Gracing the stage at the Birmingham Hippodrome is the Acosta Danza Dance Company with their latest offering from the genius mind of Carlos Acosta, Cuban Eclectico, translated as Eclectic, and that it was. A real display of stunning talent with five completely differing routines throughout the 2 hour show.
Acosta created the Acosta Danza company on his retirement from the Royal Ballet in 2016 which centres around talent from Cuba. The dance company encourages creativity from its performers and this showed in abundance as the intricacy of the routines really did show off their abilities as accomplished dancers.
Now, I’m certainly not an aficionado when it comes to this style of dance and if I’m completely honest some of the routines didn’t paint me a clear picture in their interpretations, however what I witnessed was pure talent from a cast of 12 dancers who poured their heart and soul into each performance. We were treated to 3 group numbers, a duet and solo during the show, all of which had their own style and were visually all impressive. Each and every performer was able to showcase their talent and it really was a pleasurable evening.
The show does contain some nudity during the first routine whilst at first shocking, in all honesty it enhanced the performance being able to see each movement of the bodies, contorting sensually and expressing how impressive the human body can be. There was some stunning work en pointe which threw in some moments of familiarity with this particular style of dance for me. Each routine was met with rapturous applause and each audience member seemed so appreciative of the talent on display.
The staging, albeit completely minimal did feature a large LED screen filling the entirety of the back of the stage and was used to great effect especially during the final routine which had more of a Cuban party style feel to it. The clever use of moving imagery featuring another troupe of dancers made it feel like the stage had doubled in size and really did finish off what was a fantastic show.
This show was reviewed on the 13th May 2025 at Birmingham Hippodrome where it runs until the 14th May 2025. Tickets available here: https://www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/acosta-danza-cuban-eclectico/
For more information on Acosta Danza please visit : https://www.carlosacosta.com/acosta-danza/
Review written by Emma Rowley
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Photo credit: Johan Persson
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