Osipova is inimitable. Her technique is unique, and her artistic charm is astonishing. Even before she had completed her studies at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, the ballet world was already abuzz with talk of her incredible, soaring jumps. Accepted into the Bolshoi Theatre as a corps de ballet member, she performed eight solo roles in her very first season there. Lively as quicksilver and swift as lightning, she seemed to radiate heat as soon as she appeared on stage. "Wildcat!" Osipova says, recalling the beginning of her career. "A force of nature," say those who saw her at that time.
"Beg, borrow, or steal tickets!" was the reaction of The Guardian to Osipova’s dazzling London debut. The event took place in 2007, when the British capital welcomed the Bolshoi Theatre. Alexei Ratmansky, the company’s chief ballet master at the time, played his trump card by casting Osipova as Kitri in Don Quixote. The triumph was complete.
By the early 2010s, Osipova had become one of the most brilliant and in-demand ballerinas in the world. The major theaters of Paris, Milan, Berlin, and New York sought her out. Every new role—whether it be Giselle, Kitri, or a contemporary heroine—turned into a major event. Her artistry inspires some of the best modern choreographers, including Alexei Ratmansky, Arthur Pita, Akram Khan, and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
In 2013, Osipova signed a permanent contract with the Royal Ballet in London, where she continues to perform to this day.
Osipova’s talent has earned her numerous international awards, including the National Dance Awards and the Benois de la Danse prize. In 2018, British director Gerald Fox made a documentary about her, Force of Nature. Natalia, offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her life and work, from rehearsals for Medusa to her performance in the classical ballet La Bayadère.
Four years later, Osipova created her own "Force of Nature"—a ballet evening of unprecedented beauty and complexity. In this program, she honors her iconic, vastly different roles such as Giselle and Kitri, performs Valse Triste to Sibelius’s music, choreographed for her by Ratmansky, and showcases a segment from Manon in Kenneth MacMillan’s choreography (which recently caused a sensation in London). She also performs Frederick Ashton’s stunning Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan, dies in Mikhail Fokine’s legendary The Dying Swan, and joins her partners in duets and trios choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Jason Kittelberger. She even co-created the short ballet Ashes. Throughout her phenomenal career, Osipova has danced 172 roles, as her biographers have tallied, so there was plenty to choose from for this program.
Attending Osipova’s performance on May 1st at the Latvian National Opera is worth it, if only to witness her unparalleled fouettés—arguably the best in the world. But Force of Nature offers much more than mere technical marvels: it provides audiences with an encounter with great art and the chance to understand what it means to be a true ballet étoile of the 21st century.
