Carlos Acosta (b. 1973) is the most internationally celebrated Cuban dancer of his generation — a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet London for over two decades, and the most visible face of Cuban dance talent on the world stage.
Born in Los Pinos, one of Havana's poorer neighbourhoods, the youngest of 11 children, Acosta was enrolled in the National Ballet School by his father at age nine — partly to keep him out of trouble. He trained under the system built by Alicia Alonso and proved to be an exceptional talent.
Acosta joined the English National Ballet, then the Houston Ballet, before becoming a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London in 1998 — a position he held for over 20 years. He was one of the most celebrated classical dancers of his era, known particularly for his performances in Don Quixote, Spartacus, and Romeo and Juliet.
He has also performed and choreographed works that draw on Cuban popular culture and Afro-Cuban tradition, most notably Tocororo (2003), a semi-autobiographical work that incorporated Cuban street dance, Afro-Cuban ritual movement, and popular dance alongside classical technique.
In 2015, Acosta founded Acosta Danza in Havana — a contemporary dance company that combines Cuban dancers trained in classical and contemporary technique with an international artistic vision. The company represents a new direction for Cuban dance beyond the classical ballet tradition.
After retiring from the Royal Ballet in 2016, Acosta returned to Cuba and took on the directorship of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 2020, the institution founded by Alicia Alonso — continuing the tradition she established while bringing a more internationally connected vision.
His autobiography No Way Home (2007) documents his journey from a Havana neighbourhood to international stardom and is one of the most vivid accounts of Cuban life and the experience of Cuban artists abroad.