Enjoy Dramatic Spring with The Stuttgart Ballet!

The Stuttgart Ballet, one of the most world-renowned ballet companies particularly for its dramatic ballets, will return to Japan in March 2022 for the first time in three years. On its 12th Japan tour, the Company brings two masterpieces of its repertoire: The Sleeping Beauty, a ballet by Marcia Haydée after Charles Perrault, and Onegin, a ballet by John Cranko based on the verse-novel by Alexander Puschkin.

In the tour final performance, Dorothée Gilbert, Danseuse Étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, will be a guest artist to perform as Tatiana in Onegin, with Friedemann Vogel in the title role.

The Tour begins on Friday 11 March 2022. Join us for a dramatic Spring with The Stuttgart Ballet!

John Cranko, Great Master of 20th-Century Narrative Ballet

John Cranko

photo: Hannes Kilian

After having created several important, witty ballets in England, John Cranko was appointed Ballet Director of The Stuttgart Ballet in 1961. He gathered a number of talented dancers and continued to create new ballets for them including Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Onegin, and The Taming of the Shrew. Characterized by his vivid narration of the personalities' nature, psychology and conversations, his creation evoked strong emotions and empathy in the audience. In 1969, Cranko took the company on its first tour to New York, which turned into an overwhelming triumph and was crowned with the term "The Stuttgart Ballet Miracle". He also encouraged young dancers in his company, including John Neumeier, Jiří Kylián and William Forsythe, to try their hand to choreography. John Cranko died unexpectedly at age of 45 on Jun 26, 1973, on a return flight from his successful U.S. tour.

Marcia Haydée, Cranko's Muse and Artistic Director

Marcia Haydée

photo: Ulrich Beuttenmüller

Legendary prima ballerina and principal dancer Marcia Haydée took over the directorship of The Stuttgart Ballet in 1976. She not only broadened the Company's repertoire with works by Hans van Manen and Maurice Béjart, former company members John Neumeier and Jiří Kylián, resident choreographers William Forsythe and Uwe Scholz, but also had great success with her staging of The Sleeping Beauty In 1987.

Opulent Sets and Costumes by Jürgen Rose

Jürgen Rose

photo: Gundel Kilian

German designer Jürgen Rose's famous collaboration with John Cranko started in 1962 when he created his first designs of Cranko's Romeo and Juliet. Since then, Rose continued to design most of his works, including Swan Lake, Onegin, Firebird and Traces, Cranko's last work. Since 1972, Rose has also worked with John Neumeier, artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet, on many ballets, including The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and La Dame aux Camelias.
Rose's extensive work also includes designs for operas for most of the renowned opera houses in Europe.