The reviews are in for Acosta Danza: Cuban Baroque, the double bill that Carlos Acosta’s Havana-based company brought to Sadler’s Wells for four nights from 7 October. It pairs Andonis Foniadakis’s new Pearls, built on Esteban Salas’s Salve Regina in a score by Julien Tarride, with Goyo Montero’s Chacona, danced to Bach with a live trio on stage. This is a late roundup, written after the London run closed. The critics agree the dancers are superb; they disagree, sometimes sharply, about whether Pearls earns its length, and two of the cooler notices, Bachtrack and ArtsHub, both prefer the older piece.
3.8 / 5 from 10 criticsThe verdict: twelve notices for the London week, ten of them rated: one five-star, one four-and-a-half, four at four stars, one three-and-a-half and three at three stars, which averages 3.8 out of 5. British Theatre Guide publishes no rating, and The Times showed none outside its paywall. Every critic praises the stamina and precision of the dancers; where they part company is over the choreography. Bachtrack, ArtsHub, Lifted Leg and British Theatre Guide prefer Goyo Montero’s Chacona, while The Spy in the Stalls thinks Andonis Foniadakis’s new Pearls outshines it, and for most of the others Pearls is thrilling but overlong.
What are critics saying about Cuban Baroque?
Plays To See
Reviewer: Tim Hochstrasser
“It was an inspired idea to choose the Chaconne as the baroque inspiration for this collaboration…”
The warmest notice of the run. Hochstrasser admires how both pieces open up the chaconne form to Cuban rhythm, singling out the upper-body eloquence of Pearls and the cooler, near-classical discipline of Chacona. He ends by placing the company at the centre of contemporary dance.
A Young(ish) Perspective
Reviewer: Antonia Constantin
“This is not a rejection of technique but perhaps its most exciting expression: making immense discipline look like complete freedom.”
Constantin reads the evening as a contest between Baroque order and Cuban abandon, and finds the tension productive. She notes that Pearls offers urgency rather than joy, and that Chacona is the more restrained of the two, but she is in no doubt about the dancers’ strength and stamina.
Read Antonia Constantin’s full review at A Young(ish) Perspective
The Reviews Hub
“Fluid, Frenetic and Thrillingly Physical”
Reviewer: Sonny Waheed
“…a thrilling and physical showcase that intrigues, puzzles, amazes, and continually delights.”
Waheed admits that the pairing of syncopated movement with genteel strings can jar for a viewer new to dance, but says that when it clicks the effect is joyous. He praises the ensemble’s synchronisation and the stark lighting that frames the dancing.
The Spy in the Stalls
Reviewer: Hannah Bothelton
“Rarely does a young dance company make such a striking impression, but Acosta Danza does exactly that with ‘Cuban Baroque’.”
Bothelton calls Pearls breathtaking and gives Nicolas Fischtel’s lighting much of the credit. She finds Chacona beautifully made but a little overshadowed by its placing after the premiere, and notes the odd lapse in synchronicity across the larger ensemble passages.
Read Hannah Bothelton’s full review at The Spy in the Stalls
The Arts Dispatch
“Carlos Acosta showcases Cuba’s talent”
Reviewer: Saskia Bibb
“Carlos Acosta has curated a thought-provoking and enjoyable double bill that showcases the remarkable talent coming out of Cuba…”
Bibb enjoys the “disco baroque” of Pearls but thinks the piece does not know when to stop, with several false endings drawing premature applause. Chacona she finds varied and sensitive to Bach, despite some untidy moments and the decision not to open with the Chaconne’s famous first bars.
ArtsHub
“Acosta Danza brings energy and precision to Cuban Baroque”
Reviewer: Dr Diana Carroll
“The dancers may outshine the choreography on this occasion but it is still an interesting and engaging evening of modern dance.”
Carroll calls the bill uneven. She finds Pearls relentless, with sequences that pile up without a clear dramatic line, and rates Chacona the more engaging and expressive work, helped by its live trio of musicians.
Bachtrack
“Adventurous but uneven choreography”
Reviewer: Graham Watts
“…it was regrettably more of the latter, with the new work significantly outshone by the revival.”
Watts, a long-time admirer of the company’s dancers, struggles to find a consistent Baroque flavour in the programme. He finds Pearls disappointing and overlong, likes the lighting but not the women’s costumes, and reserves his praise for Goyo Montero’s Chacona.
The Live Review
“Visually compelling performance that blends the classic and contemporary”
Reviewer: Trisha Cusack
“Cuban Baroque is without a doubt a visually compelling show. If you are not familiar with contemporary dance, it is certainly worth seeing.”
Writing as a self-described newcomer to contemporary dance, Cusack judges on overall impression. She enjoys the duets in Pearls most, finds some sequences a touch long, and welcomes the change of pace in Chacona.
Lifted Leg
Reviewer: Bruce Marriott
“Montero understands structure, pace and how to dazzle us”
Reviewing the opening night, Marriott finds the evening split down the middle. Foniadakis’s Pearls lets him down: relentlessly busy, it throws out idea after idea without developing any of them, and he cannot find its narrative or emotional thread. Montero’s Chacona rescues the night with its control of structure and pace, and he picks out the opening pas de deux as the highlight, though the company’s canon work is less precise than Birmingham Royal Ballet’s.
British Theatre Guide
Reviewer: Vera Liber
“Existential in essence, overthought and over-choreographed. I am ready for the interval.”
Liber, who publishes no star rating, is impressed by the dancers’ energy but finds Pearls overworked. In Chacona it is the live musicians who hold her attention more than the regimented dancing, though she ends on warm words for a company of willing young dancers.
Production photographs by Charlie Kirkpatrick.
Also reviewed by: The Stage (Siobhan Murphy, four stars, “Calls on all of the Acosta Danza’s skills”) and The Times (Teresa Guerreiro, “Cuba’s mighty performers needs better work”), whose reviews sit behind paywalls or could not be read in full.
For more dance from the autumn season, see our roundups of A Centenary Celebration at the Royal Opera House and Stories: The Tap Dance Sensation at the Peacock Theatre.
Acosta Danza: Cuban Baroque played at Sadler’s Wells on 7-10 October 2026, as part of an autumn UK tour that also took in York Theatre Royal (1-3 October) and Norwich Theatre Royal (20-21 October). Further UK dates are to be announced for spring 2027.
For more information, visit the official website.
