Carlos Acosta, dancer: Ballet is for everyone

“It's very important that we expose this work early on, so that people from different cultures see ballet as a way of a career. But in the 1990s or 2000s, it was pretty much closed, we didn't have - even in school - a lot of black ballet dancers from which to choose from. But now, obviously, things have moved on. Now, diversity is at the top of every director's agenda… it's great that we’ve seen a big shift and we see the right kind of representation of the world as we have it today, on stage.”

Michael Berkeley speaks to ballet star Carlos Acosta about his life and career.

Born in 1973, Acosta grew up in a poor part of Havana, where he was the 11th child in a very large family.

He began training at the National Ballet School of Cuba at 9 years old, and quickly rose to prominence. At 18, he became the youngest principal dancer at the English National Ballet.

After gaining further international experience, Acosta joined the Royal Ballet in 1998 - making it his home for nearly two decades, and performing every major classical role. Such was his impact, in 2014 he received a CBE in Queen Elizabeth’s honours list for services to ballet.

Now the Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, he’s fostered some unexpected collaborations, including a show based on the music of the city’s heavy rock legends Black Sabbath, as well as classics like Swan Lake and the Nutcracker.

Thank you to the Private Passions team for their help in making this programme.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Oscar-winning filmmaker Sir Christopher Nolan, music icon Chaka Khan, and artist Tracey Emin. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Michael Berkeley

Producers: Ben Cooper and Clare Walker

Editor: Damon Rose

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(Image: Carlos Acosta. Credit: Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)