No Way Home : A Dancer's Journey from the Streets of Havana to the Stages of the World

by Acosta, Carlos

• ISBN13: 9781416567318
• ISBN10: 1416567313
• Copyright: 2008-05-06
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

Carlos Acosta, the Cuban dancer considered to be one of the world's greatest performers, fearlessly depicts his journey from adolescent troublemaker to international superstar in his captivating memoir,No Way Home.Carlos was just another kid from the slums of Havana; the youngest son of a truck driver and a housewife, he ditched school with his friends and dreamed of becoming Cuba's best soccer player. Exasperated by his son's delinquent behavior, Carlos's father enrolled him in ballet school, subjecting him to grueling days that started at five thirty in the morning and ended long after sunset.The path from student to star was not an easy one. Even as he won dance competitions and wowed critics around the world, Carlos was homesick for Cuba, crippled by loneliness and self-doubt. As he traveled the world, Carlos struggled to overcome popular stereotypes and misconceptions; to maintain a relationship with his family; and, most of all, to find a place he could call home.This impassioned memoir is about more than Carlos's rise to stardom. It is about a young man forced to leave his homeland and loved ones for a life of self-discipline, displacement, and physical hardship. It is also about how the heart and soul of a country can touch the heart and soul of one of its citizens. With candor and humor, Carlos vividly depicts daily life in communist Cuba, his feelings about ballet -- an art form he both lovesand hates -- and his complex relationship with his father. Carlos Acosta makes dance look effortless, but the grace, strength, and charisma we see onstage have come at a cost. Here, in his own words, is the story of the price he paid.

Table of Contents

1973Ð1988

My Family

The Photograph

Beginning

The First Grand Pli?

Plagued by Uncertainty

With Hate in My Heart

A Prisoner

Pinar del R'o

1989Ð1993

Take Off

The Grand Prix de Lausanne

History Repeats Itself

CheryÕs Decision

London at Eighteen

A Year Without Dancing

Beginning Again

Madrid

1993Ð2003

Fears and Insecurities

Back in Havana

The World Will Be Mine

Good-bye, Houston

The Lady and the Three Musketeers

A Moment of Happiness

Acknowledgments

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