La Sylphide / The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude

"La Sylphide"
La Sylphide is known as the first romantic work in the history of ballet. It premiered at the Paris Opera in 1832. Marie TAGLIONI danced the lead role and entranced the audience with her en pointe dancing, lightly floating through space in translucent white garb, less a creature of this world than a thing of dreams.
August BOURNONVILLE's version of La Sylphide is a dance heritage and Romantic treasure of ballet, and the National Ballet of Japan has made it a part of its repertoire. However, this year's staging is by artistic director, OHARA Noriko, who is well and truly versed in the piece from her time as a dancer when she played the signature role. The beautiful scenery of the fantasy world in which the forest nymphs, the sylphides, dance is based on the wilds of Scotland, meticulously researched and faithfully depicted on stage--to be enjoyed as much as the performance itself.

"The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude"
This is a plotless ballet in a nod to classical ballet choreographed by William Forsythe who has choreographed state-of-the-art productions. The work uses the form and techniques of classical ballet, but thrown off-balance with frequent shifts in the dancers' centres of gravity, requiring both extreme flexibility and rigidity from the dancers. Audiences will thrill to the sharp technique and exacting movements of the performance.