population 630,000, is the largest city in the russian far

ea east. three years ago, a theater for opera and ballet was established he here. this summer, it hosted a spectacular festival of the arts. ♪ >> the first international festival hopes to reach out to the asia pacific region via russian arts.

♪ >> the festivals artistic direct director. >> i want to emphasize that the far east festival is an international festival. there aren't just russian artists here, we have artists from china, south korea, all of whom collaborate to put this festival together. >> they were also a part of the festival. this performance is dedicated to the people for whom this festival was something special.

in september of 2015, the eastern economic forum was hosted for the first time. russian president vladimir putin emphasized the far east region. >> home port to the russian pacific fleet. and a military strong hold. during the soviet union era, entry into the city was severely restricted. in the past several years, the city has undergone remarkable changes under president putin's policies. new buildings and bridges have been created.

a restored pedestrians walkway along the perimeter of the golden horn bay is now a popular spot for citizens to relax. a giant 1.9 kilometer bridge spans across golden bay. on the other side is a new landma landmark. it was completed in october 2013 2013. >> good afternoon. welcome to our theater. >> this is our great hall

it seats 1354 people. the acoustics are sub lime. the reverb race board ceiling and the wood panel walls produce an exquisite experience. it was assembled entirely by hand. >> the holding incorporates the cutting edge in acoustic technology. the audience is surrounded by the best possible sound. the first international marinsky

far east international is putin's desire to spread the arts to the asia pacific region. world class singers and dancers and the marinsky orchestra. 24 opera singers and 36 belly dancers are currently with the marinsky theater. they come in all around the world, including the united states, japan and brazil for these performers, the festival is a unique opportunity to perform with world class artists. >> i'm thrilled, top artists are coming here. i'll be performing alongside them. >> this festival is an

invaluable opportunity to experience the arts at the highest level. >> a japanese ballerina will be dancing the role of the nymph in the ballet giselle. she was born in 1991. at age 3 she took her first ballet lesson. she spent two years studying ballet in st. petersburg. three years ago, she became a member of the ballet theater compa company. she shares an apartment in the city with another dancer in the theater company

this man hails from the czech republic. the two got engaged in july. dancers receive a monthly salary of 70,000 rubels or 1,100 u.s. dollars from the theater plus bonuses for each show. >> our little darling. maya pistakaya after the famous ballerina. >> the theater pays for their rent. everything is arranged to allow them to concentrate on ballet. >> what's it been like at the theater? >> it's been awesome. there's so much to learn at this theater. how should i put it? i don't feel tide down. not everything is established here yet. so i can exert my individuality.

>> irina will be performing on the big stage for the first time. she hopes this show will be the opportunity to make a new leap forward in her ballet irina is an opera singer, born in 1993, alina began studying voice at a local academy. she started as a member of the choir before becoming a soloist just last year. >> during the time i was studying at the academy. there wasn't a theater for opera and ballet. after graduation we couldn't make plans. having a theater to sing at

right here in the city is like a dream come true. ♪ >> alina will perform in the queen of spads. she will be doing a solo ♪ >> translator: the number of soloists from the marinsky theater in if st. petersburg will also be coming. i'll be singing with the winner of the tchaikovsky competition. >> the international far east festival began on july 30th and continued for 12 days.

the theater staff worked on arthur days off, promoting the shows by distributing pro >> the response from not just locals, but from japanese, chinese and korean tourists has been great. they were happy to take a brochure. >> i couldn't be more honored to be part of this festival. it's hard to believe there's a place for the arts. this event is immense. both for a city, and for the theater, it's the start of a revolution. >> anticipation builds as the opening day of the festival approach approaches. >> i'm ecstatic. i never dreamed there would be an opera and ballet theater here

in the far east. it's wonderful that we're bringing back culture to the city. >> i haven't taken a close look at the program yet. but i want to go twice at the very least ♪ >> lyubov is anxiously looking forward to the festival. during the soviet era. lyubov was a prima ballerina. ♪ >> she was born in vladavostok

and began studying ballet at age 5. it was a closed city with limited recreational facilities, and there was nowhere for her to perform ballet. >> there were theaters for plays, but none for ballet. the people loved the ballet. >> at age 10, she left home and enrolled at a ballet academy located in central siberia. after graduation she performed for 20 years as prima ballerina at a theater in western siberis. in recognition of her achievements, she received a commendation from the soviet government. she retired in 1988 at the age of 38 and returned home to

vladivostok. three years later, the soviet union collapsed, the amount of her pension was significantly reduced and she was forced to take janitorial jobs to eke out a living. her checkered life even made the newspaper newspapers. >> when i heard an opera and ballet theater had opened here, i was happy. but at the same time i was sad. happy because the theater i dreamed about since i was five years old had become a reality and sad because it came too late. the spoon has to be set on the table at supper time. you know what i mean. >> this year, she turned 66

years old. she still keeps her shoes as a cherished memento. it's july 30th, the grand opening day of the festival. the festival's artistic director holds a press conference. >> tickets are just about sold out. we've never seen ticket sales like this. everything about this festival from the ticket sales to audience interest and to the number of performances is on an unprecedented scale. of course, our costs were commence rat with the scale of the event as well. >> the festival opens with

betrothal in a monastery. there wasn't an empty seat in the hall ♪ ♪

>> translator: marvelous. i loved everything about the performance. today was a day i had been waiting for for a long time. >> the theater is fabulous. it's a memorable day for us residing in the far east. >> day two of the festival in commemoration of russian navy day, a special concert is broadcast live from the deck of a cruiser of the russian pacific fleet. ♪ >> and a park in the city, a giant television screen is set up so locals and tourists alike

can enjoy the performance. ♪ >> one magnificent performance followed another. ♪ >> on this day, it's tchaikovsky's opera, the queen of spades. alina who worked her way from the choir to soloist performs. ♪ >> translator: i'm simply overwhelmed to be a part of this festival. performing on the same stage with world class artists gives me motivation to strive even

higher as a sing er. >> a prima ballerina during the soviet era. she's decided to attend the festival. her choice is the romantic ballet giselle, one of her favorite roles as a dancer. >> day 8 of the festival the cast of giselle goes through rehearsa rehearsals. the role of giselle will be performed by star ballerina hannah o'neill of the paris

opera ballet. eldar aliev is the director of the ballet company, for 13 years, he was principle of the kirov theater, the predecessor of the marinsky theater. >> translator: it's my conviction that possessing a unique identity is essential to the development of a theater. >> this theater happens to be the european theater closest to the country's of asia. a copy can never be as good as an original. that's why i have no intention of duplicating what the mar marininsky theater created. i wab the to create something that's unique to this theater.

♪ >> japanese ballerina will perform in act two. >> adina does not look pleased. >> alina, come here. do it again. no, no. ♪ >> she's been wobbling on her landings. two

time. nyuvov arrives at the theater ever since she was a child she's dreamed of a theater like this. unable to contain her excitement, she arrived an hour before curtain time.

♪ >> alina has been a ballerina with the theater for three years. she will share the stage with her fellow dancer s she hopes this will be her chance to make the next big leap as a ballerina.

♪ >> the first time to see a ballet performance in her hometown. fond memories of her days as a prima ballerina return. ♪ >> act ii of giselle begins. ♪ >> alina sees her cue.

♪ >> here she dances with ballet fellows. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> the show comes to a close >> my first performance in that

role. i was really nervous. i made a lot of mistakes during rehearsals, but i did okay. so i'm happy. >> it was a moving performance. the theater is wonderful. watching the performance made me feel like dancing. my head and hands started moving to the music by themselves. it was quite surreal. >> what would you like this theater to become? >> the building is wonderful. and they have a great audience. so i hope they put on as many shows as they can. >> the first international

marinsky far east festival, 12 days and 27 performances drew more than 20,000 attendees. >> translator: now that we have this theater, we can invite the world's top artists here. this was our first far east festival. we'll take a look at what we've accomplished, and build on it for the future. ♪

glad to have you with us on this edition of nhk "newsline." it is thursday september 29th, 9:00 a.m. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. an international team of investigators says a malaysian airlines passenger jet shot down in eastern ukraine two years ago was hit by a russian-made missile. it says the rocket was fired from a village held by pro-russian rebels. investigators from the netherlands, ukraine and three other countries have been looking into the july 2014 incident. the airplane was flying from am ster d amsterdam to kuala lumpur. all people on board were kille