Acosta Dance Foundation - Summer Intensives 2026

This programme brings together talented young dancers from London and around the world who are eager to deepen their training through the Carlos Acosta curriculum, which blends classical ballet technique with contemporary and folkloric movement traditions to develop versatile, expressive performers.

Programmes & Fees

Acosta Dance Foundation Summer Advanced

Ages: 14-16
Dates: August 3-14
Time: 9:30am – 4:00pm
Monday/Friday
Fees:
Two-week programme: £1300 (non-refundable)
Acceptance fee: £100 The acceptance fee is separate from the programme fees. It is a one-time, non-refundable fee that is not applied toward the cost of the programme.

For both the Summer and Advanced & Summer Hub Programmes, all female-identifying dancers are required to have a minimum of two years of pointe work experience.

Objectives:

  • Deepen classical ballet foundations, achieving greater technical precision while training through Carlos Acosta’s curriculum, which emphasises strong classical technique alongside contemporary artistic development.
  • Experience a unique combination of ballet, Técnica Cubana Contemporánea, and Afro-Cuban dance
  • Build stage confidence and develop technical and artistic skills.
  • Encourage teamwork, discipline, and resilience in a supportive environment

Acosta Dance Foundation Summer HUB

Ages: 17-21
Dates: August 3-14
Time: 9:30am – 4:00pm
Monday/Friday
Fees:
Two-week programme: £1300 (non-refundable)
Acceptance fee: £100 The acceptance fee is separate from the programme fees. It is a one-time, non-refundable fee that is not applied toward the cost of the programme.

For both the Summer and Advanced & Summer Hub Programmes, all female-identifying dancers are required to have a minimum of two years of pointe work experience.

Objectives:

  • Consolidate advanced technique through the Carlos Acosta curriculum which emphasises strong classical technique alongside contemporary artistic development.
  • Train intensively with international faculty and guest artists
  • Deepen your practice through diverse movement traditions, including Cuban contemporary technique and Afro-Cuban forms.
  • Expand artistic horizons and prepare for professional or vocational pathways in dance

Eligibility
Students aged 14-21 by 31 August 2026.
UK Students: must register below for an online audition.
International Students: please visit our International Auditions page for more info.

Requirements
All applicants joining the Summer Hub and the Summer Advanced must submit photographs as part of their application/audition.

Application deadlines
Applications open: 15 September 2025 Applications close: Friday 8 May 2026 at 23.59 GMT.

Location
Acosta Dance Centre - Artillery Square, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. London SE18 (Just a 1-minute walk from Woolwich Station on the Elizabeth Line)

Guest Teachers

Loipa Araújo

Masterclass

Loipa Araújo is a Cuban ballet dancer, ballet master, and teacher of ballet. Along with Aurora Bosch, Josefina Méndez, and Mirta Plá, she is regarded as one of the "four jewels of Cuban ballet".
Nicknamed the "Cuban muse of Marseille", Araújo is considered to be "one of the best ballet teachers in the world today”
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Javier de Frutos

Choreography workshop

Javier is a director, choreographer, designer, filmmaker, and one of the most influential and prolific Hispanic artists working today. His accolades include the 2007 Olivier Award for Best Theatre
Choreography, the 2011 Evening Standard Award, 2005 Critics Circle Awards, the 2004 Time Out Award, the 1997 South Bank Show Award, the Prix de Auteur in the 1996 Concours de Seine-Saint Denis in Paris, and the 2017 Chita Rivera Award for Best Choreography in a Feature Film for the screen adaptation of London Road. Additionally, he received the 2024 Outstanding Career Achievement Award at the Dance Camera West Film Festival in Los Angeles and the 2024 Best Short Dance Film at the National Dance Awards. In 2000, the South Bank Show dedicated a full feature to his work, which was nominated at the Royal Television Society Awards for Best Arts Documentary. De Frutos also became the first recipient of The Arts Council of England Fellowship, through which he studied extensively the works of Tennessee Williams. In recent years, three of his films – The Burning Building (for Birmingham Royal Ballet), Whoever You Are, and The Sequestered Disc – have been celebrated in film festivals around the world. More recently, he oversaw the 10th anniversary of Thresh/Hold for Pilobolus Dance Company and the long-awaited revival of the musical London Road at the National Theatre.
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Ariel Serrano

Masterclass

Born in Oriente, Cuba, trained in his country’s National Ballet School system before completing his studies in Italy in 1990. He danced with Ballet Camagüey the National Ballet of Cuba, and later
became a principal with Ballet de Monterrey in Mexico. After defecting from Cuba in 1993, he and his wife Wilmian Hernández joined The Sarasota Ballet, where they performed principal roles until 2000. In 2011, they co-founded the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School (SCBS), the first in the US dedicated to teaching the Cuban ballet method to all levels. Under Serrano’s direction, SCBS has gained national and international recognition, with students winning top awards and joining leading companies such as The Royal Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet. He has also taught widely across the US, UK, South America, and the Caribbean, and served as a judge in international competitions.
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Luis Napoles

Technica Cubana

For over twenty years, Luis Napoles has inspired and trained young dancers, sharing his passion, energy, and extensive experience in dance. Combining a choreographic and teaching practice, he has developed expertise across
contemporary dance, ballet, Afro-Cuban, and jazz, bringing both technical excellence and artistic depth to his work. After graduating from the Escuela Nacional de Arte (ENA) in Cuba, Luis began his professional career as a Principal Dancer with Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, performing a distinctive repertoire that blended contemporary, ballet, and Afro-Cuban dance. He later joined Caridad Martinez’s Danza Teatro de La Habana, touring extensively throughout Latin America and Europe. Luis continued his career in the United States as a Principal Dancer with Sacramento Ballet, performing leading roles in Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Nutcracker, as well as works by David Parsons, Carmina Burana, and Bolero. Alongside his performing career, Luis has built more than two decades of experience as a choreographer and educator. Before joining Acosta Dance, he was Choreographer with ART and a Teaching Artist at Princeton Ballet School in New York, where he continued to mentor and inspire the next generation of dancers.
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Caridad Martinez

Choreography workshop

Caridad Martinez graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba, where she trained with some of the country’s most distinguished ballet teachers, including Alicia and Fernando Alonso.
As a Principal Dancer with the National Ballet of Cuba, she performed throughout Europe, the Americas, and Asia, dancing leading roles in major classical ballets including Coppélia, La Fille Mal Gardée, La Sylphide, Don Quixote, Les Corsaires, and Apollo, as well as original works created especially for her. Following her performing career, Martinez founded and directed Ballet Teatro de La Habana, introducing an innovative artistic vision to Cuban dance. She later directed the Cuban Ballet School in Veracruz, Mexico, where she received honorary recognition from dance education organizations in both Mexico and the United States. An internationally respected choreographer and teacher, Martinez has created works for theatre, film, and major cultural events, including the Hispanic Heritage Awards and Before Night Falls. Her distinguished teaching career has included leadership roles at Brooklyn Ballet School, Ballet Hispánico, the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, and guest appointments across North and South America, Europe, and the Caribbean. She currently teaches at the American Ballet Theatre's JKO School, the ABT Studio Company, and the Alvin Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, while serving as Artistic Director of the Maria Antonieta Berlusconi Dance Foundation in Milan.
Read More

Registration & Acceptance Process

Getting into the Acosta Summer Intensive is a selective process designed to find dancers with artistic potential, strong technique, and commitment to learning.
 
Here’s how it works:
1.    Register – Complete the registration form.
2.    Selection – Our faculty carefully reviews your application.
3.    Results – Successful applicants will be contacted directly with next steps.
 
Please note that registering does not guarantee a place in the programme.
 
If you are interested in attending one of our in-person auditions — which we highly recommend for the full experience -please visit our Registration & Auditions Page.

FAQ

Beyond refining technique, the Acosta Dance Foundation Summer Intensives challenge young dancers to grow as versatile, confident artists ready for the global stage. Training is based on the Acosta curriculum, rooted in the Cuban School of Ballet and enriched by Técnica Cubana Contemporánea and Afro-Cuban traditions, offering a unique blend of precision, strength, and expressive freedom. Under the guidance of an international faculty and guest artists, students expand their artistic vocabulary, explore diverse movement traditions, and develop the stage presence and resilience required for a professional path. More than a course, this is an opportunity to deepen your practice, broaden your horizons, and connect with a community of peers who share the same dedication and ambition.

Born from the fusion of classical ballet discipline, modern dance innovation, and the rich movement traditions of Cuba, Técnica Cubana Contemporánea is one of the most distinctive contemporary dance methods in the world. It combines the precision and strength of ballet with the fluidity, grounded power, and rhythmic vitality of Afro-Cuban dance. The result is a technique that challenges dancers physically, expands their expressive range, and develops true versatility. For young artists, training in this method means gaining not only technical excellence but also a unique voice and presence on stage, qualities that set Cuban-trained dancers apart on the global scene.

Students are expected to wear a simple, comfortable ballet/dance uniform. We recommend:

For female students:

  • Leotard in any solid colour
  • Ballet tights in pink or skin tone
  • Ballet slippers in pink or skin tone

For male students:

  • Black tights or bike pants
  • Fitted white t-shirt
  • Black ballet slippers.

We encourage students and their families to thoroughly research housing options in the local area. Potential choices include short-term rentals through services like Airbnb, private short-term lets (often advertised on platforms like SpareRoom), or dedicated student accommodation (such as Friendship House).

Registration Form

Name
Please provide your DOB on the following format: MM/DD/YYYY
Gender Identity
Please provide your stage/prefered name
If you would like to share your pronouns, please list them. If you do not wish to share your pronouns, please leave the text blank.
Will you be over 16 years old at the time the course starts?
Please share with us your current dance level/studies.
Please share with us if you have any medical conditions and or allergies we need to be aware of.
Please share with us if you have any previous injuries, big or small we should be aware of.
Images and Video

All images must be uploaded directly onto this application form. Emailed photographs will not be accepted.
Professional photography is not required for these images.
We kindly ask you to use recent images.
The images only serve as visual guidelines.

NOTE: Male-identifying dancers please ignore the fourth position en pointe image.

Ensure the photographs are appropriately sized and correctly oriented and the dancer fully occupies the frame.
In the file name of each photograph, include the applicant's full name.
Accepted files: jpg, jpeg, or png file formats.
Size accepted: 10MB max.

Video link featuring a short class.
Barre, Centre & Allegro
Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload
First Arabesque
Facing Side
Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload
A la seconde.
Arms: Second Position
Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload
Tendu Devant
Arms: Fourth Position
Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload
Price: £25.00
Terms and Conditions Acosta Dance Foundation Summer Programme (ADFSP) 1. Eligibility a. The Acosta Dance Foundation Summer Programme is open to dancers aged 3–21. b. Students enrolling in the Summer Hub or Summer Advanced Programme must acknowledge that they have successfully, partly or fully, completed at least two years of ballet training. c. The programme will run from 3–14 August 2026. d. Applicants must demonstrate a genuine passion for ballet and contemporary dance, alongside an interest in the Cuban elements embedded within the Acosta curriculum. 2. Application Process a. Entry into the ADFSP is subject to registration and acceptance; no audition is required. b. All applications must be submitted within the specified deadline. c. The Acosta Dance Foundation and the Acosta Dance Centre reserve the right to accept or reject any application at their discretion, without the obligation to provide a reason. 3. Venue and Facilities a. The ADFSP will take place at the Acosta Dance Centre, Woolwich Works, Royal Arsenal, London. b. The Centre provides state-of-the-art dance studios and facilities, ensuring an inspiring and professional learning environment. 4. Fees and Expenses a. The ADFSP is a fee-paying programme offered as part of the Acosta Dance Foundation’s training opportunities. b. By submitting this form, applicants agree to pay a £25 registration and administration fee. This fee is non-refundable under all circumstances. c. Participants are solely responsible for their own accommodation, travel, meals, visas (if required), and personal expenses. 5. Commitment and Attendance a. Students accepted into the ADFSP are expected to commit fully to the programme. b. Regular attendance and active participation in all classes, workshops, and performances are mandatory. 6. Code of Conduct a. Students must adhere to a professional code of conduct at all times. This includes: Punctuality for all scheduled activities. Respectful behaviour toward faculty, staff, and fellow participants. A commitment to fostering a positive and supportive learning environment. 7. Media Release a. By completing and submitting this registration form, parents, guardians, and participants consent to the Acosta Dance Foundation and the Acosta Dance Centre capturing and using photographs, video recordings, and other media materials of participants for educational, promotional, and marketing purposes, in print and digital formats. b. This consent applies to all programme strands, including the Advanced, Children, and Junior programmes. 8. Changes and Cancellations a. The Acosta Dance Foundation and the Acosta Dance Centre reserve the right to make changes to the programme schedule, curriculum, or teaching staff if necessary. b. In the event of unforeseen circumstances or insufficient enrolment, the Acosta Dance Foundation and/or Acosta Dance Centre reserve the right to cancel or postpone the ADFSP. Appropriate notice will be provided to participants. c. International students are responsible for obtaining all required visas, permits, and legal documentation necessary to attend the programme. 9. Legal Binding Agreement By submitting this form and completing registration, applicants (and/or their parents/guardians, if under 18) acknowledge that they have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these Terms and Conditions in full. For any questions or additional information, please contact us at: 📧 info@acostadancefoundation.org.uk

Keep in touch

For inquiries, contact:
info@acostadancefoundation.org.uk

0330 500 2186

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