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."

Carlos Acosta Awarded Cuban National Prize

Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta won Cuba’s National Dance Award 2011, the highest distinction granted by the National Council of Stage Arts in recognition to his lifework. Acosta is the genuine fruit of the Cuban ballet school. He is an exceptional dancer of classic, contemporary and folkloric ballet, and he has taken his art to the most important stages of the world.

Another merit to his avail unanimously recognized by the jury was having brought to Cuba important figures of the world ballet and maintaining his bonds with the Cuban National Ballet. Acosta has contributed to expand the Cuban people’s cultural education, stressed the jury.

Other dancers nominated to the prize were Ernesto Armiñan, Isabel Bustos, Silvina Fabars, Miguel Iglesias, Clara Luz Rodríguez, Perla Rodriguez and Jose Manuel Carreño, all of them boasting a brilliant artistic career.

Acosta was born in Havana in 1973. He studied ballet at the Cuban National Ballet School from which he graduated with honors in 1991.

He has danced with prestigious ballet companies including the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, English National Ballet, Houston Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. Likwise, he has been a permanent member of the Royal Ballet since 1998 and 2003 he was promoted to principal guess actor.

Carlos Acosta in Santiago de Cuba

Our Cuban ballet dancer Carlos Acosta kicks off his first national tour of Cuba last Sunday at the Heredia Theater in Santiago, fulfilling a longstanding desire of the artist and his fans.

The renowned artist, principal guest artist of the Royal Ballet of London, performed "Suite of dances," by Jerome Robbins, as the feature piece of the program, accompanied by Cuban cello player Amparo del Riego and ballerinas Viengsay Valdes and Laura Rios.

His tour will cover the cities of Camaguey on November 23, Cienfuegos on November 25 and Pinar del Rio on November 27, and conclude in Havana on November 30.

In statements to the press, the young dancer said performances in the country’s east, center and west were his settling of an old debt with his audience in Cuba, where his intensive and successful career is followed and admired.

This Cuban dancer has worked with prestigious companies such as the American Ballet Theatre, the Houston Ballet, the English National Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet.

After this long-awaited tour of Cuba, Acosta will return to the Royal Ballet to resume his regular performances with Giselle, Swan Lake, Manon, and the show Premier, which will be presented across the United Kingdom.