Carlos Acosta on stage with Tamara Rojo. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
Carlos Acosta, after his deeply charming show Tocoroco, a semiautobiographical story told through dance about his upbringing in Cuba, provided an object lesson in how to be gracious and modest as a performer. Despite the fact that he had both created the show and danced its lead role, he never took a solo curtain call, instead choosing to share credit with his fellow dancers.
Then, right at the end of all that, the dancers took their bouquets and flung them (with commendable vigour; they had to clear a not inconsiderably wide orchestra pit) into the audience. I caught a beautiful pink rose. You'd think that the principal dancers at the Royal Ballet, who receive whole florists' worth of flowers after a performance, might be inspired similarly to share the spoils. I suppose the sight of Alina Cojocaru effectively putting the shot with a bunch of lilies might be slightly unedifying. Still, it was a cheering gesture from the Cubans, and made us warm to them all the more.
