Dancer thrilled with 'Butterfly' role

Principal dancer Romi Beppu is excited to revive her role as Cio-Cio San in Ballet West's premiere of "Madam Butterfly,"

"It is a role where I can show people what I can do," said Beppu during an interview with the Deseret News. "And it's one of those roles that doesn't come around often."

Beppu danced the role while with the Boston Ballet, where she was chosen while still in the company's corps de ballet.

"I was really nervous," she said. "But the choreographer (Stanton Welch) had a lot of faith in me, and I was honored to be able to dance it.

"The last time I danced the role was seven years ago. So it's exciting to be able to dance it again."

"Madam Butterfly" is based on the Puccini opera, which has also been adapted to musical theater as "M. Butterfly." Beppu, who was raised in Hawaii, said it is a bit easier to perform the role because the story is so well known.

"It's not like it's a new ballet where you have to really try to introduce new characters and getting across the story," she said. "Instead, people have a general idea of who the characters are, and it's just a matter of bringing those characters to life."

When she first performed the role, Beppu said she was worried about getting the steps right.

"It was an exciting time, but at the same time I was so focused on making sure I got the choreography right," she said. "As I performed it more, I was able to get into the character. I was able to develop her as a person. I do have grasp of who she is.

"The ballet focuses on Cio-Cio San's life from a young girl to a young woman who was so in love and then betrayed," said Beppu. "So in addition to the dancing, there has to be some character development with miming and facial expressions.

"There is also her own conflicts because she comes from a wealthy family and has to be a Geisha," said Beppu. "And that is more baggage for her to carry around. And then, as the story goes, she meets a man who she totally believes is in love with her and allows herself to fall totally in love with him but in the end is betrayed.

"And while the love aspect of the story is universal, there is the added element of the Japanese culture," she said. "She is not American but has given up her family and religion to be with this man, which, in the Japanese culture, especially in the past, is devastating to the family.

"So, there are lots of layers to the character."