Photoï¼Kiyonori Hasegawa
The second show under the Tokyo Ballet's new artistic director, Yukari Saito, is the masterpiece of Romantic ballet, La Sylphide (The Sylph), a piece that is one of her specialties, as she has performed in it many times.
Saito danced the original in venues such as the Bolshoi Theatre and the Mariinsky Theatre, where she was highly praised and even called the "Marie Taglioni of Japan." Saito gained the trust of choreographer Pierre Lacotte while working as his assistant with the Moscow Musical Theatre Ballet, and she was entrusted with the direction of the Tokyo Ballet for the first time in 2013.
Now that Saito is the artistic director, she has been working with the dancers to guide and direct them, based on her own onstage experience.
The dancers that Saito has cast for the first night are Rie Watanabe, who has previously garnered good reviews for her superior flexibility, dexterity, and graceful charm, and the fresh Arata Miyagawa, who has attracted attention with his high level of physical ability and perfectly practiced movements. On the second night, the highly successful pair from the previous production, Kanako Oki and Daichi Matsuno, take to the stage again. The perfectly proportioned Oki's greatest gifts include her grace and the well-defined clarity of her technique, honed in Russia. Matsuno, with his sweet and gentle classical look, shows his dynamism and lightheartedness, putting his height to good use.
La Sylphide is the story of a young man named James who backs out of his wedding, having fallen in love with a sylph, a mysterious woodland spirit. Every detail of the Romantic ballet aesthetic is reproduced in this production, giving it the unique style and beauty of the classical ballet blanc. The piece also features group dances, a particular point of pride for the Tokyo Ballet.
This production of La Sylphide from the Tokyo Ballet offers the new artistic director, Yukari Saito, a chance to exercise her remarkable skills, and ballet-goers have plenty to look forward to.
