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The performances I saw in 2002
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 ··· 2001 2002 2003 2004
The title in blue is the performance danced by Farukh RUZIMATOV, the best dancer I have seen. Yellow was danced by my favorite KOJIMA Naoya.
Meaning of letter 5-1
5 very memorable performance for me
4 enjoyed very much
3 enjoyed
2 could not enjoy
1 could not accept !
| Jan | 3 | Hol | Cinderella (BOYARCHIKOV = BOLSHAKOVA version, new ballet) |
the Leningrad State Ballet | E.KHABIBULINA, K.MYASNIKOV | Tokyo International Forum | 3 | Interesting. It is not a fairy tale, but an allegory. A glass shoe is a symbol of the perfect partner of life. |
| Jan | 16 | Wed | Don Quixote | the Leningrad State Ballet | O.KUTCHERUK, F.RUZIMATOV | Orchard Hall | 3 | Kutcheruk's first Kitri in Japan. Ruzimatov did his best to help her, but could't succeed... |
| Jan | 19 | Sat | Bayaderka | the Leningrad State Ballet | I.PERREN, F.RUZIMATOV, O.SHESTAKOVA | Orchard Hall | 3 | Very weak-hearted Solor has come back! I hate him, but I cannot help forgiving him. |
| Jan | 20 | Sun | Bayaderka | the Leningrad State Ballet | I.PERREN, F.RUZIMATOV, O.SHESTAKOVA | Orchard Hall | 4 | Did Solor order to hide the vemomous snake in the basket of flowers ??? |
| Feb | 9 | Sat | Swan Lake | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | TAKAHASHI Ari, YAMAMOTO Ryuji | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | Swans (Corps de ballet) are very lyrical. TAKAHASHI is a mature Odette/Odile. |
| Feb | 10 | Sun | Swan Lake | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | TAKAYAMA Yu, MORITA Kentaro | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | TAKAYAMA's debut in main role with NNTT. Swan soloists MAEDA Nina and OMORI Yuki are superb. |
| Feb | 11 | Hol | the Taming of the Shrew | Stuttgarter Ballet | Y.LENDVAI, M.GUERRA | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 2 | Superb choreography and superb pereformance. But I can not accept the story. |
| Feb | 24 | Sun | Cenderillon (MAILLOT version) |
les Ballet de Monte-Carlo | B.COPPIETERS, C.ROELANDT, A.SCHAEFER, G.MORLOTTI | Orchard Hall | 3 | COPPIETERS, The Fairy (Cenderillon's dead mother) was very attractive. Astonished by the skinhead of The Prince. |
| Mar | 16 | Sat | Mixed Program (A Program) | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | (les Sylfides) A.McKERROW, M.BELOTSERKOVSKY | New National Theatre, Tokyo (Playhouse) | 4 | "les
Sylfides" was not good, "Four Last Songs"
was great, and "Duende" was amusing. KOJIMA came back to the stage after 6 months. |
| Mar | 17 | Sun | Mixed Program (A Program) | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | (les Sylfides) A.McKERROW, M.BELOTSERKOVSKY | New National Theatre, Tokyo (Playhouse) | 4 | |
| Apr | 12 | Fri | Ballet For Life | Bejart Ballet Lausanne | J.FAVREAU E.ROS, C.BLANC, G.ROMAN, J.KOBAYASHI |
Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 3 | Bejart is a supreme director. He does all he can to involve audience. But I can not like the way he does... |
| Apr | 13 | Sat | the Car Man | adventures in motion pictures | S.AMBLER, B.L.CHAPMAN, H.HABENS, A.PITA, P.KADOW | Orchard Hall | 3 | a well-made musical without songs. But is it shocking ?? |
| Apr | 14 | Sun | Bejart Gala | Bejart Ballet Lausanne | O.STANLEY / G.ROMAN, C.BLANC / Tokyo Ballet / J.KOBAYASHI / C.ZUASNABAR, J.FAVREAU / G.ROMAN, E.ROS | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 3 | "Tokyo Gesture" (World Premiere) was choreographed for KOBAYASHI as a homage to NAKAMURA UTAEMON (a famous Kabuki actor) |
| May | 19 |
Sun | Don Quixote | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | SHIGA Misae, HENMI Tomohiko | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 |
SHIGA is superb. I think HENMI is not a dancer for Basilio. Sancho Panza by OKUDA was delightful. |
| Jun | 1 |
Sat | the Original Ballets for the Tokyo Ballet | the Tokyo Ballet | TAKAGISHI, KIMURA, SAITO / YOSHIOKA, IWAKI, IIDA, SHUTO / SHUTO, KOIDE, GOTO.H | Bunkyo Civic Hall | 3 | "Seasons - the Colors of Time" by NEUMEIER was beautiful. "Perfect Conception" by KYLIAN and "TAM-TAM et Percussion" by BLASKA were so-so. |
| Jun | 2 |
Sun | Asami Maki Ballet Gala Performances | Asami Maki Ballet | UENO, HENMI / KUSAKARI, GALIMULLIN / KIKUCHI / TACHIBANA, AIBA / OHATA, SATO, SHIBATA, MASAKI, KYOTO | Natori Performing Arts Center | 3 | "Swan Lake the 2nd Act" by UENO was good. KIKUCHI danced very impressively. Enjoyed "Con Brio" by TOMASSON very much. |
| Jun | 29 | Sat | Giselle | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | SHIGA Misae / HENMI Tomohoko / MAEDA NIna / ICHIKAWA Toru | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | HENMI in the 2nd act was beautiful and sexy. MAEDA (Myrtha) danced with dignity and beauty. |
| Jun | 30 | Sun | Giselle | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | MIYAUCHI Mariko / YAMAMOYO Ryuji / NISHIKAWA Takako / OKUDA Shinya | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | MIYAUCHI in the 1st act was very lovely and girlish. BARINOV in Peasant pas de deux was superb. |
| Jul | 9 | Tue | Swan Lake | Kiev Ballet | Ganna DOROSH, Maksym CHEPYK, Maksym MOTKOV | Miyagi Kenmin Kaikan | 2 | Dynamic dances and lack of poesy... Enjoyed so-so but thought it was not "Swan Lake". |
| Jul | 17 | Wed | Farukh Ruzimatov 2002 | F.RUZIMATOV, Y.MAKHALINA, C.JUDE, the Leningrad State Ballet, Ballet de l'Opera de Bordeaux | Shinjuku Bunka Center | 4 | EIFMAN's "Albinoni's Adagio" by RUZIMATOV was a great performance. Very very deeply moved... | |
| Jul | 20 | Sat | Highlights from the Classical Ballet Repertoire | the Leningrad State Ballet | F.RUZIMATOV, Y.MAKHALINA O.SHESTAKOVA, E.EVSEEVA, A.LOMACHENKOVA, O.STEPANOVA, O.KUTCHURUK, I.PERREN, D.SHADRUKHIN, A.MASLOBOEV, A.PIKHATCHOV, M.SIVAKOV, R.MIKHALEV, D.RUDACHENKO |
Kawaguchi Cultural Center - LILIA | 3 | Pas de deux from "Scheherazade"
was stoical as well as sensual. I think MAKHALINA and
RUZIMATOV are the best performer for this ballet. Grand adagio from "Swan Lake" by SHESTAKOVA and SHADRUKHIN is good. |
| Aug | 3 | Sat | Manuel Legris et ses Etoiles | M.LEGRIS S. NOJA, L.PUJOL, E.ABBAGNATO, M.O.BRAHAM, D.GILBERT, P.BART, M.GAUDION, H.MOREAU, G.GAILLARD |
Miyagi Kenmin Kaikan | 3 | NEUMEIER's "a Cinderella Story" by ABBAGNATO and LEGRIS was beautiful and emotional. | |
| Sep | 21 | Sat | the Merry Widow | American Ballet Theatre | N.ANANIASHIVILI, J.M.CARRENO, I.DVOROVENKO, M.BELOTSERKOVSKY | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 3 | Enjoyed pleasant ballet. Ananiashivili was gorgeous and emotional...real 'merry widow' ! |
| Sep | 22 | Sun | la Chauve-Souris | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | Alessandra FERRI, Massimo MURRU, Luigi BONINO | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | Roland PETIT's polished and modern comedy. Ferri and Bonino showed their skill enough. |
| Sep | 23 | Hol | la Chauve-Souris | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | kUSAKARI Tamiyo, YAMAMOTO Ryuji, KOJIMA Naoya | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 4 | The comeback of Kojima was the greatest pleasure for me. Impressed by his humour and pathos. |
| Sep | 28 | Sat | la Chauve-Souris | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | MATADA Kumiko, MORITA Kentaro, KOJIMA Naoya | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | Matada (corps de ballet dancer) made a successful debut in the principal role. |
| Sep | 29 | Sun | la Chauve-Souris | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | YUKAWA Mamiko, YAMAMOTO Ryuji, YOSHIMOTO Yasuhisa | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 4 | Very astonished by Yukawa's great performance ! glittering and persuasive expression ! |
| Oct | 5 | Sat | Spartacus | the Bolshoi Teatre of Russia | Yuri KLEVTSOV, Dmitry RYKHLOV, Elina PALSHINA, Maria ALLASH | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 4 | At last I could see "Spartacus"! Male corps de ballet was splendid. Klevtsov and Palshina's lift and expression were impressive. |
| Oct | 5 | Sat | Spartacus | the Bolshoi Teatre of Russia | Dmitry BELOGOLOVTSEV, Vladimir NEPOROZHNY, Anna ANTONICHEVA, Nadezhda GRACHEVA | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 4 | Grigorovich is a great choreographer! Belogolovtsev and Neporozhy showed high-level technic. Gracheva was very seductive. |
| Oct | 6 | Sun | Tales of Hoffmann | Asami Maki Ballet | HENMI, AIBA, HASHIMOTO, TACHIBANA, SHIBATA, HIRATSUKA | U-Port Kan'i Hoken Hall | 2 | Henmi and Hiratsuka was good, but I can not think it is a very good ballet. |
| Oct | 19 | Sat | Solitaire / the Two Pigeons | Noriko Kobayashi Ballet Theatre | SHIMAZOE Akiko / YOSHIDA Miyako, Patrick ARMAND | New National Theatre, Tokyo (Playhouse) | 2 | Shimazoe and Yoshida was very good. But I can not think these two Ballets were great. |
| Nov | 16 | Sat | J - Ballet ~Dance Creation~ |
New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | (Guest dancer) SHIMADA Kinuko, HIRAYAMA Motoko |
New National Theatre, Tokyo (Playhouse) | 3 | New works by 3 Japanese choreographers, KANAMORI Jo, NAKAJIMA Nobuyoshi, SHIMAZAKI Toru. |
| Dec | 22 | Sun | the Nutcracker | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | GHIGA Misae, Denis MATVIENKO | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | Shiga was fine but not suitable for Masha as a girl. I thought Matvienko could not show his real ability. |
| Dec | 23 | Hol | the Nutcracker | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | TAKAHASHI Ari, KOJIMA Naoya | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 4 | Takahashi's Masha grows from a girl into a young lady. Kojima convinced me he is the best Prince for me. |
| Dec | 26 | Thu | the Nutcracker | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | MIYUCHI Mariko, KOJIMA Naoya | New National Theatre, Tokyo | - | Could not see the 1st
act. Snowflakes (corps de ballet) and 4 cavaliers (adagio in grand pas de deux) were very good. |
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 ··· 2001 2002 2003 2004