Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet
This universality makes dance a powerful bridge between cultures, and it's one of the reasons Houston Ballet's Japan tour, which performed four shows at Tokyo's Bunka Kaikan last week, carries a quiet sense of homecoming for the Japanese dancers in its ranks. The tour moves to the Aichi Prefectural Art Theater in Nagoya for two shows this Thursday and Saturday.
The American ballet company is presenting two programs on its first international tour since 2022. The opening gala showcase features artistic director Stanton Welch's 'Clear' and 'Velocity,' as well as pas de deux from 'Sylvia,' 'Sons de l'ame' and 'Madame Butterfly.'
The second program is 'Giselle,' which centers on the eponymous peasant girl who falls in love with Albrecht, an aristocrat posing as a commoner, only to be betrayed by him. Welch's 2016 reimagining of the Romantic classic — a story of innocence and, ultimately, forgiveness — deepens the ballet's emotional arc while retaining the soul of Adolphe Adam's original score.
Among the performers is Tokyo-born demi soloist Masanori Takiguchi, who joined Houston Ballet in 2023 after dancing with the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company and The Washington Ballet. He says he's excited to see how audiences in his home country respond to the company's style.
'Our ballet is different from classical traditional ballet,' he says. 'It's more neoclassical, especially the dances in the opening gala. I'm excited to see how the audience reacts, and really hope that people love it.'
Houston Ballet is a multinational lot, and yet, of the company's 60 or so dancers, six are from Japan. This may be out of necessity as Japanese dancers often pursue careers overseas in order to grow artistically and access stronger institutional support.
'I think here in Japan, it's kind of hard to survive,' says Takiguchi. 'We don't really make money in Japan, but if you go to Europe or the U.S., they pay you more. It's treated more like work rather than a hobby.'
Houston Ballet artists and principal dancer Connor Walsh (center) perform Stanton Welch's 'Clear,' which is part of the opening gala program for the American company's Japan tour this month. |
Lawrence Elizabeth Knox (2023), Courtesy of Houston Ballet
First soloist Aoi Fujiwara, who was born in Osaka and joined the company in 2014, says there seems to be greater support for dancers' needs in the United States.
'My company can order pointe shoes in any quantity, even customized to fit each dancer's individual needs,' she says. 'We have a big, beautiful studio, and each dancer has their own desk in the dressing room. It's really special for dancers to have such a great environment. ... I love my home country and, of course, I want to be close to my family. But Houston Ballet provides everything dancers need to pursue ballet, so living in the U.S. is the best choice for me.'
Living and working overseas is not without challenges, though.
'The biggest challenge is that you can be very far away from home and don't have the simple ease of access to a support network,' says principal dancer and 'Giselle' lead Yuriko Kajiya, who hails from Nagoya. She started her overseas dance journey at age 10 when she went to Shanghai to study ballet and later danced with American Ballet Theater for over a decade. She joined Houston Ballet in 2014. 'There are also obvious things like language barriers and cultural differences. Dealing with visas can also be troublesome.'
Soloist Simone Acri, who joined Houston Ballet in 2020 after dancing with Tulsa Ballet for four years, points out that early hurdles abroad such as 'adjusting to the culture and learning the language' often lead to personal growth and can be 'extremely rewarding.' Acri, born in Saitama, has had motivational examples in his own family.
'My parents and my older brother are all ballet dancers. They have all had successful international careers and have inspired me to pursue a career in ballet abroad.'
For Takiguchi, movement becomes its own form of communication. 'Yes, the language is different,' he says. 'But even if I don't understand what the ballet teacher is saying, I can still understand how they move.'
He also credits the other Japanese dancers in Houston Ballet for making him feel at home. 'We're very supportive,' he says. 'If I want to talk about something, they will always listen. Yuriko always cares about all the Japanese dancers.'
Despite cultural differences, these dancers are united by a shared passion: Telling a story through movement.
'Since ballet doesn't require language,' Kajiya says, 'I can connect with people from different cultures. I love being a ballerina and sharing the beauty of this art form. Hopefully, the audience can escape reality for a little bit while watching a performance.'
Houston Ballet performs at Nagoya's Aichi Prefectural Art Theater July 10 and 12. For more information, visit koransha.com/ballet/houston (Japanese only).
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