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World-famous Cuban dancer, Carlos Acosta Dances Lead Role in London Premiere
The new ballet, entitled 'Rushes, Fragments of a Lost Story, had its premiere at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. It is the first ballet choreographed by Danish choreographer Kim Brandstrup for the Royal Ballet.

The music is an unedited score written by Prokofiev in 1936 -the same year as 'Romeo and Juliet- for a movie version of Pushkin's 'Queen of Spades that Serguéi Eisenstein did not finish.

British composer Michael Berkeley was in charge of turning 24 musical fragments by Prokofiev, discovered at the London Goldsmiths College's Prokofiev archive, into a 30-minute ballet.

The great Cuban dancer plays the leading male role, accompanied by two well-known female dancers: Spanish Laura Morena and Rumanian Alina Cojocaru.

There is an alternative cast, made up of equally famous dancers, among them British Tom Whitehead, who will dance with Spanish prima ballerina Tamara Rojo -a dancer with the Royal Ballet company - and Australian Leanne Benjamin.

Kim Brandstrup, 50, has a long, successful career and runs a company of his own, Arc, for which he has choreographed several works inspired by 'Hamlet, 'Otelo, 'Orfeo and 'The Idiot.

He told the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, that from the very beginning he wanted Acosta to dance his new work at Covent Garden.

"He has a male strength that does not overwhelm and that is very nice to see on stage", he said. Acosta, 35, is approaching the end of his career as a ballet dancer. "Im thinking of perhaps devoting three more years to classic ballet and another two to other specific projects. Then, I shall retire from the stage. Im slowing down", he told the Telegraph.

He added that the part he has liked best performing is that of Spartacus which he played last year with the Bolshoi Company. He said he would like to play the part again with the Royal Ballet.

The Cuban dancer expressed his satisfaction with his part in the ballet Rushes: "I think it's a great ballet, which reflects the sensitivity of Kim Brandstrup, his way of interpreting music. The problem is to get a choreographer that really knows how to take advantage of what the dancer has to offer. It seems to me that what can happen sometimes is that the real star on stage is the choreography and the dancers are merely used to that end. Dancers go from one side to the other on stage simply to glorify the choreographer's work."

(EFE)

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