Alina Cojocaru, one of the most versatile ballerinas of her generation, is in Tokyo with her Alina Cojocaru Dream Project 2014 gala. This follows on from her first – and succesful – gala in Tokyo, in 2012. Dancers from the Royal Ballet, Dutch National Ballet and the Opera Nationalà Bucuresti assembled for this intimate evening. This gala also aims to raise funds for the people still suffering from the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that took place in northern Japan, and, as well as the dancers collecting donations from the audience, a charity auctioned their autographed pointe shoes.
The program shows Cojocaru's many faces. In program A, she danced the roles of Odette (Swan Lake), Medora (Le Corsaire), and Julie (Liliom), the latter a John Neumeier choreography created on her in 2011. Although Cojocaru has immaculate classical technique, it is clear she has now grown into being a more dramatic and modern dancer. Her Odette with Johan Kobborg, while beautiful, lacked the lyricism and ethereal lines that the role requires. It would have been a better choice to dance a more British, and more dramatic role... these really suit her.
On the other hand, the audience was lucky to see her in an excerpt of Liliom, with Hamburg Ballet’s Carsten Jung in the title role, and she as Julie, the ill-fated girl that falls in love with him. Performing only a snippet from a full evening story ballet is not easy, but here we got to see the haunting power of Cojocaru's dramatic quality, her gentle heart gradually melting for the brute of a man that is Liliom, and their souls touching each other. She has absorbed the specific choreographic idiom of Neumeier, both limpid and eloquent, and while she has matured in recent years, still looks like an innocent young girl. Jung was marvelous, his gentleness a contrast to the savage appearance of the role. This pas de deux had so much warmth, and I wish I to see the whole work one day.
Another standout was Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody, performed by Miyako Yoshida and Steven McRae. McRae has just made the Russian audience and critics ecstatic with his incredible technique and speed – in Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Here, he lived up to his fame again, and danced as though he was the devil himself, with unbelievable musicality and swift chaines. His partnership with Yoshida was lovely, with both of them so good at responding to the music and creating, together, a dazzling atmosphere. Yoshida is a ballerina who seems to have stopped ageing. Her flowing movements were radiant and airy, and her pirouettes so rhythmical they became music notes themselves.