For immediate release: Tuesday 2 April Acosta Danza Sadler’s WellsInternational Associate Company Acosta Danzapresents theUK premiere ofCarlos Acosta’s Carmenat Sadler’s Wells Theatre fromTuesday 2 to Saturday 6 July 2024.
Carlos Acosta’s Carmen
Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Tuesday 2 July – Saturday 6 July
Tickets: 020 7863 8000 orwww.sadlerswells.com
Acosta plays The Bull, a role he created to represent fate and destiny, which he has been keen to perform since choreographing the piece to mark his retirement from the Royal Ballet.Hisnew version retains the story’s universal and timeless themes in a stripped back setting.
Carlos Acosta performs in his adaptation of Georges Bizet’s opera, 179 years after Prosper Mérimée’s eponymous story was first published.Don José falls in love with Carmen and sacrifices everything to be with her. When Carmen becomes infatuated with the toreador Escamillo, she loses interest in Don José, whose love quickly turns to murderous jealousy.
Carlos Acosta invites three Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers; Yaoqian Shang, Javier Rojas and Lachlan Monaghan to guest perform the parts of Carmen, Don José and Escamillo alongside Acosta Danza Principal dancers Laura Rodriguez, Enrique Corrales and Alejandro Silva. Leading dance figures as diverse as choreographers Marius Petipa, Roland Petit, Alberto Alonso, Mats Ek and Richard Alston have all been drawn to this tale of a woman’s overt sexuality and her violent death. The melodies of Bizet’sCarmenhave secured the opera’s hold on the popular imagination – Escamillo's ‘Toreador Song’, Carmen’s ‘Habanera’, Don José’s ‘Flower Song’ and many passages for orchestra and chorus are among the most widely known pieces of Western classical music.
Carlos Acosta was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1973. After a late but dazzling start in ballet at the age of 9, he became English National Ballet’s youngest ever principal dancer, at 18. He joined the Royal Ballet in London in 1998, where he became an audience favourite. He was awarded a CBE for his contribution to dance in 2014 and retired from classical ballet two years later. In 2015, he also founded his company, Acosta Danza, and has been the director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet since 2020.
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Director Carlos Acostasaid: “I am very grateful to Sadler’s Wells for the opportunity to present myCarmenas a full length for the very first time. For this occasion, I will be dancing The Bull, a small but very powerful role which represents destiny the master of ceremonies of everyone’s future. I wanted to create a version that feels classical and contemporary at the same time without attaching itself into a specific period. Stripping the narrative of this brilliant story to its very bones.
Carmenis part ofSadler’s Wells year-roundBallet with attitudeprogramme.
“I am also very pleased to be working again with Tim Hatley (who created the designs for the original version I choreographed for the Royal Ballet) on some exciting new designs for the production and Nina Dunn who has developed some new projection to help create the atmospheric setting I wanted to convey.”
Sadler’s Wells Artistic Director and Co-Chief Executive, Sir Alistair Spalding CBE,said:“I’m delighted to be bringing back Carlos’s company Acosta Danza to Sadler’s Wells following our longstanding support for his mission to bring the best and most talented dancers from his Cuban homeland to London and around the world. It’s an added pleasure that this is the full-length version premiere of his own choreography. I’m personally eager to seeCarlos dance in a new expanded role that he has been waiting to play for almost a decade!”
Carlos Acosta’s Carmenis the UK premiere of the full-length version
Acosta Danzais a Sadler’s Wells International Associate Company
Notes to Editors
Listing information
Company:Acosta Danza
Show:Carlos Acosta’s Carmen
Run dates: Tuesday 2 – Saturday 6 July 2024
Tickets: From £15
Running times:1 hour 40 minutes (35 mins Act 1, 20 mins interval, 45 mins Act 2)
About Acosta Danza
Acosta Danza was created by Carlos Acosta in 2015 to harness and develop the young creative dance talent emerging from Cuba. The ethos of the company is to produce dancers who combine Cuba’s rich musical and dance influences with both classical and contemporary genres and create exciting and stimulating repertoire that pushes conventional boundaries. Acosta Danza has worked with some of the world’s leading choreographers as well as encouraging the emergence and development of new choreography from among its own members. The company performed for the first time at the Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alonso in Cuba in April 2016 and has since performed across Europe and internationally to great critical acclaim. Acosta Danza is a Sadler’s Wells International Associate Company. Acosta Danza is extremely grateful to its founder sponsor, Aud Jebsen, for her continued and unwavering support throughout our journey to date, as well as Sir Simon Robey, The Ian Taylor Foundation, The Oak Foundation and Alan Howard for their continued support and the generous support of Mrs Aline Foriel-Destezet.
About Carlos Acosta
Carlos Acosta launched on the global stage after winning the Prix De Lausanne in 1990. He has danced with the world’s most prestigious companies including London’s Royal Ballet performing almost every classical role from Spartacus to Romeo. Carlos has created many award-winning shows throughout his career, has written two books and acted in films including ‘Yuli’ inspired by his life.
In2015,he founded contemporary dance company Acosta Danza and opened a dance academy in Havana.
Honours include a CBE and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award from The Royal Academy of Dance.
In 2020, Carlos became Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet.Carlos is also the Chairman of the Acosta Dance Foundation founded in 2011 and established the internationally renowned Acosta Dance Centre in 2023, serving as a cornerstone for dance excellence in Woolwich, London.
About Sadler’s Wells
Sadler's Wells is a world-leading dance organisation. We strive to make and share dance that inspires us all. Our acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap.
We commission, produce and present more dance than any other organisation in the world. Since 2005, we have helped to bring more than 200new dance works to the stage, embracing both the popular and the unknown. Our acclaimed productions tour the world. Since 2005 we’ve produced 64 new full-length works and performed to audiences of more than two million, touring to 51 countries.
Each year, over half a million people visit our three London theatres –Sadler’s Wells Theatre,Lilian Baylis StudioandPeacock Theatre. Millions more attend our touring productions nationally and internationally or explore our digital platforms, including Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage.
Sadler’s Wells East
In 2024we’re opening a fourth London venue in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.Sadler’s Wells Eastwill house a 550-seat mid-scale theatre, as well as facilities for the new Rose Choreographic School and the hip hop theatre training centre, Academy Breakin’ Convention.
Sadler’s Wells East joins the rich cultural heritage of Stratford, opening in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as part of the East Bank development alongside the BBC, UAL’s London College of Fashion, UCL and the V&A. Sadler’s Wells East will support artist development and training, and the creation of new work. It will build the infrastructure for dance and make it accessible to more people. Sadler’s Wells East will house a flexible theatre presenting a wide variety of dance performances. Community will be at the heart of Sadler’s Wells East with a large open foyer that can be used by everyone as a meeting or performance space. There will also be dance studios and world-class dance facilities for dancemakers to train, create and rehearse productions.
Supporting artists
Supporting artists is at the heart of our work. We have associate artists and companies, which nurture some of the most exciting talent working in dance today. We host the National Youth Dance Company, which draws together some of the brightest young dancers from across the country. Sadler’s WellsBreakin' Convention runs professional development programmes to champion and develop the world’s best hip hop artists, as well as producing, programming and touring groundbreaking hip hop performances.
Learning and community links
Around 30,000 people take part in our learning and engagement programmes every year. We support schools local to our theatres in Islington and Stratford, designing experiences for children and young people to watch, explore and critically engage with the arts. We also run Company of Elders, a resident performance company of dancers aged over 60 who rehearse with renowned artists to make new work for public performances locally,nationally and internationally.
Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.
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