Ashton's Romeo and Juliet, London Coliseum

Two stellar artists bring an intimate tragedy out from behind closed doors

by Ismene BrownWednesday, 13 July 2011

Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova as Romeo and Juliet: Turning joy into sheer life forceAll images © Charlotte MacMillan

Like planets crossing in the skies, light years apart, but by some ocular illusion coinciding, this conjunction of the two most thrilling young Bolshoi stars in the world and Frederick Ashton’s rarely staged Romeo and Juliet really must be seen. Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev are real-life lovers as well as phenomenal work colleagues and passionate actors. The freshness of youth, the unhindered outpouring of emotion, the finish of their dancing, and their direct stage personalities enrich to bursting a chamber-sized telling of the tragedy that's refreshingly intimate by comparison with the more popular blockbuster versions.

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