When Carlos Acosta staged his Classical Farewell in 2016, he said it was the last time he’d be donning his ballet tights. But like many performing icons, Acosta’s never really said goodbye and the tights are out again for a feelgood 50th birthday gala season.
Fifty may be long past a dancer’s average retirement age (although he’s not the only one still pirouetting, see: Alessandra Ferri) and Acosta’s never going to be the dancer he was 20 years ago – the bounce goes, the height of the arabesque – but you still want to watch him. Certainly the packed Opera House does, cheering in an un-English manner as the curtain rises to reveal a trim Acosta centre stage, dressed as the god Apollo.
The Cuban has charisma in spades, and grace and graciousness. The trick in a show like this is to lean on what you can still do well, and reveal facets of a role we might not have noticed before. Apollo was a signature of Acosta’s in his heyday, George Balanchine’s young god ascending to Olympus. Acosta dances with care, specificity and dramatic flair. Unlike some portrayals that begin with Bambi-like naivety, Acosta can no longer play the ingenue; his Apollo already has authority, but this time, perhaps, is thinking about how to use it. It’s a portrayal of patriarchy Ryan Gosling’s Ken would love: charmed man born into power, plays with the muses (“Come hither! Begone!”), but these women are serene and self-possessed, especially Céline Gittens’ spritely Polyhymnia, delightful in precision and personality.
Acosta was always a masterful partner, and when he dances Swan Lake’s White Swan pas de deux with the divine Marianela Nuñez, the way he holds and turns her like a precious object magnifies her performance; he’s switched on at every moment. Their Manon pas de deux is more exposed, technically, but no less ardent. And where Acosta can’t dance the bravura steps he brings in some back-up, his nephew Yonah Acosta (a principal with Bavarian State Ballet) to do the barnstorming leaps for him in Le Corsaire. Not that Uncle Carlos doesn’t still have chops. A more recent contemporary work, Mermaid by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, plays on his swift, tight turns.
It’s a thoughtfully chosen programme, with a piece by early mentor Ben Stevenson from Houston Ballet, and dancers from Birmingham Royal Ballet, where Acosta is now artistic director, including a near-naked Brandon Lawrence in Valery Panov’s Liebestod, marvelling at the male form to a crescendo of Wagner.
We see Acosta’s own uneven choreography, his experimental remake of the Dying Swan, always moving forward. And also look back, in a short blast from Tocororo, his semi-autobiographical show from 2003 (we could have done with a bit more of this high spirit). Most surprising is how his clunky Carmen is given new life, danced by his Havana-based company Acosta Danza, transformed with earthy Latin/flamenco spirit and a naturalism previously lacking.
At heart this show may be about reliving memories, but Acosta is undeniably one of the greats – and one of the art’s great advocates too, about to launch a new dance centre in Woolwich, London. It would be churlish not to cheer this supremely hard-working star.
• Carlos at 50 continues until 30 July at the Royal Opera House
