Natalia Osipova

Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet was to receive eleven performances during ABT’s 2020 80th Anniversary Season. Set to the score by Sergei Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet features scenery and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis and lighting by Thomas Skelton. The ballet received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet in London on February 9, 1965 and was given its ABT Company Premiere at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 1985 with Leslie Browne and Robert La Fosse in the leading roles.

As ABT was set to celebrate Romeo and Juliet’s 35th Anniversary with the Company, a highlight of the performance run was to be a May 25 evening with Guest Artist Natalia Osipova, a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, in the role of Juliet opposite ABT Principal David Hallberg as Romeo. Osipova and Hallberg, who share the same birthday, are well-known for their magical chemistry on stage as a pair.

Enjoy select quotes from Hallberg on their partnership and Critic Reviews on Osipova’s artistry:

Hallberg on First Dancing with Osipova

“The experience was so electric. She brought out of me as an artist what I didn’t know existed and I didn’t have a choice but to go with her. She’s such a powerful energy. She’s such a powerful artist that she doesn’t give much choice with the people she’s with. You have to go with her, because she’s possessed almost. That’s what was so exciting.”

(from Interview Magazine)

Hallberg on their Partnership

“I’m very aware of myself performing sometimes and I think, with her, I become unaware of performing and I really in essence, just live.”

(from Interview Magazine)

The Washington Post on the Duo

“Hallberg and Osipova share a dance partnership that feels like destiny set to music.”

(Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post)

The New York Times on Osipova's ABT Debut as Juliet in 2010

“In Romeo and Juliet she was an exquisite figure to watch, in part, because she knew how to speak with her feet. In a way, her resplendent turn as Juliet was more meaningful than the part itself, proving that the buoyancy of her dancing can succeed in roles that aren’t strictly bravura ones.”

(Gia Kourlas, The New York Times)

The New Yorker on Osipova's Dancing

“Watching Osipova in close quarters produces a strange sensation—like seeing a large wave bearing down on you, just as it begins to crest in preparation for the crash. The first thing you feel is her utter fearlessness. She would jump, even if there were nobody there to catch her. You also become intensely aware of the efficiency of her body, a finely tuned machine in which each part labors in perfect harmony with all the others to achieve a single goal: movement through space.”

(Marina Harss, The New Yorker)