Natalia Osipova - Force of Nature

Prima ballerina of The Royal Ballet, hailed by The Independent as the world’s most in-demand ballerina, returns to Copenhagen with a long-awaited performance. Osipova has already presented Force of Nature on both sides of the Atlantic. It is an extraordinary program that unites the most demanding pointe-classic repertoire with works created by leading contemporary choreographers. Joining Osipova on stage are fellow soloists from the United Kingdom and the United States.

Osipova is incomparable. Her technique is singular, her artistic charisma overwhelming. Even before completing her training at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, the ballet world was already speaking of her extraordinary leaps and airborne lightness. She entered the Bolshoi Theatre as a corps de ballet dancer, yet in her very first season she performed eight solo roles. Mercurial and lightning-fast, she seemed to radiate warmth each time she stepped onto the stage. “Wildness!” Natalia says, recalling the beginning of her career. “A force of nature,” said those who saw her at the time.

“Beg, borrow, or steal a ticket!” wrote The Guardian after Osipova’s sensational London debut. It was 2007, when the Bolshoi Theatre visited the British capital, and artistic director Alexei Ratmansky played his strongest card by casting Osipova as Kitri in Don Quixote. The triumph was complete.

By the early 2010s, Osipova had become one of the world’s most distinctive and sought-after ballerinas. She has been invited by the greatest theatres in Paris, Milan, Berlin, and New York. Each new role — whether Giselle, Kitri, or heroines in contemporary choreography — becomes an event. Her artistry inspires some of today’s foremost choreographers, including Alexei Ratmansky, Arthur Pita, Akram Khan, and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

In 2013, Osipova signed a permanent contract with The Royal Ballet, where she continues to dance today. Her talent has been recognized with numerous international awards, including the National Dance Awards and the Benois de la Danse. In 2018, British director Gerald Fox released the documentary Force of Nature. Natalia, offering insight into her life and artistic work behind the scenes — from rehearsals for Medusa to performances of the classical La Bayadère.

Four years later, Osipova created her own Force of Nature — a ballet evening of exceptional beauty and complexity. Here she celebrates her signature roles, infinitely different from one another — from the classical pas de deux from Le Corsaire, danced with her Royal Ballet colleague Marcelino Sambé in choreography by Marius Petipa, to the miniature Valse Triste by Alexei Ratmansky to music by Sibelius, created especially for her. Osipova also presents the premiere of Gravity’s Orphan, created in collaboration with Jason Kittelberger, as well as the large-scale choreographic triptych Ashesfor four dancers. The evening concludes with Mikhail Fokine’s iconic miniature The Dying Swan, set to music by Saint-Saëns and performed by Osipova alone — a farewell, a prayer, a memory. Over the course of her phenomenal career, Osipova has performed 172 roles, as documented by her biographers — leaving her with much to choose from.

Presented by: Winstag Production

Translated using AI