The ‘new Nureyev’? Can’t that be crossed out of the journalists’ handbook?

Certainly not-to-be-missed, the blurb from the ENO site announces the London performances of Romeo and Juliet with Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova:

This July, for 9 performances only, Bolshoi superstars Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova, with sensational Danish ballet star Alban Lendorf, will perform a twenty-first century re-staging of Sir Frederick Ashton’s Romeo & Juliet by Olivier Award winning Choreographer and Director Peter Schaufuss at the London Coliseum.

A triumph in London last summer, Vasiliev is being hailed as the ‘new Nureyev‘, and is one of the most talented of a new generation of male dancers. The premiere of Ashton’s Romeo & Juliet, is the chance to see Vasiliev’s first appearance in the role of Romeo with Natalia Osipova as Juliet, the extraordinary dancer the New York Times is calling ‘the most sensational ballerina now‘.

Founder choreographer of the Royal Ballet, Sir Frederick Ashton’s, version of Romeo and Juliet, set to the iconic Prokofiev score, is given a fresh revival by Danish dance legend, Peter Schaufuss. If you are a ballet lover, dance lover or theatrical culture vulture, this is a stand-out event not to be missed.

But poor Vasiliev the “new Nureyev”! Such a comment might be at home in a News of the World piece, but on the English National Opera site it looks out of place. Angela Gheorghiu was the new Callas (she wasn’t); Vittorio Grigolo is the new Pavarotti (he isn’t); and so many new Fonteyns have come and gone… I might be wrong but I’m guessing that Vasiliev and Osipova are simply “Vasiliev and Osipova”.

Performances run from the July 11 – 17 at the London Coliseum.

Gramilano Editor

Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.