NEXT GENERATION

Sadler’s Wells East

★★★★

“The dancers show their beauty and abundance of talent throughout”

One of the thrilling experiences in theatre and performance is to see the stars of tomorrow start to emerge. Not yet fully formed, but with many of the jigsaw pieces in place. Who, might you guess, will rise to the heights and who fall by the wayside?

We can imagine the excitement of the ballet world when a boy, turning 18, the 11th child of an impoverished working class family in Havana won the gold medal at the Prix de Lausanne – before climbing to the peak of international ballet. Now, for the next three nights at Sadlers Wells East, we get to see how Carlos Acosta – now founder of the Cuban Dance Academy and Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet – is paving the way for others like him. Ten extraordinary young graduates from Acosta’s junior academy are performing four pieces in a programme that is vibrant, full of energy and poignancy, and that draws heavily on Cuba’s cultural heritage.

Acosta Danza Yunior is only three years old, designed to be a bridge for 18-21 year olds between the Academy and Acosta Danza. So what we have here is technical skill and youthful energy in its first flowering. Every one of the dancers casts on stage the shadow of their devotion to dance and the discipline of their training. We also have lovely pieces by artistic creators connected to Acosta and Cuba: Susana Pous, Didy Veldman and Juliano Nunes.

The first piece, in two parts, is a fluid and tragic exposition of migration. Eight dancers come together in bounded space – an interpretation of island – flow as if a single structure and then break up as individuals silently depart and those that remain briefly mourn. Lighting streams from the side and an overhanging sun/moon light up the otherwise dark scene. One note on the programme – it lists one piece for the first half of the evening but it unfolds as two parts — it seems to be a work sitting somewhere between a single vision and two distinct pieces.

In the second half, two dancers open with Kit Holder’s Capriccio, inspired by René Magritte’s ‘The Lovers’. It is a physical and evocative exploration of connectedness and separation. For the final piece the eight dancers of the first half return in a journey the programme describes as ‘from general sentiment to spiritual essence’. It appears to echo some of the ideas of the first half of the show, but is subtle in its emotion and enhanced by a fragile art installation by Glenda Leon of water lily flowers moving and hanging overhead.

The dancers show their beauty and abundance of talent throughout. Not yet in their prime, some emotional depth has yet to be developed in their performance. This will no doubt come as they move forward, and extraordinary connection replaces what seems a degree of reticence in feelings. Overall, this is a rare opportunity to see what may be to come for international dance and where Carlos Acosta may still be achieving his best.

NEXT GENERATION

Sadler’s Wells East

Reviewed on 17th June 2026

by Louise Sibley

Photography by Jayne Jackson

NEXT GENERATION

★★★

“a deeply psychological and metaphysical piece”

Six dancers perch precariously in semi-light on the edge of a revolving disk that, at 10 metres wide, occupies most of the performance space. For the next hour or so they will be trapped here, moving painfully across its constantly revolving surface, sometimes dragged along just under its edge. They will come together in a concert of movement and voice; briefly unified at some interludes, only to fall away into separation; to be saved and then to be dragged across the disc. Just as death seems to approach, individuals will recover only to collapse again.

Remachine is a very dark exploration of the relationship between humans and technology. During the interplay between the dancers and the “inescapable hyper-mechanised environment of their own making” it becomes clear that they are as trapped as refugees on a detainee island. However often they draw away and whatever movement towards progress they seem to make, they are pulled back into the circle and the inevitable spinning of the disk. There is no joy in this world, only dysfunctional collaboration and a form of harmony.

Choreographer and dancer Jefta van Dinther takes a bleak view of the technical world in this piece but his interpretation of it through full body movement and evocative sound is brilliant. He has brought us a haunting vision of dystopia. To achieve this, dance is interwoven with singing and music — the sound designer is van Dinther’s frequent collaborator David Kiers — based on the works of gothic-style composer Anna von Hausswolff. Lighting design by Jonathan Winbo completes the atmosphere of continual tension and release. The six creator-performers are tested to their limits and deliver, continuously.

Make no mistake, this is a difficult piece to watch with almost no leavening. There is perhaps one song performed upstage beyond the disk which appears to bring hope as the singer dancers gradually become upright. But this is lost in an instant as dark descends and they are back on the revolve. It does have the feeling of a workshop piece, but it is so highly refined and skilled in execution that it has had to make its way to the main stage. As an audience member I found it a little too long — and painful in that length — but also a deeply psychological and metaphysical piece that is right at the forefront of contemporary dance in casting a light on the challenges of our time.

Tag Archives: Louise Sibley

NEXT GENERATION

★★★★

Sadler’s Wells East

NEXT GENERATION

Sadler’s Wells East

★★★★

“The dancers show their beauty and abundance of talent throughout”