Risako Ikeda: Dancing Makes the Moment Eternal

2021/03/19

Standing on a stage enveloped in a mysterious sense of tension amidst dazzling lights, the world where the sound of applause from the audience spreads was something that felt addictive even to my young heart.

I first encountered ballet at the age of four. I was immediately captivated by the joy and exhilaration of dancing when I stood on stage for a recital. I am deeply grateful to the teachers and friends who understood and supported my efforts to balance my studies and ballet during my ten years at Keio University starting from Chutobu Junior High School.

At a European ballet school I attended on a scholarship during high school, I was confronted with the overwhelming natural physical proportions and mature expressiveness of peers my own age. I remember vividly the strong shock I felt. To ensure I would never be buried among them, I devoted myself to daily practice, working dozens of times harder than others on my technique until I could call it my strength.

I joined the National Ballet of Japan while still in university. Shortly after joining, I was given the lead role in the full-length production of "Cinderella," but as it was my first full-length work, I felt crushed by an indescribable anxiety and pressure. It took everything I had just to internalize the many rules of choreographer Frederick Ashton, such as his unique steps and positions. Looking back, the harsh criticism from those around me and the sense of inadequacy I felt within myself after the performance are painful to remember. However, this very experience became the driving force for me to think deeply about how to deliver emotion to the audience and how to present myself, and it is how I approach every stage now.

Four years have passed since I joined the company, and I am expanding the possibilities of dance by internalizing how to approach roles, how to carry myself on stage, and how to use my body. Even so, I feel the endless charm of ballet in the new challenges that arise one after another.

Miyako Yoshida, the Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Japan, is daily communicating the appeal of ballet through new approaches precisely because of the difficult situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I want to do my small part to convey the necessity of ballet as a comprehensive art form to as many people as possible.

"Be a person who moves people's hearts." These are the words I received from my mentor at Chutobu Junior High School. Even now, I always remember them before going on stage, savoring the happiness of sharing the same "time" with the audience and inspiring myself.

Hoping that dance will live on forever in the hearts of as many people as possible.