Morihiro Iwata and stars of japanese ballet
On November 8, 2010 at 19:00 on the stage of Moscow State Estrada Theater a unique ballet project “Morihiro Iwata and Japanese Ballet Stars” will be presented to Moscow audience in the framework of the festival “Japanese Autumn” (supported by Embassy of Japan in Moscow).
The project is sponsored by Moscow representative offices of “Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V.”, “JTI”, «Аjinomoto corporation“, Ajinomoto Genetics Research”, “Marubeni Corporation” with the support of Japan Business Club in Moscow, “Yamaha Music, LLC”, “Yamaha Motors”, “Sumitomo Corporation”.
The idea and art realization of the project belongs to a Japanese ballet dancer, a soloist of Bolshoi Theater of Russia, Morihiro Iwata. In 2009 by the decree of the President Mr. Iwata was awarded The Order of Friendship of Peoples. Much has been written about him in the press. Many TV reportages have been dedicated to this dancer.
Such a high recognition of Morihiro Iwata is a natural result of his outstanding achievements. He is a laureate of numerous prestigious competitions, such as International Ballet Competition in Jackson (USA) and ballet dancer and choreographer competition in Moscow. Iwata was also awarded Gran Prix of Russian ballet competition “Arabesque”. He is a well-known dancer and choreographer. Iwata has acquired his great name in the art due to his talent, diligence and commitment.
Japanese artists dancing at such famous theaters, as Bolshoi Theater of Russia, Royal Ballet of Great Britain, Berlin State Opera, Colorado Ballet, Kremlin Ballet, National Opera House of Ukraine will participate in the ballet program on the stage of Estrada Theater. In the first part the ballet “Tamashii” choreographed by Morihiro Iwata will be shown.
The ballet “Tamashii” narrates the story of the great mystery of oriental rituals. The story of the ballet is based on an ancient Japanese legend: “Inhabitants of some marvelous island fall victims of a volcano eruption. In order to make the goddess Amaterasu with her maids return life to the island, an old man should sacrifice souls of five samurai. Each of these five men, who knew no fear, represents one of the energy elements: Dragon – power, Tiger – fearlessness, Crane – majestic serenity, Leopard – agility, Snake – wisdom”.
The five samurai headed by Sensei invoke Amaterasu at the cost of their lives, and the goddess helps courageous people to reverse the course of history. The action of the ballet unfolds to the beat of Japanese drums. Their sound creates a fascinating dance of the samurai.
The ballet “Tamashii” (which means “spirit” in Japanese) does not paraphrases the Japanese legend. “This is a play about the mighty power of the dance energy. And if there are any miracles here, they are only miraculous abilities of a trained body. Iwata made an accent on expressive self-sufficiency of dance technique and was right. One can endlessly keep track of resilient springs the choreographer himself (the Dragon), to watch, how exquisitely the Sensei (Takero) curled in ecstasy, how amazingly soaring and pirouettes are manages by the Snake”. A great dancer of the twentieth century, a National Artist of the USSR, Mikhail Lavrovsky said after watching the ballet “Tamashii”: “I have not seen such a dance from the 70′s.”
In the second part of the dance program audience will see the best numbers of classical and contemporary dance performed by Japanese artists, as well as Russian ballet dancers – the stars of national and international ballet. Special guests and participants of the project are an outstanding dancer, a National Artist of Russia, Farukh Ruzimatov, a famous violinist, “Russian Paganini”, a National Artist of Russia, Maxim Fedotov and a pianist, an Honored Artist of Russia, Galina Petrova.
The theatrical show will certainly make an indelible impression on the audience. The high level of skill and creative approach of the participants guarantees that.
