But i obviously grew up watching him pursue a passion. My sister did a lot of gymnastics, a bit of dancing, and as a seven year old, i asked my father if i could have a go. I wanted to go to a dance lesson, and my mother and father didn t even question any of it bearing in mind we didn t go to the theatre, we didn t go to galleries, or. . . I was not exposed to the arts. But they found a local school around the corner, and we now can fully appreciate that little local school had some of the best teachers you could ever come across. And you had this very rapid rise through your teens. You performed at the opening ceremony of the sydney olympics, and then you started to win international ballet competitions. The first teachers i had unleashed this tiger within me. So, then it was when i was about 13 or 14, which again shows you just how incredible my first teachers were, that they felt they d taken me so far, and it was time to hand me on they introduced me to my teacher in sydney, h
Steven mcrae, welcome to hardtalk. We re here at the royal ballet and opera in london, which has been your professional home for many years now, and you re about to go back on stage as the mad hatter in alice s adventures in wonderland. Tell me first how this adventure began for you, the world of ballet. Because you grew up far away from here. Yes. So i grew up in the outskirts of sydney, australia. Probably the furthest you could possibly get from the royal opera house here in london. I grew up in a motorsport family. My father was a drag racer. My father was an incredibly clever man who would create any parts with his own bare hands that he couldn t afford to purchase or to import. But i obviously grew up watching him pursue a passion. My sister did a lot of gymnastics, a bit of dancing, and as a seven year old, i asked my father if i could have a go. I wanted to go to a dance lesson, and my mother and father didn t even question any of it. Bearing in mind we didn t go to the theatre
Hello, im john wilson, welcome to this cultural life, the radio 4 podcast in which i talk to leading creative figures about the key moments of their life and the most important cultural works that have fired their imagination and had a profound impact on their own art. My guest is carlos acosta, the cuban born ballet star who, over a 30 year career, is now regarded as one of the greatest dancers of all time, becoming the first black principal of the royal ballet and set new standards of grace and athleticism in theatres around the world. Having retired from the classical stage, he set up his own cuban dance company, and is also a director of the berlin royal ballet. Welcome. Lets start in cuba, with your family, your upbringing. A happy childhood . Very happy, i must say, although in the 80s in cuba, our family was i would say, it was poorer than most families but still there was a big big sense of community. It was a good time for cuba anybody could participate, do everything that so
She was stunning. Modellike. She had that personality, that happiness from within. Men found anna, irresistible. I see her, my angel of light. I called her my muse. They wrote her poetry, gave her gifts. How much money did he give anna . 46,000. He some kind of sugar daddy . Thats what it appears to be. She was found dead in her house. Shes lying on the ground blood coming out of her mouth. Who would do this to her . With so many Men In Her Life, so many potential suspects. He knew an awful lot about her routines and who she dated. He is trying to get into her Bank Accounts her emails. Hes a direct beneficiary of a large sum of cash, thats someone were gonna look at. Could this strange clue, reveal a killer . There was a locked drawer inside the drawer was a letter in russian. That letter gave you a window into what was really happening . Right. We were confident he was gonna be our guy. Reporter of all the places a beautiful, bright, young russian might end up frisco, texas might not
Hello. Imjohn wilson. Welcome to this cultural life, the radio 4 Podcast Series in which i talk to leading creative figures about the key moments of their life and the most important cultural works that have fired their imagination and had a profound impact on their own art. My guest is carlos acosta, the cuban born ballet star who, over a 30 year career, is now regarded as one of the greatest dancers of all time. He became the first black principal of the royal ballet and set new standards of grace and athleticism in theatres around the world. Having retired from the classical stage, he set up his own cuban dance company, acosta danza, and is also director of the birmingham royal ballet. Welcome. Lets start in cuba, with your family, your upbringing. A happy childhood . Very happy, i must say, although in the 80s in cuba, still, our family was on the. I would say it was poorer than most families, but still there was a big, big sense of community. It was a good time for cuba anybody c