{{short description|Japanese ballet dancer (born 1965)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Miyako Yoshida | honorific_suffix = OBE | image = Miyako Yoshida at press showcase (cropped).jpg | caption = Miyako Yoshida in 2025 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1965|10|28}} | birth_place = Tokyo, Japan | occupation = Ballet dancer | spouse = Takashi Endo | parents = | children = }}
'''Miyako Yoshida''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBEh}} (吉田都, born 28 October 1965)<ref>{{cite news | title = Birthdays | newspaper = The Guardian | pages = 39 | date = 28 October 2014 }}</ref> is a Japanese ballet dancer and director. She was a Principal Guest Artist of The Royal Ballet as well as a principal dancer with K-ballet, Japan. Since 2020 she has been the artistic director of the National Ballet of Japan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Artistic Director {{!}} Ballet-Dance |url=https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/english/ballet-dance/artistic-director.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260228114656/https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/english/ballet-dance/artistic-director.html |archive-date=2026-02-28 |access-date=2026-03-18 |website=NEW NATIONAL THEATRE, TOKYO |language=en}}</ref>
==Life and career== Born and trained in Tokyo, Yoshida won the Prix de Lausanne in 1983 and joined the Royal Ballet School in England. In 1984, she joined the then Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (now the Birmingham Royal Ballet) and was promoted to principal in 1988. The 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 a UNESCO Artist for Peace<ref>[http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25565&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Director-General names Miyako Yoshida as UNESCO Artist for Peace – UNESCO Celebrity Advocates | UNESCO.org<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> in 2001. In 2004, she married Takashi Endo, a Japanese football agent.
In 2006, she joined K-ballet<ref>[http://www.k-ballet.co.jp/ 熊川哲也 K-Ballet Company Official Site]</ref> while she continued dancing with The Royal Ballet, before winning the Best Female Dancer at the National Dance Awards. In 2007, she was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to dance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front/TextOnly?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1166536150628 |title=Honorary Award Recipients Foreign & Commonwealth Office |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080108135501/http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front/TextOnly?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1166536150628&to=true |archive-date=8 January 2008}}</ref> In 2010 she retired from the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/dance/article7108723.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615090429/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/dance/article7108723.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 June 2011|title = TLS – Times Literary Supplement}}</ref> From 2010 until 2019, she worked as a freelance dancer.
In 2018, during her time as a freelance dancer, Yoshida was appointed as the artistic consultant of The National Ballet of Japan. In 2020, she became the artistic director of Ballet & Dance of the National Ballet of Japan.<ref name=":0" />
Yoshida returned to London in 2025, when the National Ballet of Japan performed ''Giselle'' at the Royal Opera House. This was the company's first overseas performance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-25 |title=National Ballet of Japan stages first overseas performance in London |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/07/25/stage/ballet-london/ |access-date=2026-03-18 |website=The Japan Times |language=en}}</ref>
== Career and repertory == Odette/Odile (''Swan Lake''), Aurora, Juliet (''Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev)''), Lise, Giselle (''Giselle''), Swanilda (''Coppélia''), Sugar Plum Fairy (''The Nutcracker''), Kitri (''Don Quixote''), ''Cinderella'', Cio-Cio San (''Madame Butterfly''), ''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 received the award of Best Female Dancer.<ref>[http://www.nationaldanceawards.com/dance/best_female.htm National Dance Awards Best Female Dancer<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.miyako-yoshida.com}} * {{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071105222411/http://www.ballet.co.uk/feb98/interview_miyako_yoshida.htm |archive-date=2007-11-05 |title=Interview Miyako Yoshida |url=http://www.ballet.co.uk/feb98/interview_miyako_yoshida.htm |website=ballet.co.uk}} * {{cite web |url=http://www2a.biglobe.ne.jp/~kkimura/miyako/Preface.html |title=Miyako in Wonderland |website=biglobe.ne.jp}} * Reports from ''The Ballet Association'': {{cite web |url=https://balletassociation.co.uk/pages/reports-2004-miyako-yoshida?_pos=1&_sid=b7ed7adf3&_ss=r |title=2004:Miyako Yoshida & Kevin O'Hare}}; {{cite web |url=https://balletassociation.co.uk/pages/reports-2009-miyako-yoshida?_pos=2&_sid=b7ed7adf3&_ss=r |title=2009:Miyako Yoshida & Kevin O'Hare}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshida, Miyako}} Category:Prima ballerinas Category:People educated at the Royal Ballet School Category:Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet Category:Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers Category:Japanese ballerinas Category:English ballerinas Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:Prix de Lausanne winners Category:Honorary officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:20th-century ballet dancers Category:21st-century ballet dancers Category:Entertainers from Tokyo Category:People from Tokyo Metropolis