No matter what the weather early next year, a really special show being staged once only in Osaka and Tokyo is sure to set ablaze the hearts of noh and ballet fans alike.
Aptly titled "Bi no Kyoen (Feast of Beauty) 2015," this will see two stars of the Paris Opera Ballet — Mathieu Ganio, an etoile (principal dancer), and his sister Marine, who, as a sujet is two ranks below that pinnacle — appear for the first time ever on a classical noh stage.
In that setting little changed since Japan's classical form of musical dance-drama emerged some 700 years ago, Mathieu will perform a solo from "Eppur si muove," choreographed by the renowned Giorgio Mancini, while Marine will dance a solo from "Sleeping Beauty" — and together they will dance the pas de deux "Meditation de Thais" from the two-act ballet "Ma Pavlova" by the dance legend Roland Petit (1924-2011).
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