All About Manchester

King of cool

From breakdancing in the backstreets of Havana to conquering the world of international ballet, Carlos Acosta is as famous for his rags-to-riches story as for his prodigious talent. He tells All About Manchester editor Evie Lucas he can't wait to storm into Salford this month.

"Hello?" a deep, warm voice says after a few telephone rings.

"Hello, is that Carlos?" I ask, as if I could mistake that voice.

"Yes," he answers, struggling to be heard over the city noise in the background.

"I'm leaving the Opera House now, it's very loud here."

There is nothing extraordinary about that beginning to what may appear to be an ordinary conversation between two ordinary people. Only the person who is walking in the streets of London chatting to me on his mobile is anything but ordinary. He is Carlos Acosta, the legend, perhaps the greatest male ballet dancer of his generation and certainly the most famous one.

I wonder whether the people passing him on the street stop to give him a second look, whether they know that this handsome 34-year-old man with the corkscrew curls and rich Latino accent is the coolest man in dance.

"Your manager said you're flying to Russia in a couple of days, your schedule must be very heavy," I comment.

"I'm going to join the Bolshoi for a few performances, taking the lead role in Spartacus, then straight to Manchester for the Manchester International Festival and then back to London for more shows," he says cheerfully.

"With all this travelling, which place do you call home these days?" I ask.

He does not hesitate to repeat the same answer he has given countless times in interviews since he made the big time: "I spend most of my time in London but Havana is still my home in my heart. That's where my family and relatives are, that's where I feel I belong."

Carlos Acosta was born in 1973 in Havana, the son of a truck driver with 11 children. At ten he started to run wild, breakdancing in the streets with his mates, mixing with the wrong crowd and causing havoc, until his father decided to send him to ballet school to clean up his act.

He explains: "I was a breakdancing champion and I dreamt of being a football player but my father was not the type you could mess with. If he said I had to be a ballet dancer then that's what I was going to be. Ballet was forced on me, it was not what I wanted to do, and it took me a long time to get used to it but I eventually started to love it."

At 16 he was crowned the world's best young ballet dancer when he won the gold medal at the Prix de Lausanne, his first competition. And he has not stopped winning prestigious awards since.

It did not take Acosta long to rise to ballet stardom, with his natural athleticism, dramatic charisma and magnificent elegance. When he performs, the hair-raising aura of power and danger he exudes keeps his audiences on the edge of their seats, while his raw sex appeal and beautiful smile have melted hearts across the world.

His phenomenal international success eventually landed him in London, where he is currently the principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden. But the melancholy in his voice when he talks about Cuba tells me he has found it difficult to fit in, which he unhesitatingly confirms.

"The first few years it was really so depressing, I couldn't find my pace in the city. So I had a decision to make - I could either pack my bag and go or stay and keep persevering. I stayed and eventually I came to appreciate the greatness of the city."

"You'll like Manchester better," I promise. "We may not be known to dance in the streets but we are generally happy, friendly people."

He laughs. "Excellent. Manchester, here I come! I don't know your city very well, this is going to be my first big show there, although I remember back in 1991, when I was a member of the English National Ballet, I danced in Manchester with the company."

"So how come you became involved with Manchester International Festival?" I ask.

"The organisers approached me through my producer to see if we could collaborate in new creations. I liked the idea behind the festival, I thought it reflected my work ethos of always going for something new, of pushing the boundaries. So I thought this could be the beginning of a long collaboration."

This year, for the inaugural Manchester International Festival, Acosta will be performing Tocororo: A Cuban Tale, a semi-autobiographical dance spectacular, which marked his debut as choreographer.

"This year I'm teaming up with Danza Contemporaria de Cuba to bring to Manchester some work that has never been shown in the UK before. Unfortunately, because of my schedule this time around, I couldn't create anything especially for the festival although we did talk about that possibility and I'm hoping to do that next time."

"There are great expectations of your Manchester shows, does that make you feel nervous?" I ask, then realise how stupid that question was - this is a man who has performed in front of everyone from Fidel Castro to the Queen. I'm grateful to him for not giving me an equally lame answer.

"I don't have time to get nervous with all the things that I have on. I'm dancing constantly and I'm taking it one step at a time, doing the best that I can. One thing you can count on for sure is that I will really give my very best, and that is the only thing I can do."

And with that, the interview is over and Carlos Acosta continues his journey - a journey that he hopes will one day take him home.

Carlos Acosta performs at The Lowry in Salford on July 13 and 14 as part of Manchester International Festival. To book your tickets call 0871 230 1888 or go to www.manchesterinternationalfestival.com. His autobiography, entitled 'No Way Home' comes out this October.

Photography: Gavin Evans

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King of cool

From breakdancing in the backstreets of Havana to conquering the world of international ballet, Carlos Acosta is as famous for his rags-to-riches story as for his prodigious talent. He tells All About Manchester editor Evie Lucas he can't wait to storm into Salford this month.