Carlos Acosta News

On Tuesday, April 16th, The Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY), a project of The American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba (AFLFC), is set to energize the city with a special closing-night premiere honoring Cuban ballet legend Carlos Acosta. Wrapping up HFFNY's 12-day celebration of Latin American cinema (April 5–16), the evening will feature the New York premiere of Yuli (2018) at the DGA Theater. This poignant film inspired by Acosta's life chronicles his rise from poverty and prejudice to become an icon of the dance world. The evening will begin with a pre-screening VIP champagne reception with Acosta, the film premiere and a post-screening Q&A, and conclude with a Cuban-themed dinner reception, Fiesta Cubana. Proceeds from the closing-night event support The International Performing Arts Foundation (TIPAF), a charitable organization that works closely with Acosta on his philanthropic initiatives, including his enriching Dancers-in-Residence training program.

Festival Ballet Providence (FBP) festivalballetprovidence.org is pleased to announce Up Close on Hope, a daring program that features choreographic premieres in FBP's state-of-the-art Black Box Theatre, 825 Hope Street in Providence. The program will take place on two consecutive weekends of April 5-7 and April 12-14, 2019.

The Royal Ballet's production of Carlos Acosta's charming and fun Don Quixote will screen in US cinemas across March and April 2019. The production is filed from the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden.

The 20th Havana Film Festival in New York (www.HFFNY.com), a project of The American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba (AFLFC), presents an exceptional program celebrating the diversity of voices and cultural expressions of Cuba and Latin America. Highlighting stories that open minds and start conversations, this year's Festival is filled with tales of suspense, whimsy, adventure, revenge and love from films that have traveled the international festival circuit, and picked up some highly regarded prizes along the way. From comedies that double as biting critiques of bureaucratic policy, to supernatural dramas that remind us to never forget, to powerful documentaries that unearth truths, break silences, and imagine new worlds, the 20th Havana Film Festival New York is a journey you don't want to miss. All foreign language films will be subtitled in English.

It is announced today that Mikah Smillie will step down as Artistic Director of National Youth Ballet this month after three years leading the Company. Mikah was appointed in 2016 following the passing of Founding Director Jill Tookey, and has programmed three highly successful seasons that have continued to build upon the legacy of empowering young people and emerging professional artists. Mikah has a longstanding association with National Youth Ballet spanning over 11 years, and under her artistic leadership the Company.

The 20th HFFNY concludes on April 16 at the DGA Theater, with a celebration of world-renowned Cuban ballet dancer and choreographer Carlos Acosta. The International Performing Arts Foundation (TIPAF), and The American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba (AFLFC) present the NY premiere of Yuli (2018), the poignant feature film of Acosta's life. Proceeds from VIP tickets, which include the Cocktail Party and Fiesta Cubana, will go to supporting exchange programs in the arts and a 3-year residency at Acosta Danza offered to emerging dancers of limited means from around the world.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature DEAR EVAN HANSEN, 9 TO 5 and More!!

Tickets are now available for the new Sunday Encounters series at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London's West End. 

Carlos Acosta's vibrant production of Don Quixote offers an all-thriller, no-filler evening complete with exuberant staging, grand and detailed sets fit for a West End musical, luxurious costuming, and a stellar cast in which there is not a single weak link.

Birmingham Royal Ballet is delighted to announce that internationally renowned Carlos Acosta CBE has been appointed as its new Director. He will take up his appointment in January 2020.

Audiences across the UK can enjoy The Royal Ballet's charming and fun production of Don Quixote broadcast live from London's Covent Garden to cinemas on Tuesday 19 February with an encore screening on Sunday 24 February presented by Ore Oduba.

The Washington Ballet announces updates to its company roster for the 2018.19 season.

When San Diego Opera General Director David Bennett realized earlier this year that the scheduled Vancouver-derived production of Hansel and Gretel wouldn't fit comfortably on the Balboa Theater stage, All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 was an obvious holiday-season alternative. He'd already been thinking about it for the company's Detour Series of less traditional works.

Can a musical drama set on a grim WW I battlefield make an audience feel good? Those working on the San Diego Opera's staging of All Is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914 are certain it can. The work tells the true story of the spontaneous unofficial truce between WWI enemies who left their trenches and entered the no-man's land between them to join in a celebration of the Christmas holidays. Peter Rothstein wrote the drama for his Minneapolis-based company Theatre Latte Da, and based it on material from the period, the most important of which is the verbatim text of letters and war journals written by soldiers who participated in the truce.  The cast sings many songs popular during the war and a few traditional Christmas carols. All were arranged by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach, and are sung a cappella in the English, German and French languages of the soldiers. Vanessa Dinning has taken on the challenge of coaching in nearly 20 different dialects.

Nearly two years ago to the day, Carlos Acosta presented A Classical Farewell at London's Royal Albert Hall, a mix of solos and pas de deux with his esteemed Royal Ballet colleagues to celebrate his career . Fast forward to 2018, and he's still saying farewell but now with a focus on the future, through his dynamic Cuban company, Acosta Danza.

New English Ballet Theatre, founded by artistic director Karen Pilkington-Miksa, has been on a mission to nurture and showcase young dancers and emerging choreographers since it launched seven years ago. In the intervening time, it has become synonymous with a visionary and thoroughly modern approach to making original touring pieces to present to the widest possible audience. This year, it returns to the Peacock Theatre with a double bill of sensitively pitched but contrasting pieces in Four Seasons and Remembrance.

Announced today, the Winter Season at Crazy Coqs, the stunning Art Deco gem at Brasserie Zedel in the heart of Piccadilly Circus, is packed with 110 shows that really do promise something for everyone.

Former National Ballet of Cuba principal dancer  Aydmara Cabrera has been named the new director of Princeton Ballet School (PBS), the official school of American Repertory Ballet (ARB), effective August 22, 2018.

ZHONG-JING FANG, soloist of American Ballet Theatre, PAOLA HARTLEY, former principal dancer of Ballet Arizona, KARL CONDON, former principal dancer of the Boston Ballet, and ILYA KOZADAYEV, former soloist of the Houston Ballet will be on the Shreveport Dance Academy's Summer Intensive to be held in Shreveport, Louisiana.   Zhong-Jing Fang and Paola Hartley will be on the faculty from July 23-27, 2018, and Karl Condon and  Ilya Kozadayev will be on the faculty from July 30-August 3, 2018.  

For its 2018 season, the National Youth Ballet ("NYB") will present Bright Young Things, a mixed programme of ballets choreographed by some of the UKs most eminent professionals and rising talents, performed by a Company of young dancers aged 9-18 from across the UK.