Latest news with #TheExhibition
The Guardian
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Osipova/Linbury review – superstar ballerina reckons with the icons of dance
Dancers don't just pay tribute to the past, they can inhabit it. In this solo(ish) triple bill, Royal Ballet principal Natalia Osipova steps into the shoes of two great female icons of modern dance, Martha Graham and Isadora Duncan, perhaps absorbing some of their pioneering spirit along the way. In Graham's Errand Into the Maze, Osipova is quelling demons – explicitly Marcelino Sambé's Minotaur, but inner ones too – with the power of her mighty ankle-to-ear kicks. It is a dance of strength and sharp accents, geometry and gravity, and Osipova's character simmers with power as well as trepidation. Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan is a homage by Frederick Ashton, presented here in a new film by Grigory Dobrygin, spiritedly shot and beautifully lit. A handheld camera chases Osipova under a flowing chiffon scarf, capturing her giddiness and wild freedom while closeup detail sees the vulnerability at heart. The voluptuousness of the movement is womanly but there's a childlike quality too, in its abandon and in the certainty of one's own presence at the centre of the world. It's a film that does the ballet justice. So that's the first half of Osipova's offering. The second half diverges eccentrically from the historical into something of right now. Jo Strømgren is a Norwegian choreographer, playwright and director whose The Exhibition is a piece of comic dance theatre. Two people arrive in a gallery: a well-groomed Osipova and the scruffier Christopher Akrill. She speaks Russian, he English. There's mischief and misunderstanding and the two are drawn into an odd relationship which is hampered and enhanced by their inability to understand each other. You never know where the piece is going, but it engagingly dances around themes of connection, prejudice, art and beauty, and what the body can and cannot say. Even if you can't understand Osipova's words there is a naturalism and cheeky character to her animated chatter. We know she's a good dance-actor, but speech is something different. It's a surprising swerve for Osipova, a statement about who she is, or might want to be as a performer. It's a triple bill that honours past legends while telling us that Osipova is determined to be her own artist. At the Linbury theatre, Royal Opera House, London, until 10 March
The Guardian
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Natalia's night: Royal Ballet puts the spotlight on Osipova
Marcelino Sambé and Natalia Osipova rehearse Errand Into the Maze by Martha Graham Errand Into the Maze is one of two pieces performed live in the production Osipova/Linbury The other is The Exhibition, which Osipova rehearses here with Christopher Akrill The Exhibition is a world premiere by Norwegian choreographer Jo Strømgren Sambé and Osipova in Errand Into the Maze, inspired by the myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur Osipova rehearses with Akrill for The Exhibition. The Russian ballerina also stars in a new film of Frederick Ashton's Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan as part of the evening Osipova and Akrill in The Exhibition, which will be staged in the Royal Ballet's intimate Linbury theatre Osipova in Errand Into the Maze, a 1947 duet choreographed by Martha Graham Sambé and Osipova in rehearsals for Errand Into the Maze Rehearsals for The Exhibition choreographed by Strømgren, a former dancer who is also a playwright and theatre director The Exhibition has costumes by Bregje van Balen, lighting by Ryan Joseph Stafford, sound by Florence Hand and set design by Strømgren Osipova and Akrill in The Exhibition Errand Into the Maze has music by Gian Carlo Menotti, costume designs by Martha Graham, sets by Isamu Noguchi, original lighting design by Jean Rosenthal and revival lighting design by Chris Wilkinson Osipova/Linbury is at the Linbury theatre, London, 6-10 March
