Londoner’s Diary: Carlos Acosta on the pandemic’s heavy toll on ballet

Carlos Acosta

(Picture: Dave Benett)

BALLET star Carlos Acosta says his art is suffering due to a lack of dancers coming through during Covid. “There is not a lot of talent out there now because of the pandemic,” he said. The Cuban, inset, who was a principal at London’s Royal Ballet for over a decade and now runs Birmingham Royal Ballet, said the standard had dropped.

“We are suffering because the talent is not ready to be thrown into... complex ballets” he claimed. Acosta told The Stage that remote practice had been harder for young dancers “restricted to training on your own, in your own confined space” at home.