Ballet star Natalia Osipova to make modern-dance debut in London

Russian ballet star Natalia Osipova will make her first contemporary dance performance next year in London, the theatre said Thursday, revealing she would star with her boyfriend, Ukraine's "bad boy" dancer Sergei Polunin.

"I really want to do something new in dance, not to repeat myself," Osipova, 29, who is currently a principal dancer with Britain's Royal Ballet, told reporters.

The former Bolshoi ballet dancer will play the character of Blanche in a prequel of Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Sadler's Wells theatre, it said.

The show, running from June 29 to July 3, will also see Polunin playing the role of Stanley.

"As a dancer I am always looking for the opportunity to challenge myself and try new things," she told a news conference.

Ukrainian dancer Polunin -- who co-owns a London tattoo parlour -- walked out on the Royal Ballet school three years ago, saying he was unable to endure the company's discipline and has even hinted at a permanent departure from ballet in favour of a Hollywood career.

He once admitted dancing while under the influence of cocaine.

Osipova said she was "greatly excited" to work again with renowned Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Portuguese Arthur Pita, as well as for the first time with British choreographer Russell Maliphant, who trained at the Royal Ballet School.

Considered one of Russia's finest ballerinas, Osipova started dancing at the age of five and joined Moscow's Bolshoi at 18, which she left in 2011.

She has been principal dancer at the Royal Ballet in London since 2013.

Alistair Spalding, chief executive and artistic director at Sadler's Wells, unveiled Osipova's modern dance debut while announcing the programme for next year.

"She is an incredible dancer and we are very excited that she chose to work with Sadler's Wells," he said.

Sadler's Wells is considered Britain's mecca for contemporary dance, and will also host Germany troupe Tanztheater Wuppertal in 2016.

They will play "Como el ... musguito in la piedra, ay si, si, si. .. ", the last piece created by the late German choreographer Pina Bausch just before her sudden death in 2009.

The programme will also include a performance by French master horseman Bartabas, as-well as hip-hop, flamenco, contemporary circus and a sound and light show.