Born: Gunma, Japan

Trained: Reiko Yamamoto Ballet School and the Royal Ballet School

Joined: 2003; Principal, 2013

Awards: Prix de Lausanne winner, 2001; Critics Circle National Dance Awards 2021, nomination for Outstanding Female Classical Performance for the title role in Giselle; Critics Circle National Dance Awards 2022 and 2023, nomination for Best Female Classical Dancer.

Other companies: Barcelona Ballet (2011–13).

Created roles: ‘Spring’ in David Bintley’s Cinderella.

Guest performances: National Ballet of Canada (Don Quixote), Nina Ananiashvili’s 30 Years on Stage gala (Tchaikovsky pas de deux); Ballet de l’Opéra de Bordeaux (Cinderella by Sir David Bintley); NBA Ballet in Japan (Swan Lake), Momoko Tani Ballet in Japan (Don Quixote, Swan Lake).

Favourite costume: Any costume designed by John Macfarlane.

REPERTORY INCLUDES

Carlos Acosta: Don Quixote (Kitri)
Frederick Ashton: Enigma Variations (Dorabella), Dante Sonata, La Fille mal gardée (Lise), Scènes de ballet,The Two Pigeons
George Balanchine: Apollo (Polyhymnia), Agon, Serenade (lead role),Western Symphony, Theme and Variations (lead role), Mozartiana (principal couple).
David Bintley: Aladdin (Princess Badr al-Budur), The Prince of the Pagodas (Princess Belle Sakura), Cinderella (title role, 'Spring'), Sylvia (title role), Carmina burana (Lover Girl), Hobson's Choice (Salvation Army), The Nutcracker Sweeties (Candy Kane), The Seasons ('Spring', 'Winter'), The Shakespeare Suite (Titania), Beauty and the Beast (Belle), Sylvia (title role), E=mc² ('Celeritas²), Allegri diversi, Les Petits Riens, The Sons of Horus
David Bintley and Galina Samsova:Giselle (title role)
Jiří Kylián:Forgotten Land
Jessica Lang: Lyric Pieces, Wink
Kenneth MacMillan: Elite Syncopations and Romeo and Juliet (Juliet)
Goyo Montero: Chacona
Vicente Nebrada: Our Waltzes (Red couple)
Garry Stewart: The Centre and Its Opposite
Twyla Tharp: In the Upper Room and Nine Sinatra Songs ('Softly', 'Forget Domani')
Hans van Manen: Grosse Fuge
Juliano Nunes: Interlinked
Uwe Scholz: The Seventh Symphony (First and Fourth Movement principal couple)
Christopher Wheeldon: DGV, Polyphonia
Peter Wright:The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Clara, Rose Fairy), The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora, Enchanted Princess, Fairy of Temperament) and Coppélia (Swanilda)
Peter Wright and Galina Samsova:Swan Lake (Odette/Odile)

Header image: Clothing (except for tutu) generously supplied by UK dancewear specialists Dans-ez