Naomi M

Alina will dance Manon bedroom Pdd with Charles Louis Yoshiyama of Ballet Zurich at Ballet Asteras Gala at New National Theatre Tokyo, August 3rd and 4th. https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/ballet/asteras2024/ also Ako Kondo and Chengwu Guo of Australian Ballet and other dancers, mainly Japanese dancers in overseas companies will participate.

I saw Momoko Hirata in Swan Lake guesting in Japan this January and she was still at the top of her game, fabulous and flawless, stunningly beautiful.

National Ballet of Japan was considering to bring their Raymonda (by Asami Maki, basically a traditional Raymonda) for their tour next summer. However, Miyako Yoshida said in the press conference that it is quite difficult to perform a classic Raymonda in the UK these days, and she decided to bring their Giselle (Yoshida/Alistair Marriott) for the tour.

The NYT article says, “Paquita” that incorporates the “Minkus Pas de Trois,” Balanchine’s restaging of the ballet’s pas de trois.

As a subscriber, I can share the full NYT full article here. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/15/arts/dance/new-york-city-ballet-2024-25-season.html?ugrp=c&unlocked_article_code=1.k00.fSRR.j2sSLceBQT0S&smid=url-share The new Ratmansky is a suite of dances from Paquita. Andrew Veyette is retiring.

Which is Wayne Eagling's version that many (including the Japanese audience who has to see the same one every year) loathe...

Myriam Ould Braham said in a Japanese interview that she will not dance after her retirement, only a few summer galas that had already been scheduled https://madamefigaro.jp/series/ballet/240203-myriam-ould-braham.html

Yuhui Choe has posted on instagram that she is out from MacMillan and the rest of season as she is expecting her second child. https://www.instagram.com/p/C4voIA2IJ8j/?igsh=MWd2dWF5ZTBlcDA1ZQ==

https://www.operadeparis.fr/saison-23-24/ballet/la-fille-mal-gardee#artists Marcelino Sambe will appear at POB Fille on March 24,26 and 31 opposite Bleuenn Battistoni

Taiga Kodama Pomfret is half Japanese. He does seem to be short but from his videos on instagram he does seem to have quite breathtaking technique. Another news from Russia is that Renata Shakirova has beet promoted to principal at last. Congratulations! https://www.instagram.com/p/C4OdmbNNGJn/?igsh=MXd6aThvMDBlaHI4YQ==

And I saw that very rare Nutcracker Prince at Noriko Kobayashi Ballet Theatre Tokyo, where Watson was a totally fine, beautiful Prince. He also danced Des Grieux in Manon there, before debuting in that role at RB. (btw Noriko Kobayashi Ballet does a fairly amount of MacMillan, Ashton and De Valois works, they have done The Invitation, Gloria, Anastasia, The Two Pigeons, The Rake’s Progress and Checkmate.)

Yoshida said so. They are paying for the venue, but they also receive the revenue from the ticket sales.

The name of the theatre is New National Theatre but the ballet company's name is National Ballet of Japan, so I think the title should be changed to National Ballet of Japan to perform at Royal Opera House. https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/english/ballet-dance/ ”The resident company of the theatre is the National Ballet of Japan”

I was at the press conference today at the National Ballet of Japan. This tour to the Royal Opera House is not as a guest of the ROH, the company is responsible for the tour. But of course this came possible as Miyako Yoshida was former principal at the Royal Ballet and also partnered Kevin O'Hare at BRB, this relationship helped to make this tour happen. Here is a clip from the 1st act Giselle solo by Ayako Ono, one of their best ballerinas. (another great ballerina who should be doing Giselle is Yui Yonezawa) https://youtu.be/enZHFYf0qGI?si=scguws561xwEm0F1 The designs by Dick Bird are also very impressive, quite a beautiful one especially at the second act. Another news clip https://youtu.be/rmbQm7P-JCw?si=6bjIYwJ-2oRFTrt0 My review on Bachtrack. https://bachtrack.com/review-giselle-marriott-ono-okumura-national-ballet-japan-tokyo-october-2022

Fumi Kaneko said in a Japanese interview that she is 1.67m. (which seems shorter than she looks)