This photo shows a scene from Two Feet. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Russian ballerina Natalia Osipova, a principal of the British Royal Ballet, holds her debut performance in Shanghai this week.

Premiering on July 11 at the Shanghai Grand Theatre is Force of Nature, a ballet gala featuring Osipova and other internationally renowned dancers, such as Jason Kittelberger, Anna Tsygankova, Giorgi Potskhishvili, Daria Pavlenko, and Joseph Kudra.

This photo shows a scene from Two Feet. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

On evenings of July 13-14, she will perform Two Feet, a two-hour solo ballet theater production created by Meryl Tankard. One of the signature works by Tankard, a legendary dance and choreographer from Australia, Two Feet was presented first at the World Expo in 1988. The work has been re-created for Osipova, with her own life experience incorporated in the show.

"Two Feet is really special for me because it has everything: we have humor in there, drama, Giselle...we have stories about dancers, me and my life...it is a brilliant show for those who really like and understand dance," Osipova said at the news conference in Shanghai on July 10.

This photo shows a Scene from Force of Nature. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Osipova was born in Moscow in 1986, and turned from gymnastics to ballet when she was five, displaying great talent from an early age. She joined the British Royal Ballet in 2013. She is the winner of the International Dance association Prix Benois de la Danse Award in 2008, the UK National Dance Awards, presented by the Critics' Circle: Best Female Dancer in 2007, 2010 and 2014.

Natalia Osipova (right) and Meryl Tankard, choreographer of Two Feet, meet with the press at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on July 10. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]