Bravo

Written by Hillary Sowatsky

Lifestyle - Winter 2008

Internationally recognized choreographer and St. Charles County resident Gen Horiuchi

Since he became Artistic Director for the St. Louis Ballet in 2000, internationally recognized choreographer and St. Charles County resident Gen Horiuchi has premiered a dozen original ballets for the company, as well as showcasing many beloved favorites.

During his years in St. Louis, Horiuchi has received the Seventh Cultural Bridge Award in 2004. He also directed the Aoyama Ballet Festival in Tokyo recently, working with artists from major companies all over the world. Because of his internationally recognized achievements in choreography, St. Louis Ballet dancers and their audiences have been privileged with many original works.

Horiuchi began his brilliant ballet career in Tokyo, Japan as a dancer. After winning the Prix de Lausanne in 1980, an international ballet competition for young dancers held annually in Switzerland, the young Horiuchi received a scholarship to the School of American Ballet in New York City.
Two years later in 1982, George Balanchine, renowned choreographer and school founder, asked Horiuchi to dance for the New York City Ballet. He became a principal dancer for the ballet in 1989, performing in many ballets. Balanchine even created the role of Mercury in his ballet Persephone for Horiuchi.
Horiuchi also lit up Broadway. His musical credits include Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song and Dance and Cats, in which he played Mr. Mistoffelees.  In 1998, Horiuchi became the first performer to play the lead on the stages of both Broadway and London’s West End.  In that same year the world became Horiuchi’s stage when he choreographed the elaborate Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

The year 2000 brought changes for Horiuchi, a new position with the St. Louis Ballet as Artistic Director.  Since his arrival the company  has grown to include 19 dancers, 8 trainees, and 5 senior character artists.  Horiuchi reflects fondly on this dedicated group of people, declaring, “I am fortunate to work with such fine dancers. We work together 5-6 hours a day, 6 days a week for nearly 30 weeks a year. We are like a big family and are extremely proud of our accomplishments.”

Horiuchi expresses a similar warmth for the growing St. Louis audience, explaining, “About 10,000 people come to see our performances each year. We are fortunate that our audience is on the increase each year and with each performance we receive wonderful, strong and enthusiastic response.”
Residents of St. Charles since October 2006, Horiuchi and his wife Tanya Strautmann Horiuchi relish the quiet, roomy lifestyle of the suburbs. “I enjoy every minute,” remarks Horiuchi, “What I enjoy most about living in St. Charles is the space. Everything is so spread out that I can breathe lots of fresh air…this is a huge welcomed change in my life style!”

Strautmann Horiuchi, however, is a St. Louis native. Now a principal dancer in the St. Louis Ballet, she began her training with Berkely Evans before attending St. Louis Ballet School. Strautmann Horiuchi has starred in many of the company’s ballets since joining in 1996, including dancing as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and the title role in Giselle. She has also performed in many of Horiuchi’s original works, such as Bolling Suite, Wake Up, Once in a Blue Moon, Retourner Encore and Two of Kind, which she performed in Osaka, Japan as a guest artist.

Horiuchi, his wife, and the rest of the St. Louis company will soon be hard at work on the 2008-2009 season. Season highlights include a fall fundraiser in October, The Nutcracker in December, Contemporary Series in March with guest choreographers from Chicago and New York and a new production of Cinderella next June. It is sure to be an exciting, fresh new season, thanks to Horiuchi and his family of dancers.

Horiuchi encourages young dancers interested in a career in ballet to come see the company. “Any art form requires many years of training and doing the same exercise over and over for many years,” he advises. “Visit the St. Louis Ballet’s performances complete with the wonderful dancers and you will appreciate and understand what it takes to become a true performer [and] artist.”