Carlos Yunior Acosta Quesada was born on 2 June 1973 and is a Cuban-British ballet director and retired dancer who is director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
26 Facts About Carlos Acosta
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Carlos Acosta danced with many companies including the English National Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba, Houston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.
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Carlos Acosta was a permanent member of The Royal Ballet from 1998 to 2015.
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Carlos Acosta celebrated his farewell after 17 years at The Royal Ballet, dancing his last performance in November 2015 in Carmen, which he both choreographed and starred in.
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In January 2020, Acosta was appointed as director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, succeeding David Bintley.
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Carlos Acosta was born in Havana, Cuba, on 2 June 1973, the eleventh and last child in an impoverished family.
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Carlos Acosta's father, Pedro Acosta, was a truck driver, and his mother, Dulce Maria Quesada, often suffered from health problems.
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Carlos Acosta grew up with no toys, sometimes went shoeless, and did not even have a birthday cake until he turned 23.
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Carlos Acosta was an over-energetic child, and his father felt that his youngest son would soon land in serious trouble.
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Carlos Acosta studied ballet at the Cuban National Ballet School with many influential teachers including Ramona de Saa.
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From 1989 to 1991 Carlos Acosta performed throughout the world, guesting with many companies including the Compagnia Teatro Nuovo di Torino in Italy, where he danced alongside Luciana Savignano, and the Teatro Teresa Carreno in Venezuela.
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Carlos Acosta made his debut in the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor and appeared in Cinderella, partnering Eva Evdokimova and Ludmila Semenyaka, Le Spectre de la Rose, Les Sylphides and as the Prince in Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker.
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In 1998, Carlos Acosta joined The Royal Ballet, London, under the direction of Anthony Dowell.
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Carlos Acosta has created roles in Ashley Page's Hidden Variables and William Tuckett's 3:4.
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Carlos Acosta was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to ballet.
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Carlos Acosta was a guest artist with the American Ballet Theatre during the company's Metropolitan Opera House season in the summer of 2002, when he performed Prince Desire in Sleeping Beauty Act III, Oberon in The Dream, Colas in La Fille mal gardee and Conrad in Le Corsaire.
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Carlos Acosta rejoined the ABT as Principal Dancer, for the company's 2003 autumn season at New York City Center, to perform in the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and a new staging of Raymonda.
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Carlos Acosta has performed Basilio in Nureyev's version of Don Quixote, as well as Solor in Nureyev's La Bayadere, with the Paris Opera Ballet.
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In recent years, Carlos Acosta has had a career as an international guest artist, appearing in the US, Russia, the Netherlands, Chile, Argentina, Greece, Japan, Italy, Germany and France.
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In January 2020, Carlos Acosta was appointed as Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, succeeding David Bintley.
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Television performances include two live BBC broadcasts from The Royal Opera House: the Opening Celebration in December 1999 when Carlos Acosta performed the Man's Solo in Le Corsaire, and in February 2000 the role of Franz in Ninette de Valois' Coppelia.
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Carlos Acosta was interviewed for the BBC's HARDtalk programme which was broadcast on Christmas Day 2003.
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Carlos Acosta appeared as a main character in the Natalie Portman-directed segment of New York, I Love You.
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Carlos Acosta chose the 17-strong company from dancers in Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, the Cuban National Ballet and Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba.
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Carlos Acosta is married to the English writer and former model Charlotte Holland, and they have three children.
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Carlos Acosta's nephew Yonah Acosta is a dancer and actor.