Russian superstar Natalia Osipova to perform with Royal Ballet | reviews, news & interviews
Russian superstar Natalia Osipova to perform with Royal Ballet
Russian superstar Natalia Osipova to perform with Royal Ballet
Covent Garden invites Osipova to be Carlos Acosta's new Swan Queen
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Super couple: Natalia Osipova and Carlos AcostaOsipova © Charlotte MacMillan
The virtuoso Russian ballerina Natalia Osipova will guest with the Royal Ballet this autumn with Carlos Acosta in the opening run of Swan Lake.
Osipova, whose partnership with the phenomenal Ivan Vasiliev has become the most talked-about in world ballet, will dance the double role of Odette/Odile (the White Swan and Black Swan) on 10, 13 and 25 October with the RB's Cuban star Carlos Acosta, in place of Tamara Rojo, the ballerina who becomes English National Ballet's artistic director from September.
Osipova and Vasiliev caused a sensation off-stage last winter when they quit the Bolshoi to join St Petersburg's Mikhailovsky Ballet. One reason they gave for their departure was that they felt artistically constricted by the Bolshoi's casting policy, which tended to fix them in bravura or contemporary roles.
The 20-performance run of the celebrated Tchaikovsky ballet will open and close with two other off-stage couples: premiering on 8 October with the husband-and-wife team of Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares, and ending on 24 November with Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg.
Rojo, 38, has been confirmed to return as a guest star at the Royal Ballet next February, performing the ballet originally made by Frederick Ashton for Fonteyn and Nureyev, Marguerite and Armand, a tragedy based on Dumas's novel La Dame aux camélias. Her partner will be the young star who sensationally quit the company last spring, Sergei Polunin, 22, with whom she had a huge success in the ballet (the two pictured right by Tristram Kenton).
The performances are intended as Rojo's official farewell to the Royal Ballet, where she has been a leading ballerina since 2000.
- The Royal Ballet opens its season with Swan Lake, performances at the Royal Opera House, London, 8 October-24 November
- English National Ballet performs Swan Lake at the London Coliseum 3-11 August
- English National Ballet opens its season with The Sleeping Beauty, performances nationwide 17 October-2 March 2013
Add comment
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Dance
Help to give theartsdesk a future!
Support our GoFundMe appeal
First Person: singer-songwriter Sam Amidon on working in Dingle with Teaċ Daṁsa on 'Nobodaddy'
Michael Keegan-Dolan’s mind-boggling total work of art arrives at Sadlers Wells this week
Akram Khan, GIGENIS, Sadler’s Wells review - now 50, Khan returns to his roots
The dancer-choreographer goes epic in a show that unites South Asian dance styles
Maddaddam, Royal Ballet review - superb dancing in a confusing frame
Wayne McGregor's version of Margaret Atwood's dystopia needs a clearer map
Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring/common ground[s], Sadler’s Wells review - raw and devastating
Returning dancers from 13 African countries deliver celebrated vision with blistering force
Legacy, Linbury Theatre review - an exceptional display of black dance prowess
An all-too-fleeting celebration of black and brown ballet talent that demands a reprise
Encounters, Royal Ballet review - exciting mixed bill with a gem of a premiere
Pam Tanowitz's latest piece is a stunner that larkily subverts the rules
National Ballet of Canada, Sadler's Wells review - see this, and know what dance can do
Yet again, Crystal Pite proves herself a ferocious creative force, alongside fellow Canadian exports James Kudelka and Emma Portner
Nobodaddy, Teaċ Daṁsa, Dublin Theatre Festival review - supernatural song and dance odyssey
Michael Keegan-Dolan’s genius guides us through death, separation and loss
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Royal Ballet review - big, bold and ultimately brash
It may be box-office gold, but Christopher Wheeldon's adaptation fails to find a beating heart down the rabbit hole
Resurgence, London City Ballet, Sadler’s Wells review - the phoenix rises yet again
A new 14-strong company reviving a much-loved name is taking ballet to smaller theatres
The Mad Hatter's Tea Party, ZooNation, Linbury Theatre review - a joyous celebration of differentness
Kate Prince's hip hop take on Lewis Carroll is energetic, charming and moving by turns
Comments
Natalia Osipova is a
I agree... She is
ITA with first "anonymous"
In time, we will find out