Carlos Acosta Premieres

I didn’t know what to expect of Carlos Acosta’s premieres. At first, I imagined it to be another one of his flawless performances in another famous classic ballet piece, but I was mistaken. It took me by surprise to watch his complex yet brilliant sequences.

One of the sections that took my breath away was when Acosta performs a solo called Two. It begins with him standing still at centre stage, caged in a light projection of an orange box. The effect of this giving the impressionthat he is confined and constricted.  There is no set instead it is a bare, pitch black stage which conveys a sense of isolation and solitude. A slow heavy, pounding sound starts. Carlos slowly sways his arm forwards and backwards in a gentle pattern and progresses toward sharper movements. The music then intensifies and there is a direct correlation between his movements and the music.  The dynamics of his actions become more energetic and bold this suggests how frustrated he is becoming at beingconfined. Not only do the music and the actions become rapid but the lights suddenly shift across the stage creating panic. The repetition of certain motifs adds to the frustration as well.

Towards the end, Carlos builds up the suspense along with the music by turning, twisting, punching and kicking gestures to create a dramatic scene, illustrating a frantic dance between the speed of movements and lights.

Carlos continues with the frantic sequence until he stops abruptly and so does the music. The lights fade in to darkness.

Out of all the six pieces, Two was an astonishing performance leaving me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. I can now understand why the choreography was named Two because the dancer and the music both have a direct correlation to each other meaning they’re both connected as one but are regarded as two.

Show on 7th August 2010