YONEZAWA YuiPrincipal

YONEZAWA Yui was born in Aichi prefecture and began her ballet training at the Yoko Tsukamoto Theatre de Ballet Company. She received a number of awards at competitions both in Japan and overseas. In 2006, she went to the US to join the Ballet San Jose.

She joined the National Ballet of Japan in 2010 as a Soloist and made her debut as the leading role in David BINTLEY's The Prince of the Pagodas. She was promoted to Principal in 2013. She was awarded many prizes including Nakagawa Einosuke Award in 2014, Minister of Education Award for New Artists in 2017, the 2018 Dance Critics Society of Japan's New Comer Award, Aichi Prefectural Art Culture Encouragement in 2019, Akiko Tachibana Award and Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in 2020 and Chieko Hattori Award in 2022.

YONEZAWA Yui

Christopher WHEELDON: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (title role)

Repertoire with NBJ includes

  • Wayne EAGLING's production: The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora, Princess Florine, Carabosse), The Nutcracker and the Mouse king (Clara)
  • Alexei FADEYECHEV's production: Don Quixote (Kitri, Street Dancer)
  • MAKI Asami's productions: Swan Lake (Odette/Odile, Ruskaya), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy), La Bayadère (Nikiya, Gamzatti), Raymonda (title role)
  • Konstantin SERGEYEV's production: Giselle (title role, Peasant pas des deux)
  • Peter WRIGHT's production: Swan Lake (Odette / Odile)
  • Frederick ASHTON: Cinderella (title role)
  • George BALANCHINE: Symphony in C (1st Movement Principal), Concerto Barocco (Principal), Apollo (Calliope), Symphony in Three Movements (3rd Principal couple), Theme and Variations (Principal), Tarantella, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
  • David BINTLEY: The Prince of the Pagodas (Princess Belle Sakura), Sylvia (title role), Carmina Burana (Fortuna), Aladdin (Princess Badr al-Budur, Diamond), Take Five (Take Five), E=mc² (Energy), 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café (Utah's Long Horn Ram),
  • August BOURNONVILLE: La Sylphide (Sylphide)
  • Peter DARRELL: Tales of Hoffmann (Antonia, Giulietta)
  • Nacho DUATO: Duende
  • Mikhail FOKINE: The Firebird (title role)
  • FUKAGAWA Hideo: Soirée de Ballet
  • KANAMORI Jo: solo for 2
  • Jessica LANG: Escaping the Weight of Darkness
  • Kenneth MACMILLAN: Manon (Manon), Romeo and Juliet (title role)
  • MORIYAMA Kaiji: RYUUGUU - The Turtle Princess (title role)
  • Megumi NAKAMURA: Beethoven Sonata (Giulietta), The Firebird (Maiden), Shakespeare THE SONNETS
  • Roland PETIT: La Chauve-souris (Bella), Coppélia (Swanilda)
  • Twyla THARP: In the Upper Room
  • Hans VAN MANEN: Grosse Fuge
  • Christopher WHEELDON: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (title role), DGV: Danse à Grand Vitesse (3rd Region Soloist)