Solo for Two Takes Flight

Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev will introduce three new works to the world this evening at Segerstrom Center: MERCY by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, PASSO by Ohad Naharin and FACADA by Arthur Pita. The program is called Solo for Two – the title paying tribute to the unique talents of these two extraordinary dancers whose spirit, passion and commitment unite into riveting works of art. Following are glimpses into the creative process, photos from the recent rehearsals at the Center. 

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui rehearsing with Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev. Photo by Steve Dawson.

Final dress rehearsal of MERCY. Photo by Gene Schiavone.

Solo for Two will be performed Friday, July 25 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, July 26 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday July 27 at 2 p.m. It will then receive its London and Moscow premieres, culminating with its New York premiere next year. 

Final dress rehearsal of PASSO. Photo by Doug Gifford.

Final dress rehearsal of FACADA. Photo by Gene Schiavone.

For more photos from Solo for Two rehearsals, visit the Center’s Facebook page here. 

Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev. Photo by Doug Gifford.

Prima Ballerina is Prima Assoluta in the U.K.

Natalia Osipova.
Photo by Damir Yusupov.

Natalia Osipova has won Britain’s Critics’ Circle National Dance award for Best Dancer of 2013. Qualifying artists must have performed in the U.K. between August 31, 2012 and September 1, 2013. Britain’s Judith Mackrell reported for The Guardian in her DANCEBLOG that, “there are few more dramatic and virtuoso stars in ballet today than Natalia Osipova – yet while the Russian ballerina wins her best female dancer award for performances with the St. Petersburg company the Mikhailovsky Ballet, and has been nominated in previous years for her performances with the Bolshoi, there is an extra frisson to her win this time around, given that her recent signing to the Royal Ballet has, for the time being, made her one of our own.” 

Natalia Osipova. Photo by Gene Schiavone

Osipova has appeared at the Center with the Bolshoi Ballet, the Center’s Tour de Force dance galas, in Reflections and American Ballet Theatre’s world premiere of its new production of Firebird. The incomparable Osipova returns to the Center with her equally phenomenal partner, Ivan Vasiliev, July 25 – 27. They will perform a special program titled Solo for Two.

Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev in Don Quixote.
Photo by Mikhail Logvinov, copyright Bolshoi Ballet.

Natalia Osipova and Vasiliev Ignite the Stage

Photo by Damir (left) and Stas Levshin (right).

Get ready for the dynamic duo that Bachtrack is raving about. Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev returned to dance with the Bolshoi Ballet, performing The Flames of Paris to close out the company’s three-week season in London. Reviewer Margaret Willis raves, Osipova and Vasiliev “set the stage ablaze with their vitality, energy and sparking virtuoso dancing. Their natural effervescent characters lit the fuse, which fired up the whole company, resulting in an explosion of delighted cheering from the whole auditorium."

Osipova and Vasiliev performing The Flames of Paris

“Like a greyhound let out of the slips, Vasiliev shot across the stage in a series of mind-boggling leaps, putting in triple turns in the air where normally there would be two; pirouetting so fast, it would seem that he would bore through the floor; leaping and hanging horizontally in the air; and concluding with barrel turns and multi-complicated flourishes – and all done with a wide grin. 

Osipova and Vasiliev performing The Flames of Paris

“Not to be outdone, Osipova, showing off her talents, sped across the stage, her twinkling feet barely touching the ground; twizzled in multi pirouettes; jumped with high soaring stretched leaps to end with cyclonic spins. Her expressive face exuded the joy of being on stage and of dancing, and she too won the hearts of the cheering public. Their curtain calls went on and on.” 

In 2009, the pair performed a pas de deux from The Flames of Paris during the Center’s dance extravaganza, Tour de Force. This brilliant couple, the toast of the dance world, are the stars of a special engagement at the Center in 2014. Tickets are available now through a subscription to the International Dance Series. 

To read the full article by Willis, please visit Bachtrack.

Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev: Ballet's Power Couple

Osipova and Vasiliev. © Gene Schiavone

Gregory Wayne comments in DuJour magazine that not since Nureyev and Fonteyn have two dancers so captivated dance audiences as Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev. Wayne writes, “Now that the 2013 season is upon us, dance mavens are gathering again to witness the magic.” He is referring to Osipova and Vasiliev’s appearances in New York, but Southern California dance audiences can see them in a special program being created for them by the Center and Ardani Artists that will be performed January 24 – 26, 2014. The evening will include “The Kingdom of the Shades” scene from Petipa’s La Bayadère, Petit’s Le Jeune Homme et la mort as well as a world premiere work. As Wayne says, “The annals of millennial-era ballet have not seen a more mesmerizing duo than Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova.” Tickets to the Center’s engagement are available now through subscriptions to the 2013 – 2014 International Dance Series.

www.dujour.com/2013-06/1226/ivan-vasiliev-natalia-osipova-american-ballet-theatre 

Vasiliev in The young man, and death. © Damir Yusupov

Osipova as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. © Gene Schiavone

The Center’s 2013 – 2014 International Dance Series also includes an exclusive engagement by the incomparable Diana Vishneva, On the Edge, with all new choreography. Returning to Segerstrom Center are Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo with the American premiere of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s LAC (Swan Lake), the Hamburg Ballet performing the American premiere of John Neumeier’s award-winning production of Liliom and the always amazing Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.