Naomi M

Sergei Polunin’s Japan tour is canceled after being postponed twice. The reason is noted with japan’s strict border control in the time of the pandemic, but this month it has gradually opened the doors and next week dancers of Stuttgart Ballet will perform in a gala. No more quarantine is required now. (Tourists are not allowed yet) 

https://sergei-polunin.srptokyo.com/

A special gala performance for the Ukraine humanitarian support will be held at the Chatlet with the participation of 25 dancers of Kiev City Ballet, Aurelie Dupont and artists from the Paris Opera Ballet.

https://www.theatredelaville-paris.com/fr/spectacles/saison-2021-2022/danse/soiree-exceptionnelle-pour-lukraine

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris has offered residency for Kiev City Ballet. They can rehearse at the Theatre du Chatelet. 

https://www.bfmtv.com/international/en-direct-guerre-en-ukraine-un-million-de-refugies-ont-fui-le-pays-en-une-semaine_LN-202203030008.html

The Kiev City Ballet, which was on tour in France, will be hosted in residence at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the mayor of the city Anne Hidalgo announced on Thursday.

 "Currently in Paris, the Kiev City Ballet has expressed its wish to stay in France for the moment in order to continue working, rehearsing and bringing their art to life," tweeted Ms. Hidalgo.

 "At my request, the Théâtre du Châtelet will welcome them in residence, as long as the ballet wishes", added the mayor, who is also a candidate for the presidential election.
 This Ukrainian company was on tour in France with performances of "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky.  Another company from the Ukrainian capital, the Grand Ballet de Kiev, which gave a performance near Arcachon on Wednesday evening, was to leave for a ten-date tour in Poland organized in support

It seems another Ukrainian Ballet troupe Kyiv Grand Ballet was touring France, and the have just finished their tour and will fly to Poland to perform. After Poland. their future seems uncertain, they cannot return to Ukraine.

https://www.euronews.com/culture/amp/2022/03/03/ukraine-s-kyiv-grand-ballet-give-emotional-final-performance-of-their-french-swan-lake-tou 

1 hour ago, alison said:

I've been on the Dansomanie website quite a bit in the past few days, and haven't seen any mention of this.  Are they a very minor company, or something?

They are relatively a new company but has been touring Japan for a few years. The artistic director Ivan Kozlov was formerly of Kiev Ballet, Eifman Ballet and Mariinsky Ballet. While he was at Mariinsky he was a favorite partner of Uliana Lopatkina and they have appeared on the Hans van Manen Festival DVD.  One of the principals Mie Nagasawa is Japanese and a Vaganova graduate, petite but very delicate and lovely ballerina. Also a former Mariinsky soloist Oksana Bondareva dances here, she is a strong technician with great stage presence. I have seen this company and they are not bad at all, although Kyiv Ballet is far superior. 

K-Ballet Company will stream Tetsuya Kumakawa's Clarimonde - La Morte Amoureuse”  for free but limited on March 5th 0:00-24:00 Japan time.

Sena Hidaka, former principal at Tulsa Ballet is in the title role. 

Based on Theophile Gautier's poem, it was quite an enjoyable gothic love story ballet about an hour long. 

I am not sure this is the right palace to post but a newly filmed Swan Lake by National Ballet of Ukraine is now available for free. It has been filmed for the Japanese audience as their tour in December was canceled, but of course everyone can watch. The Japanese promoter will collect donations for the theatre which is of course in great danger. 
 

cast 

Odette/Odile:Anna MUROMTSEVA Siegfried:Mykyta SUKHORUKOV Rothbart:Vitalii NETRUNENKO

Mother Queen:Liudmyla MELNYK

Prince's mentor:Mykhailo ZAGREBA

Pas de Trois:Kateryna DIDENKO,Oleksandra PANCHENKO,Andrii GAVRYSHKIV

Small swans:Tetiana SOKOLOVA,Ievgenia KORSHUNOVA,Inna CHORNA,Kateryna CHUPINA

Big swans:Tetiana MAZNIAK,Oleksandra PANCHENKO,Ielizaveta GOGIDZE,Kseniia STETSENKO

SpanishDance:Inna BUZYLO,Natalia IAKUSHKINA,Sergii KLIACHIN,Dmytro ALEXANDROV

Neapolitan Dance：Oleksandr SKULKIN HungarianDance：Ksenia Ivanenko,Volodymyr Kutuzov

Brides：Iryna BORYSOVA,Ielizaveta GOGIDZE, Tetiana MAZNIAK, Oleksandra PANCHENKO

Conductor：Oleksii Baklan National Opera Theatre of Ukraine Orchestra

I have a friend who has competed in Prix de Lausanne, graduated a ballet school in East Europe, but quit ballet, went to university and became a cabin attendant in an airline, and since then had only danced a couple of ballet classes a week as a hobby.

That is a common story. But what was surprising was that, after several years on board and travelling everywhere, she visited many theatres and opera houses throughout the world and watched ballet performances, and regained her love to ballet, started to purse ballet seriously again. And then the pandemic came and many flights were cancelled so she had time to polish her technique.

She took a try at the audition for National Ballet of Japan last year, and got a contract as a corps de ballet dancer in the company. In the first program of the season (Swan Lake), she got a soloist role. It was great to see her on stage as a longtime friend and she danced incredibly well, and her story was featured in newspapers and TV programs. So even if you once quit ballet, there might be chances to come back and become a professional dancer. 

Royal Ballet’s Japan tour expected this summer is postponed to summer 2023. Some dancers from the company will perform in a gala in Tokyo this summer on July 13-18 instead. Further Information to be announced. 
 

https://www.nbs.or.jp/english/news/the-royal-ballet-japan-tour-2022-is-postponed-to-2023-but-the-gala-performances-by-the-selected-roya.html

Bashkir Opéra’s La Bayadere in full. 

there are more full lengths in their channel including Giselle. 

What I felt very sorry was at the semifinals when Kaining Dong (China, 416) was about to perform La Sylphide but there was some technical mistakes in the playing of music and that happened several times so he could not get in sync with the music. He should have been given another chance. 

I commented on Graham Watts’ Instagram, that Mizuka Ueno, currently principal at Tokyo Ballet and alumni of PDL (gained scholarship at Princess Grace Academy) said on her Instagram that she was offered to be jury this year but could not accept because of the strict regulations of re-entering Japan (2 week quarantine) when she has to dance her last Odette/Odile in 2 weeks. So they did consider having jury members that are not white. 
 

but anyway the deleted comment was inappropriate. 

You can see the original PDL comment on Graham Watt’s Twitter. 
 

Not sure if this is the appropriate thread, but Haruhi Ohtani, formerly of Compana National de Danza of Spain, has joined ENB as a soloist. A dancer with a very strong classical technique.

Judging from the videos posted of Swan Lake, I think it is so wrong to promote Eva Sergyenkova so early, so weak in technique and weak feet, tilted pelvis, no coordination and not beautiful port de bras. I won’t pay to see this level of dancer in the leads. What on earth is Vasiev thinking! 
 

I think every dancer at Royal Ballet (even in the lowest ranks) have much better technique. 

11 minutes ago, alison said:

What?  Have you refreshed the page?  It's supposed to be on until midnight tonight, surely?

 

At least we in the UK will be able to catch it on BBC4 on Sunday, but that doesn't help you.

Thank you. It has now been resumed. 

The stream is already unavailable…

14 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

Can Naomi perhaps advise whether we should be saying Fumi Kaneko as per this forum and the UK press or Kaneko Fumi as in the documentary, given that the translator informed us that we would now speak to Kaneko?

in Japan, we usually say in this order.

Surname → Name 

Fumi and Akane are names and Kaneko, Takada are surnames. So in the Japanese tradition it will be Kaneko Fumi but her name is Fumi so you can call her Fumi. 
 

National Ballet of Japan writes names in the Japanese order which is Surname → Name 

19 hours ago, Richard LH said:

Is  this a repeat of the 2018 Nutcracker-based  one Naomi? 

https://www.nhk-ondemand.jp/goods/G2019098629SA000/?capid=sns001

Yes, indeed! 

Is that the same video as this one with Fumi?

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2058798/

there was a documentary on Akane Takada and Ryoichi Hirano on NHK which will be replayed in Japan next week. Hope that will be available overseas as it was a very nice program.

A short clip of National Ballet of Japan's Swan Lake (Peter Wright and Galina Samsova) with Ayako Ono and Kosuke Okumura. Okumura is the son of Fumi Kaneko's teacher Kaoru Jinushi and he and Fumi went to Moscow International Competition together winning Silver medal. 

On 13/12/2021 at 23:43, Emeralds said:

I fear we’ll soon have to fly to Japan to see Ashton’s Cinderella! Thank you, Naomi- Yui is brilliant! The whole company looks wonderful in the clip. 

Ashton’s Cinderella is one of the most popular ballets in National Ballet of Japan’s repertoire, so popular that it is performed almost every year (this year in May) and also we will have an educational program of Cinderella with introduction of the backstage and sets, costumes (which were originally used at Royal Ballet and purchased by National Ballet of Japan) 

You are welcome to visit National Ballet of Japan once the pandemic is over. Currently some programs have to be replaced because of the travel restrictions with the coaches impossible to enter the country. But I think there will be more streamings. 

On 14/12/2021 at 20:43, Quintus said:

Branching slightly off - when Company Wayne McGregor used to complement the Royal Ballet for some of his pieces, such as Tree of Codes, I noticed Fukiko Takase as a stand-out contemporary dancer, and started following her in other events.  The Daiwa Anglo Japanese Foundation had her on a Zoom webinar last year talking about her move back to Japan and into freelancing, which was fascinating.  I particularly like the video she did with Thom Yorke of Radiohead fame for Ingenue - well worth looking up on Youtube.

Fukiko Takase is joining Akram Khan’s Jungle Book Reimagined tour. So now she works in both UK and Japan, she also was teaching First Grade students at The Place this year. A brilliant and very creative dancer and a lovely person indeed. 

Yasuo Atsuji principal of BRB has announced on his Instagram that after almost 14 years at Birmingham Royal Ballet he will leave at the end of February and return to Japan. Not retiring, he will continue his career as a ballet dancer in his home country.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXEGZq3gGxN/?utm_medium=copy_link

1 hour ago, Geoff said:

When clicking on the link I get a request to install the Vienna Staatsoper app - which appears not to be available in the UK. Is there a way around this?

The same thing happened with me (message of the app not available in Japan) , but I had the app pre-installed and when I opened the app it became available. 

And with my PC I could watch this (log in is necessary)