Carlos Acosta's 'Cubania'
As a resident of the Royal Opera House, the withdrawl symptoms from watching the Royal Ballet are beginning to kick in. Regular visits on YouTube for anything ballet related occur, Spotify ballet playlists start to come into their own and there’s a slight sense that something is missing. Well this might be a little more acceptable if I was living in a city with only one ballet company, however, this is London dammit and we are fortunate to have an array of different companies and choreographers putting on a show during the entire year. So here enters Carlos Acosta (and soon the English National Ballet and Marrinsky tour- but review of this to follow) with his ‘Cubania’ programme at the Royal Opera House. Yes, he’s affiliated with the Royal Ballet and yes this was in the Royal Opera House so it’s not exactly that different from my usual surroundings, however, Carlos presented something quite different.
There is something that needs to be cleared up about ‘Cubania’. The title is pretty suggestive of latin vibes, rum cocktails and hot Cuban dancing. I was expecting to see members of both the ballet and contemporary companies from Cuba authentically dancing to cuban music. This did eventually happen in the second half of the programme with Acosta producing a condensed version of his ‘Tocororo’ piece, however, the first part of the programme was much more contemporary than I was expecting. Now this is no bad thing, but I feel that the title was a little misleading especially for the ‘older’ members of the audience some of whom I overheard mentioning that this was not at all what they expected yet it was, they supposed, ‘an experience’. This is another thing. The audience themselves were very misleading. Upon arrival, I did a double take and wondered whether I had stepped into the foyer awaiting a show such as ‘An Audience with Julie Andrews’, but no, everyone was there for Carlos. I think this is his charm. He’s a superstar who attracts such a range of people of all ages and from all over the world granting him the power to bring quite a mixed bag to the Royal Opera House and to give it a go. I understand what Acosta has attempted to do, and he has certainly showcased the talents of dancers from Cuba’s Danza Contemporánea, however, some of the pieces still have a way to go.
The first piece by former Rambert’s Miguel Altunaga was ‘Derrumbe’ which I felt was a good effort. I felt that Acosta and Pieter Symonds had a great chemistry and their eyes continually locked through the movement, creating a hostile environment for a warring couple. I enjoyed the music and the lighting, all of which added to the build up of the piece, however, I think it still has a way to go. There was something about it that reminded me a lot of a creative writing exercise, where one is told to think of a theme and include certain objects and metaphors that can be used to describe the theme. Here we had a similar notion. The use of the table and more importantly, the focus on the clothes, was emphasised a bit too much. I understand that the act of changing clothes frequently expressed time changing and perhaps different emotional states (well that’s what I thought anyway!) but I felt it slightly took away from the choreography, much of which was very good and should have been more present. The clothing theme was a little too distracting and who wants to see Acosta putting on a blazer- am I right ladies? Pieter certainly saved this from entering the abyss of forgotton choreography through her control, body strength and connection with its emotional content. There is a lot of potential here, but as it stands there is perhaps a lot to work on.
Next came ‘Flux’ by Russell Maliphant which wasn’t really to my taste. Again, I can sort of see where it’s going and with some Akram Khan influences in there, I think this could also have potential, but here the audience was presented with the truly wonderful dancer Alexander Varona and I would have loved to have seen him standing up more. The shuffling on the floor lasted too long, and I soon began to think of how an extra teaspoon of garam masala might have made my homemade curry taste better. Always food for thought (excuse the pun) to accept that you can’t like a piece if you’re thinking of other things during it’s performance. Perhaps with more dancers on the stage, this could have been more exciting but unfortunately I found this pretty forgettable.
Things certainly picked up with ‘Ecuación’. At first the silent dancing was a bit much. One of my pet hates is dancing without any music for a very long time, especially in a werthers-originals- rustling sort of audience, but as soon as the music and lighting picked up, this proved to be the answer as to why I had entered this building during July. The two couples were fantastic dancers with phenomenal musicality and an innate knack for timing. They were so in time with each other which was a real pleasure to see. I also liked the square box on stage and thought this was an interesting motive and having the dancers run into it created some really great symmetrical lines. This piece was exciting from the music to the fast tempo movement, I began to pay attention and was gripped from beginning to end. I was reminded of caipirinha and tai chi movements which often contrasted to the electric guitar going for it on stage, but this made for stimulated viewing.
Our final offering in the first half of the programme was ‘Sight Unseen’ with a beautiful partnering of Acosta and Zenaida Yanowsky. Long limbed, flexible, strong yet languid, Zenaida is the perfect counter part to Acosta’s more physical and heavy style. Together they are a sublime match and fed well off each other through the complex lines and spirited movements of the choreography. I loved the huge choir and their ominous all-in-black presence on the stage. The music which was sung so beautifully, reminded me of church and therefore took me somewhere serene and calm. I enjoyed this piece a lot and it was taken further by Zenaida’s performance. She is always such a pleasure to watch and I have always felt she is quite underused within the company. Girl may be tall, but boy she can dance.
I noticed during the interval that there were a few more members of the St John’s Ambulance team than usual. They were probably needed, as the second part of the programme saw an all swinging and hip shaking performance from Acosta’s very own ‘Tocororo’. Even my heart was racing, so I’m sure the paramedics were busy overseeing the heart rates of many in the audience. ‘Tocororo’ is Acosta’s celebration of Cuba and its sweet, warming and sunny vibes put a smile upon many a face. I loved the music and I thought the band played extremely well- all were in time, rhythmic and concentrated on the dancers. Although there were times when I felt things were moving a bit slowly, these were often saved by the humour from Varona or Acosta’s moving duet with the lovely Veronica Corveas. My favourite moments were the big ensembles which showcased the talents of the Danza Contemporánea. Here is a company full of amazing dancing technique and paired with that latin gloss they made me feel like I was there with them, arguing over light-hearted gambling games, flirting and drinking in the Cuban heat. Their energy was infectious and I left smiling, happy and content from the evening. This may have been quite an unexpected evening and I’m sure some were not as happy as they would have been had this been a Cuban show at the Peacock Theatre, however, there was much to enjoy from this programme and I believe Acosta is on a mission to find his path to follow after he retires from classical ballet. I’m not quite sure that this is it, but I’m certainly willing to follow his journey, hopefully a journey that will not involve a blazer.