Conversations with Natsuho Noguchi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natsuho Noguchi.

Hi Natsuho, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is Natsuho Noguchi and I am currently a Principal Dancer at Canyon Concert Ballet.
I was born in Japan and I grew up in Italy until the age of 11, because of my parents job. After that, we moved back to Japan and I finished my studies there.
I graduated college with a degree in arts (ballet), and I got my first professional job in the US, with City Ballet of San Diego. I have also danced in several other companies in New Jersey and Indiana, but then the pandemic happened, and I had to move back to Japan.
I was mostly teaching and doing some project based performances while in japan, but I always wanted to come back to the US to dance. That is when I saw that Canyon Concert Ballet was holding auditions as a new professional ballet company. When I got invited to an in person audition, I didn’t think twice, I booked a flight and went in. I didn’t even know where Fort Collins was , but as soon as I stepped into the city I fell in love immediately. And very luckily I got the job and here I am about to enter my 4th year dancing at Canyon Concert Ballet.

I started ballet at the age of 8, in a small studio in Milan, Italy. It is considered pretty late, since most of my peers have started at 3 or 4. Ballet was my mom’s childhood dream, so that was the reason she enrolled me in.
While I enjoyed taking classes and performing with my friends, I never really felt like I wanted to do it professionally at first.
When I moved back to Japan, the ballet school in my neighborhood was much more serious, and that’s when I started to be more drawn to ballet and started wanting to do it professionally.
However, I was not a so-called gifted child. Ballet has traditionally very specific ideals in physical attributes and I had none of those. My teacher never thought I would be able to make it to a professional career in ballet, so I was never chosen to do any lead roles or not even taken seriously as a ballet student. But for some reason, I was just very determined that this was what I wanted to do.
My parents wanted me to go to college, so I decided to get into the ballet major, so at least I had a degree in case I could not land a job as a dancer. That turned out to be a great decision, I met so many amazing teachers and great friends, and that was the time I had a big breakthrough in my improvement.

Balanchine and the US
The reason I wanted to dance in the US at first, was because I wanted to do Balanchine choreography. Balanchine is an iconic American ballet choreographer. It was not until later that I realized that Balanchine companies were exclusively for tall dancers ( I am very short) I was very shocked, as nobody told me that before, in Japan. I came to a realization when I noticed that in my very first company, where they had Balanchine repertoire, I was never casted in Balanchine works.
Since then, I started to refine my technique in a completely different way, like more fluid classical arms and more classical techniques and precise lines. And now, I have to say my way of dancing has completely changed and I am so excited to keep refining it even more this way.

Cultural roots
My parents are both Japanese, but since I spent my childhood in Italy, Italian culture is a very big part of myself. I speak Italian, and my way of thinking has a lot of Italian influence. While I am very proud of it, I also definitely struggled a lot in Japan as a teenager because there is a huge difference in culture, communication and expected behavior. I have been bullied in school as a “weird and rude girl” because my appearance is very much Japanese, therefore people would expect me to behave like a Japanese person, but I didn’t know how to.
For example, Italian culture is very direct (at least when you are young, between friends). I was very open and honest about my opinions, sometimes we would argue but 5 minutes later nobody cared anymore and there were no grudges. But in Japan, it is very rude to say your opinion directly if you disagree. And especially for a girl, you are expected to be quiet and sweet and follow the room. In addition, there were so many hidden codes that I still don’t think I could read them all!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve been bullied at school because of my cultural differences and social skills, as mentioned before. Ballet was a place where I could express myself.
But, ballet itself gave me a lot of struggles too.
Ballet companies traditionally tend to prefer very specific body types and physical attributes, and I did not fit in any of that. Many times I am too short. One time in an audition I was told that I should quit ballet because they thought it was impossible for me to achieve a professional level. I had been told all sorts of of things, from too fat, my feet are not made for ballet, my proportions are wrong, they don’t hire Asian people, many more things that I can’t even remember.

I feel like nowadays it is changing a little, or at least it will in the future, I think.
With photoshop and AI appearing, instead of one ideal standard “perfection”, which will be easily made by AI very soon, people are valuing more diversity, the heart and uniqueness inside, and the human traits of ballet. I am hopeful that the more human part, which is my favorite part of ballet, will be valued more in the coming years.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am so honored to be a Principal Dancer in my company and I am so grateful for having been given many opportunities to dance lead roles that I dreamed for all my life.
My favorite thing to perform is classical ballet that involves a story, when I get to blend classical ballet technique with dramatic embodiment of the character. Working on musicality and movement quality to be able to express the finest nuances is what I enjoy the most and I think what I am good at (I hope)

It is very hard for me to choose something, but let me share some of the roles that meant so much for me,

Aurora from Sleeping Beauty
Aurora is one of the pinnacles of pure classical ballet and one of the hardest roles.
Aurora is a 16 year old youthful happy princess in Act 1, then she appears as an ethereal imaginary vision of the Prince in Act 2, and finally a mature, ready-to-be-queen princess in Act 3.
It is required to portrait these three different traits while executing extremely challenging techniques, and a lot of stamina is needed too.
It is definitely a role that I would like to work on again, it was so hard but also so addictively rewarding.

Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
This is such an iconic role, and it was SO MUCH fun to perform. I really gave all of myself for this role, I really got out of my comfort zone and I spent hours researching and practicing how to embody this innocent 14 year old teenager deeply in love and express every emotion that she goes through with reality. Because it is such a dramatic role, reality is vital and that is what I cared a lot about. I was very flattered when I had people telling me they forgot that it was me on stage and they really got into the story, which was my goal. I enjoyed it so much that it has become my favorite role.

Giselle from Giselle
This has been my dream role from when I was younger, and I was so excited to have had the opportunity to perform it this past season.
Giselle is also one of the dramatic ballets, and how a dancer portraits it can completely change the impression of the story.
Giselle is a sweet happy peasant girl in love in Act 1, and she turns into a ghost called Willi in Act 2 as she dies of heartbreak after being betrayed, but she forgives it all at the end.
I really cared about delivering the two distinctive themes of the ballet by differentiating movement quality, life (Act 1) vs death (Act 2), and I really enjoyed crafting each step in detail so that the audience can resonate in each emotion that Giselle goes through, from her happiest moments to her desperation, sadness and finally forgiveness.

What matters most to you?
I truly believe ballet has the power to move people deep in the soul. As a ballet dancer, my goal is to always make sure the audience can feel that power, to be fully immersed in the story, so that they can be transported from reality for a bit. I absolutely want them to leave the theater moved, with a lasting feeling. That means if I am playing a character I have to be committed to the authenticity of it, and technical things have to be smooth and flawless. I will spend hours to practice those things and I will literally think about it all day and all night if such a production is coming up. I love it so much. I could also talk for hours about how I wanted to approach and portrait a character for every role.

However with social media , sometimes there is a tendency in trying to achieve and praising “flashy” things too much, like crazy flexibility showing offs and 50 pirouettes. Which is cool, but I really believe ballet is not about that, and the essence is in the story telling as a whole. I believe real ballet technique lies in musicality, performing with the correct movement quality and smooth transitions.

One of the many things that I truly like working with Michael, our amazing director at Canyon Concert Ballet, is that he also values the deeper, artistic side of ballet.
I had worked with people who only valued appearance or flashy technique, so I know how lucky I am. It is really exciting to be pushed towards something you really want to achieve.
I am forever grateful to him for having seen something in me, and guiding me through this journey.

Image Credits
Coyuki Ballet Photo
Emily Begum
Seth Pickett