No Way Home: A Cuban Dancer’s Story
The rags-to-riches story of one of the world’s greatest dancers, from his difficult beginnings living in poverty in the backstreets of Cuba to his astronomical rise to international stardom.In 1980, Carlos Acosta was just another Cuban kid of humble origins, the youngest son in a poor family named after the planter who had owned his great-great-grandfather. With few options and an independent spirit, Carlos spent his days on the streets, dreaming of a career in football.But even at a young age, Carlos had extraordinary talent. At nine, he was skipping school to win break-dancing competitions as the youngest member of a street-gang for whom dance contests were only a step away from violence. When Carlos’s father enrolled him in ballet school, he hoped not only to nuture his son’s talent, but also to curb his wildness. Years of loneliness, conflict and crippling physical effort followed, but today the Havana street-kid is an international star.This magical memoir is about more than Carlos’s rise to stardom, however. It is the story of a childhood where food is scarce but love is abundant, where the soul of Cuba comes alive to influence a dancer’s art. It is also about a man forced to leave behind his homeland and loved ones for a life of self-discipline, displacement and brutal physical hardship. Carlos Acosta makes dance look effortless, but the grace, strength and charm have come a cost – here, in his own words, is the story of the price he paid.
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CARLOS ACOSTA
No Way Home
William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
This Harper Perennial edition published 2008
First published in Great Britain by Harper Press in 2007
Copyright © Carlos Acosta 2007
Original translation into English © Kate Eaton 2007
Carlos Acosta asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technologial constraints in operation at the time of publciation
Source ISBN: 9780007250776
Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2009 ISBN: 9780007287437
Version: 2017-05-03
From the reviews of No Way Home:
‘The dazzling Carlos Acosta is the Cuban Billy Elliot. In his extraordinary memoir, the crippling physical effort of becoming a ballet dancer, the slog, the agony of injuries, the rivalries and bitchiness are vividly evoked. His fascinating recollections suggest Acosta is a tormented genius’
Daily Mail
‘From the atmospheric depiction of his poor childhood in Havana to his domination of the world of dance, this is a truly inspiring tale’
Sunday Telegraph
‘The life of the ballet dancer Carlos Acosta has all the hallmarks of a bestseller. Acosta’s voice is instantly likeable, and you follow his discovery of the trappings of the west and his quest to make his name at the Royal Ballet with a mixture of wonder, respect and, crucially, affection’
Financial Times
‘A superb book’
Daily Express
‘Acosta writes vividly about these poor but happy years, bringing the streets of Los Pinos to life’
Dancing Times
‘Warm and funny’
Economist
Contents
Title PageCopyrightReviewPart One: 1973–1988Chapter One: My FamilyChapter Two: The PhotographChapter Three: BeginningChapter Four: The First Grand PliéChapter Five: Plagued By UncertaintyChapter Six: With Hate In My HeartChapter Seven: A PrisonerChapter Eight: Pinar Del RíoPart Two: 1989–1993Chapter Nine: Take OffChapter Ten: The Grand Prix De LausanneChapter Eleven: History Repeats ItselfChapter Twelve: Chery’s DecisionChapter Thirteen: London At EighteenChapter Fourteen: A Year Without DancingChapter Fifteen: Beginning AgainChapter Sixteen: MadridPart Three: 1993–2003Chapter Seventeen: Fears And InsecuritiesChapter Eighteen:Chapter Nineteen: The World Will Be MineChapter Twenty: Goodbye HoustonChapter Twenty-One: The Lady And The Three MusketeersChapter Twenty-Two: A Moment Of HappinessAcknowledgementsAbout the AuthorAbout the Publisher
I grew up in Los Pinos, a neighbourhood in the suburbs of Havana, a combination of city and country where asphalt streets and wooden houses vividly contrast with the vegetation that fills every available space and lends the landscape infinite varieties of green. Los Pinos was famous for La Finca, a leafy area of fruit trees and red earth covering some five square kilometres, extending as far as the Quinta Canaria Convent to the east, the district of La Güinera to the north and Vieja Linda to the west. Legend had it that La Finca was inhabited by spirits who turned themselves into owls and hooted not only at night-time but also during daylight hours.
To reach La Finca you had to climb a hill past the Russian lorry repair shop and carry on until you got to Cundo’s place. Cundo was the best known salesman in the neighbourhood. His house was essentially a small cooperative which sold sugar cane, coconuts, fresh goat’s milk, mangos and tobacco. A few metres on were the fibreboard caves – half-finished abandoned houses, their floors lined with pieces of cardboard, with grass and weeds growing high around them. This spot was commonly known as the Place of Infidelity. After crossing the first of several streams, where you could fish for prawns, there were natural caves draped with green creepers and huge malanga plants known as elephants’ ears. From there you could no longer see the lorry repair shop, nor Cundo’s house. The tall royal palms and the avocado and mamey bushes blocked out the sun, making the air dank and humid. The terrain became increasingly irregular. Hills would suddenly loom up that were awkward to climb. You had to part the undergrowth with a garabato, a hooked stick usually made from a tree branch, then help yourself along by grabbing on to tree trunks. The atmosphere was full of enchantment as the spirits-turned-owls hooted out their sorrows and songs all around you.
