Meet Riho Sakamoto of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company

Riho Sakamoto

Photo Robin DePuy

(c) Dutch National Ballet 2014

Reproduced with kind permission of the Dutch 

National Ballet

Riho started ballet because her grandmother wanted her to develop a good posture. She would start dancing around whenever she heard music. That is why her mother and grandmother thought that it would be good for me to learn to dance.  Riho studied in Japan for few years and then went to study in Washington DC to study at the Kirov Academy of Ballet.

Many dancers have inspired her particularly Rudolf Nureyev. "I like his idea of always wanting to learn new things, exploring what your body can do, and by working with new dances you can find your new self," she said. She was also inspired by her teacher Elena Tenchikova who taught her for three years who Riho described as "not just my teacher, but also like a second mother to me." For instance, as a young girl Riho did not know how to apply a stage make up. Elena Tenchikova showed her how to put it on giving her private lessons as the performances approched.

Her greatest achievement to date and been entering the Junior Company and working with people she admires.  

Already Riho has enjoyed dancing the first act of Don Quixote as Kitri, the second act of Giselle, the second of La Sylphide, the first act of La Bayadere, the role of Aurora, and the pas de deux from La Fille Mal Gardee which was her first pas de deux

When asked what ballets she would like to dance, Riho replied:

"This is a very difficult question, because I would love to dance every role and ballet possible. I would love to play an evil character, just because I’ve never done them before, and I would also like to dance Giselle again someday. I would also love to dance In the Middle Somewhat Elevated' by William Forsythe, and I was inspired by Million Kisses to my Skin by David Dawson."

Riho's favourite dancers and choreographers include Sylvie Guillem, William Forsythe, Kristina Shapran, Evgenia Obratsova, Maia Makhateli, and Anna Tsygankova.

Riho's immediate ambitions are to 

"continue working with amazing ballet masters here with the Junior company and to become a better dancer, and to be part of the main company here with the Dutch National Ballet." 

In the longer term she would love to be a ballet master in a company, teaching at a school, or  a choreographer one day. She does not know what she would like to do exactly, but she knows she would like to stay in the ballet world.

Her interests outside ballet include singing, watching TV, cooking, and playing the piano.

A very interesting and determined young woman, I wish her well.

Meet Emilie Tassinari of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company

Emilie Tassinari
Photo Robin DePuy

(c) Dutch National Ballet 2014

Reproduced with kind permission of the Dutch 

National Ballet

Born in Bologna. Emilie Tassinari has lived most recently in Finale Emilia in Northern Italy. The town suffered a serious earthquake in May 2012 which destroyed or damaged many beautiful old buildings including the clock tower, castle and cathedral. It also damaged the dance school where she used to study and destroyed the pool where she trained as a champion swimmer.  I am sure I speak for everyone in hoping that the old buildings can be restored to their former glory and that an even better pool and dance school will be built. 

Emilie thanks her mother for her interest in ballet. As she was an only child her mother encouraged her to take up physical activity rather than slump in front of a TV or computer screen.  From an early age she trained in both competitive swimming and classical ballet. In 2009, which was also the year she competed in the National Swimming Championship, she was noticed by the Director of La Scala Ballet Academy who invited her to audition. She was accepted and began her professional training at the Academy.

Friends and colleagues in the National Ballet and Junior Company have inspired Emilie. All her teachers have contributed to her professional and personal development, but she was influenced particularly by Bella Ratchinskaja, Leonid Nikonov and Tatiana Nikonova who strongly believed in her, supported her and helped her throughout her through her studies. She also acknowledges the influence of Giuseppe Carbone, director of numerous companies including the Cullberg Ballet and La Scala. They have all communicated to her the idea that dance is a language conveying emotions and feelings and that the discipline is effective if applied with empathy and adaptability.

Getting into the Junior Company and her development as a dancer through her own hard work are her greatest achievements to date. While she was at the Academy she danced the pas de deux from The Flames of Paris, the First Shade in La Bayadere, and the pas de trois from Paquita in La Scala. In a gala in Italy for Vito Mazzeo, she danced the pas de deux from Coppelia and Ernst Mesiner's Embers. Her main interest lies in the great classical ballets such as La Sylphide, Giselle and La Bayadere  but she has found stimulation in diversifying her experience by experimenting with the choreography of Juanjo Arquez. She also hopes to work with Hans Van Manen and David Dawson.

When asked to name her favourite dancers and choreographers Emilie replied:

"There are a lot of wonderful dancers in the world who I really love and I can’t give only one or two names because for each role I have my favourite dancer. I loved working with the choreographer Patricia Neary for the ballet Serenade, who transmitted his passion to me for Balanchine."

Her immediate ambition is to enter the main company of the Dutch National Ballet and to continue to work hard to reach the top and become the best that she can be. Having only just started her career as a dancer Emilie is not thinking about what she will do afterwards.

If there were more hours in the day Emilie would attend more concerts. She particularly likes Chopin. She would also like to study painting.  However she adds:

"The truth is that the dance takes all my time, all my body, brain and heart. But when I want to relax the muscles and mind, I go back to swimming."

Clearly a very intelligent, disciplined and thoughtful young woman, I wish her every success.

Introducing Mel

I'm not sure that Mel needs an introduction, Her first two posts for Tepsichore - "Kenneth Tindall - The Architect of Ballet"  21 June 2014 and "For grown ups who haven't lost touch with their childhoods - Ballet Cymru's Beauty & The Beast" 24 June 2014 - have been extraordinarily popular. That's not just because she can write well. It is because she is a dancer and knows what she is talking about.

Mel came to my notice when she was in Channel 4's Big Ballet. As I said in my review "No Excuses! If the Dancers in Big Ballet can do it so can I" 21 Feb 2014 I did not watch the series because I don't like reality TV but I did watch the film of the performance on Channel 4's website and was impressed. She signed up to BalletcoForum of which I was already a member shortly after the show and we swapped a few pleasantries now and again.  We started to correspond because she appealed for a dance teacher on BalletcoForum and I happened to know a good one.  In the course of correspondence Mel told me something of her career in dance and shared links to some videos of her on YouTube.

We actually met for the first time in May when I gave her a lift to Lincoln to see Chantry Dance (see "Chantry Dance Company's Sandman and Dream Dance" 10 May 2014). On the way down to Lincoln we got on like a house on fire. Ballet is a lifetime passion for me but it is not for everyone so I have to be careful who I share it with. No such problems with Mel. It was so good to meet someone who was as enthusiastic about dance as I was. That trip to Lincoln was a first for me for we ended up dancing on stage. There was no audience for our performance but Gail Gordon of Chantry Dance filmed us on her iPad,

The teacher that I had recommended applied for and got the job and she invited me to take her class in Sheffield. Mel took that class too and I saw her dance. She dances quite differently from most women. She is strong and really soars in her sautés and jetés.  She's not called Skydancer for nothing. She's got just about as far as she can taking class in the evenings and now wants to take professional training while she still can. She has appealed for funding through gofundme and she has already made quite a good start.

Some styles of dancing have been atrophied by tradition until they are reduced to a few dedicated practitioners. Ballet is a long way from that fate so long as it evolves but there are purists who like to keep things just the way they are. One of the ways in which it has to evolve to avoid atrophy is to recognize that women do not have to be petite and princess-like. In the real world they come in all shapes and sizes and do all sorts of jobs from architects to zoo keepers some of which require enormous physical strength and endurance. As we saw in the Olympics and other sport women brandishing bats and boxing gloves can be just as beautiful to watch as ballerinas. Mel may never look right as Lise or Giselle but she is just right for the roles that just need the right choreographer. Maybe Mel will even be that choreographer.