Market Screening ‘Kaguyahime‘

Presented by NHK - Japan Broadcasting Corporation and EuroArts

The author and the exact date of origin are unknown, but it is believed that the story was written around 900. The story details the life of Kaguyahime, a princess from the Moon who is discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. After she grows, her beauty attracts five suitors seeking her hand in marriage, whom she turns away by challenging them each with an impossible task; she later attracts the affection of the Emperor of Japan. In the end, Kaguyahime reveals her celestial origins and returns to the Moon. Jo Kanamori on his work: The reason why I chose Kaguyahime, “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter” as the subject for a new ballet for the Tokyo Ballet is that it is the oldest Japanese surviving piece of long prose narrative. Also, I felt that the universality of the story would make it suitable for a full-length ballet of the 21st century which should be, in the stream of ballet history, a hybrid of the 19th century and 20th century ballets: the former being the Romantic ballet based on fantastic tales with supernatural beings such as fairies and swan transformations, and the latter being the Narrative ballet symbolized by femmes fatales in principle roles.

The Screening will be followed by a reception with sake and Japanese treats at the EuroArts Booth in the Networking Area.

GENRE Ballet 

http://www.euroarts.com/tv-license/4721-jo-kanamori-kaguyahime