Cuban dancer and choreographer Carlos Acosta has enjoyed an illustrious career and has made an impressive impact on the presentation and appreciation of contemporary dance around the world. This week, he celebrates the tenth anniversary of his titular dance company Acosta Danza with a program of four short pieces at Sadler’s Wells, each created by a different choreographer; two of these are UK premieres, which is always special.
Acosta Danza is dedicated to creating international opportunities for young and emerging dancers from Cuba and building a dance repertoire that reflects their culture, history, and identity. Most of the 15 dancers on stage here have come through the Acosta Danza Academy in Havana and their performance speaks to its high standards.
They’re all exceptionally good, with superb technical skills, great energy and enthusiasm, and exceptional clarity of movement.
Acosta Danza: La Ecuación
The first piece, La Ecuación (The equation) is a new revival of a 15-minute work by the celebrated Cuban choreographer George Céspedes. It opens in silence with a just a large cube on the stage. Four dancers mark their territory, alone and together, in bright clothing and full of focus and self-absorbed attitude.
They perform beautifully, all hands and shoulders, and hints of movement from places faraway. The music, by X Alfonso, is a powerful mix of traditional and techno sounds.
98 Días (98 Days) by Venezuelan choreographer Javier de Frutos is one of the premiere pieces. It is inspired by the life of Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca who spent three months in Cuba in 1930 – the happiest 98 days of his life, as he declared.
The music is interwoven with a loud voice-over. This sounds dramatic but is really a distraction when we don’t know what is being said – if the words are important to our understanding of the piece, it would be good to have opera-style surtitles; if not, let’s just have the music to set the scene. The dancers are all dressed in the same blue shirts and trousers, echoing overalls or a uniform, but strangely softened by pale blue socks.
After interval, it’s into Llamada (Gesture), the other premiere, a work that was created for Acosta Danza in 2023 by acclaimed Spanish choreographer Goyo Montero. Lorca was also the inspiration for this piece, drawing on his poem ‘Ode to Walk Whitman’ that explores sexuality, rage and faith.
There is less rage and faith here, and more an exploration of gender fluidity, identity, and sexuality. The dancers strip down to their underwear but there’s no nudity – perhaps contemporary dance has become a little more bashful in recent years.
Acosta Danza: De Punta a Cabo
The final work, De Punta a Cabo (From end to end), created by Alexis Fernández and Yaday Ponce, is performed by the entire ensemble of 15 dancers. A full-stage projection of Havana’s Malecon promenade takes us from day to night as the dancers showcase their skills from classical pointe work to salsa, tango, and street beats.
Here, at last, there is a real feeling of celebration, something saying unashamedly ‘look at me’. It’s brash and beautiful, the young dancers absolutely owning the space and filling the stage with their optimism and exuberance.
Perhaps appropriately, A Decade in Motion feels like a program of party pieces – each a delightful confection, superbly executed, but lacking any real narrative thread or deep emotionality. Even so, it’s still exciting and wonderful fun and a brilliant display of contemporary dance. See it while you can.
A Decade in Motion is at Sadler’s Wells until 27 September 2025.
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