Episode 1
Tamao
Ichimatsu—anentertainment
magazine
reporter for over
50 years

Also a major
behind-thescenes figure
who haspromoted thesuccess ofnumerous stars
In fact, theperforming arts
also had such afigure—Well, well...

He was one of themost renownedballetchoreographers ofthe 20th century.

How time flies...

Wow! Ballet!

It's already been
10 years since
Mr. Béjart
passed away!

I always
wondered what
it was like, but
I've never had achance to seeballet...

Ms. Ichimatsu,
who is Mr. Béjart?

You know what?
I just received aninvitation to thisperformance.

Episode 1

Would you like tocome along?

Oh yes! Absolutely!

009

Now this is aclassy theater!

And theatmosphere isglamorous.

Yes. It's atheater withsome history,too.

Ms. Ichimatsu
is incredible...
She's well-known
not just among thepress, but even ata theater!

Thank you very muchfor the invitation.

Kimi! Thisway, this way!

The curtain
will go up
soon.

Oh, I'm getting
nervous...
Oh, good to see you
Ms. Ichimatsu.

I hope you havea good time.

011

BoléroChoreography:
Maurice Béjart
Music: Maurice
Ravel

Is this ballet?

There is nostory.

It is amasterpiece inwhich the melody(the solo dancer)
and the rhythm(the ensemble)
gradually build
to the crescendoof Ravel's music.

One of Béjart's
most famous
works, Boléro
remains as vivid
and captivating
today as it did
when itpremiered overfifty years ago in1960.

It's likewatching
the music
itself invisual form!

Amazing!!

Bravooo!

Wasn't that
performance
justmarvelous?

Yes...it's just...
.......

...I'm sostunned that
I can't get up.

My goodness!
Are you ok?

015

Now, shall wego and havesomething toeat?!

I was puzzled at
first. This ballet
performance
wasn't what I
had expected...

I'm delighted tohear that you
enjoyed it so much!

I'm sure that if
Mr. Béjart and
Mr. Sasaki werealive, they would
have been happy
to hear that, too.

What?

... but I soon
found myself
overwhelmed...

I've never been
so moved by aperformance in
my entire life!

Mr. Sasaki?

016

Mr. Sasaki wasthe founder ofThe Tokyo
Ballet. He had adeep friendshipwith Mr. Béjart.
Without his efforts,
we would not havethe chance to see as
many performancesby international
ballet companies inJapan today.

...to instillingJapan with theculture of ballet.

It's no exaggeration tosay that Mr. Sasaki
was key...

The Tokyo
Ballet, which
had givenseveral overseas
performances
since its
establishment...

October
1986...finally took
the stage at thePalais Garnierof the Opéra
National deParis.

The piece was
The Kabuki,
which Béjart had
choreographed
specifically for
The Tokyo Ballet.

The work wasbased on thefamiliar Japanesetale Chushingura,a story aboutloyal samurai.
It is considered to
be one of Béjart's
masterpieces andhas been staged at
the five greatest
opera houses in
the world.

The Parisaudience
wasfascinatedby thisperformane!!

Mr. Tadatsugu
Sasaki...

He was amatchless talent
and a driving force
in the world of theperforming arts...

...pursued aesthetics
and authenticity in
post-war Japan.

You're right,Ms. Ichimatsu.

Without Mr. Sasaki,ballet in Japan
would lag far behind
the rest of the world.

021

What!?

It's been a long time,Ms. Ichimatsu.

Oh, Mizuka!!

You were watching
today's performance,
too?

This lady isradiant!
Who is she!?