Last Updated on June 21, 2026
Carlos Acosta’s Young Dancers Strut Their Stuff
3.0 out of 5.0 starsCuba remains, despite unimaginable deprivations, an extraordinary crucible for dance talent. Year after year, its dance schools turn out wave after wave of exceptional dancers, and by virtue of his international prestige, Carlos Acosta, Cuban ballet superstar, has the pick of the best.
Acosta’s latest project is Acosta Danza Yunior, which he founded in 2023 as a junior company for 18-to 21-year-olds, designed to bridge the gap between dance school and the now well-established senior company, Acosta Danza.
Acosta Danza Yunior brought its mixed bill Next Generation to Sadler’s Wells East, and while the talent of its 10 dancers is nothing less than admirable, I was less than impressed with some of the choreography on offer.
The programme opened with Fuga (Flight), by the Spanish-born, Havana-based choreographer Susana Pous. Six people lie on a very green square under an outsized globe, representing an almost overbearing sun (set by Susana Pous). They wear swimming costumes, and at first they seem to be enjoying a day at the beach, but tensions soon develop. One by one, they attempt to escape, while the others try hard to stop them.
There’s a lot of physical tussling, and it soon becomes apparent that the green square stands for Cuba, and the piece portrays the contradictory pulls of wanting to escape for a better life and the deep love so many Cubans feel for their island country. While the intention is quite clear, this piece feels like a short choreographic draft, a topical idea not properly developed.
Next comes one of the highlights of the programme: the duet And, especially created by the immensely experienced Dutch choreographer Didy Veldman, perhaps best known in the UK for her association with Rambert, though she has created work for an impressive range of international companies.
Set to Arvo Pärt’s Fratres, it matches the increasingly complex layers of the music with steps that portray the many aspects of a relationship, exploring the dancers’ powerful physicality.
Veldman’s And was danced by Maria del Carmo Pantoja and Ernest Muñoz, a perfect partnership that negotiated the various moods of the piece, from serene embraces to turbulent push-and-pull sequences, with spectacular technique and remarkable mutual understanding.
Kit Holder’s Capriccio is a favourite of mine, a near-perfect vignette inspired by Belgian surrealist René Magritte’s series of paintings, The Lovers. Royal Ballet trained, and formerly a dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet. Kit Holder’s choreographic language shows a very interesting, smooth blend of the many influences he’s been exposed to. Capriccio starts with two men in suits sitting on the ground, their heads wrapped in a white cloth.
At first, their movement is constrained by the cloth, but then they unwrap their heads, and each is free to perform a solo, built on the basics of classical ballet, but shaped by contemporary angles. The two dancers, Paul Brando and Alexander Arias, were superb, their expansive arm gestures lifting the movement to thrilling heights, as good individually as when they danced together.
The last piece was by far the most disappointing of the Next Generation programme. Entitled Mundo Interpretado (Interpreted World), it was the work of Brazilian choreographer Juliano Nunes, who regularly features in programmes by Carlos Acosta’s companies.
Featuring six dancers and billed as “depicting the joys of Cubans – their vivid rhythm, their passion, openness and caring love for one another”, this was, sadly, a typically disjointed work. Set to folk-influenced music by Cuban composer José Gavilondo and performed under Glenda Léon’s canopy of water lilies, it started well with a pulsating, enjoyable ensemble number.
However, as it broke into different sections, it lost any coherence, and the introduction late into the piece of a dancer on pointe (Heidi Nuñez), when everything else had been danced in socks, was incongruous and failed to make its point (no pun intended).
Still, watching these dancers was a pleasure, and I can only hope future programmes show more consistent choreography.
Acosta Danza Yunior is at Sadler’s Wells East, 19th to 20th of June, at 7.30 pm
Dut.: 1 hour 20 mins incl one interval. Tickets £15 – £35
Sadler’s Wells East
Stratford Walk
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
London E20 2AR
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