Power pointe

Ballet has always been more than just a job for Carlos Acosta. And as director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, he is trying to make it bigger than ever

Lyndsey Winship

Gone are the times when you used to just create for your own indulgence,” says Carlos Acosta. Now, when it comes to running a major ballet company, and keeping it afloat, “You have to learn from your audience.” Acosta has always been a crowd-pleaser, ever since he took the top prize at the Prix de Lausanne competition in 1990, the auditorium erupting in cheers at the then 16-year-old Cuban’s Don Quixote solo. He went on to fire up adoring audiences around the world, settling at London’s Royal Ballet for 17 years, but making global guest appearances as one of the few genuine ballet superstars. He’s talking to me from an unstarry grey office in Birmingham. But even the unflattering rectangle of a video call can’t dampen his crinkle-eyed smile, and…

You're reading a preview of

Guardian Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, 14 February 2025

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.