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The performances I saw in 2004
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 | Sleeping Beauty | the Leningrad State Ballet | Oksana SHESTAKOVA, Dmitry SHADRUKHIN | Tokyo International Forum | 3 | Shestakova danced softly and appeared the growth of Aurora. Perren (Lilac Fairy) showed presence of prima ballerina. |
| Jan | 10 | Sat | Cinderella (by Ashton) |
New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | SAITO Miho, HENMI Tomohiko | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | Saito (21 years old) made a succeceful debut in one-night length ballet. Innocent, dignified and beatiful Cinderella, she was. |
| Jan | 12 | Hol | Cinderella (by Ashton) |
New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | TAKAHASHI Ari, KOJIMA Naoya | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | An atmosphere of reliance between Cinderella and Prince made me happy. Iline as the elder Ugry Sister was very good. |
| Jan | 28 | Wed | Bayaderka | the Leningrad State Ballet | Svetlana ZAKHAROVA, Farukh RUZIMATOV, Oksana SHESTAKOVA | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 3 | Zakharova danced beautifully and glitteringly. I felt too glitteringly for Nikiya. Ruzimatov was very beautiful, but he was not a warrior. |
| Jan | 31 | Sat | Giselle | the Leningrad State Ballet | Svetlana ZAKHAROVA, Farukh RUZIMATOV | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 4 | In the 1st Act. Zakharova was beautiful enough to charm the young Duke. In the 2nd Act, she was not spiritual enough. Ruzimatov danced the loss and emptiness, I felt. |
| Feb | 7 | Sat | Sleeping Beauty | Japan Ballet Association | NISHIDA Yuko, LI Bo | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 3 | Nishida was lovely Aurora. I enjoyed Ena's very elegant Bluebird. |
| Feb | 7 | Sat | Pink Floyd Ballet | Asami Maki Ballet, Tokyo | M-A. Gillot, C.Talbot, Kusakari T., Ueno M., L.Chang, A.Dugarai, Kikuchi K. | NHK Hall | 2 | Not so good. Some dances were beatiful , attractive, emotional. But on the whole, desultory ballet. Marie-Agnes Gillot (POB) was glittering. |
| Feb | 21 | Sat | Tales from Spain | New National Theatre, Tokyo | SAKAI Hana, YUKAWA Mamiko, ICHIKAWA Toru | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 2 | Ravel's opera "L'Heure Espagnole", ballet "Daphnis et Chloe", piece without words "Une Barque sur L'Ocean" and ballet"Bolero". Ballets were mediocre contemporary dances. Not so bad. But generally, dull night it was. |
| Apr | 10 | Sat | Mathew Bourne's Nutcracker! | A New Adventures | Shelby WILLIAMS, Adam GALBRAITH | Izumiti 21 | 2 | The 1st Act in the orphanage was so-so. The mediocre choreography in the 2nd Act bored me. |
| Apr | 23 | Fri | Giselle | The Tokyo Ballet | Diana VISHNEVA, Vladimir MALAKHOV | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 3 | Vishneva was beautiful but too seductive in the 1st Act and too vivid in the 2nd act. Malakhov showed the skillful Albrecht. |
| Apr | 24 | Sat | Romeo and Juliet | New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo | Shiga, Matovienko, Tleoubaev, Iline, Okuda, Ichikawa | New National Theatre, Tokyo | 3 | Corps de Ballet could not show the atmosuphere of the din in the market place. I like Shiga's pure Juliet very much. Matvienko was good but a little tired. |
| May | 8 | Sat | A Gift from Malakhov (program A) | Malakhov Brown, Semionova, Stepanenko, Verdeil, Vishneva, Krenstetter, Mercuriev, Richardson, Uvarov |
Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | 4 | Vishneva in "Manon" was splendid. Enjoyed Malakhov in "APollo" and "Caught" very much. Brown and Richardson intoreduced Rhoden's works. |
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 ··· 2001 2002 2003 2004