I went to see Carlos Acosta's new show Premieres Plus at the Lowry last night. I've never seen him before but obviously am well aware of his reputation as one of the leading male dancers of his generation.
Well, the packed Lowry audience seemed to lap it up. 'Are you enjoying it? It's very powerful,' said the man next to me returning to his seat after the interval. Well, no, I wasn't. I thought it was samey, lazy and that his fellow dancer Zenaida Yanowsky completely outclassed him in a programme of nine pieces involving ten choreographers that with the exception of Russell Maliphant's Two looked almost the same. I thought Acosta himself was emotionally blank and musclebound. There were very occasional flashes of brilliance with his upper body and arms (mostly thanks to Maliphant) but there was little use of the stage and none of the speed or aerial grace or charisma on which he has built his reputation. In fact the show was about 40% good lighting.
Disappointing.
And what makes it worse is that I was there with my reviewers hat on. This is what I came up with.![]()
Well, the packed Lowry audience seemed to lap it up. 'Are you enjoying it? It's very powerful,' said the man next to me returning to his seat after the interval. Well, no, I wasn't. I thought it was samey, lazy and that his fellow dancer Zenaida Yanowsky completely outclassed him in a programme of nine pieces involving ten choreographers that with the exception of Russell Maliphant's Two looked almost the same. I thought Acosta himself was emotionally blank and musclebound. There were very occasional flashes of brilliance with his upper body and arms (mostly thanks to Maliphant) but there was little use of the stage and none of the speed or aerial grace or charisma on which he has built his reputation. In fact the show was about 40% good lighting.
Disappointing.
And what makes it worse is that I was there with my reviewers hat on. This is what I came up with.
