“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 in 1966 
American Ballet THeater in 1968 
Grand Ballet of the National Theater of the Opera of Paris in 1972 
The Royal Ballet in 1975 
Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1995| 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 |
