Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2012

Every three years the world’s top dancers gather in Tokyo for what’s affectionately called the “Olympics” of ballet. Among those to appear are veteran stars including the Bolshoi Ballet’s Svetlana Zakharova, the English Royal Ballet’s Alina Cojocaru, the Vienna Ballet’s Manuel Legris and the Berlin State Ballet’s Vladimir Malakhov. Fast-emerging talents like the Bolshoi’s Evgenia Obraztsova mount the stage for the first time in two programs bursting with favorite dance passages from Don Quixote, La Sylphide, Swan Lake and the like.

Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Aug 2-14 (listing).