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yuzukahibiscus · 1 month

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The shining light that falls, The voice calling for spring

As the Takarazuka Revue celebrates its 110th anniversary, there is Flower Troupe in which you could feel its depths in history and its glamour. As of now, the Top Combi will be retiring soon.

Yuzuka Rei will be retiring from the Takarazuka Revue in the ongoing performance “Arc en ciel ~ The Rainbow Over Paris”.

“From the moment I was appointed, the thought of when to retire had always been in my head. In every performance, I have learnt more, and there’s a fulfilment and satisfaction when I can create the performance with everyone, so by the time I am so filled with these emotions, the thought simply crossed my mind, ‘Oh, it’s going to be now’.”

She was appointed [as the Top Star] in November 2019, and her first performance was “DANCE OLYMPIA” in January 2020 which was successfully completed, but continuing on, her grand theatre [Top Star] debut performance “Haikara-san ga Tooru” was scheduled unexpectedly at the timing when the pandemic began. The performance opened after a delay of 4 months [in July 2020], and there were even cancelled performances during the performance run. Thereafter, there had been several times when other performances were suspended, but she said that she felt support in the midst of this difficult coronavirus period.

“This was a time when I always thought of how grateful I am on stage, and what the significance of being on stage was. More than anything, I also strongly felt how great the things I received the audience were. Of course, I felt sorry and regretful that there were things lost and that we couldn’t deliver, but looking back, I recall how this experience has taught me things, made me realised things and I remember the things I received.”

Top Stars have limited opportunities to convey their words directly to the audience in the opening and closing performances, and also in performances resuming after a period of rest. We realised how Yuzuka’s words were not only smart, but overflowing with emotions and we could feel how reliable she was.

“(Those speeches) were what I could give in return to the audience from this Takarazuka life I was fortunate to be in. Even in my position now, there were many times were I didn’t feel as stable, but the feelings I felt from the audience were truly warm and including the upperclassmen who have graduated, the encounters I’ve had with different people proved to me how many I could learn from them, and there were truly many things I have received. So above all, I’d desperately like to turn these feelings into words and convey it to the audience.”

With a glamorous presence that catches the eye, in addition to a modern sense, you should feel a concrete, classical mood encapsulated in the Flower Troupe otokoyaku star.

“I realised I’ve been searching for answers of ‘what is a Flower Troupe otokoyaku’, and ‘how to present the Hanaotoko’ since I was an underclassman. Later, in the Flower Troupe 100th Anniversary show, I got to understand the Flower Troupe tradition again and that character was something that I wanted to cherish the most. And after all, I believe it’s most important that Flower Troupe has an image of this vitality where flowers of various colours sprout and flourish, and an impression of a beautiful garden. Flower Troupe is the oldest troupe among the five troupes of Takarazuka Revue, so I always want to have this pride and responsibility of leading Flower Troupe.”

Beautiful, sophisticated, and sometimes alluring. We ask Yuzuka the source of how her performance can be so captivating.

“Even though underclassmen times are drastically different from now, I believe that the mindset of thinking what I want to do on stage was born there, and since then, rather than going by my feelings, I let my body move along with the music. Dancing to the choreography the dance teacher composed and dancing along to the music, receiving the inspiration from my costumes, the lighting, what I discover from the audience – they all help me create the scenes.

No wonder there were moments when it felt like Yuzuka was controlling the melody and the ambience of the theatre.

“I believe that was the music and the acting, and the “vibe” of people…It’s the same for today’s photoshoot, rather than what I want to do, it’s about creating this ambience between the audience, the relationship between the performers on stage with me, the ambience that I want to create with the cameraman…That is not one point of detail, but rather something that is pouring, overflowing or expanding. Perhaps sometimes I’m the one who is in command of creating things, expanding things, stopping and controlling things, but conversely, I also enjoy the idea of being commanded (with other instructions).”

With her excellent dance skills, she attracts the attention of others in many performances, but in “A Battlefield for the Two of Us” and “Singing Lovebirds” last year, it was impressive how you could feel her acting with not only her words but also in her demeanour.

“In ‘A Battlefield for the Two of Us’, I was happy to play an enthusiastic young man, who wanted to become an adult even though he had not known enough about society and people. Anyone would think a cool role and roles that are leaders are amazing, but I think even the roles that glow with hope and energy also had times when they were rushing forward but bumping into troubles, made mistakes, and gave up. It’s very interesting for me to act these “human sides” of the role. On the other hand, ‘Singing Lovebirds’ was originally adapted from the movie starring Kataoka Chiezō, and (Reisaburou) was a role that was able to be created because he was played by a great star. Even when major events occurred, (Reisaburou) would not be there, and there isn’t a clear portrayal of what kind of person he is, so there may be gaps for the audience to relate to him. But because he is recognised by the audience as the main character of the performance, it is a must to establish his presence in the story, but (his absence) is something that I could not convey to the audience through acting. So I was honestly anxious thinking whether I could play the role myself, and conveying his personality by only using what I can on the space of the stage. At first I was troubled by it, but at the same time I felt this was a new challenge I should take on in light of my upcoming retirement, so I was thankful.”

Even though she said that, there is an air of appeal exuding from her when she wears the kinagashi, and her every word demonstrated how generous (Reisaburou) is and how his unique character was embodied in her, and we could truly feel the presence of not just being the ronin residing in Nagaya, but also the protagonist from her acting.

Yuzuka looks back to her Takarazuka life before retirement. Immediately we hear her reply to us that “it’s interesting”.

“It’s interesting, and I was able to do fully what I really like doing. This shows that I truly love the stage. And, when I was able to do things I couldn’t do, that was happy for me. Because that’s a sense of motiviation for myself, and because I was able to do these things with others, depending on whoever they are, there would be completely different experiences and vibes. Sometimes, it was me being able to resolve things that are troubling me; other times it was how I felt completely different to hearing the same lines from yesterday, all of these give me different feelings. Perhaps nothing is left afterwards, but because those are very important moments to me, that I was able to study and delve deeper into the interpretation and portrayal. And after all, it’s about the encounters with the audience. Times when I felt sincerely happy were when I saw how shining the eyes of the audiences’ were. Sometimes, their applause would feel like words that I could hear. And also, acting is an interesting thing. To perform a role, researching about the country and the period of time of the stage performance was very fun, and I could also learn how others live their life. If there’s an original work, then I could learn about the author’s life, and this goes for other performances (without original works) too. Through the stage, I learnt of the many amazing things in this world.

There are many memorable performances for her, but a shocking one would be 2016’s ‘For the People’.

“The performance is set in the time when America had the civil war between the north and the south. While I researched for the slavery system at that time, I realised my ignorance at this subject. If I didn’t play [my role], I probably would have never known this much, so this was embarrassing but also a precious opportunity to me. Also, it was of great importance that I knew about Fred Astaire when I performed in the performance “Forever Gershwin” in 2013. I was impacted by him in many aspects and it was an encounter that almost felt a meteorite hit me, when I learnt how to entrust my body to the music, dancing with others, wearing the black tails.”

Her last performance as a Top Star is a story taken place at Paris under the Nazist German invasion. She plays a dancer role who keeps the flame of the French revue alive.

“Koike (Shuuichirou)-sensei writes the script [for my graduation musical], even though he’s busy in projects other than Takarazuka. I’ve worked with Sensei 6 years ago, but the things he taught me were unforgettable to me even till now. I’m interested to know if I can use these 6 years of experience to convey the world Sensei created in my last Takarazuka stage. I’d be happy to challenge that, and I will endevaour my best to perform as the dancer he wrote about.”

She told us that when facing with the Flower Troupe members who performed alongside her, she felt grateful and also proud of them at the same time.

“Up until now, there have been difficulties I wondered whether I would be able to overcome them. But even so, everyone loves the stage from the bottom of their hearts, and in order to deliver a good stage, no matter how difficult those circumstances were, they have been desperately moving forward. Those are very pure selves [of my members], and I am motivated by them every time. Spending this time with these people is my treasure.”

#yuzuka rei #柚香光 #flower troupe #hanagumi #takarazuka revue #宝塚歌劇団 #takarazuka #hibiscus

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