Dressed in tutus made from bubble wrap, the dancers of the "Plastic" show grab hold of transparent umbrellas, giving them new life after being abandoned in the Japanese capital.

Others twirl between gigantic walls of recycled bottles.

In all, more than 10,000 plastic bottles were used for this ballet by the Japanese company K-BALLET, presented at the beginning of January near Tokyo with star dancer American Julian MacKay, of the German company Bavarian State Ballet, in Munich.

American dancer Julian MacKay, star guest of K-BALLET, during a rehearsal for the show "Plastic", on January 7, 2023 in Yokohama, Japan © Richard A. Brooks / AFP

The amount of plastic waste has doubled worldwide in twenty years, and only 9% of it is actually recycled, according to the OECD.

The UN estimates that the amount of plastic dumped into the oceans will almost triple by 2040.

"The enormous problem" of plastic pollution "had not previously been highlighted by the world of dance", explains to AFP Julian MacKay, 25, who thinks that the performing arts can raise awareness.

Dancers from the K-BALLET company in tutus made from bubble wrap, during a rehearsal for the show "Plastic", on January 7, 2023 in Yokohama, Japan © Richard A. Brooks / AFP

"When you take ballet or dance, and mix them with recycling or + upcycling + (reuse with added value, editor's note), you encourage people to say to themselves: + What else can I do? +”, he adds.

"Almost heavenly" beauty

Last November, the ballet's producer, Taiju Takano, and set designer Naoya Sakata walked through the Harajuku district, Tokyo's fashion mecca, in the middle of the night, rummaging through trash cans to extract the future accessories for their show.

They teamed up with a waste treatment company, Shirai Eco Center, whose recycled bottles were used to write a gigantic message above the stage.

scenographer Naoya Sakata in front of a wall of recycled plastic bottles, set for the K-BALLET dance company's "Plastic" show, on December 27, 2022 in Tokyo © Richard A. Brooks / AFP

Mr Sakata says he realized on this occasion that the amount of plastic thrown away every day was "shocking".

Single-use plastic is a big problem in Japan, where food items, including fruit, are often individually wrapped.

The Japanese, however, produce less plastic waste than the average of European member countries of the OECD, and three times less than the Americans, according to this organization.

A gigantic message above the stage of the show "Plastic", made with recycled plastic bottles, on January 7, 2023 in Yokohama, Japan © Richard A. Brooks / AFP

The archipelago also collects and recycles more plastic than many other countries, although this is often "thermal recycling" where waste is incinerated to produce energy.

Taiju Takano, 27, explains that certain elements of the ballet "Plastic" resonate with traditional Japanese ideas of sustainability, for example "the word + mottainai +, (which) describes how bad it is to waste".

Cleaning plastic bottles at the Shirai Eco Center company premises on November 12, 2022 in Adachi, north of Tokyo, which will be reused to create the costumes for the K-BALLET dance company's "Plastic" show © Richard A. Brooks / AFP

It used to be thought that the spirit of an abused and discarded object would "come back to haunt us", he says.

Julian MacKay appreciated "a certain beauty when the lights pass through these bottles, creating something that seems almost celestial".

K-BALLET wants to keep costumes and props for at least one year in hopes of being able to perform their show again, after which they will be recycled.

Dancers from the K-BALLET company, during a rehearsal for the show "Plastic", on January 7, 2023 in Yokohama, Japan © Richard A. Brooks / AFP

"These dancers who highlight the issue of plastic waste made me realize that this problem was also mine," Ayumi Kisaki, a 30-year-old actress, told AFP after a performance.

© 2023 AFP