We made a family trip to Berlin last week. I started to remember the lifestyle in Germany and it felt so nostalgic. I got my first job at the Hamburg Ballet when I was 17. It was 2 or 3 years after the Berlin Wall fell. Being a young ballerina I was focusing on dancing so much (almost too much) that I was ignorant of a lot of bigger things that were happening at that time. But when I think back, it was a wonderful time for Germany and the world: the Cold War was ending and

The Prix de Lausanne is currently happening. I appeared in this competition when I was 16 and I made it to the semifinals which I was not really happy about at that moment. l couldn’t dance as well as I would have liked to and I really wanted to make it to the finals, but now it is all sweet memories and it was just the beginning.... I was just being so young and naive. However for sure this competition opened doors for me: I got a scholarship to enter the Hamburg Ballet scho

Here you are seeing the people who I loved the most in early 90s. My Mom, Dad, Brother, 2 Grandmas, Grandpa (Grandpa George was working & not in this pic) Ballet Teacher and friends. They came to see me off at the Nagano train station before I left to study at the Hamburg Ballet school in Germany. Now people talk about going to Mars ☄️but I felt like I was going to the moon or something at that time. Also, today young people going to study abroad is not rare. But back then,

Here is baby me dancing in front of my family in a private dining room in a restaurant. I must have been about 2 as It looks like I still have a diaper on😋. I have always loved to dance and my family was my first audience and has always been my number one fans since whenever I started dancing. Looking at this I remember nostalgically my grandma’s voice saying “very good!”「上手だねー」or ”you are so special “「特別だねー」lots of / almost too many compliments and my grandpa ‘s grin. And n

In this picture, I must be around 5. And I am with my mom, auntie and grandma❤️ I feel very privileged to have had the experience to see so many performances and I saw many of the best as a little girl. This was a time with no internet or YouTube, so going to the theater was a big deal and seeing live dance was such a special event. I remember that we all would dress up nicely and take a 3 hour train ride to Tokyo from my hometown, Nagano, then eat something light before et

David Dawson‘s “A Million Kisses to my Skin“ back in 2000 at the Dutch National Ballet. I believe this was David's first major choreography and the leotard designer Yumiko Takeshima 's first costume design. I remember that dancing David’s style was incredibly challenging but I had so much fun pushing my limits. His steps were very classical in a sense but the movement was stretched to extremes. I felt his technique matched my abilities, it just felt great dancing in it .... f

Anyone that knows me in the dance studio can probably tell you I never wear leotards. It’s somehow not been my thing for a long time. But today after spending lunch and the afternoon with my old colleague and dear friend, Yumiko Takeshima who’s a designer/co-founder of “Yumiko” I felt like I wanted one! So I tried a few on. She was in the town this week to open her new boutique on 214 W.39th Street. New York. I remember back in the day when we were both working at the Dutch N

Nothing has changed with おたけYumiko Takeshima laughing and talking nonstop for hours 😆 The kids played for hours, too😊 Also so wonderful to see Jessica Teague #diary #yumiko #friend #leotard #ballerina