Northern Ballet are back in their hometown performing Madame Butterfly at the Leeds Grand a decade after its world premiere at the theatre.
The spectacular production returns to Leeds for the first time since then after a series of hugely successful performances in Beijing last year, and is once again directed and choreographed by the company’s Artistic Director, David Nixon.
He originally created the piece based on his wife, Yoko Ichino, the internationally renowned ballerina, who is now Ballet Mistress and Academy Associate Director at Northern Ballet.
This time former Northern Ballet Principle Artist Keiko Amemori will be making a welcome return to dance the role of Butterfly. Keiko had a successful career with Northern Ballet between 2001 and 2009 where she danced all the principal female roles in the repertoire, including Butterfly.
Northern Ballet’s Madame Butterfly is based on the original Belasco play that inspired the great opera. It is a heart-rending tale of love and infidelity, involves a young geisha who marries Lieutenant Pinkerton, a dashing naval officer, only to be abandoned by him while carrying his unborn child.
The loyal Butterfly awaits her husband’s return, valiantly raising their son alone in a society which has ostracised her. When Pinkerton eventually returns to Nagaski with his new American wife, Butterfly’s fate and that of her young son are sealed.:
“When creating Madame Butterfly, I wanted to incorporate an aesthetic of the traditional Japanese culture and music,” says David Nixon.
“I wanted to portray the dilemma of Butterfly who tries to change the perception of her culture, only to be betrayed by her newly adopted beliefs. Her freedom is only achieved by returning to her roots.
“Our re-orchestration of Puccini’s wonderful music, to which we have incorporated traditional Japanese music, has resulted in a fluid and dramatically powerful score for this ballet, which blends traditional Japanese dance styles with classical ballet.”
· Madame Butterfly is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Wed 29 February – Sat 10 March.
· Box Office: 0844 8482701. Book Online: www.leedsgrandtheatre.com
Photos by Jason Tozer.