Japanese dancer Fujino joins ‘Sleeping Beauty’ cast

Twenty-eight years after the world renowned Japanese prima ballerina Yoko Morishita was featured by Ballet Philippines in its 1983 staging of the “The Sleeping Beauty," another Japanese ballet dancer graces the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater in this year’s BP production of one of the classical ballet repertoire’s universally most famous ballets.

The six-foot tall Nobuo Fujino, former principal male dancer of the Hong Kong Ballet and former senior artist of the Australian Ballet, was invited by BP to essay the role of Prince Desire in “The Sleeping Beauty," the ballet piece created by composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa, the power tandem that also gave the world the “Swan Lake" and “The Nutcracker." In an interview, Fujino, 33, said he will be performing for the first time in the Philippines, although he noted he had gone on vacation in Boracay and “walked through" the streets of Manila on his way to the famed beach destination. “The role of Prince Desire in ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ has a special personal importance to me. I was performing the role when the Hong Kong Ballet officials announced that they were promoting me to the post of principal dancer in 2002," said Fujino, who joined Hong Kong Ballet in 1997. “I have not danced the role of the Prince in almost 10 years. So I am looking forward to dancing it with Candice Adea at the fund-raising gala on Dec. 2," said Fujino, who is now based in Tokyo. Candice Adea is the first Filipina to win a silver medal in the 2010 USA International Ballet Competition held in Jackson, Mississippi. On May 16 this year, she and Jean Marc Cordero received special awards at the First Boston International Ballet Competition, becoming the first Filipino pair to garner awards for the “Lead Roles in a Russian ballet performance." In the same competition Candice also won the “Maris Liepa Prize for Outstanding Artistry" enabling her to perform in Paris together with the star dancers of the Bolshoi Ballet and Mariinsky Ballet during the Russian season in France in 2012. Fujino, who will only dance twice in the production, partners with Carissa Adea, sister of Candice, on the Dec. 3 evening performance. BP principal male dancer Cordero takes over the role of Prince Desire during the rest of the run until Dec. 11. Starting out young Admitting that his parents had reservations in his pursuit of ballet as a career, Fujino said in his very young days he was constantly jumping off the tables to dance and sing. “My mother thought, ‘Why not do something onstage?’ That is how I got started. I was two or three years old then. I would hold a microphone to sing and dance. I went to a talent agency so I was on television," he said. Fujino said when he was in his elementary school he never thought he can do professional ballet. “I met ballet when I was 11 or 12 years old. In Japan especially, you really really have to have a good resume and be a graduate of a good university to be employed. I don’t have them," he added while roaring with laughter. “In other words, I have no choice to become a businessman. Ballet now is my specialty. I have to deal with ballet," he said seriously. “In Japan, there is no ballet dance school or a university ballet dance group. In Japan, one trains to become a businessman or a professional. Ballet, in Japan, is an extension of interest or a hobby only." Born in Japan, Fujino studied at the Egawa Ballet School in Kobe. His winning of the Idemitsu Scholarship Award at the 1995 Asia-Pacific Ballet Competition was his passport to studying at the Australian Ballet School through a scholarship. He joined The Australian Ballet in 2005 before returning to Hong Kong in 2008. During his stints at the Hong Kong Ballet and The Australian Ballet, Fujino performed the roles of the Prince in “Cinderella" and “The Nutcracker," Albrecht in “Giselle," Solor in “La Bayadere," the title role in “Spartacus", and Basilio in “Don Quixote." Fujino had also danced the principal roles in George Balanchine’s works such as “Concerto Barocco," “Rubies," and “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux;" Frederick Ashton’s “La Fille Mar Gardee;" William Forsythe’s “Step Text;" and Jiri Kylian’s “Forgotten Land." Fujino has received the Rising Artist Award from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and the Hong Kong Dance Award from the Hong Kong Dance Alliance. Among his nominations was the Prix Benois de la Danse from the Bolshoi Theater. When the interview turned to the serious topic of the short dancing life span for ballet dancers, Fujino said “that is a worry … When do I stop dancing and what to do after the dancing years?" “But this is the same for everyone in today’s economic crisis. A businessman may lose his job. It is the same situation for dancers. If you don’t have a place to dance, you have to look for it. The economic gloom does not really bother dancers in Japan," he said. Fujino ended the interview by sharing his work in progress with a rich old Japanese lady. “I have never experienced this before, but in March next year, I will be dancing with a lady who is 80 years old. She studied ballet when she was 70. I choreographed our dance piece. She will wear pointe shoes. She decided that she wants to do performing arts, ballet in particular, at this stage in her life." –KG, GMA News ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ will have 17 performances from Dec. 2 to 11. For details, visit www.balletphilippines.org or call TicketWorld at 891-9999, Ballet Philippines at 551-1003 or 624-5701, and the CCP Box Office at 832-3704. All photos courtesy of Ballet Philippines