Carlos Acosta wants Woolwich studio to become global landmark

Carlos Acosta says people in Woolwich do not yet feel the dance studio is a "place for them"

Former Royal Ballet star Carlos Acosta says he wants his new studio to become a "reference in dance worldwide".

His arts education charity, the Acosta Dance Foundation (ADF), has set up its global headquarters in Woolwich.

Housing five dance studios, it aims to teach styles from across the world - but Acosta also wants the centre to be a place local people feel is theirs.

He said he located the centre in this part of south-east London because of the many locals with African heritage.

The 50-year-old said he wanted the Acosta Dance Centre, at Royal Arsenal, to create "an ecosystem" of dance, because people in the local community do not yet feel the space is a "place for them".

The Cuban-born star, who is the director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, said: "[Some] of the dances that we're going to be teaching are Afro-Cuban dance, Afro-Cuban beats, more popular dances that speak about Africa.

"So hopefully, one of the things that we're doing at the centre is to benefit the community so hopefully the locals can come and get involved."

'Take ownership'

Acosta said his ambition was for all forms of dance to be taught at the centre, which is due to open on 4 September.

"You will have the chance to take ballet classes, to take contemporary classes, Afro-Cuban, or (more) popular ways of dancing ingrained in the Cuban culture," he said.

"So we want to involve the community of Woolwich, because we're here and we want to work with them and also we want to make sure that they really take ownership of what we're trying to do.

"But obviously our vision is that this becomes a landmark... so that people from all over the world, they know that there is a centre in Woolwich they could come in and take classes and stay around as long as they [want] and they participate in many schemes that we're going to deliver."

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