According to an old ballet commonplace, no one can beat the Russians when it comes to Swan Lake. Biased and historically inaccurate as this may be, the generalisation has a grain of truth. Russian ballerinas have always looked at ease with the popular classic. It matters little that it was created for an Italian star and partly choreographed by a French ballet master; Swan Lake is as Russian as vodka and comes magically to life when left in the hands — and legs — of Russian interpreters.
Which is what happened last week with the international superstar Natalia Osipova’s debut with the Royal Ballet. Osipova’s rise to fame started only recently, and many in this country still remember her dazzling rendition of Don Quixote. A few years and a few companies later, for she has long since left the Bolshoi with whom she first danced, she has come back to London to tackle the most difficult and demanding of works, in which dazzling technique alone is not enough. Undaunted by the demands of the dual role, she gave a terrific reading of what is believed to be one of her first approaches to Odette, the doomed, chaste swan princess, and Odile, her perfidious and seductive double.
While all the pyrotechnics — which brought down the house— in the so-called ‘black swan’ pas de deux confirmed that she is one of the greatest virtuosos of the moment, it was her white swan that surprised and enchanted with unexpected dramatic depths and a legato technique to dream of. Osipova’s Odette is a splendidly heartbroken young maiden — almost a child princess — who exudes a mesmerising mix of romantic resignation, trapped-child fear and a more than convincing plea for freedom from the evil spell.
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