BWW Preview: Principal Dancer Yuriko Kajiya On Playing Cio-Cio San in Houston Ballet's MADAME BUTTERFLY

Houston Ballet principal dancer Yuriko Kajiya performs the part of Cio-Cio San in Houston Ballet's MADAME BUTTERFLY for the first time this Saturday, but she isn't daunted by playing the lead in one of Stanton Welch's signature pieces. She's excited.

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"It actually has been very fascinating," says Kajiya. "Because when you have a kimono on, you have to act differently. The mannerisms are very different. The walk. The way you nod. The way you gesture your hand. Everything about it is completely different."

Welch adapted the ballet from Giacomo Puccini's opera (which in turn was adapted from an adaptation of an adaptation) of a tragic love story set in 1904 Nagasaki, Japan. Kajiya, born in Aichi, Japan, took this chance to learn some history. "People say, 'It must be easier for you because you're from Japan and the story is Japanese.' But it is very different because the period is a lot earlier. It's not the modern Japan. Obviously, I didn't grow up in that time," she says. "I did have to do a lot of research on how people acted back then."

"Back in the day, in those times, people were in kimono and people now in Japan, we don't wear that any more. We wear normal street clothes like in the states. So even though, yes, I do have the advantage of being Japanese and I do understand the culture really well, I did have to do a lot of research on not just the character of Cio-Cio San but the culture."

This gave the dancer a deeper appreciation for Welch's ability to turn the opera staple into a ballet staple. "Ballet is all about turnout, which is all outwards for the legs, but ... in kimono, everything is inward. It's actually completely different. So you have to manage to do both, which is quite challenging," she says. For Kajiya, Welch's choreography beautifully melds the two styles together. "I have heard so many great things about this ballet, so I am very looking forward to performing it."

Yuriko Kajiya is one of three principal dancers who perform the role of Cio-Cio San. Her performances are Saturday evening, September 24, and Sunday afternoon, October 1, at Brown Theater at the Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas St.

Stanton Welch's MADAME BUTTERFLY opens September 22. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and matinee performances are at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Through October 2. For information, please call 713-227-2787 or visit houstonballet.org. $25-$195.

Run time: Approximately 2 hours