National Ballet of Japan’s Raymonda is a feast of excellent dancing

National Ballet of Japan in Asami Maki’s Raymonda

Takuro Watanabe as Abderachman and Yui Yonezawa as Raymonda in Raymonda

Yudai Fukuoka as Jean de Brienne and Yui Yonezawa as Raymonda in Raymonda

Yui Yonezawa as Raymonda with National Ballet of Japan in Raymonda

National Ballet of Japan in Asami Maki’s Raymonda

By Naomi Mori, 30 April 2026

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“Yonezawa is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished ballerinas of our era”

Reviewed at New National Theatre, Tokyo: Opera House, Tokyo on 25 April 2026

Raymonda (Marius Petipa)

National Ballet of Japan

Misato Tomita, Conductor

Asami Maki, Director

Luisa Spinatelli, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Yuji Sawada, Lighting Designer

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

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Carlos Acosta's Don Quixote for Birmingham Royal Ballet returned to Sadler's Wells with polished but low-key interpretations across the board.

***11

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****1

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****1

Dutch National Ballet's reimagined La Bayadère triumphs

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Dutch National Ballet's new production of La Bayadère does away with the ballet’s problematic gestures and movements, allowing the choreography to truly shine.

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American Ballet Theatre's double bill is short and sweet in New York

Ivy Lin, 15th March

American Ballet Theatre presents Balanchine's Raymonda: Grand Pas Hongrois and Ratmansky's Firebird which showcases the company well and provides a strong contrast.

****1

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Naomi Mori

Naomi is a blogger living in Tokyo and travels frequently to see ballet. She is a law graduate of Waseda University and a former film publicist, film critic and IT business researcher/strategist. She blogs at La Dolce Vita in Japanese. She tweets about ballet as @naomip_86. and takes ballet class regularly