Some pieces to bang your head on. Yeah. We have a GrAnd Piano if youd like to entertain us. A GrAnd Piano . Yes. I can open it, but i couldnt play it. John laughs Michael Palin, welcome to This cultural life. Thank you. You were born in sheffield in 1943. What are your earliest memories of childhood, Home Life . Um, i think it was shopping in the Ration Book era. Um, And i can remember going with my mother to get. I think we were given free Orange Juice at that time. Really, This must have been. I must have been three or four. And watching it being filled up And hAnded over. Your father was an engineer in the sheffield steel industry. Yeah. What Sort Of man was he . What was he like . He was. He was quite a difficult man in a way. He was a little Bit Sort of. Could be quite cantankerous. And i think a lot of This went down to the fact he had a stammer all his life. He was a man with a good sense of humour, but probably unable to telljokes because of the stammer. So i think there was a
Hello, im john wilson, welcome to this cultural life, the radio 4 podcast in which i talk to leading creative figures about the key moments of their life and the most important cultural works that have fired their imagination and had a profound impact on their own art. My guest is carlos acosta, the cuban born ballet star who, over a 30 year career, is now regarded as one of the greatest dancers of all time, becoming the first black principal of the royal ballet and set new standards of grace and athleticism in theatres around the world. Having retired from the classical stage, he set up his own cuban dance company, and is also a director of the berlin royal ballet. Welcome. Lets start in cuba, with your family, your upbringing. A happy childhood . Very happy, i must say, although in the 80s in cuba, our family was i would say, it was poorer than most families but still there was a big big sense of community. It was a good time for cuba anybody could participate, do everything that so
Hello. Imjohn wilson. Welcome to this cultural life, the radio 4 Podcast Series in which i talk to leading creative figures about the key moments of their life and the most important cultural works that have fired their imagination and had a profound impact on their own art. My guest is carlos acosta, the cuban born ballet star who, over a 30 year career, is now regarded as one of the greatest dancers of all time. He became the first black principal of the royal ballet and set new standards of grace and athleticism in theatres around the world. Having retired from the classical stage, he set up his own cuban dance company, acosta danza, and is also director of the birmingham royal ballet. Welcome. Lets start in cuba, with your family, your upbringing. A happy childhood . Very happy, i must say, although in the 80s in cuba, still, our family was on the. I would say it was poorer than most families, but still there was a big, big sense of community. It was a good time for cuba anybody c
Everything you think about is going to crumble. Since then, shes made around 100 films, including ghost and sister act. Shes hosted the Academy Awards several times and has forged a career as an outspoken and Controversial Television personality. The craziness of whats going on in this country at the moment. Lets mic you up. In this episode of this cultural life, the radio a programme, she reveals her formative influences and experiences. Just come on under the shirt. Yeah, you sure . Babe. Ive been doing this a long time. If youre an old lady, you dont mind. Youre like, thank you. Whoopi goldberg, welcome to this cultural life. Thank you. On this cultural life, i ask my guests to reflect on the most significant influences and experiences that have shaped their own creativity. You were born and raised in chelsea in new york city in the late 50s and the 60s . Yes. What are your earliest cultural memories as a child . Youre talking about a little kid, im a little kid . The most importa
Funeral, i think it was 1965, seeing it on the television and just being told about the great man. The World Cup Final of 1966, where the nation stopped, and in our own household, my brother had a sort of flirtation with meningitis which was very dramatic, as you know, those can be fora minute, and then he was fine, thank goodness. But i watched the World Cup Final in a neighbours house and ijust remember in both those cases, in belfast, as i was, i was very aware of a national event, or at least it seemed to galvanise everybody and everything, and i was looking at images that said, the world is watching. Wow. And you mentioned belfast there. Some people, i think, are still surprised when they hear that you grew up in working class belfast. Uhhuh. And youve now written and directed a film called belfast. Uhhuh. How autobiographical a film is it . Well, its seen through the eyes of nine year old buddy. Its seen at 50 years distance from me. So inevitably, not everything happened absolut