The Kabuki is a masterpiece ballet created 30 years ago as the result of a collaboration among Maurice Béjart, a masterful choreographer and a lover of Japanese culture, the cosmopolitan composer Toshiro Mayuzumi, and the Tokyo Ballet, which has been acclaimed for its numerous overseas performances since its founding.
The opera The Kabuki, based on the actual kabuki piece Kanadehon Chushingura, is the tale of a modern youth who, transported back through time to the era of the tale of the Chushingura, assumes the identity of the samurai Yuranosuke and avenges his master. Kabuki and bushido--a traditional art form and an ethos that Japan has contributed to the world--are expressed exquisitely using the Western art form of ballet. Since the piece's stunning debut in 1986, it has been performed more than 185 times in 27 cities in 15 countries around the world. The ballet has been acclaimed at world-famous opera houses, including Milan's La Scala; the Wiener Staatsoper; the Bolshoi Theater; the Mariinsky Theatre; and that temple of ballet, the Paris Opera. In 2016, this opera that has conquered the world--The Kabuki--will at last grace the stage of Tokyo's New National Theatre!
The lead performer in the part of Yuranosuke is Dan Tsukamoto, who, since being hand-picked five years ago at the age of 19, has led "raids" on the sets of countless opera houses and grown into a stage presence whose performance underpins the entire ballet. During this run of The Kabuki, Yasuomi Akimoto--who immediately distinguished himself on joining the troupe as a principal last year after an active career overseas--will appear as the seventh actor in the Tokyo Ballet's history to play Yuranosuke. A beautiful rotating cast of the gorgeous Mizuka Ueno, the graceful Rie Watanabe, and the dignified Haruka Nara will play the role of Lady Kaoyo.
The ballet The Kabuki--infused with a Japanese spirit--has stunned and moved audiences of all nationalities countless times. Now come and savor this piece on a new stage!
