2023/2024 Season Ballet & Dance at the New National Theatre Tokyo
We are delighted to announce the 2023/2024 Ballet＆Dance Season at the New National Theatre Tokyo.
Message from Yoshida Miyako, Artistic Director of Ballet ＆ Dance
We are delighted to present the 2023/2024 season, which will be a tribute to the successive artistic directors who have contributed to the development of the National Ballet of Japan. Our programme will be a culmination of the company's 25 years.
The season opens with Don Quixote, which was introduced into our repertoire by the first artistic director, Shimada Hiroshi. He was very passionate about putting on this ballet, and it is also a memorable one for me personally, as I was invited to dance the title role as a guest dancer at its premiere. Next, we are proud to be presenting beautiful La Bayadère, the first ballet reworked by the former artistic director Maki Asami for the New National Theatre Tokyo (NNTT). Sir David Bintley's Aladdin is the former artistic director's original ballet initially created for NNTT, and later performed in the UK. Tales of Hoffmann was newly produced by the previous artistic director, Ohara Noriko. She herself has danced three heroines in this ballet and will be coaching the dancers again.
Through these works, which have been all treasured by the National Ballet of Japan, we would like to showcase our history and how much we have grown thanks to the dedication of our successive directors.
For the 2023/2024 season, we are also planning our first-ever gala performance, where we will shed light on outstanding young dancers. In addition, we will perform one of our most important works, NINJA. This production was created by Moriyama Kaiji exclusively for NNTT, and can be enjoyed by both adults and children.
It has been two and a half years since I was appointed as artistic director, and we have made steady progress in improving the environment for dancers, which was set out as one of our missions when I started. This has all been possible thanks to your support and the improved support system within the theatre.
Firstly, our medical support system has been greatly improved. Whenever an unexpected event occurs such as an injury, dancers are now able to consult our affiliated medical institution immediately, which will report back to the theatre on the progress of their recovery as needed.
Secondly, we have introduced a new compensation scheme which allows dancers to focus more on their rehearsals and performances with confidence. Our remuneration has a two-tier structure consisting of a fixed salary and a performance fee paid for each performance. By increasing the proportion of fixed compensation, dancers are now able to earn a certain amount of income even if the performance is cancelled or they are unable to perform due to injury or illness.
I am also pleased to announce that a long-awaited new studio is currently under construction, expected to open this summer. I have been emphasizing the need for and importance of this for a long time, and a new studio will allow us to schedule rehearsals more efficiently so that we can increase the number of performances with a more diverse cast of dancers. In the future, we would also like to hold interactive events with the audience in this studio.
There are still many challenges ahead, but I am confident that we are heading in the right direction, considering the impact of the past reforms on our dancers. We will continue to strive for further improvement in order to promote the growth of the company and make a positive impact on the ballet industry in Japan.
At the moment, the world is facing great difficulties, not only because of pandemics, but also because of wars and economic crises. Many people feel anxious in their daily lives. NNTT is no exception, and it has become difficult to operate as before. As a result, we have had to reduce the number of performances for the new season, and unfortunately new productions have been put off.
Nevertheless, I firmly believe that art is even more important now because it can relieve everyday anxiety and enrich emotions. During the period immediately after my appointment as artistic director, it was so frustrating that people could not come to the theatre, so now I am deeply grateful that we can perform on stage in front of audiences. We will do our utmost to ensure that everyone who comes to see us can enjoy our performance.
Because the performing arts are created by people, every performance is different, even if the production is the same. In other words, audiences encounter a once-in-a-lifetime performance, every single time. We look forward to welcoming you to the theatre and to showing you how our dancers shine on the stage.