Javier Torres joined the London Ballet Circle via Zoom for an evening of conversation about his dancing and post-dancing career, with dance writer Graham Watts.
The audience were taken on a journey through Javier’s career, starting with his early beginnings in Cuba, his time at Northern Ballet, and finishing with his current work at the Acosta Dance Foundation.
Along the way, Javier recounted numerous insightful and amusing anecdotes, including failing his first ballet audition, the fierce competition to get into Cuban National Ballet (he joked about getting in despite being consistently bottom of his class!), and working with David Nixon at Northern Ballet. He danced in every single piece created by David over his tenure at Northern, and said that the chance to experiment with the emotional, narrative side of dance led him to stay at the company for so long.
Javier also talked about his work as Managing Director of the Acosta Dance Foundation and the Acosta Dance Centre, having got involved with these charities after being asked by Carlos himself (“Carlos’ passion was contagious”). Javier talked about his work on business strategy and management, and the challenges involved in the running of the charity – yet expressed optimism for the future. The charity is doing fantastic work promoting Cuban dance in Southwest London – Javier recalled being ‘mesmerised’ by the new dance centre in Woolwich and expressed pride in the work the charity does. He said with the business foundation laid, he is excited about what the charity can achieve in future.
A full report of this event is available here. A recording of the talk will be made available to members.