Yumi Kanazawa

Location
Los Angeles, California

Company Artist with the Joffrey since 2016

Biography

Ms. Kanazawa was born in Tokyo, Japan. She began her training at the Lauridsen Ballet Centre in Torrance, California under Diane Lauridsen. After competing in the Prix de Lausanne in 2013, Ms. Kanazawa went on to study at the San Francisco Ballet School under the direction of Patrick Armand. She joined the San Francisco Ballet Trainee program in 2015. During her time in the San Francisco Ballet School and Trainee Program, she performed in many ballets both with the school and with the main company.

Since joining the Joffrey Ballet in 2016, Ms. Kanazawa has performed in numerous ballets and contemporary works. Some include George Balanchine’s Serenade (Russian Girl); Yuri Possokov’s Anna Karenina (Kitty) and Don Quixote (Kitri’s Friends, Cupid); Christopher Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker (Marie), Commedia, and Alice in Wonderland (Alice’s sister, Flowers and Cards Soloist); Wayne McGregor’s Infra (second pas de deux); Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine and Carmen (Mikaela); Cathy Marston’s Jane Eyre (Young Jane, Adele) and Atonement (Briony); Gerald Arpino’s Birthday Variations and Suite Saint-Saëns (fast pas); Nicolas Blanc’s Beyond the Shore and Under the Tree’s Voices.

Yumi Kanazawa in George Balanchine's Serenade. Photo by Cheryl Mann.
Yumi Kanazawa and Hyuma Kiyosawa in Christopher Wheeldon's The Nutcracker. Photo by Cheryl Mann.
Yumi Kanazawa in class. Photo by Carolyn McCabe.
Yumi Kanazawa in Yuri Possokhov's Don Quixote. Photo by Cheryl Mann.
Yumi Kanazawa in Christopher Wheeldon's The Nutcracker. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
Yumi Kanazawa and Hyuma Kiyosawa in Christopher Wheeldon's The Nutcracker. Photo by Cheryl Mann.