Bringing a breath of fresh air to the Japanese Ballet by using my experiences and connections

In Autumn 2020, Miyako Yoshida’s new curtain is set to rise as the Artistic Director of Ballet & Dance at the New National Theatre Tokyo. She will take the heavy responsibility of leading the National Ballet of Japan based at the New National Theatre Tokyo. The National Ballet of Japan started in 1997, together with the opening of the New National Theatre Tokyo. As the only national ballet group in Japan, the ballet have continuously evolved. The reason behind Yoshida’s decision to retire as a ballet dancer was to fully focus on her new mission.

The work of an artistic director for a ballet group is wide-ranging. The work ranges from dance training, to selecting programs and repertories for maintaining the ballet’s high-standard. In addition, the artistic director needs to share the fascination of ballet to many people, through representing the ballet group and connecting with the society. Even though the work as an artistic director is related to ballet, Miyako will be facing the new role from a different perspective from her past experiences. Still, her eyes sparkles with excitement while she talks about her future vision.

“For the repertory, I wish to gradually add new ones, while keeping the National Ballet of Japan’s excellent repertory” says Yoshida. She is planning to add new full-length ballet and contemporary productions to National Ballet of Japan’s treasured full-length classical ballet, such as Swan lake, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. In Japan, full-length classical ballet performance is common, while performance combining new contemporary productions and short works from the 20th centuries are much more common in the United States and Europe, including The Royal Ballet. “Currently, Wayne McGregor, Liam Scarlet and Christopher Wheeldon is very popular in England. It will be very nice if they can make us a new production” she says.

In contemporary productions, the choreographer will reevaluate the ballet based on various perspectives such as modern art, information science, social issues and even dances outside the genre of ballet. The choreographer will then create dance movements and patterns based on his or her original methodology, while applying the techniques from traditional ballet. In contemporary productions, there are performances that explores the relation between movement and sound, performances that pursues the visuality of art, body and image, and performances with broad sociability and deep thoughts. Since the style of the dance diversifies depending on the productions and choreographers, the performance may seem difficult to understand for the audience who are new to contemporary productions. Still, one can be surprised to discover something new, and stimulate creativity by watching the contemporary performance without preconceptions. Through introducing contemporary productions, the European and American ballet groups have developed new audiences who used to be uninterested in ballet, while also expanding the fascination of ballet for the existing audiences.

In addition, Yoshida believes that the experience of working on a new production and looking at ballet from a new perspective will be very important for the dancer to grow and improve. As a top dancer herself, Yoshida have danced under great pressure, and she fully understands the joy and anxiety as a dancer, and therefore deeply cares about the dancers. “I believe that ballet is the ultimate beauty that human have created. The dancers will dance wearing toe-shoes. The movement of the dance is difficult, so they practice and adjust their body since they are little. A tremendous amount of time is dedicated to the beauty, and when that beauty blooms at the stage, it is wordless”

Ballet is a composite art, combining music, costume and art. In order to create the best stage, a great number of people put tremendous amount of time and effort to crystallize the art of body and deep thoughts. When considering that this miraculous beauty can exist only for a few hours in this world, it is hard not to be moved.

At the same time, this miraculous stage cannot exist without the audience. Therefore, Yoshida wishes for people to visit the theatre to watch ballet. “For the ones watching ballet for the first time, I recommend the full-length classical ballet productions. By knowing about the dancers at that performance, one will start to think about how that dancer will dance in other roles, productions, contemporary performances, and lead to carrying a strong interest in ballet”, she says.

“I will like to establish the image of New National Theatre being a place when going to watch ballet. I also wish to train dancers with popularity that can go beyond the world of ballet. At the same time, I will like to bring together an education program to grow future audiences”. Yoshida’s work will lead the National Ballet of Japan and the Japanese Ballet to the new horizon.

Cardigan 80,000 Yen/ Skirt 129,000 Yen (Max Mara, Max Mara Japan)
Shoes 89,000 Yen (Roger Vivier, Roger Vivier Japan)
Ring 278,000 Yen (M/G TASAKI, TASAKI)

“Yoshida Miyako Eien No Principal” (Kawade Shobo Shinsha)
Miyako Yoshida’s memorial book with her message and thoughts to her loving repertory after her decision to retire as a ballet dancer. The memorial book contains rare photos from her 35 years of dance carrier.
http://www.kawade.co.jp/np/isbn/9784309290423

Miyako Yoshida
Born in Tokyo and started ballet since 9 years old. She joined the Royal Ballet School, after winning the Prix de Lausanne in 1983. In 1984, she joined the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet), and was promoted to principal 4 years later. In 1995, she joined The Royal Ballet as a principal. Until leaving The Royal Ballet in 2010, she danced as the main role in various productions. Her awards include the Purple Ribbon Medal from the emperor of Japan, an OBE (Order of the British Empire) and others. In 2017, she was recognised as a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government. Yoshida retired as a professional dancer in August 2019. She received the Hiroshi Kikuchi Award for her global achievements in the ballet culture and for fascinating many of her fans until her retirement. From 2020, she will take office as the Artistic Director of Dance & Ballet at the New National Theatre Tokyo.