Spoznajte baletnega plesalca, člana SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana.
Dragi Yujin, lepo pozdravljen in dobrodošel na moji spletni strani. Nam lahko opišeš, kako je videti tvoj delovni teden v teh norih korona časih?
Pozdravljena, Barbra, najlepša hvala za povabilo. Precej težko je vzdrževati svoje telo v potrebni fizični kondiciji, vendar se trudim ostati pozitivno naravnan. Morda trenutna situacija ponuja dobro priložnost, da se ozrem nazaj in se poglobim vase.
Kaj meniš, da je v teh korona dneh zate najtežje in kaj morda lažje kot prej?
Gotovo je najslabše to, da ne moremo vsak dan imeti treningov v baletni dvorani. V svojem stanovanju nimam dovolj prostora za izvajanje velikih skokov. Vendar mi po težkem delovnem dnevu ni treba skrbeti za bolečine v mišicah, kar predstavlja lažji vidik kot v običajnem predkoronskem delovnem ritmu.
Prihajaš z Japonske, države številnih čudovitih plesalcev. Zakaj si v življenju izbral baletno pot?
Ko sem bil star okoli 16 let, se je v meni izoblikovala odločitev, da želim iti v to smer. Takrat je baletna umetnost začela postajati zelo poseben in pomemben dejavnik v mojem življenju. Kot ste sami omenili, je bilo na Japonskem veliko dobrih plesalcev. Ti so mi predstavljali ogromno mero motivacije, da sem nadaljeval razvoj v tej smeri.
Nam lahko opišeš svojo izobrazbo in kje si plesal, preden si se pridružil ljubljanskemu baletu?
Z baletom sem začel pri štirih v baletni šoli Nowa (zasebna baletna šola na Japonskem). V svojem šestnajstem letu sem odšel v Anglijo in nadaljeval študij v baletni šoli Elmhurst v Birminghamu, kjer sem tudi diplomiral. Takoj zatem pa sem začel delati v Ljubljani.
Kako in zakaj se je zgodila ravno Ljubljana? Si že prej poznal naš baletni ansambel?
Moj prijatelj iz Birminghamske šole, nekoliko starejši od mene, je plesal v ljubljanskem ansamblu in tako sem izvedel zanj. Ko sem prišel na avdicijo v Ljubljano, sem bil izjemno presenečen, kako lepo je to mesto in ljubljanska operno-baletna hiša. Največji razlog, da sem se odločil pridružiti ljubljanskem baletu, so bili plesalci v njem. Prepoznal sem njihovo visoko tehnično in umetniško raven in tega sem se želel naučiti od njih.
Kaj ti je na splošno najbolj všeč pri baletnem ansamblu v ljubljanski Operi?
Naš baletni ansambel sodeluje z več različnimi domačimi in mednarodnimi gostujočimi baletnimi pedagogi. To je za nas, baletne plesalce, izrednega pomena, saj nam ti predajajo veliko različnih stilov, korekcij in različno zasnovanih treningov. Tako se vedno naučimo nečesa novega in na ta način lahko napredujemo.
Kakšen plesalec si? Kako bi se opisal?
Večina ljudi pravi, da imam precej visok skok, zato se počutim dinamičnega v svojem gibanju. Mislim, da se počutim bolj domače in da lahko kot plesalec ponudim več v klasičnem repertoarju kot pa v sodobnem. Trenutno se osredotočam na to, kako se nadgraditi v svojem odrskem izrazu. Igra oziroma podajanje vlog občinstvu na prepričljiv dramski način je v baletni umetnosti izrednega pomena.
Ne vem natančno, koliko si star, ampak videti si zelo mlad. Kako nameravaš graditi svojo nadaljnjo kariero?
Veliko ljudi mi pravi enako: da sem videti zelo mlad in da ne vedo, koliko sem star. Imam 26 let in vem, da se moram v baletu še veliko naučiti. Želim si plesati čim več različnih vlog iz baletnega repertoarja. Veseli me, da sem že dobil priložnost zaplesati v vlogi Princa, vendar mi predstavlja izziv za prihodnost preizkusiti se tudi v likih z zlobno karakterno noto.
Kaj bi bil vrhunec tvoje kariere ali kaj bi si še želel doseči na poti do zvezd?
Iskreno povedano, ne morem se še odločiti, kaj predstavlja vrhunec moje baletne kariere. Nameravam nadaljevati s trdim delom in mislim, da lahko le to predstavlja najučinkovitejši način za izgradnjo in nadgradnjo samega sebe. Še naprej si bom zadajal razne izzive, zato lahko rečem, da je moj dolgoročni cilj občutiti ‘konec moje aktive plesne kariere kot vrhunec le-te’.
Kakšne baletne predstave so ti najbolj všeč? In seveda katera vloga ti je še posebej všeč in zakaj?
V zadnjem času mi je izredno prirasel k srcu balet Le Corsaire/Gusar. Prvič sem se spoznal z vlogo Birbanta, ki me je navdušila. Občinstvo je bilo večinoma navdušeno nad Bribantovim značajem in njegovimi energičnimi variacijami. Conrad in Birbanto sta v predstavi najboljša prijatelja, oba predstavljata zelo močni osebnosti, ki se z ramo ob rami borita v svojih piratskih dogodivščinah. Toda Birbanto izda Conrada. V tem vidim storjeno napako z njegove strani, kar po mojem kaže na splošne človeške slabosti.
V Ljubljani si spoznal tudi svoje dekle, Chie Kato, je tudi baletna plesalka v ljubljanskem baletu. Kako pa deluje tak odnos?
Chie sem spoznal v svoji drugi sezoni v Ljubljani, skupaj pa sva že pet let. Pravzaprav vedno poskušava ločiti svoje baletno in zasebno življenje. Mislim, da je to za naju izredno pomembno, ker večino časa preživiva eden z drugim. Ko se vrnem domov iz gledališča, takoj ‘preklopim program’ na svoj zasebni kanal. Če pa ima eden od naju težave ali skrbi zaradi dela, mu bo drugi vedno prisluhnil in ga razumel. Oba poznava svetlo in temno stran baletnega poklica, kot ste sami rekli, zato sva lahko drug drugemu najboljša opora.
Kakšno je življenje Japoncev v Sloveniji?
S Chie še posebej pogrešava japonsko hrano, ker je seveda tukaj težko najti vse prave sestavine zanjo. Zato vedno iščeva nekaj podobnega, kar lahko vsaj približno nadomesti naše domače surovine, in se tako poskušava skozi svoje kuharske sposobnosti kar najbolje približati originalni japonski hrani. To nama odlično uspeva in pri tem zelo uživava!
Ali imata v Ljubljani mogoče kakšno posebno mesto?
V Ljubljani obstaja restavracija z imenom Manna. Tja se vedno odpraviva ob raznih praznovanjih ali pa samo zato, da se malo razvajava. Na ta prostor naju veže veliko lepih spominov.
Kaj pa slovenska hrana, že imaš svojo najljubšo? Si kuhaš sam?
Zelo rad imam slovensko hrano. Največje presenečenje zame je bilo to, da Slovenci jedo hobotnico, ki predstavlja enega mojih najljubših morskih sadežev. Ko sem živel v Birminghamu, nisem našel priložnosti jesti kakovostnih morskih sadežev, ki jih v Sloveniji dobim brez težav, zato si to jed res z veseljem pripravim. Seveda tudi burek predstavlja eno od mojih najljubših jedi.
Si človek, ki načrtuje ali se preprosto prepustiš toku?
Mislim, da sem bolj oseba, ki načrtuje. Še posebej, kadar grem na potovanje ali pred začetkom vikenda, saj rad vnaprej organiziram kaj zabavnega. Chie pa je še večja ‘načrtovalka’ od mene.
Katere so po tvojem značilnosti, po katerih si prepoznaven?
Morda to, da sem bolj tiha oseba. Bolj rad poslušam, kot govorim. Poleg tega, mislim, da sem precej radovedna oseba, zanimajo me različna področja.
Kaj si želiš izpolniti v tem letu?
Resnično upam, da bomo lahko kmalu spet začeli nastopati v živo in z občinstvom deliti svoje občutke na odru. Že vse leto preživljamo težke trenutke, vendar verjamem, da bomo prebrodili tudi to.
Plesati balet je?
Neprestano postavljanje novih izzivov samemu sebi.
Hvala in ostani zdrav.
Dear Yujin, hello and wellcome on my web site. Can you explane to us, how looks your working week in this crazy Corona time?
Hello Barbra, thank you for inviting me. It is quite hard hard to keep my body in physical condition, but I try to stay positive. Maybe this is a good opportunity to look back and to delve deeper into myself.
What do you think is the most difficult for you in this Corona days and what seems easerier than before?
The worst thing is that we can’t work at the ballet studio everyday. I don’t have enough space in my apartment to do big jumps during my home class. But I don’t need to worry about muscle pain after I hard working day. I think this is a bit easier than in normal working time.
You are coming from Japan, country of many great, wonderful dancers. Why did you choose ballet direction in your life?
I was sure that I want to continue in this direction when I was around 16 years old. At that time, ballet art became very special thing in my life. There were a lot of good dancers in Japan, as you said, and they gave me a lot of motivation to develop myself.
Can you describe to us your education and where did you dance before you joined Ljubljana ballet?
I started with ballet at the Nowa ballet school (private ballet school in Japan) when I was 4 years old. When I was 16, I went to England and joined Elmhurst ballet school in Birmingham. After I graduated there, I started to work in Ljubljana.
How and why Ljubljana happened? Did you know our ballet company before?
My school friend from Birmingham, a bit older than me, was dancing in Ljubljana. That’s how I get to know this ballet company. And when I came to Ljubljana to do the audition, I was surprised how beautiful this city and Opera house are. But the biggest reason why I chose this ballet company are the dancers who work in it. I recognized their high technical and artistic level and I wanted to learn that from them.
What do you like most in general about the ballet ensemble in the Opera house?
Our ballet company gives us a lot of opportunity to work with many different home and international guest teachers. That is very important for ballet dancers because they show us many different styles, opinions and training proces. Because of that we can always learn something new from them and be able to progress in our work.
What kind of dancer are you? How would you describe yourself?
Many people say that I have a high jump, so fell strong in the dynamic movement. I think I’m better dancer in classical repertoire than in modern movement. Now I’m focusing on expressing myself on the stage. Acting and presenting dramatic roles to the public is very important in ballet art.
I don’t know exactly how old you are but you look very young. What are you going to build your career on?
A lot of people tell me the same: that I look so young, that they can’t say, how old I am. I’m 26 years old. I still have a lot to learn in ballet. I would like to dance many different kinds of roles. I already had an opportunity to dance the role of Prince, but I would like to try myself also in some more evil characters.
What would be the peak of your career or what do you want to achive on your way to the stars?
Honestly, I couldn’t decide yet what is the peak of my ballet career. I will just keep on working hard and I think only that can be the righz and most efecive way to build myself up. I will continue to challenge and evolve myself, so my goal is that “the end of my career will represent the peak of it”.
What kind of ballet performances do you like the most? And of course, which role do you particularly like and why?
Recently, one of my favorite preformance become Le Corsaire. The role of Birbanto is very attractive for me since I get to know it for the first time. Mostly audience get very excited because of his character and energetic variations. Conrad and Birbanto are best friends in the performance, both are very strong personalities who fight together in their pirate adventures. But Birbanto betrays Conrad. I can see this as his weaknesses and I think that talks about mistakes that people do in general because of our human weaknes.
In Ljubljana, you also met your girlfriend Chie Kato, she is also a ballet dancer in Ljubljana ensemble. But how does such a relationship work?
I met her on my 2nd season in Ljubljana and we are together for 5 years now. Actually, we always try to separate our life as ballet dancers and our private life. I think this is important for us because we spend most of the time together. When I go back home from the theatre, I immediately ‘’switch the button to my private chanel”. But if one of us has some problems or worries about the work the other will be alwnays there to listen and understand. Because we both know the beauty and the beast of this profession, as you said, so we can be the best supporter for each other.
What is the life of an Japanese like in Slovenia?
Chie and me especially miss the Japanese food but of course it is difficult to find all the ingredients for it here. So we try to find something simular that can replace them and bring us close to the original Japanese food. That works well and we enjoy it very much!
Is there a special place in Ljubljana?
There is a restaurant in Ljubljana, called Manna. We go there always when we are celebrating something or also just to spoil ourself. We have a lot of nice memories there.
What about Slovenian food, do you have already your favorite one? Are you cooking for yourself?
I really like Slovenian food. The biggest surprise for me was, that Slovenian people eat octopus which is one of my favorite seafood. When I lived in Birmingham, I hadn’t any chance to eat quality seafood. But here I can get really great seafood, so I’m really happy to prepare it for myself. And of course burek is one of my favorite food, too.
Are you a person who did plans or you just go withe flow?
I guess I’m a person who makes plans. Especially when I go to travel or before the weekend starts, because I like to organise some fun for us. And Chie plans even more.
What do you think are your characteristics by which you are recognizable?
Perhaps that I’m a quiet person. I like to listen more than talk, for example. And I think I’m very curious person, I am interested in many things.
What do you wish to be fullfield in this year?
I hope that we can soon start to have performances in live again and share great time on the stage with our audiences. It is already a year since we are going through difficult time but I believe we can get through this.
To dance ballet is?
It is a continuation of challenging myself.
Thank you and stay healthy.
