午夜剧场

Standing on a stage wrapped in a mysterious tension amidst dazzling lights, the world where the sound of applause from the audience spreads was something that felt addictive even to my young heart.

I first encountered ballet when I was four years old. I was captivated by the joy and exhilaration of dancing when I stood on stage for a recital, and I was immediately hooked. I am deeply grateful to the teachers and friends who understood and supported my efforts to balance my studies and ballet during my ten years at 午夜剧场 starting from Chutobu Junior High School.

While in high school, I went to a European ballet school on a scholarship and was confronted with the overwhelming natural physical proportions and mature expressiveness of children my own age. I remember vividly the strong shock I felt. In order to ensure I wouldn't be buried among them, I devoted myself to daily practice, working dozens of times harder than others on my technique until I could call it my strength.

I joined the National Ballet of Japan while still in university. Immediately after joining, I was given the lead role in the full-length production of "Cinderella," but as it was my first full-length work, I felt crushed by indescribable anxiety and pressure. I had my hands full just trying to internalize the many rules, such as the unique steps and positions of the choreographer Frederick Ashton. Even now, it is painful to remember the harsh voices from those around me and the sense of inadequacy I felt after the performance, but this very experience became the driving force for me to think deeply about how to deliver emotion to the audience and how to present myself, as I approach each stage today.

Four years have passed since I joined the company, and I am expanding the possibilities of dance by internalizing how to approach roles, how to be on stage, and how to use my body. Even so, I feel the endless charm of ballet in the new challenges that keep appearing one after another.

Miyako Yoshida, the Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Japan, is communicating the charm of ballet every day through new approaches precisely because of the difficult situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I want to do my small part to convey the necessity of the comprehensive art form that is ballet to as many people as possible.

"Be a person who moves people's hearts." These are the words I received from my teacher at Chutobu Junior High School. Even now, I always remember them before standing on stage, savoring the happiness of being able to share the same "time" with the audience, and inspiring myself.

Hoping that the dance will live on forever in the hearts of as many people as possible.