New National Theatre
Encyclopedia
The New National Theatre, Tokyo (NNTT) is Japan's first and foremost national centre for the performing arts, including opera
, ballet
, contemporary dance
and drama
. It is located in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo
.
The construction of the NNTT was completed in February 1997, with its first public performances taking place in October of that year. The centre has been praised for its architecture and state-of-the-art modern theatre facilities, which are considered among the best in the world.
Besides the public performances, various enterprises are undertaken, such as the young artist training programmes (for ballet, opera, and theatre), theatre rental for other performing arts groups, performing arts-related exhibitions, public usage of its video library and book library, public performances for children and young students, backstage tours, and most importantly, international exchanges for performing arts events, etc. Moreover, The Stage Set & Design Centre (located in Choshi city, Chiba Prefecture
), stores and exhibits previously-used stage scenery and costumes.
The arts management of NNTT, including the enterprises in above, is commissioned to New National Theatre Foundation (NNTF) from the independent administrative institution, known as The Japan Arts Council. NNTT is managed by several trust funds, government grants, admission revenues, and private donations from many supporting companies.
The NNTT has been repeatedly criticized for its bureaucratic arts administration, which is very representative of usual Japanese politics. While generously financed by the Japanese government, major conductors, directors, and performing artists have all complained that their creative ideas are restricted by the bureaucratic style of the arts management.
In 2007 the NNTT was branded with the advertising slogan: Opera Palace, Tokyo.
The Tokyo Opera City Tower
is connected to the theatre.
was named artistic consultant to the opera division of the New National Theatre (also known as New National Theatre Opera, or NNTO). This post preceded his appointment as artistic director (i.e. Music Director of the New National Theatre) from September 2007. However Wakasugi died in July 2009 and Tadaaki Otaka
was appointed as 'acting artistic director' for 2009/2010.
The company's productions are usually conservative, and the principal lead singers are frequently drawn from a circle of top foreign opera singers from Europe and elsewhere. World-class Japanese singers who are famous abroad are often invited to sing lead roles as well. To introduce Japanese-related works into the operatic world, the NNTO has embarked on producing works such as Shuzenji Monogatari, composed by Osamu Shimizu (June 2009), and Ikebe Shinichiro's Rokumeikan (June, 2010).
who is the current Artistic Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet
will lead the NNTB Company as the Co-Artistic Director with Asami Maki from 2010. The NNBT has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (Asami Maki's Raymonda
in February 2008), and will also perform Asami Maki's version of La dame aux camellias, as a guest company at the Bolshoi Theatre
in September 2009. The NNTB is striving to become Asia's best ballet company as well as an internationally recognized company (Top 10) in the next few years.
, and Yoji Sakate, but the board never responded to the questions.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, contemporary dance
Contemporary dance
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...
and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
. It is located in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
The construction of the NNTT was completed in February 1997, with its first public performances taking place in October of that year. The centre has been praised for its architecture and state-of-the-art modern theatre facilities, which are considered among the best in the world.
Besides the public performances, various enterprises are undertaken, such as the young artist training programmes (for ballet, opera, and theatre), theatre rental for other performing arts groups, performing arts-related exhibitions, public usage of its video library and book library, public performances for children and young students, backstage tours, and most importantly, international exchanges for performing arts events, etc. Moreover, The Stage Set & Design Centre (located in Choshi city, Chiba Prefecture
Chiba Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...
), stores and exhibits previously-used stage scenery and costumes.
The arts management of NNTT, including the enterprises in above, is commissioned to New National Theatre Foundation (NNTF) from the independent administrative institution, known as The Japan Arts Council. NNTT is managed by several trust funds, government grants, admission revenues, and private donations from many supporting companies.
The NNTT has been repeatedly criticized for its bureaucratic arts administration, which is very representative of usual Japanese politics. While generously financed by the Japanese government, major conductors, directors, and performing artists have all complained that their creative ideas are restricted by the bureaucratic style of the arts management.
In 2007 the NNTT was branded with the advertising slogan: Opera Palace, Tokyo.
The Tokyo Opera City Tower
Tokyo Opera City Tower
is a skyscraper located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Completed in 1996, it stands 234 metres high and has 54 floors; it is the third-tallest building in Shinjuku and sixth-tallest in Tokyo. The closest train station to Opera City is Hatsudai....
is connected to the theatre.
Theatres and performance facilities
The NNTT building contains three main theatres:- The Opera House (1814 seats)
- The Play House (1038 seats)
- The Pit (468 seats max)
New National Theatre Opera (NNTO)
In 2005, conductor Hiroshi WakasugiHiroshi Wakasugi
was a Japanese orchestra conductor. He premiered many of the major Western operas in Japan, and was honoured with many awards for cultural achievement....
was named artistic consultant to the opera division of the New National Theatre (also known as New National Theatre Opera, or NNTO). This post preceded his appointment as artistic director (i.e. Music Director of the New National Theatre) from September 2007. However Wakasugi died in July 2009 and Tadaaki Otaka
Tadaaki Otaka
is a Japanese-born, British-based conductor. He studied composition, theory, and French horn, at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, and later was a conducting student of Hideo Saito....
was appointed as 'acting artistic director' for 2009/2010.
The company's productions are usually conservative, and the principal lead singers are frequently drawn from a circle of top foreign opera singers from Europe and elsewhere. World-class Japanese singers who are famous abroad are often invited to sing lead roles as well. To introduce Japanese-related works into the operatic world, the NNTO has embarked on producing works such as Shuzenji Monogatari, composed by Osamu Shimizu (June 2009), and Ikebe Shinichiro's Rokumeikan (June, 2010).
New National Theatre Ballet (NNTB)
The current Artistic Director of the New National Theatre Ballet (otherwise known as NNTB) is Asami Maki, who previously lead the Maki Asami Ballet Troupe in Tokyo. Frequent foreign guest artists include Svetlana Zakharova and Denis Matvienko. The company's balletic identity draws from Russian, British, and French classical ballet traditions. David BintleyDavid Bintley
David Bintley, CBE, is a former English ballet dancer, the current artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company.- About :...
who is the current Artistic Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of the three major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet....
will lead the NNTB Company as the Co-Artistic Director with Asami Maki from 2010. The NNBT has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (Asami Maki's Raymonda
Raymonda
Raymonda is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa, with music by Alexander Glazunov, his opus 57. First presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre on in St. Petersburg, Russia...
in February 2008), and will also perform Asami Maki's version of La dame aux camellias, as a guest company at the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in September 2009. The NNTB is striving to become Asia's best ballet company as well as an internationally recognized company (Top 10) in the next few years.
Artistic director selection controversy
In the summer of 2008, the government-appointed theater board officials decided to replace artistic director Hitoshi Uyama with Keiko Miyata. The decision was announced at a June 30 board meeting, taking many of the board members by surprise because no prior discussion of replacing the director had taken place. When one of the board members, Ai Nagai, tried to question the decision, her questions were ignored by the board presidency. Nagai later went public with her questions on the decision in a statement signed by other prominent theater dramatists, including Hisashi Inoue, Yukio NinagawaYukio Ninagawa
is a Japanese theatre director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies. He has directed Hamlet differently six times....
, and Yoji Sakate, but the board never responded to the questions.