Nouvelles du Japon / News from Japan

[mizuko]

[mizuko]

Le Bolchoï Ballet à Tokyo!

Un reportage sur la conférence de presse par NHK:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20120130/t10015642471000.html

Et beaucoup de photos sur le blog officiel de Japan Arts:
http://ja-ballet.seesaa.net/

Enjoy

[chien en peluche]

La premiere du programme B du <Love from Paris, etoiles> a eu lieu ce soir a Tokyo. Malheureusement, je n'ai pas pu (et ne pourrai pas) y aller. Je ne peux donc pas vous donner les details du programe B. J'en suis desolee. Il n'y a qu'une photo de M. Ganio en Apollon sur le site officiel.
http://blog.fujitv.co.jp/etoiles/E20120131001.html

[mizuko]

Though Love from Paris programme B started last night, I attended Bolshoi Ballet's Spartacus, the premiere of the tour in Tokyo. "The" Ivan Vassiliev and Svetlana Lunkina were taking the principal roles, so you can't miss it. And the show was SPECTACULAR!!! All four dancers of the leading roles, I. Vassiliev (Spartacus), Lunkina (Phrygia), Volchkov (Crassus), Shipulina (Aegina), were so poweful and marvelous. The corps de ballet was good, too. I was very happy to see that last night. I hope I. Vassiliev will continue to dance the role of Spartacus, because he was far greater than I expected. Physical ability, power, musicality, expressiveness, concentration and devotion, he had them all. And the rest three were never far behind. The Bolshoi's Spartacus brought the house down!!!

Some photos, including from the reception party, after last night's performance on the official blog:
http://ja-ballet.seesaa.net/article/249691194.html


Going to see Love from Paris tonight

[mizuko]

Concerning Love from Paris, here's my review of programme A. Hope you like it.


Love from Paris - Étoiles
Programme A
Hitomi Kinen Koudou, Tokyo
28 january 2012


10 dancers from l'Opéra de Paris, - 4 Étoiles, 3 Premiers Danseurs, 3 Sujets,- came to Japan to give galas in Tokyo with two different programmes. Programme A was a matinée-soirée doubleheader on 28th january and I attended both shows.

The gala opened with a Balanchine piece, Sonatine, brilliantly danced by Dorothée Gilbert and Florian Magnenet. Gilbert showed an exquisite performance with style and sparkle. Magnenet was very charming and a good partner though he looked a little sort of uncomfortable in his variation in the first show. He was better in the second. (Got a sense?) Next was Roméo et Juliette "Matrigal", a pdd from the ball scene at the Capulet house. Hoffalt incarnated Romeo in this short pdd and was very good. Giezendanner looked somehow struggling with the Noureev's crammed choreography. There was an impression that both were a little overstrained (in a good way) in the first performance. It went more relaxed in the second. Benjamin Pech, the artistic organizer of this gala, chose himself Roland Petit's Le Loup and Rendez-vous (to be mentioned later), as the hommage à M. Petit and it made a success. Le Loup attracted audience's interest and well-received. Ould-Braham in Petit's dramatic piece, which has never been shown before the Japanese audience, was something fresh to my eyes. She looked committed much more than before. Fresh was Yannick Bittencourt for us. Maybe his dance looked just fresh from l'Ecole de Danse but at least he gave a good impression. He danced Tchaïkovsky pas de deux with Mathilde Froustey, who wowed the audience with her brisk variation. It was so good but like in coda .., (and this might get countered but...) shame that sometimes she puts her spice too much into the steps, and that brings lack of musicality. There had been a huge expectation for Ciaravola/Ganio's Onéguine pdd from acte III. However, it turned out somewhat disappointing mood in part of the auditorium. There lookd something not working out well in the first performance (matinée). The second was much much better and many of the audience went emotional.

The second half started with Giselle pdd. Ould-Braham and Hoffalt had been planned to dance Black Swan pdd, but changed to Giselle, and the two premier dancers did an excellent performance. Ould-Braham got the picture in the first place, her neck was so beautiful. She had an air of nostalgia, but dim, which was creating the distance between Giselle and Arbrecht. I would love to see her Giselle in full-length. Hoffalt showed very clean dance technique, which I liked a lot, and stable partnering. Delibes Suite followed. A very nice concert piece. Froustey and Magnenet were beautiful in the silhouette. Next came La Petite Danseuse de Degas, pdd with l'Abonné from acte I. Giezendanner danced quite well. Sad that the choreography and the music were not attractive to my eyes and ears. Then, Le Rendez-vous (Petit). That was a stunning performance! Ciaravola was splendid here with deep comprehension of the role (, yes, a cold-hearted murderer though), and the Petit's esprit in the chorepgraphy. It must be the hightlight of programme A and maybe it should have closed the show. Why, the atmosohere kind of went down with the next and last programme, the bedroom pdd from L'Histoire de Manon, danced by Gilbert and Ganio. Maybe that is because our expectaions for them were too high. However, I don't say there is no hope, since there seemed a little improvement in the second performance in the same day. So let's see how it's going to be in full-length in May at Palais Garnier.



<Programme A> le 28 (m/s) janvier 2012

Sonatine (Balanchine / Ravel)
Dorothée Gilbert, Florian Magnenet

Roméo et Juliette "Madrigal" (Noureev / Prokofiev)
Charline Giezendanner, Josua Hoffalt

Le Loup (Petit / Dutilleux)
Myriam Ould-Braham, Benjamin Pech

Tchaïkovsky pas de deux (Balanchine / Tchaïkovsky)
Mathilde Froustey, Yannick Bittencourt

Onéguine, pdd de acte III (Cranko / Tchaïkovsky)
Isabelle Ciaravola, Mathieu Ganio

ENTRACTE

Giselle, pdd de acte II (Petipa, Coralli, Perrot / Adam)
Myriam Ould-Braham, Josuat Hoffalt

Delibes Suite (Martinez / Delibes)
Mathilde Froustey, Florian Magnenet

La Petite Danseuse de Degas (Patrice Bart / Denis Levaillant)
Charline Giezendanner, Yannick Bittencourt

Le Rendez-vous (Petit / Kosma / costume: Brassaï)
Isabelle Ciaravola, Benjamin Pech

L'Histoire de Manon "scène de La Chambre" (MacMillan / Massenet)
Dorothée Gilbert, Mathieu Ganio

[mizuko]

Pour les fans de Dorothée Gilbert, voici quelques images de son DVD avec un petit messege de présentation.

Les cours prestigieux avec Dorothée Gilbert, Etoile de l'Opéra de Paris
vol.1: http://youtu.be/69rfGfZOmFA
vol.2: http://youtu.be/bQc5Ru5Q-qU


Vol.1

http://www.fairynet.co.jp/SHOP/4560219322561.html

Vol.2

http://www.fairynet.co.jp/SHOP/4560219322578.html

[haydn]

Thanks Mizuko for this comprehensive review. Apparently, La Petite danseuse cannot be described as "a ballet for Japanese tourists" anylonger too...

_________________
Un petit "j'aime" sur la page Facebook de Dansomanie : http://www.facebook.com/Dansomanie/

[mizuko]

Voici un reportage par NHK sur Dorothée Gilbert et Florian Magnenet à Ishinomaki, Fukushima, le 23 janvier, pour donner des cours de danse pour les enfants:

http://youtu.be/54_9T0SRB9Y


You will find a girl, 12-year-old, named Toka who survived tsunami on that day of Japan's earthquake and tsunami. You will also find that the elementary school she was going was totally destroyed by tsunami, only framework remained. She was there and when she ran from tsunami with her mother who came to get her, she thought "I have to live." Fortunately she and her family were all ok. Also the tsunami rushed 10 meters away of the small private ballet school where Gilbert and Magnenet visited. So, please watch this video. And I would like to say thank you again for Dorothée Gilbert and Florian Magnenet for visiting Ishinomaki, and Benjamin Pech and Isabelle Ciaravola who visited Sendai as well. It's amazing.

There's some extracts from Love from Paris, Manon and Sonatine in this video.

[mizuko]

OK. It's confirmed! Polunin will dance in Tokyo!

NBS confirmed today on its official twitter that Sergei Polunin will join Alina Cojocaru's gala in Tokyo in 10 days. The troupe, including Polunin, will be arriving in Japan on 11/02. It's a bit early for just to give gala but, as saying by NBS, since this is the first time for Cojocaru to dance Etude (really?), she wants to have enough time to rehearse with the Tokyo Ballet. And this also gives the other dancers time to rehearse in the studios of the Tokyo Ballet.

Here is the latest cast and program.

http://www.nbs.or.jp/stages/1202_cojocaru/program.html
http://www.nbs.or.jp/english/contents/schedule/alina-cojocaru-dream-project/

Alina Cojocaru DREAM PROJECT

du 17 au 23 février 2012
à U-port Hall, Tokyo


Programme A - les 17, 18, 19 février

Larina Waltz (Liam Scarlet/Tchaïkovsky)
tous les danseurs

Flower Festival in Genzano (Bournonville/Helsted)
Roberta Marquez, Johan Kobborg

La Belle au bois dormant "Rose adagio (Petipa/Tchaïkovsky)
Alina Cojocaru
Johan Kobborg, Steven McRae, Sergei Polunin, Vadim Muntagirov

Tchaïkovsky pas de deux (Balanchine/Tchaïkovsky)
Lauren Cuthbertson, Vadim Muntagirov

Les Lutins (Kobborg/Wieniawski, Bazzini)
Alina Cojocaru, Steven McRae, Sergei Polunin
avec Charlie Siem (violoniste)

Etude (Lander/Czerny)
Alina Cojocaru, Johan Kobborg, Steven McRae, Sergei Polunin
Le Tokyo Ballet


Programme B - les 21, 22, 23 février

Larina Waltz (Scarlet/Tchaïkovsky)
tous les danseurs

Tarantella (Balanchine/Gottschalk)
Roberta Marquez, Steven McRae

Casse Noisette PDD (Vainonen/Tchaïkovsky)
Daria Klimentová, Vadim Muntagirov

Diana et Actéon (Vaganova/Pugni)
Lauren Cuthbertson, Sergei Polunin

La Dame aux camélias PDD de l'acte III (Neumeier/Chopin)
Alina Cojocaru, Alexandre Riabko

The Lesson (Flindt/Delerue)
Alina Cojocaru, Johan Kobborg, Lauren Cuthbertson

Don Quixote Divertissement (Petipa/Minkus)
Alina Cojocaru, Lauren Cuthbertson, Roberta Marquez, Daria Klimentová
Johan Kobborg, Sergei Polunin, Steven McRae, Vadim Muntagirov
Le Tokyo Ballet

[serenade]

Thank you for posting this video about Dorothée Gilbert and Florian Magnenet visiting children. I do not speak Japanese but I felt all the emotion, all the joy of these kids dancing with Dorothée. Beautiful!

[mizuko]

Thank you for watching the video, serenade, and I'm glad to hear that you felt all the emotion and the joy of the children.
Yes, what the Paris Opera dancers did was amazing! They actually visited the devastated area. This means a lot! A lot to the children living there, as well. You see how excited and delighted the children were.

[doudou]

[mizuko]

Merci, doudou

[chien en peluche]

Il y a encore quelques nouvelles photos de la Tournee du theatre Bolshoi sur le blog officiel du Japan Arts. Mizuko a deja fait le lien ci-dessus. Mais je le refais ici quand meme :
http://ja-ballet.seesaa.net
On peut y voir la photo des deux photos encadrees prises lors de la premiere Tournee du theatre au Japon. Elle remonte en 1957.

Les representations a Tokyo ont termine hier. Il reste deux representations a Nishinomiya (pres de Kobe et d'Osaka, dans la region du Kansai), l'une Raymonda, l'autre Le Lac des Cygnes. Selon le blog du Japan Arts, Le Lac du 12 est complet.

[mizuko]

So, it's going to be the final show of the Bolshoi Ballet Japan Tour 2012 in Nishinomiya today with Swan Lake, and it's also the final performance for Morihiro Iwata as first soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet in front of the audience of his native country. He will be retiring from the company at the end of this season. He pursues his new career as a choreographer.

Here's the link to the blog of Iwata, where you find many exclusive photos from Bolshoi's Japan Tour.
http://ibashika.exblog.jp/


And there's a fun video on YT. From the final of Prix de Lausanne 1989, Tetsuya Kumakawa, Morihiro Iwata, Adam Cooper,...
http://youtu.be/FkpDW1W0hP8

Also Ethan Stiefel...
http://youtu.be/ls57Ekk3olE


One more info about Bolshoi, Maria Alexandrova stays in Tokyo to guest with Asami Maki Ballet in Notre-Dame de Paris (Petit) next weekend as I posted above. She has already started rehearsing with them since last Wednesday. It's the next day of her Raymonda performance