National Ballet of Japan makes its UK debut with an airy rendition of the Romantic classic Giselle

Visiting the UK for the first time, the National Ballet of Japan makes its debut with an airy, assured Giselle. The Romantic classic makes a good showcase for the company. Miyako Yoshida’s production combines warm storytelling with an impressively ghostly second act. As the supernatural wilis, the company dance with thistledown lightness and a relentless edge.

While Japanese dancers star on ballet stages across the world, its companies have less international profile. The National Ballet was founded in 1997, making it young by ballet standards. So it’s good to see a strong company identity, with a shared sense of style. Yoshida, a much-loved ballerina with both the Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, has brought her own dance strengths to this production: clean lines, deft footwork, clarity of gesture.

The ballet is staged by Alastair Marriott, with picture-book designs by Dick Bird. The peasant heroine’s village has cottages with carefully thatched roofs, framed by autumnal woods. The second act is gothic, a forest full of graves and dry ice.

The storytelling is confident, with care for the traditional mime scenes. Yuna Seki, the heroine’s mother, is chilling when she warns that dying young could turn Giselle into one of the wilis, vengeful spirits who dance men to death. Seki is stark and fierce as she evokes the old legend, while the company around her are vividly caught up in her tale.

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Yui Yonezawa is a bright Giselle, emphasising the character’s naivety and her buoyant footwork. It doesn’t occur to her to doubt Shun Izawa’s forthright Albrecht. Confronted by his betrayal, she reacts with panicky disbelief, tipping into madness. Turned into a wili, she gives her first solo a manic edge, then moves with softened, more ethereal line. Izawa bounds through the leaps and turns of the second act, and partners Yonezawa securely, letting her soar into the ghostly poses.

The wilis give this production its scale and power. The corps de ballet dance with floating precision: polished into ruthlessness. And they bring out the dramatic weight of the stage patterns. Circling around Masahiro Nakaya’s doomed Hilarion, the simple movement becomes remorseless. When they form up in rings or lines, each of those shapes is a trap.

As their queen, Akari Yoshida is long-limbed and icy, smooth and imperious as she glides over the stage, in her bourrées. It’s a confident company performance: Yuzuki Hanagata and Honoka Kinjo are assured wilis, while Risako Ikeda and Shunsuke Mizui are vivid in the peasant pas de deux.

Until 27 July at The Royal Ballet and Opera House