National Dance Award 2011 for Carlos Acosta

Carlos Acosta, the most famous Cuban ballet dancer, will be awarded with the National Dance Prize 2011 next Monday, becoming at his 38 years old the youngest artist to receive this award. The gala to honour Acosta at Garcia Lorca auditorium of Havana´s Grand Theatre will be led by choreographer Alberto Mendez with the performance of dancers from the Contemporary Dance Company and the group lead by Santiago Alfonso, and other famous dancers.

Acosta has built a successful career both in Cuba and abroad since he entered Cuba´s National Ballet Company (BNC) in 1991.


He has performed as a guest artist in the London Royal Ballet; the New York American Ballet Theater; and the Kirov Ballet, in St. Petersburg.Now aged 38 and living in London, he feels he has "maybe three more years" before he will retire. "As long as I can deliver freshness and not make a fool of myself I'll continue to dance," he said. Behind the grace and beauty of ballet, dancers are often in constant pain, and injuries can jeopardise their careers.

Acosta has pain in his hips and has had repeated surgeries on his right ankle. "I still think I have what it takes, but sometimes it's difficult to know when it's the right time, I think I still have the quality people like - but it's not very far away now." "Ballet has been like being married for 30 years, and then for some reason life takes you on different paths, but you still have the memories of the woman you love - that's me and ballet."


Born in Cuba in 1973, Acosta has danced in the most important theatres of the world with a repertoire stretching from the big romantic-classic tradition to the most contemporary styles.

Acosta has received important awards such as the Young Artists Award of the Princess Grace Foundation in the United States (1995); his ballet Tocororo won the Lawrence Olivier Award (2007) for the best show presented in London in 2006.


Acosta says his heart still belongs in Havana, and that he deals with the separation from his family and country "by creating defence mechanisms". When he retires he and his British fiancée plan to move to Cuba, and he may start his own dance company.

Acosta doesn't intend to take over from his one-time dance teacher, Alicia Alonso, founder of the Cuban National Ballet - now aged 90 and almost blind. Instead he wants to create a new style of "fusion" dance in Cuba. "I used to breakdance, I know how to salsa, but I also have a very strong classical training. You have to be able to dance anything as a ballet dancer with the Royal Ballet - that's what I'm looking for, the dancer I would like to form."