Choreography: Jiří Bubeníček
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Lighting Design: John P. Woodey and Jiří Bubeníček
Costume & Scenic Design: Otto Bubenicek

Cast - Tokyo City Ballet - Hiromi Oka, Saori Hirata, Honoka Ueda, Yuuna Orihara, Azusa Ishizuka, Koumei Okada, Yuto Mutai, Rio Yoshidome, Takahiro Hayashi and Kenta Fukuda

After a spectacular debut in Tokyo, we are delighted to announce that this extraordinary production is coming to Prague! The Tokyo City Ballet will grace the stage with Jiří Bubeníček’s mesmerizing ballet "L’HEURE BLEUE. This masterpiece, brought to life through Otto Bubeníček’s exquisite stage and costume designs, left audiences in awe. Inspired by its resounding success, we are thrilled to bring the entire company to Prague for the very first time - an unmissable event for all lovers of ballet!

Founded in 1968, Tokyo City Ballet is dedicated to making ballet accessible through classical works, contemporary pieces, and community outreach. Known for its innovative approach, the company regularly performs at Tiara Koto and engages with schools, fostering a deep connection between ballet and the community.

EDUCATION
Rebecca Bianchi was born in Parma and graduated from the Accademia della Scala under Frédéric Olivieri. During her training at La Scala, she was a soloist in Symphony in D (Jiří Kylián), Ipnos (Davide Bombana), and Normale (Francesco Ventriglia).

CAREER
Etoile at the Teatro Dell'Opera di Roma

ROLES
In 2009, she joined the Corps de Ballet of Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
Under the direction of Eleonora Abbagnato she was promoted to soloist, then prima ballerina.
2017, at the end of Giselle (Patricia Ruanne), she was made étoile.

For Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, she danced a soloist parts in: Pink Floyd Ballet and Coppélia (Roland Petit), La Sylphide (Maina Gielgud), La Bayadère (Rafael Avnikjan), Gaîté Parisienne (Maurice Béjart), Walpurgisnacht Ballet (George Balanchine), Sylvia (Frederick Ashton), Romeo and Juliet (Loris Gai and Carla Fracci), Don Quixote (Timur Fayziev), Carmina Burana (Micha van Hoecke), and The Carnival of the Animals (Bombana). She also dances first roles in The Nutcracker (Irek Makhamedov); Diversion of Angels (Martha Graham); The River (Alvin Ailey); Raymonda (Rudolf Nureyev); Serenade (Balanchine); L'Arlésienne, Carmen, and Die Fledermaus (Petit); Swan Lake and Within the Golden Hour (Christopher Wheeldon); Sleeping Beauty (Jean-Guillaume Bart); Annonciation, Blanche Neige, and Nuit Romaine (Angelin Preljocaj); Pulcinella (Léonide Massine); Carmen (Petit); Glass Pieces, The Concert, and In the Night (Jerome Robbins); Swan Lake (Benjamin Pech); Giselle (Ruanne; Fracci, at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and in tournée at the Royal Opera House Muscat).

She participated in the creations of leading roles in Carmen (Jiří Bubeníček), filmed by Italian TV Rai5; Don Quixote (Laurent Hilaire); The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and The Four Seasons (Giuliano Peparini), Le Corsaire (José Carlos Martínez), Baroque Suite (Eleonora Abbagnato and Benjamin Pech), and Pandora (Simone Valastro), La Bayadère (Pech).
In 2023 she is the protagonist of Nureyev’s Cinderella and Pastor’s Bolero at the Terme di Caracalla.

GUESSTING
She is a guest artist in The Nutcracker (Amadeo Amodio), and at international galas such as Les Étoiles, Canada All Stars Ballet Gala, and Spoleto Festival.

EDUCATION
Born in Belarus
1999–2005 Belorussian State Ballet College
2005–2008 English National Ballet School

CAREER
2008–2016 English National Ballet
2016 – Staatsballett Berlin
2024 - Freelance/ International Principal Dancer

COMPETITIONS | AWARD
2018 - Dance Open Award, St. Petersburg
2012 - UK Critic’s Circle National Dance Award - Outstanding classical performance
2013 - Benois de la Danse - Best female dancer nomination
2007 - Prix de Lausanne
2006 - Beijing International Ballet Competition
2004 - Harkov International Ballet Competition

REPERTORY
Marius Petipa and Derek Deane: “Swan Lake“ (Odette/Odile); Kenneth McMillan: “ Sleeping Beauty“  (Aurora/Lilac fairy), “Elite Syncopations“  (Stop Time Rag girl); Marius Petipa and Anne-Marie Holmes: “Le Corsaire“  (Medora/Guilnaire); Mary Skeaping: “Giselle“  (title role); John Cranko: “Onegin“ (Olga); George Williamson: “Firebird“ (title role); Yabin Wang: “Medea“ (title role); Wayne Eagling: “The Nutcracker“ (Clara); George Williamson and Michail Fokin: “Scheherazade“ (Zobeïda); Jiří Kylián: “Petite Mort“; Itzik Galili: “The earth shall bear again“; Liam Scarlet: “No Man’s Land“ (Second pas de deux); Michail Fokin: “Le Spectre de la rose“, “Dying Swan“

REPERTORY IN BERLIN
Nacho Duato: “The Nutcracker“ (Clara), “Sleeping Beauty“ (Aurora); Patrice Bart: “Giselle“ (Giselle); George Balanchine: “Jewels“, “Diamonds“ Pas de deux, “Rubies“ Pas de deux; Jiři Kylián: “Petite Mort“, Nacho Duato: “Erde“, John Cranko: “Onegin“ (Olga); Nacho Duato: “Por vos Muero“,  Vìctor Ullate: “Don Quixote“ (Kitri, Dyradenqueen); Nacho Duato: “Romeo and Juliet“ (Juliet); George Balanchine: “Theme and Variations“, Richard Siegal: “Oval“, Yuri Burlaka und Vasily Medvedev: “The Nutcracker“ (Clara); Alexei Ratmansky: “La Bayadère“ (Nikiya, Gamzatti); Alexander Ekman: “LIB“

GUESSTING
Guest performances: Opéra National de Paris (Palais Garnier), Royal Opera House Muscat, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Royal Albert Hall London, Buckingham Palace, Closing ceremony of Olympics in London 2012 and Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium. And in China, Singapore, India, Russia, Greece, Sweden, Italy, Latvia, Belarus, Oman and others

EDUCATION
Born: Vedado, Cuba
Trained: National Ballet of Cuba School

CARRER
2021 Birmingham Royal Ballet
Royal Swedish Ballet
Acosta Danza

AWARDS
Winner of Amici 2019

REPERTORY AT THE  BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET
Carlos Acosta: Don Quixote (Gypsy Couple), Miguel Altunaga: City of a Thousand Trades, Jeorge Crecis: 24, Pontus Lidberg (Raúl Reinoso, Cassi Abranches): Black Sabbath - The Ballet, Juliano Nunes: Interlinked, Morgann Runacre-Temple: Hotel, Peter Wright: The Nutcracker (Spanish Dance), Swan Lake (Neapolitan Dance)
With Acosta Danza: A Buenos Aires, Majisimo, Belles Lettres, Twelve, Imponderable, Paysage, soudain, la nuit, Rooster, End of Time and Thousand Years After.
With Royal Swedish Ballet: "Processen" Josef K., choreography Jiří Bubeníček

EDUCATION
1986 - 1993 - Dance Conservatoire in Prague
2000 - 2023 - Master of Arts Dance Pedagogy Degree at the Paluccca University of Dance Dresden

CAREER
1993 - 2006 - member of Hamburg Ballet under John Neumeier
1997 - At the age of 22  promoted to Principal dancer
since 1999 - Choreographer

2006 - 2015 - Principal dancer at Semperoper Ballet in Dresden
2009 - Creater of Les Ballets Bubeníček
2023 - Creator of Bubeníček Ballet Masterclasses

since 2015 - Freelance Choreographer 

Internationally sought-after choreographer Jiří Bubeníček enjoyed enormous acclaim over his almost 25-year career as one of the world’s top ballet dancers. Musicality, athleticism, suppleness, an unparalleled technique and his instinctive sense of character turned him into an international star. During his time with the Hamburg Ballet, John Neumeier created numerous roles for him, the most legendary being “Nijinsky”. Following his engagement from 1993-2006 (from 1997 as principal), Jiří Bubeníček went to Dresden to take up the position of principal with the Semperoper Ballet. There he performed countless choreographies by Petipa, Fokine, Balanchine, McMillan, Cranko, Kylián, Inger, Forsythe, Dawson, Celis and the Dresden ballet director Aaron S. Watkin until his departure in 2015. Guest appearances took him around the world. Particularly memorable were his engagements at the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris where he partnered the leading ballerinas of the age in the “Lady of the Camellias”. In 2002 he was awarded the “Benois de la Danse” for his interpretation of Armand. His many other prizes include the “Espèces” of the Prix de Lausanne or the Mary Wigman Prize bestowed by the Semperoper.

Jiří Bubeníček created his first choreographies back in 1999 in the midst of his dancing career. From short scenes to abstract pieces to full-length narrative ballets, his current oeuvre of over 65 works is impressively large.

In particular, Jiří Bubeníček has established an outstanding reputation as a choreographic storyteller: his successful productions include “Anita Berber – Goddess of the Night” (2016), “Doctor Zhivago” (2016), “The Piano” (2018), “The Trial” (2019), “Cinderella” (2019) or "Romeo and Juliet" (2022). Amongst his many honours, the choreographer was awarded the “Europa in Danza” for his version of “Carmen” (2019) or “Boris Papandopulo” award for „Romeo and Juliet“ for the best ballet performance in the 2021/22 season. His last creation was narrative full length ballet „Spartacus“, premiered January 27, 2023 for the Croatian National Ballet in Zagreb. And, of course, Jiří Bubeníček is a familiar face in the international media through TV and DVD productions of his choreographies as well as those featuring him as a dancer. In addition to founding a touring company “Les Ballets Bubeníček” to perform own choreographies, Jiří Bubeníček is also socially engaged, striving to build bridges between diverse cultures. For these efforts, he was awarded the “Silver Medal of the City of Prague” in 2017, a very special accolade from his home city. 

He has choreographer for ballet companies such as:

San Francisco Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Teatro di Roma, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Tokyo City Ballet, New York City Ballet, State Vienna Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, Semperoper Ballet in Dresden, Mariinsky Ballet Theater, National Ballet of China, North Carolina Dance Theatre in Charlotte in USA, for dancers from Opéra national de Paris, Zurich Ballet, Croatian National Ballet in Zagreb, for dancers from National Theatre in Prague, Croatian National Ballet Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka, Nuovo Balletto di Toscana in Florence, Badisches State Theater in Karlsruhe, Dortmund Ballet, State Ballet Nürnberg, Slovenia National Theatre Opera and Ballet in Ljubljana,  Gauthier Dance, Košice State Theatre, Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen Ballet Company, Laterna Magika in Prague, Thüringer State Ballet in Gera, Copenhagen International Ballet, Palucca Dance High School, Hamburg ballet School, New York Choreographic Institute, Royal New Zealand School, he was a choreographer for The Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert 2016 and many other companies around the globe.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Jiří is currently in his final semester at Palucca Dance University in Dresden, pursuing a Master of Art degree in Dance Pedagogy. He has also conducted numerous workshops at various schools, including:

2021 - Palucca University of Dance Dresden
2021 - Prague Dance Conservatory
2017 - Architanz, Tokyo, Japan

Summer Ballet Schools:
2023 - Bubeníček Ballet Masterclasses
2023 - Valencia Endanza
2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 - Prague Ballet Intensive - Jiří Jelínek
2017 - Art Of Innovative Ballet Master Class & Art,  Madrid, Spain
2009 - Balletsummer SchoolLeipzig

And Zoom Online Classe:
2020 - 2021 - Danzoom, Online platform for Ballet and Dance Education
2021 - OnDance - Roberto Bolle
2021 - Oklahoma Summer Intensive 
2021 - DeCruz summer course

Former teacher and founder of DANZOOM, Online platform for Ballet and Dance Education