Tokyo Ballet: Kabuki

Over het evenement

Guest company at the Palais Garnier, the Tokyo Ballet presents one of the most striking works in its repertoire, Kabuki, created by Maurice Béjart in 1986.

Founded in 1964, the Tokyo Ballet has made its own the great ballets of the classical repertoire while remaining open to the creation of new works. Fascinated by Japan, Maurice Béjart soon developed a special relationship with the company and introduced a number of his masterpieces into its repertoire. In 1986, he drew on one of the oldest forms of Japanese theatre – kabuki– which first appeared in the 17th century. He found inspiration in an emblematic piece from popular culture, the tale of the forty seven Ronin, a group of samurai deprived of their chief after his condemnation to ritual suicide.

Set to original music by Toshiro Mayuzumi, Maurice Béjart recounts the age‐old legend, symbolic of values of loyalty, sacrifice and devotion.

Toshiro Mayuzumi,    Music
Maurice Béjart,    Choreography
Nuno Côrte‐Real,    Sets and costumes
Tatsuo Takasawa,    Lighting
Fumitake Ichikawa,    Sound director