{"id":834,"date":"2019-10-24T19:51:46","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T19:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/natalia-osipova-pure-dance-review\/"},"modified":"2023-12-26T17:43:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T17:43:59","slug":"natalia-osipova-pure-dance-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/natalia-osipova-pure-dance-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Natalia Osipova: ‘Pure Dance’ Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Disclosure: Dance Dispatches <\/em>received complimentary admission to write an open and honest review of Natalia Osipova’s Pure Dance<\/em> show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beloved ballerina Natalia Osipova returns to\nLondon\u2019s Sadler\u2019s Wells theatre with her Pure Dance <\/em>production. Similarly\nto dance stars Carlos Acosta and Sergei Polunin, Natalia Osipova is able to attract\ncrowds for her curated show of short pieces, which also toured in Lyon and New\nYork. Osipova\u2019s Pure Dance <\/em>show is\nthe dance equivalent of hosting her own art exhibition, common in visual arts\nand photography \u2013 and the theme of her programme is the \u201cpower of dance to\nmove, emote and inspire,\u201d as written in her introductory programme letter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sergei Polunin presented his <\/em>Mixed Bill<\/a> at the London Palladium earlier this year, and Carlos Acosta gave a farewell tour at the Royal Albert Hall in 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natalia Osipova: Ballet Biography<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Moscow-born dancer, Natalia Osipova, began dancing at the age of five and enrolled in the Mikhail Lavrosky Ballet School a few years later. Next, she studied at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography for nearly a decade from 1995 – 2004. Upon graduation, Osipova joined the Bolshoi Ballet, where she earned a principal role in 2010. The following year, she joined Mikhailovsky Ballet as a principal dancer. In 2012, she became a principal at the American Ballet Theater; and in 2013, she joined The Royal Ballet as a principal dancer. Her documentary film, Force of Nature Natalia<\/a><\/em>, came out in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dancers: Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg in The Leaves Are Fading<\/em> (Antony Tudor)
Photo credit: Johan Persson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Natalia Osipova \u2018Pure Dance\u2019\nReview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Accompanying a four-star review in 2018, The Guardian<\/em><\/a> reviewer, Lyndsey Winship, calls Natlia\nOsipova\u2019s Pure Dance<\/em> \u201ca dizzying\nodyssey from past to present.\u201d The individual solos and duets were created at\ndifferent times, and while she gained fame as a ballerina, a majority of the\npieces are more modern in nature.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony Tudor: The Leaves Are Fading<\/em> (1975), 7 minutes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Osipova\u2019s evening-length programme opens with Antony Tudor\u2019s The Leaving Are Fading<\/em>, which acts like sort of an amuse-bouche. The autumn imagery manifests in Osipova spinning in a fluttery dress and charging through the space in typical grand allegro choreography. During the pas de deux sections, she and David Hallberg awkwardly stick a few poses in a dance about fleeting nature, but all is forgiven when she\u2019s whisked off stage, her back arched in a beautiful farewell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Kittelberger: Left Behind<\/em> (2019), 7 minutes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The staging will look familiar to American fans of So You Think You Can Dance<\/em>. A door sits in its frame on stage, and the piece is a more nuanced, non-commercial version of Mia Michaels choreography<\/a> to Amy Winehouse\u2019s Mercy<\/em> on Stephen \u2018Twitch\u2019 Boss and Katee Shean during Season 4. For me, it\u2019s the highlight of the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choreographer Jason Kittelberger falls to\nfloor on the opposite side of the frame when Osipova throws the door shut. Kittelberger\nresurrects himself and re-enters Osipova\u2019s space, and the narrative continues\nwith a series of entrances and exits. Dancing separately, they fully indulge in\neach movement, lunging deeply and gesturing expressively, but they are\ncompletely focused on each other during their partner work. The duet shares a\nsoft kiss and their bodies intertwine, but Kittelberger quietly slips off\nstage, as the title suggests, leaving Osipova behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dancers: Natalia Osipova and Jonathan Goddard in Flutter<\/em> (Iv\u00e1n P\u00e9rez)
Photo credit: Johan Persson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Iv\u00e1n P\u00e9rez: Flutter<\/em> (2018), 15 minutes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Flutter\n<\/em>oscillates between supremely\nregal moments, tempered by borderline spastic quirky episodes. It matches the\nmusic, which is like angels singing opera alongside aliens spitting out numeric\nseries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair parade out with gay fits of hopping, which look like a bad spoof of modern dance; but there are more subdued playful elements, too \u2013 like when Osipova plays with her balance in relev\u00e9 as her leg is propped up in back attitude. The best parts of the piece are the lifts; Jonathan Goddard effortlessly rockets Osipova around stage to epic music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim Brandstrup: In Absentia<\/em> (2018), 8 minutes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Absentia<\/em> is only Pure Dance <\/em>piece absent of Natalia Osipova; and David Hallberg, principal with the American Ballet Theatre, takes the stage solo. We are introduced to him as he slouches in a chair behind a television, illuminated by its glow. When he rises, his pedestrian movement transforms into more typical dance vocabulary: shifting his hips from side to side and rising on his toes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times, he is distracted (presumably by whatever was on the television) and he marks the movement \u2013 completing it without any particular presence, as requested by the choreographer. His dancing and deft footwork are impressive; but it doesn\u2019t really matter, since he loses interest and hunkers back down to watch something else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The piece would be even more relatable if\nstaged with a cell phone, rather than a TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dancers: Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg in Valse Triste<\/em> (Alexei Ratmansky)
Photo credit: Johan Persson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Roy Assaf: Six Years Later<\/em> (2011), 22 minutes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The pair enters together, slowly and soberly. They focus internally while interacting and exploring each other. The two prance around each other in mini courtship dances, but the dance becomes more aggressive. Osipova repeatedly strikes her shoulder into Kittelberger as a singular note replays, as if the music gets stuck in a glitch. She eventually buffets him backwards with this action and slaps him in the face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the duo re-groups and repeats the slow\nchoreography from the beginning of the dance. It\u2019s tentatively tender and\nreminiscent of The Eternal Sunshine of a\nSpotless Mind<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuka Oishi: Ave Maria<\/em> (2018), 7 minutes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although Ave\nMaria<\/em> is typically associated with the church, choreographer Yuka Oishi\nclaims the piece isn\u2019t religious. Rather, she created the piece to showcase the\nfemininity of Osipova with a new movement vocabulary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuka Oishi also choreographed the <\/em>Rite of Spring solo, <\/em>Sacr\u00e9<\/a> for Sergei Polunin in his <\/em>Mixed Bill at London Palladium.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Osipova gallantly gallops across the stage as\nspotlights create mountain-like shapes in the fog. However, there are times\nwhen she is swept along by the movement, instead. Overcome, she skitters\nbackwards in a bourr\u00e9e and holds up trembling hands. It\u2019s easy to see why this Ave Maria<\/em> used to close the show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexei Ratmansky: Valse Triste<\/em> (2018), 6 minutes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The waltz with David Hallberg is a pretty piece, but not remarkably memorable when shown alongside the others. The dancers move with a fluid quality, and there are joyous parts of the dance against the aquamarine background that would easily fit in the whimsical underwater scene from Mary Poppins Returns<\/em>. Some segments do reflect the title of the piece, \u201csad waltz\u201d, but the piece is best enjoyed ogling Osipova\u2019s technical facility, when she effortlessly slides into the splits \u2013 and her charisma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[yasr_overall_rating null size=”large”]<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dancer: Natalia Osipova in The Leaves Are Fading<\/em> (Antony Tudor)
Photo credit: Johan Persson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If You Go to Pure Dance<\/em>: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dates<\/strong>: 22 \u2013 26 October 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Times<\/strong>: 7:30pm, and one matin\u00e9e on Saturday the\n26th at 2:30pm  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Run<\/strong> time<\/strong>: 2 hours, including a 20-minute\ninterval<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price<\/strong>: \u00a315 \u2013 \u00a385<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theatre<\/strong>: Sadler\u2019s Wells<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Address<\/strong>: Rosebery Ave, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 4TN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearest tube\/ train station(s)<\/strong>: Angel, but walkable from Barbican and\nFarringdon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ticket office phone number<\/strong>: +44 2078 638000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All information accurate and up-to-date at time of posting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Have you seen Natalia Osipova perform? If so, which production was it \u2013 and where in the world were you? Tell us in the comments section below. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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