The first dancers of the National Ballet of Cuba (BNC), Anette Delgado and Dani Hernández, will travel to the United Kingdom at the beginning of January to perform as guests of Acosta Danza, the company directed by the renowned Cuban artist Carlos Acosta, OK with Cubadebate.
The group will present its version of Nutcracker in several British cities in England and Scotland, including Sheffield, Aberdeen, Inverness, Chester, York, Edinburgh and Norwich. Delgado and Hernández, two emblematic figures of Cuban ballet, will participate in this tour, contributing their renowned technical precision and stylistic elegance.
Nutcracker occupies a central place in the artistic career of both performers, who have reached a high level of stage maturity in this work and will have the opportunity to demonstrate it to the British public. Their participation adds a seal of distinction to the proposal of Acosta Danza, a company characterized by integrating contemporary, folkloric and urban languages with elements of classical ballet.
Carlos Acosta He conceived his own version of the classic released in Russia in 1892, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, moving the action to Havana and recreating Christmas from his childhood memories, with his own rituals, fantasies and atmospheres.
The show, titled Nutcracker in Havanapremiered in 2024 in the United Kingdom and received praise from specialized critics, who highlighted its energy and the arrangements and orchestration by Pepe Gavilondo and Yasel Muñoz, where Latin rhythms, jazz and other styles come together.
“Acosta has created a fun and festive variety show, as warm and endearing as he himself,” wrote Lyndsey Winship in Guardianwhich awarded the piece four stars. For his part, Mark Monahan, head of dance criticism at The Telegraphdescribed the work as “a fascinating and unusual spectacle” and a completely new reinterpretation of the classic, “full of little surprises.”
Nutcracker in Havana It is the first large-format work created by Acosta Danza and has a cast made up mostly of graduates of the company’s academy, along with special guests such as Delgado and Hernández.
The first dancer of the BNC opened the season of Don Quixote that the company develops at the National Theater of Cuba, and will be in charge of closing it on January 1, 2026.
