Natalia Osipova: I'm always interested in trying new things. Ballerina Natalya Osipova: a step into modern dance Natalya Osipova performance schedule

Russian ballerina Natalya Osipova, is known as the prima ballerina of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, the London Royal Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre.

Natalia was born in Moscow in 1986. Masterfully mastering her body, she became interested in gymnastics from the age of five, but two years later she had to leave this type of self-development - seven-year-old Natasha received a serious injury, excluding further classes. On the advice of the coach, the parents took the girl to a ballet school, where Natalya found herself and her business for many years. She later received professional training at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography.

The creative path of Natalya Osipova / Natalya Osipova

Ten years after the first exercise at the barre, Osipova has already been accepted into the ballet troupe of the Bolshoi Theater. Four years later, she plays leading roles, and in 2010 she becomes a prima ballerina. However, wanting to develop further, in 2011 Natalia moved to St. Petersburg and there she became the prima ballerina of the Mikhailovsky Theatre.

At the same time, the ballerina takes part in foreign productions: she is increasingly invited to perform at the Grand Opera, La Scala, the London Royal Opera, the American Ballet Theater, and the London Royal Ballet.

However, despite the great demand in classical ballet, Natalia is increasingly looking towards modern dance. According to the artist, her injuries and the routine of ballet rehearsals led to this decision.

Yesterday's ballerina enters the world of modern dance shows not alone, but with her partner, the scandalous Sergei Polunin. Together they perform in a production of three one-act ballets at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre.

Natalya Osipova: “When we teamed up, many thought that I had gone crazy. I immediately began to give a variety of advice. But I have always done what I want. And if my heart tells me that this is what I should do, then I will do it.”

Osipova's new style of criticism is still being assessed as controversial and in need of improvement, but at the same time they do not lose faith that Natalya will still win the favor of the public in modern dance.

There are too many "Emeralds" on "Gossip".) I wanted to make a post about a real ballerina.

I discovered this ballerina three years ago, at a concert for the opening of the renovated Bolshoi Theatre. It was just gorgeous she danced there, with such drive and such incredible technique! Then she participated in the project of the First Channel "Balero" with Roman Kostomarov, and took second place there. I think she has a great future. And her husband, by the way, Ivan Vasiliev, is also a chic dancer.

Biography, photo and video.

Natalya Petrovna Osipova - genus. May 18, 1986, Moscow. From the age of five she was engaged in artistic gymnastics, but in 1993 she was injured, and sports had to be stopped. The coaches recommended that parents send their daughter to ballet. She studied at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography (class of Rector Marina Leonova). After graduating in 2004, she joined the Bolshoi Ballet Company, making her debut on September 24, 2004. Since October 18, 2008 - the leading soloist, since May 1, 2010 - the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater. She rehearsed under the guidance of People's Artist of the USSR Marina Kondratyeva.

In 2007, on tour of the Bolshoi Theater in London on the stage of the Covent Garden Theater, the ballerina was warmly received by the British public and received the British National Dance Award, awarded by the Critics' Society ( Critics Circle National Dance Awards) for 2007 - as the best ballerina in the "classical ballet" section.

In 2009, on the recommendation of Nina Ananiashvili, she became a guest ballerina of the American Ballet Theater (New York), performing on the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera in the title parts of the ballets Giselle and La Sylphide; in 2010, she again took part in ABT performances at the Metropolitan Opera as Kitri in Don Quixote, Juliet in Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (choreography by C. MacMillan), Aurora in Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty (staged by K McKenzie; partner David Hallberg).

In 2010, she made debuts at the Grand Opera (Clara in The Nutcracker, Ballerina in Petrushka) and La Scala (Kitri in Don Quixote), performance at the Royal Opera House in London (Medora in Le Corsaire).

In 2011 she performed the part of Katarina in The Taming of the Shrew to music by D. Scarlatti (choreography by G. Cranko) with the ballet of the Bavarian State Opera. Twice she took part in the Mariinsky International Ballet Festival, performing the roles of Kitri in the ballet Don Quixote and Giselle in the ballet of the same name.

Since December 2012 she has been a guest soloist with the London Royal Ballet, having danced three Swan Lakes with Carlos Acosta in this capacity. In the same October, she - the only guest ballerina among the regular artists of the Royal Company - participated in the gala concert in honor of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

She is currently the prima ballerina of the American ballet theater together.

In April 2013, Natalia Osipova signed a permanent contract with London's Royal Ballet.

With her husband, Ivan Vasiliev.

There are too many "Emeralds" on "Gossip".) I wanted to make a post about a real ballerina.

I discovered this ballerina three years ago, at a concert for the opening of the renovated Bolshoi Theatre. It was just gorgeous she danced there, with such drive and such incredible technique! Then she participated in the project of the First Channel "Balero" with Roman Kostomarov, and took second place there. I think she has a great future. And her husband, by the way, Ivan Vasiliev, is also a chic dancer.

Biography, photo and video.

Natalya Petrovna Osipova - genus. May 18, 1986, Moscow. From the age of five she was engaged in artistic gymnastics, but in 1993 she was injured, and sports had to be stopped. The coaches recommended that parents send their daughter to ballet. She studied at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography (class of Rector Marina Leonova). After graduating in 2004, she joined the Bolshoi Ballet Company, making her debut on September 24, 2004. Since October 18, 2008 - the leading soloist, since May 1, 2010 - the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater. She rehearsed under the guidance of People's Artist of the USSR Marina Kondratyeva.

In 2007, on tour of the Bolshoi Theater in London on the stage of the Covent Garden Theater, the ballerina was warmly received by the British public and received the British National Dance Award, awarded by the Critics' Society ( Critics Circle National Dance Awards) for 2007 - as the best ballerina in the "classical ballet" section.

In 2009, on the recommendation of Nina Ananiashvili, she became a guest ballerina of the American Ballet Theater (New York), performing on the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera in the title parts of the ballets Giselle and La Sylphide; in 2010, she again took part in ABT performances at the Metropolitan Opera as Kitri in Don Quixote, Juliet in Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (choreography by C. MacMillan), Aurora in Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty (staged by K McKenzie; partner David Hallberg).

In 2010, she made debuts at the Grand Opera (Clara in The Nutcracker, Ballerina in Petrushka) and La Scala (Kitri in Don Quixote), performance at the Royal Opera House in London (Medora in Le Corsaire).

In 2011 she performed the part of Katarina in The Taming of the Shrew to music by D. Scarlatti (choreography by G. Cranko) with the ballet of the Bavarian State Opera. Twice she took part in the Mariinsky International Ballet Festival, performing the roles of Kitri in the ballet Don Quixote and Giselle in the ballet of the same name.

Since December 2012 she has been a guest soloist with the London Royal Ballet, having danced three Swan Lakes with Carlos Acosta in this capacity. In the same October, she - the only guest ballerina among the regular artists of the Royal Company - participated in the gala concert in honor of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

She is currently the prima ballerina of the American ballet theater together.

In April 2013, Natalia Osipova signed a permanent contract with London's Royal Ballet.

With her husband, Ivan Vasiliev.

Image copyright Nikolai Gulakov Image caption Natalia Osipova showed a modern ballet performance at the Sadler's Wells Theater in London

On the stage of the London theater Sadler's Wells, the world premiere of a performance of three one-act ballets was held, in which the famous Russian ballerina Natalya Osipova performed in the genre of modern dance.

Between classic and modern

Classical ballet dancers enter the path of modern dance, as a rule, when their path in the academic theater comes to an end. For all the temptation of solo entreprises with your name in large letters on the posters, such a step is still considered some kind of retreat, which the star takes only if it is impossible for one reason or another to successfully continue his classical career.

When applied to Natalya Osipova, all these considerations seem completely out of place. She has just turned 30 - the age in ballet is not young, but in no way implies the end of an academic career. She constantly appears in leading roles at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, the Grand Opera in Paris, the American Ballet Theater in New York.

In 2012, she became a guest soloist with the London Royal Ballet (Covent Garden), and in 2013 she was accepted into the company as a prima ballerina. She danced Swan Lake, her beloved Giselle, Tatiana in Onegin, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and many other parts.

However, as Natalya Osipova admitted in a recent interview with the Sunday Times, her injuries, including an extremely painful hip dislocation, led to the cancellation of many performances and a long break.

The turn to modern dance was a way to get out - albeit temporarily - from the tough, at times relentless rehearsal routine of classical ballet.

This turn, however, is by no means sudden or unexpected. Even at the Bolshoi, she danced in the play "In the Upstairs Room" by contemporary American choreographer Twyla Tharp; in Covent Garden, leading British choreographers Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor and Alistair Marriott specially created parts for her.

Two years ago, three modern choreographers - the Belgian Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, the Israeli Ohad Naharin and the Portuguese Arthur Pita - created for her and for her then partner both on stage and in the life of Ivan Vasiliev a performance of three one-act ballets "Solo for Two", which premiered on stage at London's Coliseum Theater in August 2014.

Alliance with Polunin

The current performance, which Sadler's Wells Contemporary Dance Theater ordered three choreographers specifically for the Russian ballerina, in no small sense follows the path beaten two years ago by Solo for Two. And not only because two of the three directors - Sherkaui and Pita - again working with Osipova.In two of the three productions, she is again on stage only with her partner - both on stage and in life.This partner, however, is now different - Sergei Polunin.

Polunin, the British press, not without reason, calls enfant terrible classical ballet. In 2003, a 13-year-old teenager, a native of Ukrainian Kherson, thanks to a scholarship from the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation, moved from the Kiev Choreographic School to the Royal Ballet School. In June 2010, he became the youngest principal in the history of the London Royal Ballet.

However, already in 2012 he left the famous theater. He left with a scandal, accompanied by rumors of cocaine abuse, lamenting that the ballet did not allow him to fully enjoy the freedom of his youth and stating that in academic ballet "the artist inside me dies."

The first thing he did after leaving was to establish a tattoo parlor in London. Then, already as a freelancer, he disappeared a few days before the scheduled premiere of the performance "Midnight Express", thus disrupting the premiere.

Since then, he has been migrating between Russian academic theaters - Stanislavsky and Nemerovich-Danchenko in Moscow and the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater and prestigious and commercially profitable engagements in the West - from La Scala to video clips shot by an American photographer and clip director in the style of "surrealistic glamour" by David LaChapelle.

"When we teamed up, many thought I was crazy," Osipova admits. - I immediately began to give a variety of advice. But I have always done what I want. And if my heart tells me that this is what I should do, then I will do it."

Polunin reciprocates her: "Dancing with Natalia is just great. I immerse myself in work with my head, for me this is a new full-fledged reality, and I would like to dance with her always."

Performance at Sadler's Wells

However, in the first of three productions of the new performance, Osipova is on stage not with Polunin, but with two other dancers. The performance is called Qutb: translated from Arabic, this word means "axis, rod." But it is also a spiritual symbol, which in Sufism denotes a perfect, universal person.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui was born in Antwerp. His mother is Belgian, but his father is an immigrant from Morocco. He studied at a madrasah and the culture of the East is as dear to him as the culture of the West.

The bodies of the three dancers are woven into a single ball in which you can’t understand where the men are, where the woman is, where whose arm, leg or head is. In this plexus of bodies, however, there is nothing erotic - according to the choreographer's plan, Natalya Osipova personifies Venus, James O "Hara - the Earth, and Jason Kittelberger - Mars. They revolve together and around each other, accompanied by Sufi music, personifying - with some, however, pretentiousness - neither more nor less than the process of the universe.

The second performance - "Silent Echo" staged by the British choreographer Russell Malifant - is the most abstract, the most avant-garde, and, paradoxically, the most traditional. Osipova and Polunin emerge from complete darkness, one at a time, snatched by the spotlight beams in the most unexpected places on the stage, now moving away, now approaching each other. For most of the play, they don't touch. This detachment, enhanced by the prickly, cold electronic music of the British musician Robin Rimbaud, known under the artistic name of Scanner, has something otherworldly, as far as possible from classical ballet.

Mechanistic movements to mechanistic music evoked in me associations with the restrained expression of the classic of the choreographic avant-garde Merce Cunningham, when suddenly, in its final part, after two solo numbers, the dance acquired an unexpected classicism.

The choreographer himself admits this: "I wanted to create a form close to the classical pas de deux - a duet, two solos, and again a duet."

After the emotional stinginess and restrained philosophical detachment of the first two parts of the performance, in the third, this same emotionality overflows. Even the name itself - "Run, Mary, run!" - implies a story, a plot, which is rarely found in modern dance. The characters even have names: Osipova - Mary, Polunin - Jimmy. Bright, colorful, even deliberately vulgar costumes; twist, rock and roll, sex and drugs; the nature of the dance and movement brought to mind the classic "West Side Story" by Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins.

Even music refers to the same era - the beginning of the 60s. The girl group The Shangri-Las is almost forgotten today, but their emotional songs, often played like theatrical skits, inspired Amy Winehouse, and, according to the idea of ​​the choreographer Arthur Pita, Osipova in her appearance and movements was called upon to repeat the unbridled despair of the untimely departed singer. And the harsh instrumental sound of The Shangri-Las, invented by the author of the "wall of sound" concept Phil Spector, gives the whole show a characteristic echo of the "discs of death" - that's what the band's music was called.

Harsh verdict from the press

Such a motley, colorful and devoid of a single stylistic core, the performance caused very unflattering assessments from British critics.

"A Russian ballerina lost in space" is the title of a Guardian reviewer. Giving credit to Natalia Osipova's determination to move towards modern dance, the newspaper writes that this is a long and difficult path, and Osipova has not yet achieved the freedom and looseness that, unlike the rigidly regulated academic ballet, this art requires.

The Financial Times, however, lays the blame for the failure not so much on the dancers themselves, but on the theater and choreographers: "The artists were trapped in the terrible inadequacy and monstrous pretentiousness of Sadler's Wells. The performance distorts and does not allow their gift and their true face to manifest.

No less harsh is the Daily Telegraph's verdict in the title of the review: "Star couple Osipova and Polunin misfire in a non-erotic triptych."

“Where is the fire, where is the passion?” the critic asks rhetorically. “The bar is set high, but in general the performance leaves the impression of wasted talent.” However, the reviewer does not believe that the dancers have no chance in this area: "Let's hope that Osipova and Polunin "harness for a long time", and the best is still ahead of them."

The performance has room for improvement: after a short premiere, it will go to the Edinburgh Theater Festival in August, then it will return to Sadler's Wells in September, and it will be shown at the New York City Center in November. There are no plans to tour in Russia yet.

Russian ballet dancer Natalia Osipova was born in 1986 in Moscow. As a child, she did not think about ballet, preferring sports, namely gymnastics. But a very serious back injury, received in 1993, forced to make adjustments to life plans - now there was nothing to think about a sports career, but it was a pity to “burrow into the ground” the girl’s abilities ... the coach advised parents to send their daughter to a ballet school. Thus, the arrival of N. Osipova in ballet was almost accidental, but many years later the ballerina admitted: if it were possible to start life from the beginning, she would again come to ballet.

At the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, Natalya Osipova becomes a student of M. Leonova. She liked to realize at the age of ten that she had a profession, and at the age of eighteen she liked to feel like an established person who knew what he was working for. Natalya Osipova graduated from the Academy of Choreography in 2004, performed the part of Odette at the graduation performance - this performance was criticized mercilessly, however, the graduate was admitted to the Bolshoi Theater. She started as a corps de ballet dancer, but already during the first theatrical season she was entrusted with the performance of eight solo parts.

At first glance, the physique of Natalia Osipova was not quite suitable for success in ballet - this was especially true of the legs, but the ballerina managed to turn this shortcoming into a virtue: it was the “imperfect” legs that provided a magnificent jump - weightless, flying, with hovering in the air. With this jump, as well as her bright temperament and impeccable technique, the ballerina captivated the audience. In 2007, N. Osipova, during the English tour of the Bolshoi Theater, was enthusiastically received by the London public. The Guardian newspaper advised residents of the British capital to get to the performance with her participation at any cost, even if it means stealing a ticket or taking it away from someone with a fight. During these tours, N. Osipova was awarded the British National Prize in the nomination "Classical Ballet", and in 2008 she became the leading dancer at the Bolshoi Theater.

Under the guidance of the ballet teacher M. Kondratyeva, N. Osipova prepared a lot of roles: Kitri, Medora, Sylphide ... But most of the roles that she received - with the exception of Kitri - invariably gave rise to bewilderment of those around her: "This part is not for Osipova," nevertheless However, the ballerina each time refuted such judgments with her performances. So it was with the Sylphide, and with Aurora in, and with Gamzatti in La Bayadère, as well as with the part that became especially beloved for the ballerina - with the title role in.

This role was given to N. Osipova by the choreographer A. Ratmansky, who believed in her. Throughout the stage history of the work, each ballerina who played the title role in it had a special Giselle, and N. Osipova also interpreted the image in her own way. According to the ballerina, she wanted the viewer to see not a beautiful fairy tale, but a story with real feelings and experiences, therefore, in her interpretation of the image, she leaned not towards romance, but towards realism, perceiving ballet as the embodiment of a dramatic image, and not as an opportunity surprise the audience with spectacular technical techniques.

Giselle N. Osipova danced not only at the Bolshoi Theater - when she came as a guest artist to the American Ballet Theater, it was this role in ballet that became her debut. Her partner at the performance there was D. Holberg, with whom she also performed in other performances - in particular, in Sleeping Beauty directed by K. MacKenzie. After the performance of Natalia Osipova with D. Holberg at the Bolshoi Theater, this American dancer became especially famous in Russia.

The Bolshoi Theater is dear to N. Osipova, but the time has come when she felt that she had already performed the most interesting parts there, a new repertoire that could enable creative development is not foreseen. And the ballerina decides to leave the Bolshoi Theater. Simultaneously with her, her partner I. Vasiliev left the theater.

After leaving the Bolshoi Theater, the ballerina did not want to leave Russia, in 2011 she comes to Mikhailovsky. The dancer was attracted by the fact that in this theatre, which has always been, as it were, “in the shadow” of the Mariinsky, there were many opportunities for development - according to her, “life was seething here, there were innovators, new interesting ballets were staged.”

Since 2012, N. Osipova has been a guest artist, and since 2013, she has been a prima ballerina with the London Royal Ballet. Parts for her are created by leading English choreographers - W. MacGregor, C. Wildon, A. Marriott. In 2014, N. Osipova and I. Vasiliev presented a three-act performance "Solo for Two", created by three contemporary choreographers - Ohad Nakharin and Artur Pita. Later, the ballerina becomes a partner.

N. Osipova considers classical ballet to be a kind of escape from reality: "A person touches the beautiful - and at least for a while forgets about difficult problems." In contrast, modern dance "drags reality onto the stage." According to the ballerina, both directions are equivalent: “Someone needs a fairy tale, someone needs a blow to the sickest,” she says. Having fully shown herself in the "fairy tale" of classical ballet, N. Osipova in 2015 turns to modern dance. In this incarnation, she appears in the performances of "Qutb" by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, "Silent Echo" by Russell Malifant, "Run Mary, Run" by Arthur Pita.

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