Press Release: Scottish Ballet’s Founder Director Peter Darrell’s Tales of Hoffmann to be performed in Tokyo

[Jan McNulty]

The Peter Darrell Trust    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    What: Tales of Hoffmann  Where: New National Theatre, Tokyo  When: 23rd, 24th, 25th February (Japan time zone)    Details:  Peter Darrell CBE (1929-1987) was the founder Director of Scottish Ballet (formed by transferring Bristol’s Western Theatre Ballet to Glasgow in 1969). He was one of the most prolific choreographers of his generation pioneering a repertoire of ballets tackling subjects usually seen in films and plays, but not in the medium of dance. The first ballet to be created using modern rock music, was Mods and Rockers to Beatles music in 1963 and Houseparty in 1964 was the first ballet commissioned for television in this country.    The Tales of Hoffmann is probably one of the finest examples of Darrell’s  long narrative works, illustrating his unique approach to story-telling. It was first performed by Scottish Theatre Ballet in 1972 and has also been performed by American Ballet Theatre in New York; by the Ballet of the National Theatre, Belgrade; the Ballet of the National Theatre in Prague; the Australian Ballet; Asami Maki Ballet Company, Tokyo; Hong Kong Ballet and The National Ballet of Japan.    Noriko Ohara OBE (ex-Principal Dancer of Scottish Ballet and Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Japan) and Kenn Burke (Former Soloist of Scottish Ballet, Artistic Director of Dance at the Dance School of Scotland) are heading for Tokyo at the end of January to oversee the remounting of Darrell’s Tales of Hoffmann which will be performed by the National Ballet of Japan at the New National Theatre, Tokyo. Tales of Hoffmann was first staged as a new production by The National Ballet of Japan in 2015.     The Tales of Hoffmann portrays an intense human drama through the love affairs of the protagonist Hoffmann, demanding great expressiveness and artistry on the part of the dancers. The love motifs are diverse and alluring, woven throughout the performance by the various characters, from the protagonist Hoffmann, shown from adolescence through to his later years, the three seductive women who steal Hoffmann's heart, and the devil, who appears in different forms. It is a romantic fantasy with a touch of the forlorn, complemented by beautifully flowing and variegated music by Jacques Offenbach.    Tickets are available from: https://cms.nntt.jac.go.jp/english/productions/ballet-dance/hoffmann.html     ENDS  Notes:  The Peter Darrell Trust was formed in 1994 to preserve and promote the works of the late Peter Darrell CBE, Founder Director of Scottish Ballet. We are actively involved in the promotion of Peter's work worldwide, encouraging and assisting international companies to re-stage his ballets. The Trustees are also committed to creating a "living archive", which is focused on the compilation of interviews with people who worked with Peter.    In 1998 the Trust set up a Choreographic Award in Peter's name, made possible by a generous grant from The Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund. In setting up this award, the Trust was seeking an appropriate way to celebrate Peter's achievements.     Peter's immense contribution to dance has been further celebrated in a book, published by the Trust, entitled Man of Tomorrow, which is a photographic record of his work, covering 30 years from the 1950s through to 1987, the original material being drawn together from the extensive archives and research material now held by the Trust.     Noriko Ohara OBE  Ohara was born in Tokyo in 1943. She began training in ballet at the age of four years, under Tachinaba Akiko.  She also trained with Alexandra Danilova.  At age 18, she joined the Asami Maki Ballet. She moved to New York in 1971 to further her training, then to London in 1974 to join the New London Ballet.     After a season with the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet), she joined the Scottish Ballet in 1976 as a principal dancer. She briefly danced with the Basel Ballet in 1977. She returned to the Scottish Ballet in 1978, where she remained until 1995. Ohara's roles included Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Carmen in Carmen, Anna Karenina in Anna Karenina, the Sugar Plum and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, The Sylph in Les Sylphides.     In 1999, Ohara joined the New National Theatre Ballet (now the National Ballet of Japan) as its ballet mistress.  She was named assistant artistic director in 2010. In 2014, she was promoted to artistic director of the dance department, which includes the National Ballet of Japan and contemporary dance programming. In 2016, her term was renewed until August 31, 2020.    Kenn Burke  After completing his training at the Royal Ballet School he joined Scottish Ballet, where he quickly rose through the ranks. During his time with the company he danced leading roles in Othello, Romeo and Juliet, La Spectre de la Rose, Swan lake Tales of Hoffmann, Nutcracker and many other works. He appeared as a guest artist with various companies, including National Ballet of Portugal.     In 1988 he was invited to join Hong Kong Ballet as a Principal Dancer. Whilst still with the company he staged Jack Carter's ‘Three Dances to Japanese Music’ and Peter Darrell’s ‘Nutcracker’. He returned to Scottish Ballet in 1990 and was appointed Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet 2, which performed small scale touring works throughout the UK, China and Malaysia. In 1992 he was then made Assistant Artistic Director under Galina Samsova until 1997 when he became Acting Artistic Director.    Since leaving Scottish Ballet he assisted Galina Samsova in staging her productions of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, staged La Spectre de la Rose for the Royal Ballet and is a guest teacher for the Teatro dell ‘Opera in Rome.    Kenn was appointed Artistic Director of Dance at the Dance School of Scotland in 2011.     In 2015 and 2018 he went to Japan to produce Peter Darrell’s Tales of Hoffmann for the New National Theatre Ballet Tokyo.        For further information:  The Peter Darrell Trust   Contact: Judy Spence  Mobile: 07793021950  Email: judy.spence@outlook.com  Website: peterdarrell.org    Photos:        1. Yudai Fukuoka as Hoffmann 2. Ayako Ono as Antonia, Yudai Fukuoka as Hoffmann and Takuya Wajima as Antonia's Father  Photographer: Takashi Shikama

[SheilaC]

I do wish Scottish Ballet would revive this ballet. I was thinking that only last week when listening to R3's Composer of the Week, devoted to Offenbach. It is a lovely ballet, rightly theatrical with lots of good dance to match the wonderful music. It should attract good audiences. But I doubt if Scottish will do it, it's probably regarded as old-fashioned!

 

(Incidentally it's well worth listening to Composer of the Week this week, on R3 or Sounds, as it's devoted to Stravinsky, with a lot of discussion and music of his ballets. The discussion of Rite of Spring even included a brief recording of Hilda Munnings (Lydia Sokolova) talking about that eventful opening night).