National Ballet of Japan: Giselle

Royal Ballet & Opera, London
July 24, 2025

In making their first visit to the Royal Opera House in London, the National Ballet of Japan are cementing both a shared love of ballet and also a very personal link. Miyako Yoshida made her dance career in the UK and was the first Japanese dancer to become a principal at the Royal Ballet. She now returns as artistic director of the National Ballet of Japan with a production of Giselle.

The ballet adheres to the traditional, leaving the surprises and delight in the quality of performance from the dancers. Act One was notable for spirited dancing and convincing drama but, in this performance, it was Act Two where the soul of the ballet lay.

The original conception of the ballet came from Heinrich Heine’s legend of the Wilis, the vision of spirits filled with vengeance. The ballet needed a prequel to send the spirit of the beloved Giselle into their clutches but it was the vision in the moonlight that drove their imagination and that is realised in this performance by Yui Yonezawa as Giselle.

Yonezawa is the image of Romantic beauty. Fragile and soulful with delicate limbs she seemed to float almost without the strong support of Shun Izawa as Albrecht. Her pointe work was the effortless dancing on tiptoes that Théophile Gautier imagined, and her arabesque was textbook perfection. She enters the spirit world completely and all sense of his cruel betrayal disappears in her outpouring of unconditional love. This is truly another world.

Dick Bird’s set, a desolate graveyard with silhouettes of crosses on the hill, places Giselle’s grave in the gully below. The different levels give opportunity for spirits to materialise and disappear and is effectively used. However, the golden fairy lights dotted around were less welcome.

Akaria Yoshida as Myrtha set the tone of unremitting evil. She becomes a creature programmed to kill from her first rock steady penché, the rapier thrust on her jetes and a bourrée unimaginably fast and fluid. Her cohort of ghostly sisters are likewise programmed and seldom has a corps of Wilis been so uniformly matched and well-rehearsed, the result was eyewatering perfection.

The ballet opens in the idealised village with happy peasants enjoying the harvest festivities in the best Romantic tradition. Yonezawa and Izawa are steeped in the delights of new love and the well-known steps are danced with joy.

Yonezawa is a spirited Giselle and Izawa, noticeably cut from finer cloth than the locals, has stolen her heart. Her solo was played out with modesty making light of the diagonal hops of pointe adding excitement with the pirouette manège, then finishing with a generous warm gesture, all suited to the character.

Izawa, in the brief opportunities afforded him in his solo proved to be a fine technician as well as a strong partner. Masahiro Nakaya made a passionate Hilarion, a caring alternative to Albrecht and a clever sleuth. Yuna Seki, in the small but important role of mother gave her warning in sincere and urgent mime but the message fell on deaf ears. The visit of the Duke and courtiers is a lavish affair in splendid costumes. Akioh Seki played Bathilda with intelligence, drawing the fine line between being fully aware of her class while acknowledging Giselle.

The Peasant Pas, here danced to entertain the Court, featured Risako Ikeda and Shunsuke Mizui. The duet was danced with both skill and enjoyment but no false bravado keeping in the style of the production. Mizui proved both a fine technician with crisp beats and turns while Ikeda showed excellent footwork with light and graceful pointe work suffused with Romantic charm.

The ensemble work is much extended with additional choreography by Alastair Marriott that blends well with the traditional Petipa and gives welcome opportunities for the substantial corps of men. They were impressive showing strong batterie, jumps and tours, dancing with zeal and strong presentation.

The Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Paul Murphy, gave good support, and it all proved a jubilant return for Yoshida, a much-loved ballerina who retains a strong fan base.