Mysteriously, the principal dancer of London's Royal Ballet did not appear in the general program of the 23rd International Ballet Festival in Havana last fall. True to his word, however, he came and-despite not bringing a dance partner-he claimed a space for many dancers who work abroad today, but who long to share the fruits of their careers back home on the island.
"Pioneer dancers, such as Lorna and Lorena Feijóo, for example, trained and formed in the Cuban school, want to come back," he said at the headquarters of the Cuban National Ballet.
According to "Junior," as his friends call him, Cuban artists working outside the island can share new trends in dance technique, choreographic styles, and forms of interpretation. To achieve this, he talked about the need to iron out differences and put new initiatives into place for the sake of unity.
"It is important now to unite in order to grow, move on, and leave old grudges behind. I won´t talk of forgiveness because forgiveness is for the gods; human beings are imperfect, they don´t forgive, but they can file away the past and go forward. Even for the sake of our children, because they see our actions, and learn from them. Is there any action better than to resolve differences and accept that we are imperfect? Everyone makes mistakes," said Acosta, recipient of the prestigious Cuban National Dance Prize in 2011.
"We should join with this idea and accept those who want to come. I will stick to my point, not to make war on anyone. This is just a battle of ideas, in order to improve and develop. How can we be better tomorrow? "asked Acosta, who is about to publish a novel in Britain that has been flagged as one of the most promising debuts of 2013. His first book, an autobiography, was published in more countries than he could imagine, with the exception of Cuba.
Acosta's many rehearsals, events, and other work projects don´t prevent him from thinking beyond the stage. The fact of recently becoming a father perhaps also stimulated his awareness.
"I think there are quite important Cuban artists who leave here, and new generations are missing that experience. For example: Who is going to teach young dancers how better to wear a cloak than Jorge Esquivel? The people who are pillars of the history of Cuban ballet should be here, teaching new generations," he said.
Acosta also explained his concern about the passage of time and the inevitable consequences that result from the loss of information with each death. He receives proposals from many different countries on virtually a daily basis; however, he says repeatedly that his greatest desire is to leave a mark on the island where he was born almost 40 years ago, and where he was trained as a dancer.
The article continues at http://www.cubanartnews.org/news/en/85-carlos-acostas-journey
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