Thursday 1st October 2026 at York Theatre Royal
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Acosta Danza’s Cuban Baroque is quite an experience. Blending the vibrant intricacy of the Baroque era with the energy of Cuban dance, the company brilliantly merges the contemporary and the classic, making for a very entertaining evening.
The company are of course incredibly skilled and talented, not just in precision and expressive movement, but also in sheer stamina. The lasting impression of the first piece – Andonis Foniadakis’ “Pearls” – is energy. Frantic, joyous, fractious, passionate and desperate; thrilling energy with seemingly boundless reserves.
The Baroque influence is keenly felt in dramatised tableauxs – freezing a moment in time before returning to fluid movement. Musical highlights include the intensity in Esteban Sallas’ Salve Regina and surprising elements akin to tribal drums, the pounding bass of nightlife and fleeting moments of calm. Most impressive of all though in “Pearls” are the spectacular bursts of impressive synchronicity en masse, featuring the whole company moving in close proximity – it is never less than captivating.
The second piece is Goyo Montero’s “Chacona”, which slows the pace somewhat and shifts to more classical stylistic choices. Live musicians take more of a spotlight here too, and there’s something about movement and music fusing in the moment that elevates each element – here it brings an extra layer of magic and feeling, delivering the final movement of Bach’s Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied by guitar and piano. The impressive synchronicity from the first performance also returns, and there are yet more impactful, dramatic displays of precise movement in close proximity, perfectly in unison or canon sequences to provide some of the best visuals of the evening.
Cuban Baroque is at York Theatre Royal until 3rd October 2026 – more information and tickets can be found here. Next stop Sadler’s Wells.
Credits:
For Pearls:
Choreography Andonis Foniadakis
Musical Composer Julien Tarride
Costumes Anastasios Tassos Sofroniou
Lighting Design Nicolas Fischtel
Stager Pierre Magendie
For Chacona:
Choreographer and Set Design Goyo Montero
Created in 2011 for Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett
Music J.S.Bach
Costume Design Verena Hemmerlein and Goyo Montero
Lighting Design Goyo Montero and Nicolas Fischtel
Stagers Ivan Delgado del Rio and Carlos Lazaro
Performers:
Frank Isaac
Alexander Arias
Aniel Pazos
Ernesto Muñoz
Rolando Dieguez
Miguel Gomez
Amado Mancebo
Thalía Cardín
Melisa Moreda
Daniella Urgelles
Cynthia Laffertte
Ofelia Rodríguez
Wendy Elizabeth
Carolina Monteagudo
María Del Carmen Pantoja
Musicians:
Pepe Gavilondo
Maria Lusson
Adrian Aguiar
Image: Charlie Kirkpatrick
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