Welcome to The Tokyo Ballet. Since 1964, The Tokyo Ballet has been one of the world’s leading dance companies, presenting its wide-ranging repertoire, from classics to contemporary masterpieces, in Japan and beyond. Its 36 international tours encompass 799 performances in 158 cities across 33 countries.

We hope to share wonderful moments with you at theaters in Japan and around the world, as well as on our social media channels.

Born in Japan, Grown Internationally
The Tokyo Ballet was founded in 1964 by Tadatsugu Sasaki. As early as 1966, the Company embarked on its first international tour to Moscow, Leningrad (St. Petersburg today) and Kazan and was given the title “The Tchaikovsky Memorial”. Since its foundation, The Company has developed a wide-ranging repertoire, from classical full-length ballets to masterpieces of contemporary choreographers. In particular, the Company has original works created by three choreographers representing the contemporary ballet scene: Maurice Béjart’s The Kabuki (1986) and M (1993), Jiří Kylián’s Perfect Conception (1994) and John Neumeier’s Seven Haiku of the Moon (1989) and Seasons – The Colors of Time (2000).

With its repertoire including 22 works by Maurice Béjart, The Tokyo Ballet is often recognized as a “sister company” of the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. It has also shared the stage with world-renowned conductors and orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta.

Having given 799 performances on 36 overseas tours, a record in the history of Japanese performing arts, The Tokyo Ballet is acclaimed as one of the leading ballet companies in the world. It has frequently guested at many of the world’s distinguished theaters, such as the Palais Garnier, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsches Oper Berlin, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, Théâtre de Beaulieu, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Grand-Théâtre del Liceu, Det Kongelige Teater, Bolshoi Theatre, and Mariinsky Theatre, among others, performing in over 158 cities across 33 countries. Its first Southeast Asian tour was in 1972, and its China debut was in 2002 at the Quingdao People’s Congress Hall and Century Theatre in Beijing, as a goodwill ambassador. In 1976, the Company performed at the International Ballet Festival of Havana, and in 1998, it performed to capacity crowds at the Teatro Colón, as well as at other prestigious opera houses in Argentina and Brazil. Its debut in the United States was at the YAGP 2015 Gala. The Company made its Oman debut at the Royal Opera House Muscat in 2018, and Australian debut at the Arts Centre Melbourne in 2023.

In August 2015, Yukari Saito, the Company’s former prima ballerina, was appointed Artistic Director of The Tokyo Ballet. In 2016, as one of her new projects as Artistic Director, Vladimir Burmeister’s Swan Lake was premiered. The Company celebrated its 55th anniversary with several projects including the premiere of Le Corsaire by Anna-Marie Holmes in March 2019, the 34th international tour to Poland, Italy and Austria in July 2019, and the world premiere of Saburo Teshigawara’s Remains of a Cloud in October 2019. The performance of Remains of a Cloud, copresented with Maurice Béjart’s Le Sacre du Printemps and George Balanchine’s Serenade, received the Grand Prize at the 74th National Arts Festival of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Staging of the Company’s first new production of The Nutcracker for 37 years in December 2019 concluded the anniversary season.

The Company has continued to enrich its repertoire with the Company premiere of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet in 2022, and the world premiere of Jo Kanamori’s KAGUYAHIME in 2023, which became the Company’s first original full-length ballet in 30 years since Maurice Béjart’s M.

August 2024 was the 60th anniversary of The Tokyo Ballet. On this occasion, the Company underwent organizational changes, appointing Yukari Saito as Director and Shiori Sano as Artistic Director and Ballet Mistress.

Acting Locally
Since its founding in 1964, The Tokyo Ballet has been actively involved in numerous performing arts promotion and social contribution activities. Among them are annual ballet festivals such as Ballet Holiday in Ueno no Mori and Meguro Ballet Festival established by Japan Performing Arts Foundation (NBS), attracting many young people and families every year.