| Choreography | Reiko Noto |
| Light | Akihiko Sasamori, Hirokazu Shimizu |
| Sound | Tohru Yamashita |
| Cast | Reiko Noto, Momoko Noto, Yasue Inamura, Rika Yagarashi. Akiko Miyata. Sayuri Azuma, Makiko Yamamoto, Kayo Sonoda, Keita Inamura, Yoshimi Nishimura, Mutsumi Mitobe, Riri Kemanai, Hidetane Matsubara, Yoko Takahiro |
Reiko Noto was born in 1931 in Abashiri, Hokkaido. She began to dance at the age of 6 years. She first studied Japanese classical dance, but at high school she discovered modern dance, which only just appeared in Japan. She studied with Kuni Masami in Tokyo and in 1959 formed her own dance school in Sapporo (Hokkaido), called 'Buyo Kenkyusho'. Since then she has been active both as choreographer and dancer.
The motive for R. Noto's creation of ballet were ideas stated by the French philosopher Pascale. The essence can be deduced to the fact that man on earth is no more than reed, and there is no weaker being in nature than he. However, despite of that, man is by origin more noble than those forces which can destroy him. He realizes that he is mortal and that it is not in his power to challenge the universe. For this reason man can be called «a thinking reed». This understanding passes as a leitmotif through all the works, but it reaches its apogee in the last act.
The artistic side of the production is unusual. It will be no exaggeration to say that the successful combination of costumes, artistry, and light that seizes the action, has created a form of plastic art which has changed the standards of dance performance. Especially masterful is the way in which the actors managed to represent the ripples of an imagined stream of the river in a reed valley on the background of cold and transparent light
The artistic side of the production is unusual. It will be no exaggeration to say that the successful combination of costumes, artistry, and light that seizes the action, has created a form of plastic art which has changed the standards of dance performance. Especially masterful is the way in which the actors managed to represent the ripples of an imagined stream of the river in a reed valley on the background of cold and transparent light
Ongaku bue simbun