Carlos Acosta

Director

Carlos was born in Havana in 1973, and trained at the Cuban National Ballet School in the city. After winning a succession of awards, including the Prix de Lausanne in 1990, he went on to dance professionally with the world’s most prestigious companies, with London’s Royal Ballet becoming his home. Carlos retired from classical ballet in 2016, having performed almost every classical role from Spartacus to Romeo – and in January 2020, he became Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Carlos has created many award-winning shows, including Tocororo and Carlos Acosta & Friends of The Royal Ballet. He also choreographed the Royal Ballet productions of Don Quixote and Carmen, as well as the most recent West End production of Guys and Dolls. He has written two books: Pig’s Foot, a novel, and No Way Home, his honest and heartfelt autobiography. Yuli, a film inspired by his life, premiered to critical acclaim in April 2019.

Cuba’s culture and history have been important influences throughout Carlos’s career – not least through the establishment in 2016 of his own dance company, Acosta Danza. The company tours the world with its vibrant combination of classical and contemporary dance – and in 2022, it collaborated with BRB for the first time to premiere Jorge Crecis’s vibrant 24.

Carlos opened his first Dance Academy in Havana in 2017. The Academy was launched through the Carlos Acosta International Dance Foundation, which gives young dancers the same opportunities from which he himself benefited from – providing a three-year dance training programme in an inspirational setting, free at the point of delivery.

Carlos’s extraordinary contributions to dance have been recognised with a CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2014, the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award from the Royal Academy of Dance in 2018, and the Critics’ Circle’s Annual Award for Outstanding Services to the Arts in 2019. He continues to inspire a new generation dancers across the globe.