos Acosta.
Huge thanks and appreciation are due to the Theatre Royal's Chief Executive, Stephen Crocker, for continuing to deliver on his promise to bring landmark dance to Norwich. The return of Acosta Danza to the city, and for a European premiere to be presented here, is a huge moment for the venue, and one that all of us here tonight will remember for many years to come.
