Miyako Yoshida


Miyako Yoshida is a Japanese ballet dancer. She was a Principal Guest Artist of The Royal Ballet as well as a principal dancer with K-ballet, Japan.

Life and career

Born and trained in Tokyo, Yoshida won the Prix de Lausanne in 1983 and joined Royal Ballet School in England. In 1984, she joined then Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, the present Birmingham Royal Ballet and was promoted to principal in 1988. In following year, she was awarded the Global Award and the Arts Encouragement Prize for Artists of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan.
In 1995, Yoshida joined The Royal Ballet as principal dancer and was known for her partnership with such as Tetsuya Kumakawa, and Irek Mukhamedov. She was also appointed UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2001. In 2004, she married Takashi Endo, a Japanese football agent.
In 2006, she joined K-ballet while she continued dancing with The Royal Ballet, before winning the Best Female Dancer in National Dance Awards. In 2007, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to dance. In 2010 she retired from the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden.

Career and repertory

Odette/Odile, Aurora, Juliet, Lise, Giselle, Swanilda, Sugar Plum Fairy, Kitri, Cinderella, Ondine, Chloë, Titania, Tchaikovsky pas de deux, Le Corsaire pas de deux, Homage to The Queen and leading roles in Prince of the Pagodas, Symphonic Variations, Elite Syncopations, Snow Queen, Galanteries, Fin du jour, Symphony in C, Birthday Offering, The Firebird, Scènes de ballet, Les Rendezvous and Rhapsody.
At the 2006 National Dance Awards, she was the Best female dancer.