Director and dancer Carlos Acosta admits he once hated ballet as he launches the London run of his new Cuban-inspired version of Tchaikovsky's festive ballet "The Nutcracker". Rather than the usual setting of a small town in Germany in the 1820s,

Best and Worst is a regular series in which acclaimed British names and faces reflect on the highs and lows that shaped their lives. This week, Carlos Acosta tells of his favourite thing about living in the UK and his worst moment on stage.

Each of Britain’s five leading ballet companies has its own Nutcracker...

Carlos Acosta found inspiration for just such a reimagining in his Cuban roots, where Christmas was banned by Fidel Castro during his childhood, but, as is the case with forbidden fruit, now tastes all the sweeter as a transgressive delight.

So Carlos Acosta, growing up in Havana in the 1970s and 1980s, never experienced the whole shebang. The former Royal Ballet star and current Birmingham Royal Ballet artistic director is making up for it now,

I recently had the thrilling experience of attending Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker in Havana at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury, and it was an absolute delight! Every moment of the performance was infused with magic,