In celebration of Osipova?

[SheilaC]

I've booked the second performance (initially there was only going to be one). But it's weird, it's not in a conventional theatre but an Edinburgh University venue, the Pleasance- and if you don't want to book on line you have to ring a London number! When booking you don't get a proper ticket as seating is allocated on arrival on a first come, first served basis. The casting is intriguing, should be an interesting performance.

[maryrosesatonapin]

Oh, I'm jealous!  I think she is a natural Carmen.

[alison]

6 hours ago, Geoff said:

There is a new Osipova show coming up in Edinburgh, by the way.

 

Yes.  I think it has its own thread in the News section.

[Nogoat]

The flower-throw, presentations and celebration following Ed Watson's final on-stage performance at Saturday's brunch-time Dante elicited a wonderfully raucous cacophony of appreciation from the packed auditorium - complete with much foot-stomping.

 

I was immediately reminded of the last time I heard such a wild, uninhibited and thunderous reaction at the ROH - it was the Bolshoi's Flames of Paris with Osipova and Vasiliev, way back in 2013. 

 

And who could be surprised by that reaction? All the stars were aligned*: it was the Bolshoi; they were at the ROH; it was Flames of Paris, complete with its rousing narrative, its revolutionary zeal and its show-stopping set-pieces; it was Osipova, returning to the Bolshoi as a guest; it was Vasiliev doing the same. 

 

But mainly it was the last two. Individually, each has a stage presence that acts like a lens to focus our attention; together, they magnified that effect to burn performance into memory and ignite the audience into frenzy.

That famous, final PDD, alternated between pin-drop silence and explosive relief (Vasiliev, walking so, so slowly upstage, in utter silence, for his first solo - feeding on our anticipation and out-Baryshnikoving Baryshnikov in his swagger; Osipova, so full of physical and revolutionary energy she crackled as she fought to contain and then release it). And the eruption at the curtain calls was more akin to a volcano blowing its top, complete with foot-stomping seismic tremors.

I really have never heard anything to surpass it (though Wembley, 1976, when Southampton won the FA Cup, was probably louder - but there were a few more people at that event, and they'd probably had a bit more to drink).

 

* or should that be 'continuous and planetary', since I'd just seen Dante?

Edited November 1, 2021 by Nogoat

[Sebastian]

Although this could be posted on the thread about the current run of Giselle I put it here as that thread has already moved on from Thursday's premiere, which saw Osipova return to one of her greatest roles. I have just received a comment from an old friend who was there and which seems worth sharing:

 

>>My husband was on the film unit that had been quickly assembled to film the Bolshoi on their first visit to Britain in 1956.  They filmed all night at Covent Garden.  He described with awe how Ulanova, then in her late 40s?, seemed to be the 16 year old Juliet.  Thought the same about Osipova in Giselle this week.

 

High praise indeed. 

[Amelia]

After seeing Osipova's tragic Giselle in the last two weeks I remembered and found a video of her rehearsing with Carlos Acosta when she just joined the RB. So ethereal and light but at the same time profound and intelligent.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQO4Asq5YRE

 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Amelia
typo

[Sim]

How lovely to see that again.  Thanks Amelia!  

[Sim]

Thanks TTP.  I see what you mean.  I can't bear all the applause so am now watching it silence which is weird, but I know every note of the music so I am playing it in my head.  That way I can get lost in the beauty of the dancing without being constantly interrupted by applause and bravos!  

[FionaM]

Can I ask why this audience video is allowed, when others have been removed?  Is this YouTuber a verified source? 

[BalletcoForum Moderators]

8 minutes ago, FionaE said:

Can I ask why this audience video is allowed, when others have been removed?  Is this YouTuber a verified source? 

 

Like everyone else, the mods are not perfect (and some of them have full time jobs) so things can sometimes slip through the cracks.

[Nogoat]

Seeing Bennet Gartside (as Friar Laurence) on stage with Osipova's Juliet in Saturday's R&J brought back memories of one of the most achingly perfect and poignant pieces of ballet I've seen - their dance, as married couple Tatiana and Prince Gremin, in the ballroom scene of Onegin; from way back in 2015.

 

In trying to tease apart the reasons I found it so moving, there is of course the sense that, despite the chaos and tragic loss encountered earlier in her life, she now appears to inhabit a near-perfect state of contented stability and happiness. And who wouldn't hanker after such heavenly bliss? Who wouldn't prefer order over chaos? And when we've invested so much in the heroine's story, who wouldn't pick up on and wallow in those self-same feelings?

 

And that last point, for me, is what makes Osipova so special. She is the epitome of non-verbal communication - she has the uncanny ability to turn her characters inside-out, to expose their inner life on the surface for me to absorb and empathise with. Performance becomes experience, and that irrational, complex artifice I see in front of me - the scenery, the costumes, the cast, the lighting, the choreography, the music and, critically, the skills of the principals - conspires to draw me into their world and their experience.

At its dream-like best I imagine it's as close to an out-of-body experience as it's possible to get. But, like a lucid dream, it's a fragile thing that can break at the slightest inconsistency - a bum note, a mis-step, a programme dropped nearby; for that performance, for that cast, for those principals, it worked like a magic charm and I thank them for it.

 

But I think there is another dimension that amplifies the experience and adds, in this case, poignancy. As spectators we are in a privileged position compared to the characters and their unfolding stories. Osipova communicates her characters' experiences to me like no other, but characters live in-the-moment in the story, whereas I know their futures. That knowledge changes how I experience what I see in front of me - future events and behaviours inform and modify the strength and nature of what and how I feel in-the-moment (it's probably a large part of why I get more out of narrative ballets with repeated viewing).

However, it won't just be down to me; Osipova is such an intuitive actress that I have no doubt she will, consciously or unconsciously (for she, as Osipova the actress, knows the future, too), be giving out oh-so-subtle cues in the ballroom scene to reflect that slight sadness of opportunities lost and fulfilment not realised -  the slight stress fracture in the edifice Tatiana has constructed out of her life that may yet bring it all tumbling down -  and priming us for what happens next. 

 

It may all end up as a lovely, tangled, recursive mess of relationships between the dancer and the spectator, of the present and the future, of cause and effect, but that emotional vortex I got sucked into and so enjoyed all those years ago had at the heart of it the incredible talent that is Natalia Osipova.

 

[Shade]

What interesting and insightful comments Nogoat. 
 

I will be forever grateful to Ms Osipova and Mr Vasiliev for igniting my interest in ballet. Their Bolshoi performances in 2010 were like a jolt of electricity hitting the ballet world, especially the Don Q. As a result of that I have seen more ballet performances with different dancers and companies than I did in the year’s before. 
 

The most important quality I look for is a dancer who can communicate with the audience and who can move my very soul. That is the unique effect of Ms Osipova for me. 
 

“Still after all these years?

 

-Always.”

 

 

[Emeralds]

Haven’t actually got round to seeing Natalia this season yet as she couldn’t dance her first Nutcracker, which I’d booked, but my best memories of some RB performances were her Anastasia, Natalia Petrovna in A Month in the Country, Kitri in Don Quixote (RB but also Bolshoi, Mikhailovsky), Onegin, Swan Lake (RB, with Acosta), Bayadere (as Gamzatti as well as Nikiya), Giselle (with Acosta).

 

Our extended family has a funny story about Giselle -  one of the kids has seen Giselle by different companies and enjoyed the experience but never managed to stay awake till the end (maybe it’s the dark lighting of Act 2 that has a soporific effect?) ....except when Osipova dances Giselle. The explanation? “She is so interesting that she keeps you awake right to the end”. 😁

[Dance*is*life]

Osipova came here to guest star in Giselle with the Israel Ballet.  Of course I saw the performance and yes she was wonderful, but what was even more fantastic was that she agreed to give a student master class, which I was privileged to watch and two of my students to attend.   What struck me more than anything was how unassuming she was!   Her corrections were so pertinent and she gave a really excellent class and even extended it to an hour and forty minutes!    She talked a lot about head and arm movements and the articulation of the feet.   She also made the point that just because you could lift your leg round your ears, didn't mean that you should do so at every opportunity........ a truly great artist.

[nzballetfan]

She's peerless, the most captivating dancer in the world. Her Bolshoi Coppélia has made ballet fans of everyone I have forced to watch it. I am so envious of those who saw her Juliet, as I can only imagine the grace, fragility and youthfulness she would have brought to the role. Praying there'll be a recording of that one.

 

Also hoping there's a recording of her as Nikiya somewhere. Her Gamzatti is actually sympathetic, so I can't imagine how you'd ache for her Nikiya. She also strikes me as someone Solor would be more likely to fall for (but I'm not a man, so who knows)!

[FionaM]

News!  Natalia’s performance of Giselle at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires will be broadcast online.   
 

Sunday 17 April 2022

1700  🇦🇷 
 

Albrecht is Brazilian independent guest principal Daniel Camargo … previously principal at Stuttgart and Dutch National Ballet.  Currently guest principal at ABT and next performing at Czech National Ballet.  
 

https://teatrocolon.org.ar/es/en-vivo
 

 

[Pas de Quatre]

Thanks for posting. I would love to watch this. Do you know whether you have to see it as it is broadcast or whether it will be available later?

[alison]

It looks as though it's a "live" transmission to me.

[capybara]

15 minutes ago, alison said:

It looks as though it's a "live" transmission to me.

So 1.00am UK time 😨

[Pas de Quatre]

They are 4 hours behind us so that would make it 21.00 or 9 pm!

[capybara]

1 hour ago, Pas de Quatre said:

They are 4 hours behind us so that would make it 21.00 or 9 pm!

 

Whoops. I think I calculated the flight time! Sorry!

[FionaM]

Past streams have been available afterwards … Marianela Nuñez in Merrry Widow, Lauren Cuthbertson in R&J both were (might still be?)
 

But I don’t have any details on this one.  
 

9pm 🇬🇧 on Easter Sunday is good for me!

[Peanut68]

18 hours ago, FionaE said:

News!  Natalia’s performance of Giselle at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires will be broadcast online.   
 

Sunday 17 April 2022

1700  🇦🇷 
 

Albrecht is Brazilian independent guest principal Daniel Camargo … previously principal at Stuttgart and Dutch National Ballet.  Currently guest principal at ABT and next performing at Czech National Ballet.  
 

https://teatrocolon.org.ar/es/en-vivo
 

 

Thanks Fiona

Will it be on that link? And am I right gunning it’s around 1pm UK time? 

[FionaM]

29 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

Thanks Fiona

Will it be on that link? And am I right gunning it’s around 1pm UK time? 

I don’t know exactly where the link will be … I’ll be scanning their website https://teatrocolon.org.ar/es/en-vivo and their YouTube channel https://youtube.com/c/teatrocolontv

 

5pm in Argentina 🇦🇷….  is 9pm in UK 🇬🇧 

[Peanut68]

Lack of international travel has completely thrown me off time zone differences 🤣

[Guest oncnp]

10 hours ago, FionaE said:

Past streams have been available afterwards … Marianela Nuñez in Merrry Widow, Lauren Cuthbertson in R&J both were (might still be?)
 

 

 

The wonderful Merry Widow is still available almost 2 years later.....La viuda alegre - YouTube

 

[FionaM]

17 hours ago, oncnp said:

 

The wonderful Merry Widow is still available almost 2 years later.....La viuda alegre - YouTube

 

 
Yes!   and the R&J is available on Inaki Urlezaga’s YouTube channel 😉

[FionaM]

links from Facebook of Teatro Colón:

 

Sunday April 17th, 17:00 hrs.

GISELLE LIVESTREAM from the Columbus Theater by: www.teatrocolon.org.ar

www.facebook.com/TeatroColonOficial

www.youtube.com/teatrocolontv

www.twitch.tv/teatrocolon

 

GISELLE, ballet with Choreography by Gustavo Mollajoli (based on originals by Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa)

 

COLON STABLE BALLET THEATER
Mario Galizzi the Director
BUENOS AIRES PHILARMONIC ORCHESTA
Manuel Coves, Director

 

GISELLE: Natalia Osipova
ALBRECHT: Daniel Camargo

Choreography: Martin Miranda and Nestor Asaff
Staging and Costume: Nicola Benois
Lighting: Ruben Conde

Edited April 15, 2022 by FionaE
Layout

[JNC]

Unfortunately it seems this livestream they haven’t retained? If they have would be grateful if someone could share the link! 

[Amelia]

There are several clips of Natalia Osipova's performance in Colon Theatre here:

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=streaming+giselle+colon+osipova&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

[Pas de Quatre]

 

There are several short videos from Osipova's 17 April 2022 performance of Giselle on Youtube. The full version currently on Teatro Colon's site is from last November, but maybe the whole of the new performance will be available soon.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Pas de Quatre
Link removed as failed

[Geoff]

Courtesy of another thread, here is a clip which was new to me (lots of fun from Laurencia):

 

This is how pas de six was danced at Mikhailovsky Theatre with young Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghsadwIwp0U

 

[alison]

I've always found the concept of associating "fun" with Laurencia, certainly in the Mikhailovsky production, rather distasteful   That said, the excised pas de six is certainly worth seeing.  Last seen by the Royal Ballet accompanying La Fille Mal Gardée in 1989, IIRC.