Two years after failing to become a permanent member of the Paris Opera Ballet and returning to Japan, Haruo Niyama is ready to try for a second act in Europe.

The 26-year-old former Prix de Lausanne winner rediscovered himself as he worked in a grocery store and senior care facility amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He’s in demand and once again taking center stage as a freelance ballet dancer in various performances.

With his natural-born body flexibility and hard work since childhood, the 167-centimeter Niyama can jump higher than anyone else as a ballet dancer on the stage.

His refined basic skills allow Niyama to float in the air for a prolonged period of time and land silently, while many dancers take advantage of their taller heights to jump powerfully.

Especially impressive is the ambience he creates and his ability to express himself.

Niyama is called a “real-life fairy” among his fans, because his performance appears to be done by neither men nor women.

At times, he looks like a supernatural being. Niyama, who describes himself as being better at acting a role of a non-human, is in particular famous for his role in “The Spirit of the Rose” among ballet lovers.

The talented dancer was born in 1996 as the youngest child in a family in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. Niyama lived with his parents and three older sisters.

Niyama asked his mother to allow him to take ballet, knowing a girl he loved at his day care nursery at the time was practicing the artistic form of dance. He started taking ballet lessons when he was 7.

He began learning how to dance from Tamae Tsukada and Mihori Tsukada at the Hakucho Ballet Academy in Nagano city in his fifth year at elementary school.

When he was 17 in 2014, Niyama became the first Japanese man in 25 years to win the Prix de Lausanne, a prestigious international ballet competition in Switzerland, since Tetsuya Kumakawa. The victory drew global attention.

Niyama took the No. 1 spot in the men’s category in the Youth America Grand Prix the same year.

“I cannot forget how the audience was astonished at his dance,” said ballet journalist Naomi Mori about what she felt at the competition’s site. “All people there were wondering what they were watching right now.”

“He is a dancer who gets spectators to discover the pleasure of viewing ballet and the true beauty of ballet.”

Using the scholarship money he won at the Prix de Lausanne, Niyama polished his techniques at the San Francisco Ballet School.

Niyama temporarily returned to Japan to finish his classes at Matsumoto Daiichi High School. He studied food and cuisines there so he could obtain a chef’s license.

In 2016, Niyama entered the Washington Ballet Studio Company. With his glittering achievements in competitions, Niyama became a temporary member of the Paris Opera Ballet in 2017.

He had long dreamed of performing for the ballet troupe. But Niyama soon found the days in Paris difficult, as he was not given any parts no matter how hard he trained himself.

Though Niyama showed off a quality performance, he was not allowed to become a permanent member. He was just told that his “dance is perfect but your height is not enough. That’s it.”

Mihori, who has covered Niyama since his elementary school years, called the result regrettable.

“I insisted that an era of diversity is coming and that he would represent that age, but my argument was rejected,” said Mihori.

The despondent Niyama returned to Japan in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He did “not feel like just looking into the mirror,” so Niyama committed himself for more than a year to stocking shelves at a supermarket and looking after elderly residents at a care facility.

Through these experiences, Niyama felt for the first time that he is “something important for others.” He began reflecting on himself as a dancer.

“I had been performing solely for myself,” he recalled. “The truth is that I am contributing to others by entertaining the audience. I realized that simple fact at long last.”

Niyama currently attracts many ballet fans as a freelance dancer.

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Niyama did not voice his opinions often due to his modest personality, but instead disparaged himself repeatedly. 

But spectators are taken by his overwhelming presence on the stage that resembles those of no one else.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Question: Can you comment on the spate of shows taking place almost weekly because of your great popularity as a freelance ballet dancer, while few other performers can find work in that manner?

Niyama: I am very grateful for it, though I doubt people really want to watch me. I returned to Japan in 2020, but I make posts on social media so rarely that few people knew I was in Japan then. After word spread about my staying in Japan, many offers started coming in late last year.

REGRETS OVER PARIS OPERA BALLET

Q: Will you recount the difficult days at the Paris Opera Ballet, to which you previously belonged?

A: Working in Paris has made me what I am today, but I would cry when I was alone due to a lot of tough conditions there. I faced racism both in and outside the opera. Those performing ballet in Europe and the United States are all chosen ones, and their physical features are at a totally different level. Their limbs are longer so they look impressive even while only standing. I am not tall, so I was depressed on occasion by looking at myself in the mirror after seeing those people. I was struggling to fit in with my peers, but the attempts were not necessary when I think back on them now. I should have emphasized my personality as an Asian. I failed to make full use of my unique characteristics.

Q: Could you tell what kind of efforts you made to succeed in the difficult-to-pass audition for outsiders at the Opera Ballet where top-notch dancers try out from across the world?

A: I feel a sense of guilt unless I continue practicing. In one voluntary lesson program, I discovered that I and another person were the sole attendees.

My teacher, Mihori Tsukada, told me since childhood to keep on making efforts although they may prove useless. Even though I take lessons from others, Ms. Tsukada is the only person I can call my teacher. When my father fell ill and was unable to work when I was in elementary school, my teacher and others offered to support me to continue taking ballet.

The achievement at the Prix de Lausanne competition could only be fulfilled via the daily training with my teacher. I used to go to the ballet school in Nagano from my high school in Matsumoto for lessons from the evening through 1 a.m. in the morning. I slept in a reception room and went back to Matsumoto early in the morning.

THORNY DETOUR, DANCE FOR OTHERS

Q: What’s your view on your having been unable to become a permanent member of the Paris Opera Ballet despite your lengthy hard training and excellent performance?

A: Chances and timing are important. We should refine skills to respond at the right time. 

I felt disappointed on my return to Japan, and I thought I had reached an impasse. Meanwhile, the developments gave me time to reflect on myself. I only knew about ballet and I had never deemed ballet as a job. For that reason, I worked part time for the first time in my life. For one and a half years, I arranged products from late at night at 3 a.m. at a supermarket near my family home and engaged in office work at a nursing-care home for elderly individuals. At the care facility, I guided elderly people by holding their hands and dealt in clerical tasks. Everything felt fresh and fun, and I learned such things as relationships between an employee and supervisor.

This brought about a change in my attitude toward ballet. I previously danced for my pleasure but found my performance should cater to the audience first of all. Performing ballet is a kind of job and a job entails responsibility. I started thinking I should dance for others.

Although the experience I made while staying at my family home may seem like making a detour, it provided me with personal lessons. I believe making thorny detours, like making efforts that might prove useless, will lead to one’s growth.

Q: Why did you keep working out while other dancers were resting during the rehearsal?

A: I cannot control my limbs unless all body parts are oriented toward the center. Due to that, I train my body trunk on a continual basis. I easily put on weight so I keep myself busy in order not to eat too much. I usually pick only some nuts and chicken salad. My weight is around 50 kilograms and my body fat ratio is likely somewhere around 5 percent, though I do not measure it.

Q: What do you think is your strength in winning especially great popularity in “The Spirit of the Rose” and “The Little Prince”?

A: I do not try to be seen that way but people often call me gender-neutral. Actually, I prefer acting as a non-human being. I am frequently asked about my strength but I have nothing to tell. There are many people who are flexible or can jump high these days. I pay attention to the way I create my unique atmosphere.

Q: Will you talk about your future plans?

A: I want to take on a challenge again overseas, especially in Europe if possible. Ballet was developed by Louis XIV (1638-1715). The historical and cultural backgrounds (of ballet in Europe), along with how far it is accepted among citizens, are greatly different (from other parts of the world).

Ballet is a form of comprehensive art comprised of not only dance but also stage gimmicks, music, costumes and spectators. In this sense, ballet shows should be viewed on site above all. More people now watch ballet through the internet due to the coronavirus crisis, but I would like them to visit theaters to directly see performances.