Carlos Acosta: The Reluctant Dancer

Author Margaret Willis
Like many boys, Acosta skipped school to play football. His father's solution to his unruly behaviour was to send him to ballet school where he would be disciplined, trained and fed - for free. It was many years before Carlos came to accept a pursuit he saw as 'sissy'. Today he is the world's most stunning classical ballet dancers, admired internationally for his magnetic presence. This is his story.
Publisher: Arcadia Books | ISBN no: 978-1-906413-712 | Year:

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As one of the world’s most amazing classical ballet dancers, Carlos Acosta is admired for his firecracker, yet refined technique, for his riveting acting and for his magnetic presence on stage. Whenever he takes to that stage, there is a collective intake of breath from the audience.

 Margaret Willis’ Carlos Acosta: The reluctant dancer charts the career trajectory of this exceptional ballet maverick who has captured the hearts of audiences worldwide. Willis travelled to Cuba in 1990, where she first saw Acosta and has continued to follow his career ever since.

Carlos Acosta grew up in a cramped apartment in Havana, Cuba, knowing poverty, hardship and numerous family tragedies. He roamed the streets barefoot when he should have been in school, stole fruit from neighbours’ orchards, and wanted nothing more than to be a footballer like any other young boy.

Fearing for his future, his father enrolled him in ballet school where he would be disciplined, trained for a career, and fed. It was many a long year before young Acosta would accept the strict demands of a pursuit he viewed as ‘sissy’.

Today he is considered a national treasure in his own country, and a matinee idol to global dance-goers. Acosta is one of the most brilliant dancers in the world and his life story, a rags-to-riches story of a most unusual kind, is a source of hope and inspiration to us all. A must read.