National Ballet of Japan revived Peter Darrell’s Tales of Hoffmann as part of an homage to the legacy of past artistic directors. Noriko Ohara, a former director, had performed all the main roles of this ballet while she was a dancer with Scottish Ballet. Ohara and Kenn Burke, also a former dancer with Scottish Ballet, staged the ballet together.
Last performed here in 2018, this revival emphasised the progress the company has made in terms of both acting and dancing. The dancers in most of the main characters had portrayed their roles during the previous runs, but the ballet looked more attractive and enjoyable than the last time.
This ballet follows Offenbach’s opera. Hoffmann is a middle-aged loser. In the prologue he drinks at a tavern waiting for his latest lover, the prima donna La Stella (played charismatically by Yuri Kimura), and he tells the stories behind the souvenirs on his table: three tales of his lost loves. A sinister character, the Councillor Lindorf, follows Hoffmann throughout all his stories, while transforming into different evil beings and trying to destroy him. The first act is based on Hoffmann’s Sandman and Hoffmann falls in love with a life-sized doll; the second act resembles a Petipa-style classic with an aspirant ballerina as the object of his affection and the third act takes place in an exotic harem.
Yudai Fukuoka as the protagonist Hoffmann, showed great improvement from his previous performances in this role. A person who does not seem to learn from his lessons is difficult to play, but Fukuoka was convincing as the man being plagued by the evil Lindorf, acting at different stages of his life and each time his love ending in futility. In the first act he wears glasses that convince him that the doll Olympia has come to life, his comical movements were sad but sympathetic. Fukuoka is one of the best classical dancers in the company and in the most challenging second act, involving breathtaking solos and difficult partnering, he proved to be a reliable partner and virtuoso dancer.
The three ballerinas that danced the heroines each added colour to this ballet. Risako Ikeda as Olympia, the Coppélia-like doll, executed clear, fast steps perfectly while moving mechanically. She appeared not to blink. Ayako Ono as Antonia, the frail ballerina, had excellent musicality and clarity in her movements while dancing in her dreams. Her passion for dancing that eventually leads to her death, burned brightly and was unforgettably joyful. Saho Shibayama, who is usually an elegant and ethereal classical dancer, debuted in the role of the seductive courtesan Giulietta. She showed that she can act compellingly in evil roles, with her long limbs and strong focus.
Another impressive debut was Takafumi Watanabe as the evil genius Lindorf, who is required to play Spalanzani in the first act, the crazy scientist Dr. Miracle in the second and the sensual Dapertutto in the third act. Watanabe usually dances princes and heroes, but here he seemed to enjoy the four different, but equally wicked, devilish characters – sometimes ice cold and ruthless, at other times being quite amusing. As Spalanzani, he seemed to have fun on stage with his two disciples who were equally comical. Lindorf is a character that dominates this ballet and his love/hate relationship with Hoffmann was quite formidable.
The whole company looked good this time. The corps de ballet consisting of the guests in the first act, had individuality and were highly effective in creating a story-book atmosphere. Hoffmann's three friends each danced virtuoso solos beautifully and Shogo Hayami was a stand out. In the orgy-like erotic third act, the dancers seemed a little embarrassed in the highly exposing costumes, but as the show went on, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Although this work lacks depth due to the fact that it is more like a triple bill with different heroines in each act, it went much better than I expected and was an enjoyable experience at the ballet. The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Paul Murphy played Offenbach delightfully.
