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<ADVANCE TICKETS>

Available from Sunday 13 April, 2003 at 10:00am.
To order tickets, please call +81-3-5352-9999 (10:00am-6:00pm).
Internet ticket reservation available through the following Websites.(Japanese only)
http://t.pia.co.jp/
http://eee.eplus.co.jp/

<TICKET PRICES>

Seat Z(¥1,500) is sold only on the performance day at the Box Office and exclusive Ticket Pia Offices.

La Sylphide

Maybe the reason your boyfriend sometimes disappears is that he is being enticed away to the woods.

～The Fantasy World of the Dancing Sylphs～

La Sylphide, one of the most popular Romantic ballets, premiered at the Paris Opéra in 1832.  Dressed in diaphanous white tulle, Marie Taglioni danced the leading role solely on the tips of her toes, springing lightly in the air and taking the audience to the unearthly world of dreams.  Impressed by this performance, August Bournonville wanted to take it back to Denmark, but certain conditions could not be met, and the ballet was performed at the Royal Danish Theatre in 1836 with new music and choreography.  This was the version favored in Denmark after the original Paris version fell into disuse and has continued as such to the present day.  The Bournonville version of La Sylphide, a precious legacy from the period of Romantic ballet, will take the stage again at the New National Theatre, Tokyo for the first time in three years.  Enjoy the fantastic world in which sylphs dance along with the beautiful Scottish scenes which are faithfully recreated based on meticulous historical research.

～A Story of an Ephemeral Love Lost the Moment It Was Gained～

The setting is a village in Scotland.  James is going to marry Effie, but he has been somewhat restless since the morning, perplexing her.  The truth is that a sylphide (sylph) has fallen love in with him, enchanting him with her dance.  As preparations for the wedding go on, the evil witch Madge comes before James and claims that it is not he whom truly loves Effie, but a disappointed suitor, Gurn.  Infuriated, James drives away the witch, but he cannot resist the charm of the sylph and eventually follows her, leaving for the woods just before the wedding.  Dying to possess the fluttering sylph, James accepts a magic shawl from Madge.  When he puts the shawl around the sylph’s shoulders, however, her wings instantly fall off as a result of a curse placed on the shawl by Madge and she dies.  As the wedding procession for Effie and Gurn passes by at a distance, James, who has lost everything, falls into despair and dies also.

From Paquita

(To be presented after La Sylphide)

Set in Spain, the ballet Paquita tells of a love story of a gypsy girl.  Like La Sylphide, the ballet was first performed at the Paris Opéra, in 1846, the period when Romantic ballet was extremely popular in Europe.  But today it is best known through pieces of Marius Petipa’s revised version which will be performed in this double feature.  Centered on the Grand Pas in the last scene in which the heroine Paquita and the French officer Lucien are happily wedded, a series of splendid dances featuring the soloists’ beautiful performances will be presented.  For this new production, Mr. Makharbek Vaziev, director of the Ballet Company of the Mariinsky Theater, and Ms. Lubov Kunakova will give choreographic guidance to the dancers.