Press

“The role of Conrad’s femme fatale, in turn his muse then alluring dancer, Circe/Fiametta, is performed here by French/Japanese dancer and choreographer Namiko Gahier-Ogawa who acted with superb authority, astoundingly so given this is a totally non-singing, non-speaking role. She danced with sensuality and with feeling, and it is also further testament to Paul Higgins directorial skills that he managed to incorporate a non-singing artist into an important ‘duet’ with Flaum, in addition to proving remarkably adept at connecting with all the other singing artists, making a major and tangible contribution to the story.”

“In the entirely danced roles of Circé and Fiametta and precisely matching the varied moods of Saint-Saëns’s score, Namiko Gahier-Ogawa treads the steps of her own choreography perfectly.”

“Much of the atmosphere of this NSO production is helped by Mollie Cheek’s sombre and effective designs, James Harvey’s ambient lighting and Namiko Gahier-Ogawa’s alluring choreography as Fiametta.”

“Namiko Gahier-Ogawa provided some highly effective, and quite abstract, movement for the chorus in the opening and closing scenes and ensured that the whole always looked as good as it sounded.”

“Our journey eastwards was aided by the samurai-styled movements of three dancers, choreographed with subtle nuance by Charlotte Edmonds, and the solemn, formal gestures of the Opera Holland Park Chorus — movement director, Namiko Gahier-Ogawa — were equally persuasive.”

“The revival team under Elaine Kidd has ensured that the production has remained true to the original, yet the eye-catching additional contributions from new movement director Namiko Gahier-Ogawa and revival lighting designer Robert B. Dickson made it look really superb.”

“A strong cast is led by the magnetic Hye-Youn Lee, who inhabits the role with absolute conviction and ideal nuance… It works as an allegory, for those inclined to prod, but also as straight, heartfelt entertainment… The set is elegant and timeless — all gently askew angles and muted beiges and greys that would never tire the gaze… Christopher Purves contributes an august Sharpless, while the chorus sing warmly and move gracefully.”

“And it’s clear that the show’s French-Japanese movement-director Namiko Gahier-Ogawa has put everyone on stage through some rigorous training in the language of Japanese theatrical gesture: we feel this most intensely with the characterisation of Cio-Cio San’s family, with Barnaby Rea’s magnificently forbidding Bonze, and with the characterisation of Cio-Cio San herself. For the way this Butterfly gestures and moves could have come straight out of the floating world of ukiyo-e prints: soprano Anne Sophie Duprels has absorbed that body-language so completely that she can use it to reinforce the expressiveness of her singing.”

“The other big factor was Namiko Gahier-Ogawa’s elaborate movement direction, which decisively placed Butterfly as a young geisha and defined her allure for Pinkerton.”

“Higgins never let it be forgotten that Cio-Cio-San is a dancer. As she circled the stage at her first appearance it was with dancing movements that propelled her and stylised use of her hands and arms that established her as a person.”

“Higgins also reminds us and holds in our mind that Cio-Cio-San is a dancer, Namiko Gahier-Ogawa’s movement working well in context. Nothing peripheral, however, is permitted to obscure the central tragedy: a signal achievement from which many directors could learn.”

“The French soprano Anne Sophie Duprels, fragile but wiry in physique, powerful and communicative in voice, sang the title role. She looked striking in her white bridal kimono and moved gracefully, adorning the minimal designs.”

“This Paul Higgins production succeeds in ways others have foundered because it places trust in very few components.”

“Côté scénique, le second degré sera au menu de la production de Nigel Lowery (qui signe aussi les décors) et Amir Hosseinpour (responsable des chorégraphies et, plus largement, d’une gestique saccadée imposée à tous les protagonistes).”

“The dancers swivelled and undulated, sexy and audacious, working for and against the rhythms, their lines asymmetrical, or aligned, arms and legs, hands and feet, shoulders, hips and torsos riffed the rhythms. […] Quinn and his electrically charged dancers, Eithne Kane, Jenny Ecke, Namiko Gahier Ogawa, Rita Pinheiro, Vasiliki Stasinaki were ever sparking.”