Rentaro Nakaaki on choreographing for English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer

English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer is so much more than just another date on the dance calendar. It’s an event that sees dancers taking on new roles and discovering new talents. For Rentaro Nakaaki, a finalist in Emerging Dancer 2019, it will be another step on his choreographic journey as he creates the contemporary work for 2024 finalists, Anna Ciriano and Shunhei Fuchiyama.

Nakaaki was born in Osaka, Japan to parents who were competitive ballroom dancers. “My mom wanted me to do ballet for core training and the ballet school I went to, Sadamatsu Hamada Ballet School, was famous for having loads of boys, so it was easier for me to study and make friends.”

It was when he came to London to join English National Ballet School that he began his contemporary dance study. “We studied Graham and Cunningham techniques. It was difficult to begin with, but I started to love contemporary. Now we have a lot of repertoire with contemporary technique and I really enjoy doing it.”

On his graduation from school to company in 2018, Nakaaki won first prize at the school’s Choreographic Competition. I reviewed the work (click here), 3 years and 4 minutes, created and danced with Molly Hall noting, “It was engaging from the outset… In contemporary style and well grounded, their inventive ideas were presented with panache.”

However, it was when Nakaaki was cast in the eponymous role in Akram Khan’s Creature that he reached a turning point. “Akram’s work is mainly storytelling. The intention comes first. It is the core thing. Mavin Khoo, his assistant, who coached me in Creature, would say, ‘You have super beautiful movements but as soon as I see the beautiful movements I’m outside of the story. It also puts the audience outside of the story, so while it’s beautiful it’s not Creature.’ I realised it’s the movement that contains the intention, it tells the story so it’s not a separate thing.”

Nakaaki explained how he was still finding his role as a choreographer. “Before I was feeling insecure about coming up with choreography and also taking rehearsals with my colleagues. I never done that before. It was a challenge. When I did a piece for Emerging Dancer in 2022, I prepared it fully in my head. Now I’m more comfortable to improvise with the dancers. This can be scary for them, but I want us to be on a level. I’m going to be in the space doing improvisation with them. The piece I did before, Cha Cha and Tiara, was inspired by the ballroom dance I’d seen my parents do since I was little, so it was easier. It was really fun to work on and I loved seeing the structure come together.”

Choreographing for Emerging Dancer is also about showcasing the dancers’ talents. He left it to the ballet staff to choose his dancers. Nakaaki noted that while Anna Ciriano is more comfortable with contemporary movement, Shunhei, a fellow Japanese dancer is very classical with a strong virtuosic technique. “But I not going to put in lots of pirouettes because I want to challenge him and not compromise on the process. The process is for us to grow as dancers and as mentors. I want to take this opportunity to step out of my comfort zone, take advantage of the challenges and dive into new things.”

Working with Akram Khan and storytelling in dance has also served as an inspiration. “This piece started as abstract but it’s starting to build around a concept. The title is Moya, a Japanese word for hazy or foggy mist. And I’m letting the ideas come through the movement. That will give the quality, and I want nothing extra, only what has meaning.”

Another new venture is working with commissioned music. Previously, it was usually the music that was Nakaaki’s initial inspiration but now he is working with Fabian Reimair on a new electronic score. “I sent a playlist to Fabian and then waited for him to inspire me. I’m getting so much inspiration from the music; he’s added cues for me and it’s so much fun to play with.”

Nakaaki is living in exciting times. He has recently taken on leading roles such as Khan’s Creature and Don José in Johan Inger’s Carmen. “Different choreographers, different ways of dancing, they all inspire me.” Now he is developing his new role as a choreographer, taking on challenges and trying new ideas.

The Emerging Dancers of English National Ballet take to the stage at Sadler’s Wells on May 24, 2024, when months of hard work and creative energy will reach their culmination in the annual company celebration.

Rentaro Nakaaki is also choreographing a new solo for English National Ballet’s Minju Kang, to music by Gabriel Fauré, to be premiered as part of Ballet Nights 005, at Lanterns Studio Theatre, London on June 28 & 29, 2024.