A petite, raven-haired beauty boasting the energy of an atomic powerplant, the carefree spirit of a teenage girl, yet also
the magnetism and aplomb of a fully-fledged ballerina, Natalia Osipova's artistry is strongly reminiscent of the old Muscovite performing tradition,
if shaped in a contemporary mould. She can handle the most intricate terre-à-terre combinations with virtuosic fluency and speed, possesses
a breathtaking leap and ballon, and does so with a rare communicative sense of joy: she has been described already as "the most brilliant and most Muscovite ballerina of the last decade."
Natalia Osipova was born in Moscow on May 18, 1986. Decided to pursue a career as a gymnast when she was a child,
Osipova only turned to ballet because of a back problem.
She studied at the Moscow Choreographic Academy with Marina Leonova. Upon graduation in 2004 she joined the Bolshoi Ballet
as a member of the corps de ballet. While still a pupil at the Academy she won the Grand Prix at the International Ballet
Competition in Luxemburg. Joining the Bolshoi, she appeared in Bolero, a new work by artistic director Alexei Ratmansky,
set during the first Bolshoi Theatre’s workshop.
In her first seasons with the Bolshoi Osipova started to perform various smaller solo parts, notably the Spanish Bride
in Yuri Grigorovich’s Swan Lake and the 1st variation in the Grand Pas of Don Quixote, both emphasizing her
magnificent jump and ballon, as well as Pasacaille from Roland Petit. Initially Osipova was coached by Ludmilla Semenyaka
but subsequently started working with Marina Kondratieva.
Natalia Osipova also created roles in Ratmansky’s versions of Igor Stravinsky’s Go For Broke (Jeu de Cartes) and Dmitry Shostakovich’s
Bolt, as well as in the Bolshoi Theatre premieres of John Neumeier’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (as Mustardseed)
and Leonide Massine’s Gaité parisienne (as Cancan soloist).
Her debut as Kitri in Don Quixote in November 2005 (with Andrei Bolotin) ignited her career considerably. Osipova
imbued the old classic with a rarely seen electrifying energy. Her technical flamboyance and carefree daredevilry earned her
accolades from the critics and secured great acclaim with the audience. When Osipova danced the role during
the Bolshoi's tour to London in August 2006,
very few realized she was still a member of the corps de ballet. Financial Times critic Clement Crisp compared Osipova's
performance to Maya Plisetskaya's for its "the electric vitality"
and "airy bravura". In further performances of Don Quixote she was cast opposite Ivan Vasiliev, the eye-catching 17-year-old graduate from Minsk who had
recently joined the Bolshoi and matches her in bravura. Before she was promoted to soloist, Natalia Osipova's Kitri had already gained classic status.
In London she also successfully debuted as Aspiccia in Pierre Lacotte's The Pharaoh's Daughter.
Following these early successes Osipova was cast as Gamzatti in La Bayadère and featured prominently in the new American choreographers program
at the Bolshoi in February 2007, dancing soloist roles in George Balanchine's Serenade and Twyla Tharp's In The Upper Room.
Natalia Osipova is a laureate of the 2005 Moscow International Ballet Competition. In 2007 she received the prize "Rising Star" from the Ballet magazine (Moscow).
Marc Haegeman
Her repertory includes:
• Peasant pas in Giselle (Perrot/Coralli, Petipa, staged by Grigorovich) (2004)
• Nancy in La Sylphide (Bournonvile, von Rosen) (2004)
• 11th Waltz in Chopiniana (Fokine) (2004)
• Soloist in Bolero (Ratmansky) at the Workshop of young choreographers (Bolshoi 2004)
• Spanish doll in The Nutcracker (Grigorovich) (2004)
• Mustardseed in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Neumeier) (2004)
• Spanish Bride in Swan Lake (Petipa-Ivanov, staged by Grigorovich) (2005)
• soloist in Pasacaille (Petit) (2005)
• Typist (cr.) in Bolt (Ratmansky) (2005)
• 3rd Act variation in Don Quixote (Petipa, Gorsky, staged by Fadeyechev) (2005)
• Cinderella in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by Grigorovich) (2005)
• Cancan Soloist (Bolshoi cr.) in Gaité Parisienne (Massine) (2005)
• Frivolity in Les Présages (Massine) (2005)
• 3rd Movement in Symphony in C (Balanchine) (2005)
• 2nd variation in Act 3 of La Bayadere (Petipa, Chabukiani/Ponomarev, staged by Grigorovich) (2005)
• Kitri in Don Quixote (Petipa, Gorsky, staged by Fadeyechev) (2005)
• soloist (cr.) in Jeu de Cartes (Ratmansky) (2005)
• Waltz Soloist (cr.) and Autumn in Cinderella (Posokhov) (2006)
• Ramze in La Fille du Pharaon (Lacotte after Petipa) (2006)
• Aspiccia in La Fille du Pharaon (Lacotte after Petipa) (2006)
• Gamzatti in La Bayadère (Petipa, Chabukiani/Ponomarev, staged by Grigorovich) (2006)
• Russian Girl (Bolshoi cr.) in Serenade (Balanchine) (2007)
• soloist (Bolshoi cr.) in In the Upper Room (Tharp) (2007)
• Classical ballerina in The Bright Stream (Ratmansky) (2007)
• soloist in Middle Duet (Ratmansky) (2007)
• soloist in Class-Concert (Messerer) (2007)
• 3rd odalisque in Le Corsaire (Petipa, staged by Ratmansky, Burlaka) (2007)
• soloist (cr.) in Falling Old Ladies (Ratmansky) (2007)
• title role in Giselle (Perrot/Coralli, Petipa, staged by Grigorovich) (2007)