If a show can be simultaneously a mixed bag and also rather same-y, this was it. This year’s tour of Carlos Acosta’s On Before opened with two sold-out performances in Edinburgh and rapturous standing ovations each night from audiences who clearly love Acosta and cannot bear to let him go. Hardly surprising: he’s always had style, good looks, personality and technical ability in spades and despite ‘retiring’ from full-time dancing eight years ago he’s lost very little of that. If audiences want him to carry on, he’s happy to do just that, so now, at 51, he’s back on the road in a slightly revised version of his 2021 show, a collection of nine pieces by contemporary choreographers loosely held in the framework of a relationship plotted through love, loss and mourning. At least, that’s the idea.
Although some of the short works were made specially for this programme, most (from established names like Kim Brandstrup and Russell Maliphant) were originally created on other dancers. This ought to have led to some variation but curiously (and in the absence of programme details) it was quite hard to distinguish one from another. This may be a minor critic’s gripe though, as the actual performances, were what people had come to see.
Acosta shared the stage with the Cuban Laura Rodriguez, guesting from Acosta Danza and they are a striking pairing: she is whip-slim and has a lovely, pliant body which her solos, Yuri Yanowsky’s Sirin and Brandstrup’s Footnote to Ashton, showed off to perfection. And, as we could see, he is in great shape. On stage together they carried the elusive narrative. The opening image of Acosta seated in a spotlight, Rodriguez lying at his feet, bled into Will Tuckett’s slo-mo, tender duet On Before. Lots of arm movement, quiet sculptural poses and pliant back-bends from Rodriguez made for a loving if nostalgic start. This was also the closing image: in the intervening episodes the lovers have met, parted, quarrelled and perhaps died. Lines of people in black street clothes have wandered on and off between one piece and another (perhaps providing breathing space but who knew?).
There’s been rather a lot of Acosta bare-chested in the spotlight, mainly confined to floor work punctuated by occasional leaps (which are still astounding) and a lot of what used to be called ‘sculpting space’ with outstretched arms. To be honest, what with the spotlight and the toned musculature, some of it came dangerously close to being a bit gym-bunny… However, Russell Maliphant’s Two – widely produced but known mainly in performances by Sylvie Guillem (on whom it fitted like a glove) – redeemed him from this. Confined in the square of semi-darkness, his whole body following hands that seem to have a life of their own, the piece showed off his elegance: arms stretching, hands twining, sometimes recalling t’ai chi, now stillness, now a quick bit of kick-boxing. It’s always been a lovely piece and it suits him now down to the ground.
But somewhere in the middle of the second half it all went a bit crazy. Suddenly there were visual projections, over-amplified music, video film of water with pairs of paddling feet… It certainly changed the mood, but resolution came in the shape of Nosotros, another duet that allowed the lovers to re-visit a relationship that now seemed doomed. The folk in black were finally revealed to be the Edinburgh University Singers, who closed the evening with the moving O Magnum Mysterium as a tribute to Acosta’s mother, who died as he was working on the show.
All male dancers confront the salutary example of Nureyev, who also kept on dancing simply because he couldn’t bear to give it up, long after the legendary spring and energy had abandoned him. Acosta, it must be said, is nowhere near that but, recognising his physical limitations, he has chosen the pieces with care. If On Before lacks a bit of variety, it’s still well worth watching.
