Ballet
“I just know that when I go onstage, I give everything I have, not only my feet, not only my legs, not only my body. I try to tell a story. Sometimes I am able to cry because I feel like it. Sometimes I am able to love because I feel like it.” — Sylvie Guillam
Ballet is a formalized form of dance with its origins in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th and 16th centuries, and which was further developed in France, Russia, and Britain as a concert dance form primarily with the accompaniment of classical music. Ballet soon spread around the world with the formation of today’s world acclaimed companies. For the dancers, the genre is hard to master and requires much practice focusing on pointe work as well as flowing and precise acrobatic movements. The best-known form of ballet is the Late Romantic Ballet or Ballet Blanc, although later developments include Expressionist Ballet, Neoclassical Ballet, and elements of Modern Dance.
Min-On inaugurated this exclusive series of premier ballet presentations soon after its founding. In 1966, the Association invited the Soviet National Academy Novosibirsk Ballet to Japan for the first performance in this series.
The Ballet du XXe Siècle (The 20th Century Ballet of the Monnaie Royal Theater, the National Theater of Belgium) led by Maurice Béjart came the following year in 1967, and the American Ballet Theater in 1968. More recent major events have included performances by the Netherlands Dance Theater led by Jirí Kylián in 1990 and 1993, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1995 and the popular Hamburg Ballet led by John Neumeier, who has appeared in the Min-On Ballet Series a total of six times from 1986 to 2009—the most recent of the series.
Soviet National Academy Novosibirsk Ballet of U.S.S.R in 1966
American Ballet Theater in 1968
Le Grand Ballet du Theatre National de l’Opera de Paris (Grand Ballet of the National Theater of the Opera of Paris)
The Royal Ballet in 1975
1966 Soviet National Academy Novosibirsk Ballet of U.S.S.R
1967 Ballet du XXe Siecle du Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie,
Opera National de Belgique (The 20th Century Ballet of the the Monnaie Royal Theater, National Theater of Belgium)
1968 American Ballet Theater
1971 Ballet National de la Republique de Guinee, Djoliba (National Ballet of the Republic of Guinea, Djoliba)
1972 Le Grand Ballet du Theatre National de l’Opera de Paris (Grand Ballet of the National Theater of the Opera of Paris)
1973 Ballet der Wurttembergischen Staatstheater Stuttgart ( Ballet of the Wuttemberg State Theater of Stuttgart)
1975 The Royal Ballet
1978 Ballet du XXe Siecle du Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Opera National de Belgique (The 20th Century Ballet of the the Monnaie Royal Theater, the National Theater of Belgium)
1984 Les Grand Ballets Canadiens (Grand Ballet of Canada)
1986 John Neumeier and Hamburg Ballet
1989 John Neumeier and Hamburg Ballet
1990 The Netherlands Dance Theater
1991 Ballet Nacional de Cuba
1993 The Ballet Philippines
1993 Laterna Magika of Czech Republic
1993 The Netherlands Dance Theater
1994 John Neumeier and Hamburg Ballet
1995 Royal Winnipeg Ballet
1997 John Neumeier and Hamburg Ballet
1998 The Ballet Philippines
2005 John Neumeier and Hamburg Ballet
2009 John Neumeier and Hamburg Ballet