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Carlos Acosta

Sue Lawley's castaway is dancer Carlos Acosta.

Sue Lawley's castaway is the dancer Carlos Acosta. Carlos Acosta is one of the greatest ballet dancers of his generation. He is the first black principal dancer at Covent Garden. Tocororo, the show about his own life, that he wrote, choreographed and starred in, broke box office records at Sadlers Wells and in his homeland of Cuba he is a national hero.

But his extraordinary success has followed an even more remarkable journey from the impoverished back streets of Havana. He was the youngest of 11 children and, as a boy, his only ambition was to be a footballer. At the age of nine, his father sent him to ballet school - inspired not by art, but by the promise of free school meals and the hope that his increasingly delinquent son would be brought into line by the strict regime. Carlos hated it, was bullied by his friends and was twice expelled.

The first time, his father persuaded the school to take him back, the second, his father found another ballet school and secured Carlos a place there as a boarder. It was only there, at the age of 13, that he had an epiphany. Seeing the Cuban National Ballet perform he decided he did want to follow that path. At the age of 16 he travelled for the first time to Europe, he won four major dance competitions in one year and his career as an international ballet dancer was launched.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Bacalao Con Pan by Irakere
Book: Dirty Trilogy of Havana by Pedro Juan GutiΓ©rrez
Luxury: Case of Havana rum

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 7 Jan 2005 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • NG La Banda

    Echale Limon

    • Beginners Guide to Cuba: CD2 Jazzy Cuba.
    • Nascente.

  • Ludwig Minkus

    Variation Basilio

    Orchestra: Sofia National Opera Orchestra Conductor: Boris Spassov

    • Don Quixote.
    • Capriccio.

  • Andrea Morricone

    Love Theme

    Orchestra: Unione Musicisti of Rome

    • Cinema Paradiso Soundtrack.
    • DRG.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major

    Soloist: Malcolm Bilson Choir: The English Baroque Soloists Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

    • Mozart: Piano Ctos, Nos 20 & 21.
    • Archiv.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Irakere

      Bacalao Con Pan

      • Hot Latin Grooves: La Havana Real.
      • Piesd.

  • Jimi Hendrix

    Voodoo Chile

    • Electric Ladyland.
    • MCA.

  • Abraham Mansfarroll

    Sonata Oriental

    • Tocaroro - Soundtrack.
    • Discos Como No.

  • Polo MontaΓ±ez

    Un MontΓ³n de Estrellas

    • Guajiro Natural.
    • Editions Lusafrica.

  • Book Choice

    • Dirty Trilogy of Havana - Pedro Juan GutiΓ©rrez

  • Luxury Choice

    • Case of Havana rum

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Carlos Acosta

Broadcasts

  • Sun 2 Jan 2005 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 7 Jan 2005 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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