Ballet Coffret

In spring of 2025, the National Ballet of Japan will present a triple bill of 20th-century masterpieces for audiences to enjoy. We will be performing two company premieres, Lander's Etudes, with spectacular technique and Balanchine-evoking geometric beauty, and Forsythe's popular work, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, with distinctively sharp movements, as well as the first performance since 2013 of Ballets Russes's famous work The Firebird. This is a programme of carefully selected short ballets, each showcasing remarkable music, set design and choreography. This triple bill promises audiences delightfully varied fun and excitement with a sense of satisfaction unlike a full-length ballet.

"The Firebird"
This spectacular ballet was composed by Stravinsky and choreographed by Fokine at the request of Diaghilev, the founder of Ballets Russes. Fokine's choreography incorporates numerous aspects of Russian folk dance into this work's music and story featuring Russian folk elements. We hope that you will enjoy this brief yet thrilling ballet, featuring the noble and solitary Firebird as well as the dynamic dancing of the immortal Kostcheï's subjects.

"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.

"Etudes"
This work by Danish choreographer Harald Lander is an homage to classical ballet lessons, and was first performed in 1948 at the Den Kongelige Ballet. Ballet dancers' practices begin with warm-ups before shifting slowly from small movements to large full-body actions. This work develops in that same way, from dance using the barre to broader movements, and finally closes with thrilling spins and jumps. Lander's famous work takes these simple movements from dancers' daily practice sessions and focuses on how they become art.