Artistic Director (Ballet & Dance)
MAKI ASAMI (Artistic Director, New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo)
Artistic Director, New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo
Director, Training Programme for Ballet Dancers
Principal, Tachibana Ballet School
Former Artistic Director, Asami Maki Ballet
Maki Asami is the eldest daughter of one of the pioneers of the Japanese ballet world, Tachibana Akiko. First stepping on the stage at the age of four, Ms. Maki began studying in the United States at the age of 20, under the tutelage of Alexandra Danilova and Igor Schwezoff.Together with her mother, she later founded the Asami Maki Ballet Tokyo, which was based on the Tachibana Ballet, and Ms. Maki went on to perform in numerous works as the company’s prima ballerina.
In 1960, she won rave reviews for her performance in Coppélia, which marked the first time that a Japanese ballerina had been partnered in a full-length ballet by a foreign star. From the 1970s, Ms. Maki heeded her mother’s dying wish and retired from the stage to become the head of the Asami Maki Ballet Tokyo as well as the principal of the Tachibana Ballet School. Under her skilled direction, the school has produced numerous dancers who have gone out into the world to represent Japan.
Ms. Maki plays an active role as a choreographer, but also has invited many famous directors and choreographers to Japan in an effort to create high-quality stage productions through international collaboration. Among the numerous honors she has received are the Nimura Award, the Minister of Education Award for Arts, the Tokyo Shimbun Performing Arts Award, the Dance Critics Association Award, and the Tachibana Akiko Special Award. In the fall of 1996, Ms. Maki was given the Medal with Purple Ribbon by the Japanese government for her achievements over the years in choreographing and staging a large number of works. Since July 1999, she has served as the artistic director for ballet and dance at the New National Theatre, Tokyo. In February 2004, the French government awarded her the title of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Among the major works she has choreographed are Firebird (1965) and Sleeping Beauty (1967), which she jointly choreographed with Igor Schwezoff, and in which she danced the lead and even worked on the costumes herself. Ms. Maki debuted in earnest as a choreographer in 1968, and she gained attention for such pieces as Bugaku (score by Toshiro Mayuzumi), Tryptyque (score by Yasushi Akutagawa), and Silk Road (score by Ikuma Dan). In recent years, she has received acclaim for Romeo and Juliet (1995) and for La Dame aux Camélias (1998), which she choreographed jointly with Azari Plisetsky.
Ms. Maki’s first full-length production with the New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo was her staging of La Bayadère in November 2000 with new choreography, which was well received. Her second revised, full-length production was Raymonda, staged in October 2004, for which she received the Asahi Performing Arts Award. In November 2006, the staging of her third revised production, Swan Lake, won critical acclaim. In 2007, Ms. Maki received the 7th Asahi Performing Arts Award for Maki Asami’s La Dame aux Camélias, a production that featured completely original choreography by the New National Theatre, Tokyo, and the company has been invited to perform this piece at Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre in September 2009.
In May 2008, she became the first Japanese person ever to serve on the jury for the Prix Benois de la Danse. Also in 2008, Ms. Maki was selected by the Japanese government as a Person of Cultural Merit.
