From The Royal Ballet's innovative 2011 "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" at Covent Garden to Paris Opera Ballet's devotion to contemporary choreographers such as Mats Ek, Wayne McGregor and Pina Bausch, national dance companies across the globe are taking steps to ensure ballet transforms into a modern art form.
The New National Theatre in Tokyo is also striving to keep the pace — and one stride forward is this weekend's "Second Steps."
The work is the second part in a series of choreographic ensembles featuring the original works of NNTT dancers that was launched with the premiere of "First Steps" in December 2012. Heralded as the first performances featuring works "by the dancers for the dancers," the events have been sold out both last year and this (although it is still worth calling the box office in hope of cancelations).