“I want it to snow in Havana,” Cuban ballet star Carlos Acosta said Monday as he announced a new version of the ballet’s most popular Christmas ice drama, “The Nutcracker.” The Nutcracker in Havana will combine traditional Cuban rhythms and dance with classical ballet, all set to a revised version of Tchaikovsky’s famous score by Cuban composer Pepe Gavilondo.

Acosta grew up in Havana under Fidel Castro’s rule, when he effectively banned Christmas, and Acosta didn’t do it until he left the island in 1993 to join the Houston Ballet. celebrate Christmas. One day, while returning home to live with a company director, he discovered a ballet dancer. The giant tree in the living room. “I said, this guy is crazy! What is he doing planting a tree in his living room?!” But Acosta, who worked at London’s Royal Ballet for 17 years, grew to love the annual celebration. “It’s a great time to bring everyone together,” he said. “I want to bring this experience to my country.”

In Acosta’s vision, the story of Clara (an enchanted Nutcracker doll) and their journey through a magical land of dreams would have a Cuban accent. Clara’s humble wooden house is transformed into a 1940s-style Havana ballroom, a Nutcracker doll becomes Mambi (one of the soldiers who fought against Spain in Cuba’s War of Independence), and toys come to life in the form of Yoruba gods and goddesses. . The show will feature video projection and set design by Nina Dunn.

Twenty-one actors come from Acosta’s Havana-based company, acosta dance. The play will premiere at the Theater Royal, Norwich on 1 November, followed by a UK tour. “You wouldn’t think of Norfolk as the birthplace of Cuban dance, but it often surprises people,” said Stephen Crocker, co-producer of “The Nutcracker” in Havana and CEO of Norwich Theater Crocker said. “Working with Carlos was very inspiring.”

Acosta said “The Nutcracker” is an important piece of the ballet’s repertoire and typically accounts for half of the company’s annual revenue. But the best productions tend to have long runs in a single major theatre. On a mission to open dance to a wider audience, Acosta’s goal was to create a work that could easily tour but “still have magic.”

Born in Havana, Acosta, 50, is one of the greatest ballet dancers of his generation. He retired from the Royal Ballet in 2015, founded Acosta Dance Company in 2016 and has been the director of Birmingham Royal Ballet since 2020. Artistic Director of the company, whose performances include Black Sabbath: Ballet has captured the imaginations of dance fans and newcomers alike. His many other projects include choreography, films, books and a dance academy in Havana. In 2023, he opened acosta dance center Woolwich, south-east London, is the site of the former Royal Arsenal. Yet, on top of everything else, he still found time to work on a new large-scale, all-night ballet. “I just have to keep creating,” Acosta said. “It’s a great feeling when you see the results, a feeling I crave. It’s stressful but it’s great when you do something new and fresh for a new audience. You want to : I want that again.”