【ARABESQUE by Yamagishi Ryoko】Highly praised for its beautiful art and insightful look into the lives of ballerinas!!

“Arabesque” is a manga series about ballet, written and illustrated by Yamagishi Ryoko. The manga was serialized in Ribon magazine by Shueisha from 1971 to 1973, with a total of 4 volumes. Its sequel was published in the following years, from 1974 to 1975 in Hana to Yume magazine by Hakusensha.

The manga was known as one of Yamagishi Ryoko’s most popular work throughout her career. Arabesque reflects the author’s own childhood memories as she used to study ballet. Yamagishi’s work of Arabesque was later exhibited at one of Tokyo’s most famous museums – the Yayoi Museum, from September to December 2016.

The story follows Nonna Petrova, a teenager living in the 1970s Soviet Union and studying ballet. Her talent was over-shadowed by her sister’s fame and career, so Nonna has little faith in herself. However, one day, her faithful encounter with the top ballet dancer Yuri Mironov has finally opened the path to stardom for Nonna.

The position where the body is supported on one leg, with the other leg extended directly behind the body with a straight knee, such position is called “Arabesque” in ballet.

Surpassing one’s limit with a proudful display of talent, determination and fearlessness, such is the nature of “Arabesque”.

In Kyiv – the capital of Ukraine, lied the Shevchenko Ballet School, where Nonna Petrova and her sister Erina Petrova were learning the art of ballet. Nonna was a hard-working woman, aspiring to be as good as her mother, one of the teachers at Shevchenko. However, no matter how hard she tried, Nonna was always considered as inferior to her sister Erina in both talent and grace.

Their mother – Mrs. Petrova, entered the room to announce to her students that the following day would be the final advancement test. Everyone needed to work hard in order to advance to the next grade. At the time in Soviet countries, ballerina was considered one of the most respected career paths and often admired by many young girls. Nonna had the same dream – she aimed to become a Prima, the pinnacle of the ballet world.

However, since she recently failed her advancement test, Nonna needed to pass this time in order to make her dream come true. Nonna’s height was one of the reasons she failed the previous test. Being merely 168cm tall, Nonna was having a hard time dancing with her male partner in the test.

The paper came, announcing the test details to Nonna and her classmates. This year test was going to be “Swan Lake”, an Adagio ballet performance and one of Nonna’s weak point. In ballet, Adagio refers to slow movements, typically performed with the greatest amount of grace and fluidity than the other movements of dance. Her partner this year seemed to be another short boy as well.

Overwhelmed with pressure of the test, Nonna practiced at school until late hours. When she finally came home, Nonna saw her mother complimenting her sister Erina for a well-done performance, stating that Erina would definitely pass this year advancement test. Frustrated by her own lack of talent, Nonna decided to go back to Shevchenko to practice in the dead of night.

Alone in the moonlit ballet classroom, Nonna decided to practice “Swan Lake” to the point that her mother would compliment her like Erina. In the middle of the dance, Nonna felt like her hands were held by a slender, yet tall figure. Surprised by his touch, Nonna tried to turn around and look but the mysterious voice told her to keep on dancing.

It was like Nonna had entered a trance. She performed “Swan Lake” perfectly with grace and elegance like how it was described in the textbook. Her partner was like a prince, stepping out of the story and held her hands while she transcended into the White Swan of the lake.

Nonna thought it must have been a dream for her to perform an Adagio dance at the height of perfection. However, their performance was abruptly cut short by the night guard barging in. He asked why Nonna was staying until this late hours and practicing alone in the classroom.

As Nonna turned around to find her mysterious partner, there was no one else but Nonna and the night guard. He had vanished into the moonlight.

Who was Nonna’s mysterious partner that night? Will Nonna pass her advancement test and step closer to her dream? Read the next chapters of Arabesque to find out.