We are pleased to announce the 2019/20 Ballet & Dance Season at the New National Theatre, Tokyo.

BALLET

6 PRODUCTIONS including 5 FULL LENGTH NARRATIVE BALLETS

DANCE

3 PRODUCTIONS IN TOTAL

Message from OHARA Noriko, Artistic Director of Ballet & Dance

　The 2019/2020 season will be the final season of my tenure as Artistic Director. I have been with the National Ballet of Japan for nearly two decades now, since becoming Ballet Mistress in 1999 and then serving as Assistant Director and Artistic Director. During this time, the company has included a very extensive range of works in its repertoire and I believe it has now reached the world standard. This season's line-up sums up this company's best works thus far.

　The season will open in October with Kenneth MACMILLAN's "Romeo and Juliet", an exemplar of the theatrical ballet tradition. This will be followed by "Manon" in February and March. Both works will showcase the company's expressive richness and depth. Christmas season will feature Wayne EAGLING's "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". Technically a very demanding piece, this dreamy fairy tale has real visual appeal which audiences of all ages will enjoy it. Then, our "New Year Ballet" will feature what has been called "music for the eyes" in the form of George BALANCHINE's "Serenade", as well as pas de deux from "Raymonda" and "Le Corsaire". We will also present a new one-act ballet "DGV" choreographed by Christopher WHEELDON. We are pleased to add this piece to our repertoire following "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland©" by the same choreographer, who is one of today's most popular and talented of all. In May, we will be performing "Don Quixote", which has been very popular ever since it was first performed in 1999. We will close the season in June with a reprise of WHEELDON's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland©", a celebrated piece that demands much of the dancers in terms of expressiveness and technique.

　As for our Dance productions, for the opening of the season in November, we will perform "Beethoven Sonata", a collaborative work between The National Ballet of Japan and NAKAMURA Megumi that received critical acclaim in the 2017 season, when it had its world premiere. In March, we will stage the "DANCE to the Future 2020", choreographed by dancers from the National Ballet. In June, we will again be performing "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by ONODERA Shuji Company Derashinera , to be enjoyed by adults and children alike.

　It is our hope to deliver performances where you enjoy the charm of ballet and dance to your heart's content. We look forward to seeing you at the New National Theatre, Tokyo.

Profile of OHARA Noriko

OHARA Noriko was trained under Tachibana Akiko from the age of four, and after graduating from the Tachibana Ballet Academy, she entered the Tachibana Ballet. In 1956, at the age 18, she joined the then newly founded Asami Maki Ballet Tokyo as a Principal Dancer, performing in numerous classical and contemporary ballets.

In 1971, she moved to New York to further her professional training, working with Igor Schwezoff, Patricia Wilde and Maggie Black among others. In 1974, she relocated to London to join Andre Prokovsky and Galina Samsova at New London Ballet, and from there accepted an invitation from Dame Beryl Grey to join London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet).

After one season with London Festival Ballet, she was invited by Peter Darrell, Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet, to join the company as Principal Dancer. It was an association that lasted more than 20 years. With the Scottish Ballet, she danced all the major roles in the classical repertoire including "Swan Lake", "Nutcracker", "Coppelia", "Giselle" and "La Sylphide". She also performed new works created by Peter Darrell including "Cheri", "Cinderella", "Carmen" and "Tales of Hoffmann", as well as works by John Cranko, Jiri Kylian, Robert North, Jack Carter and Andre Prokovsky.

In 1980, she toured to South Africa with the stars of British Ballet including Maina Gielgud, Petal Miller, Donald McCleary and David Ashmole. During her career with Scottish Ballet, she performed in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea and Japan.

In 1999, she became Ballet Mistress of New National Theatre Ballet (now National Ballet of Japan), and from 2010 she worked closely with David Bintley as Assistant Director of Ballet. In September 2014, she assumed office as the theatre's Artistic Director of Ballet & Dance.