News clipping: National Ballet of Japan's Gieselle, problems with appropriating disability, South Africa's local ballet school
- Ikuko
- Aug 1
- 2 min read
The National Ballet of Japan's (新国立劇場バレエ団) performance of Giselle at The Royal Opera House in London, the United Kingdom, in late-July received rave reviews. The company, under artistic direction of former Royal Ballet Principal Miyako Yoshida, was the first Asian ballet company to perform at the opera house. The New York Times article correctly mentioned that Japan did not have a national ballet school, and that dancers' working conditions were generally poor. After that, the article said, "her production of “Giselle” showed the company as fully the equal, technically and artistically, of major international troupes," and "it was in the second act, with its phalanxes of ghostly, drifting Wilis (bravo to the lighting designer Rick Fisher), that the company showed a distinguishing near-uncanny synchronicity of line and ethereal lightness that gave an unusually eerie dimension to the story."
Gramilano said the company made "a triumphant UK debut" and quickly went on to say "let’s hope the National Ballet of Japan can return to the UK in the not too-distant future."
Lauren Wingenroth discussed the problems with appropriating and mimicking disability in dance in The Dance Magazine on 7th July 2025. However, she also said that the performing art industry was moving towards authentic representation, albeit taking time, and that more disabled dancers were casted for dance performances. Most notably, "Jenna Bainbridge became the first disabled performer to play Wicked’s Nessarose, who uses a wheelchair, earlier this year, more than 20 years after the show opened on Broadway," she pointed out.
The Guardian newspaper published an image gallery of the Mballet dance academy in Thembisa, South Africa on 31st July 2025.
