For 15 years, Koichi Kubo was one of Colorado Ballet’s best-known and most-popular dancers, performing lead roles in works ranging from “The Sleeping Beauty” to “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
But at the end of the 2006-07 season, he moved with his family to San Francisco, where his wife, Ritsuko Shinozuka Kubo, the company’s pianist, accepted a similar position with the San Francisco Ballet School.
He joined the Smuin Ballet, a company founded in 1994 by Michael Smuin.
The company performs in four venues around the San Francisco Bay Area and tours nationally and internationally.
Before coming to Denver in 1991, Kubo was a principal dancer with the Asami Maki Ballet in Tokyo and a guest principal dancer with the Boston Ballet.
In 1998, he was featured in a cover story in Dance Magazine.
Earlier this week, Kubo spoke to The Denver Post about his time in Colorado and his guest appearance as Jonathan Harker in three of the company’s performances of “Dracula” this week:
Q. Was your tenure in Denver a good time for you?
A. Absolutely. I had a really great time there. When I went back for rehearsals for “Dracula” last weekend, it still felt to me like it’s my home.
Q. How is work with the Smuin Ballet going?
A. Different. It’s very challenging. We have 85 (annual) performances in this company, so it’s physically very hard. The people are nice, and it’s a good company. You just have to treat yourself really well or you can be injured so easily.
Q. What brought you back to do “Dracula”?
A. At the end of last season, (artistic director) Gil (Boggs) offered to have a farewell performance for me, because the company didn’t have any chance to announce to the board or the audience that I was going to leave. We were originally talking about “Le Corsaire,” but, somehow, there were scheduling conflicts, so it didn’t come through.
Q. So, it’s “Dracula” instead?
A. I pretty much knew everything (about the part), so I didn’t have to leave San Francisco so much.
Q. Do you see this as the end, or do you see yourself coming back for other guest appearances down the line?
A. It’s up to Gil. It would be great. I’d love to do it.
Q. You sound very happy in your new life.
A. Some parts yes, some parts no. I’m still adjusting. The lifestyle here is very good. It’s a big city. But I like the Colorado Ballet. I miss the company.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
“Dracula”
What: A revival of Michael Pink’s innovative ballet adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”
Where: Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets.
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets: $19-$125. 303-837-8888 or .
