BACKSTAGE with Yuriko Kajiya
An international career is the norm for today's dancers and most of the major companies have an international array of principals. In addition to the stars who make the rounds of the world renowned companies, the corps de ballet and soloist ranks are often made up of dancers from around the world. Yuriko Kajiya is one of these dancers. Born in Nagoya, Japan, at age seven, she began her training with the Matsumoto Michiko Ballet. When her father went to work in China, her parents thought it would be a good experience for Yuriko to study there. She was 10 and for the next six years, she trained at the Shanghai Ballet School where, she was the first foreign student to graduate on scholarship. The days were long, sometimes beginning at 6:30 in the morning and not finishing until 9:30 in the evening.
Living in the school dormitory and receiving her academic education as well, her whole focus was on becoming a ballet dancer. She says "it was not easy studying in China. Many times she worked on her own in the studio. It was through the school and her own hard work that at age 13 she entered and won Best Performance in the senior category at the Tao Li Bein National Ballet Competition. Returning to Japan for the 3rd International Ballet Competition in Nagoya, she became one of the youngest finalists and in 2000, she won the renowned Swiss competition, the Prix de Lausanne. The Prix offers scholarships to the winners and Yuriko wanted to attend The Royal Ballet School in London. That year however, the RBS was only offering one scholarship to a boy so she chose the National Ballet School in Toronto to continue her studies. Spending a year in Canada offered a new challenge. After becoming fluent in both Mandarin and Shanghai dialect while in China, English was the next language for Yuriko to master. Even though she studied English as a second language while at the National Ballet School, Yuriko says she really learned from watching Canadian and American television. Another form of entertainment at the ballet school was watching video performances of the different companies. She was offered a contract with the National Ballet but in viewing the videos, American Ballet Theatre caught her eye and she requested an audition.
Yuriko entered the ABT Studio Company in 2001 and within three months she became an apprentice with the main company, soon after receiving a full contract as a member of the corps de ballet. Solos soon came her way, when she had an opportunity to dance a role in Martha Graham's A Diversion of Angels followed by the Waltz in Les Sylphides and then the Pas de Trois in Swan Lake. Since then she has added Flower Girl in Don Quixote, Henrietta in Raymonda, Balanchine's Symphonie Concertante, Twyla Tharp's The Upper Room, Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort and the Fairy of Fevor and Fairy of Joy in ABT's 2007 production of The Sleeping Beauty in addition to dancing many roles in the company's full length repertoire. She was promoted to soloist in July 2007. Yuriko enjoys all of her roles but would someday like to dance Giselle and Juilet.
Returning to Japan for guest appearances, Yuriko danced the role of Tatiana in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Michiko Matumoto Ballet. Other guest appearances include performances of The Nutcracker with various companies in America and Don Quixote Pas de Deux at the West Virginia Dance Festival. A recent documentary made about her career in America was shown on Japanese television. Yuriko cites as her mentors ABT ballet mistress Irina Kolpakova who rehearses her for all of her solos and her teacher David Howard helps her with technique, coordination and especially jumps and turns. She appears on his DVD Turns, Leaps & Bounds and also in a Capezio advertisement and on the 2007 Men and Women of American Ballet calendar. In addition to daily classes and rehearsals, she works out in the gym and does Pilates to keep in shape.
Yuriko loves living in New York and "having an ordinary life," going out with friends and seeing films in her spare time. She also enjoys touring with ABT and visiting foreign countries. Her advice to young dancers is to "believe in yourself and have confidence. It is nice when your parents support you but you have to really want it." American Ballet Theatre has given her many opportunities and Yuriko thinks that part of her rise in the company was do to luck. She says "you never know when chance will come so you have to be prepared." Her journey from Japan to China to Canada and finally to America has been rewarding for Yuriko. She has emerged as one of the up and coming young dancers to watch at ABT.