Jun

Thanks for the report! I am in NY, though… (from the official website of the organizer) Stiefel cancelled the Japan tour. Maxim was injured during a gala performance. Carreno replaced Maxim as Jean de Brienne and will replace Stiefle as Basil. AND... H. Cornejo will replace Maxim as Basil!!! Oh,,,I wanna fly back to Tokyo to see this performance with Reyes as Kitri and E. Cornejo as Mercedes.

They really do not have ticket info in English. By phone: I am not sure if they can speak English, though. Japan Arts call center (organizer): +81-3-5237-7711 Ticket Pia: +81-570-02-9988 Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (theater): +81-3-5815-5452 CN Play Guide: +81-3-5802-9990 Lawson Ticket: +81-570-000-403 It is possible to buy tickets via Internet, but you need online registration in Japanese. www.japanarts.co.jp/ eee.eplus.co.jp/ Might be useful… http://www.japanarts.co.jp/html/2005/abt/abtgaiyo.html http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/event/abt/ I wish I could go back to Tokyo and see their Don Q again. Mr. Bocca will be performing Basil - but this will be truly the last one. Note: July 21 is already sold out!!

Oh, they cannot cut the most important scene!! - Herman Cornejo w/his sister, Erica & Reyes (if I remember correctly). We'll see tomorrow night Thank you everyone for info. Now it seems that DVD will be on sale tomorrow, too.

This performance’s DVD (Swan Lake – Murphy & Corella) is scheduled to be released in Japan around the end of June – but only in Japanese version. http://www.fairynet.co.jp/www/on-shop/html/av/DD-151435.html (Japanese only website) Does anyone know when the US version will be released? (I tried to post this in ballet video section, but I cannot – probably because I am a new member. Pls remove as appropriate.)

I really enjoy the forth ring socity! Just some follow-up re foreign dancers in Japanese companies - as far as I know. Foreign dancers come to Japan quite often as guest dancers or with their own companies, but they do not move to Japanese companies... K-Ballet Company Principal: Stuart Cassidy (a former principal at Royal Ballet) Guest Principal: Viviana Durante (a former principal at Royal Ballet) Soloist: Carlos Martin Perez （formerly in Dresden Ballet) New National Theatre Ballet Season Guest Dancer: Denis Matvienko 　(the Kiev National Ballet) Soloist: Maylen Tleubaev (formerly in St.Petersburg Mussorgsky state academic opera and ballet) Soloist: Grigory Barinov (formerly in Latvian National Opera's Ballet) Tokyo City Ballet Huang Kai(formerly in Shanghai Ballet) NBA Ballet Company Alexander Mishutin (formerly in Russia Imperial Ballet), Hudzeleu Maksim (formerly in National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theater of the Republic of Belarus), Goussev Valeri, Savoschenko Sergiy, Karl Terra and others

Usually, tickets for foreign companies are expensive and those for Japanese ones are relatively reasonable. Tickets price for NYCB performances in Sep 2004 were: S: 18,000; A: 14,000; B: 9,000. (Currently, 1.00 US dollar = 107 Japanese Yen) Very very roughly, S seats are orchestra and front mezzanine, A seats are rear orchestra and middle mezzanine and B seats are rear mezzanine. I heard that B seats were sold out on the first day the tickets went on sale. Tickets price for ABT performance in coming July are: Gala - S: 21,000, A: 17,000, B: 14,000, C: 11,000, D: 8,000, E: 5,000, Student: 3,000 Raymonda & Don Quixote - S: 19,000, A: 16,000, B: 13,000, C: 10,000, D: 7,000, E: 4,000, Student: 3,000 Again, S seats are orchestra and front mezzanine. (Tickets went on sale in February and it seems that tickets are already scarce!) Tickets for Royal Ballet (Cinderella/ Manon) in this summer cost the same as the ABT's Gala... Paris Opera Ballet performances in this April costs 18,000 to 8,000. It is so difficult (or I think impossible...) to get tickets of major companies which cost less than 5,000 Yen. The numbers of those tickets are very limited and usually sell out within one hour after tickets go on sale. In New York, I was so surprised that I could buy tickets for the cheapest seats even on the day of the performance! Oh, I really appreciate the forth ring society!! For top Japanese companies – tickets are usually between 3,000 to 10,000 Yen, except for K-Ballet Company, which usually costs: S:18,000; A:14,000 and B:9,000 (and most seats are S!!). I was used to pay (of course, not willingly) more than $150, when I wanted to get a good seat. I feel so lucky to have chance to see ABT and NYCB's performances in NY at around half price of Tokyo! I will post about Western dancers in Japan later, although there are not many.

You might have already got info...but, The only performance in Nagoya in May, as far as I know, is Guillem’s performance w/ Nicolas Le Riche & Dowell (Marguerite & Armand, Carmen, etc.) at Aich Arts Center on May 8. They do not have information on this performance in English, but you can contact them by e-mail. http://www.aac.pref.aichi.jp/english/index.html S. Guillem will also perform in Osaka on May 10 at Festival Hall. http://www.festivalhall.jp/nittei_baldac.html There are few ballet performances by famous companies in Kyoto – ballet fans in Kyoto usually go to Osaka to see ballet. There will be lots of ballet performances in this summer in Tokyo. I wish I can go back to Tokyo this summer, or may be not – I will go bankrupt as tickets are expensive in Japan. Hope you have chance to see ballet in Japan! Jun