The National Ballet of Japan makes its debut at the London Royal Opera House on Thursday, pirouetting into a void left when Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet was cancelled over the war in Ukraine.
In 2022, the Opera House called off the internationally renowned Moscow-based company’s tour and proposed instead to open up their prestigious stage to the Japanese dancers.
Founded in 1997, Japan’s resident ballet company will perform in London for the first time from Thursday to Sunday.
It will perform a production of Giselle, a classic romantic ballet which first premiered in 1841.
The production is led by artistic director of the National Ballet of Japan Miyako Yoshida, 59, who was the first Japanese principal dancer at the British ballet institution between 1995 and 2010.
Eleven Japanese dancers, including three principal dancers, now perform at the Royal Opera House and make up around 10 percent of the company.
Returning to the prestigious stage was not only “a dream coming true,” but also a lot of “pressure”, Yoshida told AFP.
When the Bolshoi’s tour was cancelled, director of the Royal Ballet Kevin O’Hare approached his ex-classmate Yoshida to discuss bringing her company to London as a replacement.
– Aiming for accessibility –
The ex-ballerina “never imagined” it would happen “this quickly”, and recalled that scheduling and funding issues had slowed the plans.
The chance to perform came “too soon,” she said.
She admitted that the Japanese company, which even though it boasts its capacity to dance a wide repertoire, was perhaps not quite ready to replace one of the oldest and most prestigious ballet companies in the world.
The young company put on productions in the US in 2008, and at the Bolshoi Theatre the following year, but this is the first time it will perform a classic Western ballet in Europe.
“I tried to make it more easy to understand,” said Yoshida, explaining that “young people” would not be interested in the ballet “if it was very old-fashioned”.
She wanted to capture the essence of the romantic ballet, which tells a story of forbidden love.
Supported by choreographer Alistair Marriott, Yoshida hoped the production would distinguish itself with its pared-back simplicity.
For Yoshida, the five London performances aim to “make the National Ballet of Japan known around the world” and enable its 75 dancers to evolve with other companies from Europe and beyond.
“I want to make the company known worldwide,” she said.
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© Agence France-Presse
