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Today is September 16th at two o'clock in the afternoon. I'm at Fondren Library interviewing Yuriko Kajiya for the Houston Asian American archive. My name is Priscilla Li.

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So, the first question is where and when were you born? Um, I was born in Japan in 1984. Okay. Um, and can you describe your favorite childhood memory? Um, for me, all I can think of

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is when I was training in the ballet school. Okay. And, like, you liked practicing and—? Not in the very beginning, but once I turned around age thirteen, I start become bunhead

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and really liked just being in studio and practice. Hmm. Was that your childhood dream to be a ballerina? No, a lot of people had – do ask me that just because I moved to China when I was

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ten to go to, um, ballet school. So, most people think, “Oh, I must really love ballet.” That I had to go to China to be trained, but no, ballet just happened to be one of the afterschool

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curriculum that I did, and my parents wanted me to have a little bit of a culture difference and culture experience. Maybe stay there for one month, maybe two months, and then go back to

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Japan. But I ended up staying there for six years . Oh. And was it because you wanted to stay there? Yes, but not because I loved ballet. No, not at that time.

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I really didn't understand it that much, but I – actually, my mom came and picked me up, um, I'm not sure how long after, maybe a month after?

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She came back because it's a national ballet school in China. It's government funded and it's very, very strict and all the students, they are handpicked by the government. Handpicked meaning like the ballet body, what we call the perfect ballet body.

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So, for out of the thousands they pick maybe ten or fifteen in one class and that's all they pick. And it was all done by the government. But I was, I'm from Japan and I'm not picked, and I

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went there because I— my parents paid the tuition and I actually found out later that the school actually told them, my parents that you shouldn't send your child here because your child is too young and she

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doesn't have the body and she won't last because it's just very strict. But my parents told them that, you know, maybe stay for a month or two. I just want my daughter to get cultural experience. So, school agreed, and I stayed.

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But after a month or two later my mother came and say, you know, you don't have – cause she knew it was so, such a difficult uh, situation for me and the scheduling or the school is very difficult and very strict, and

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nothing like, um, when I was in Japan and the environment wasn't as great. It's very different now in Shanghai and in China, but back in the day they were, they didn't really have a lot of

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things. It was not the same as the living situation in Japan. So, so all of that together, my mother came and say, you know, basically say, “Honey, you don't have to work so hard anymore.” You know, it's not like I said I wanted to stay, or I said I wanted to become

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a ballerina. So, she said let's go home. But even though at that time I didn't like ballet that much. I wasn't very into it, but

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even though I was only ten years old and just a baby, but I just felt like I started some things for me to go back at that time, I will leave about a month or two later, just felt like a failure for

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myself. So, I told them that I want to stay. So that's how I started and stayed for six more years. How would you describe China's ideal body type for ballerinas during that time?

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Um, well that's not only China, but it's, it's for overall ballet world to be – in a perfect world, nobody has the perfect body, I don't think, but, um, they all look for long legs and

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long arms, but not just that, but, um, in ballet, all the joints has to be open, which is not normal for a lot of people. So, if you have a joint, especially for the hip joint, to be a little bit in that you

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have to do a lot of forcing and that's a lot of pressure for the joints and it’s, you just going to suffer a lot more than the people who are naturally open. So, they look at those things. The joints has to be open, the knee has to be small and straight or

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even hyperextended, or nice arch, we are, we like arched feet and so there are a lot of different things and I don't really have all of that. So, the school, that's why the school say, “your daughter doesn't have the body.”

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So, your peers were older than you – all, most of them? Um, some of them were my age, but most of them are maybe a year or two older than me, my class. And for ballet school, did they also teach you like school?

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Like academics? Yes. So, everything was in one, kind of like the Rice University, in one campus. In one school, they do everything in there. Yeah. Okay. And, um, can you remind me the name of the school?

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Shanghai Dance School. I think the name might have changed now, but, mm-hm. And the year you moved over was? 1994.

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Okay. Mm-hm. Um, and so, how would you describe your six years there as – training as a ballerina? Um, looking back now, so hard, super strict,

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but can I do that going back right now? Probably not. But at the time I never felt difficult or hard or… or no, I think because everyone

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else was doing it. Like all my friends at that time were doing it all together. We were all in it together. So, I never felt like, “Oh, why am I only one suffering?” Even though I was there as a

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Japanese foreign student at age ten but there were other, maybe not a lot—maybe only like two or three other foreign students that are from Japan, and they were all in high school age, so a

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little bit —ten years old, quite a bit older. So, they would be like sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, and they were all homesick. I think part of it was because they understand the life

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much better than I did. I was too young to understand what's difficult. So maybe that's why it worked out. So, you didn't experience much of a culture shock from Japan?

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Um, yes, I did, but I didn't cry about it, no, mm-hm. Okay, um, and I saw that you can speak Mandarin. Is that, did you learn Chinese before you went to…

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No, I learned when I was there, and I had a Chinese teacher who didn't speak any Japanese teaching me Chinese . So, I remember when my first class was, she was

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trying to just gesture, this is how you say “you” in Chinese, but I didn’t understand what she was trying to teach me. So, a lot of – at that time we didn't have cell phones or, or this technology.

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So, we were looking at the dictionary and trying to search the word and she'll say that's, that's what I'm trying to teach you. And, but I think because I was so young, I was able to pick up things so much quicker than the other older students.

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So, in three months I was able to understand what people are saying. Maybe not speak perfectly, but I was fine. Mmhm. Did you have any mentors that you were or like close friends

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that you attribute, you know, to have like a better time I guess in school because it was very hard, like strict and stuff. It was strict but, you know, we were all in it together so all the friends we were... um,

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we were all competing to each other, but at the same time, we are all friends together and we are— I'm actually still friends with all of them. And just now, um, three months ago actually I was in China and actually met with some of them and it was very fun to

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get together and talk about all the – laughed about all the memories . Um, do you remember your first ballet class?

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I do. Um, I didn't understand a word the teacher was saying, I just remember because it was done by the government and at that age group for dance, maybe in a smaller school or in

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United States or in Japan, you'll be doing a lot more dancing stuff, but in China they were only doing super basic things, just trying to put that in a body. So, I just remember everyone just being so

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flexible and only doing very easy things but trying to perfect those things. So that was definitely a little bit different than what I was doing when I was in Japan and, but when, what I was doing

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in Japan in dance, it was not professional, it was just once a week thing, but they were doing every day, and I just remember they're just so flexible and I couldn't do any of it . How many hours would you practice?

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Um, the hours of practicing gets longer as the age goes. So, when we were a little bit younger, maybe a little bit less, but the s—being in a

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studio, not, not like practicing but like stretching and like, you know, all the things started at six or six thirty in the morning. So… And it’d last until like…

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Um, I do remember the bedtime, the lights all turn off at nine fifteen . Oh, wow. Do you remember what you would do like for fun? Like after practice and school?

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There was no fun time. No. You didn’t get to explore Shanghai or—? No. Well we were not allowed to go outside of the school board. I was only ten, I shouldn't be going out.

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Yeah. So, the students were only allowed to go out on the weekends and people who are from Shanghai will go home, but for people who are not, they will stay in, but we do get to go out, but, you know, so young.

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I wasn't going to go explore the city. Only somewhere around, um, the school. No, they didn't do the bus ride or any of that. But I don't know, for fun it's like talking to my friends and

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maybe exchanging stickers. You know, we didn't have cell phones, no TVs. So, reading books, uh, most of it just, you know, just being together with other

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students, my friends. But no, I definitely didn't have the same play time or the childhood like – that maybe the other, I don't know, the normal people , I don’t know,

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would have? You know, but I don’t know, I never missed it. Okay, um, and so, you said that you kept going because you didn't want to feel like a failure

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for like leaving after a month? Where would you say you got that, like, I don't know, personality or like drive to continue ballet? Not sure. I guess always, always kind of that way, a little

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more motivated than maybe the other students when I was, even when I was in Japan? Not sure it was good or bad, but always trying to achieve the best as I can. Maybe it was, maybe, looking back, maybe it

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was too competitive. I'm not sure as a child, but I mean it worked out. Um, all of that definitely built me as who I am now and all the hard work did pay off, so,

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mmhm. Okay. Did you face any discrimination because you were a foreigner in China? Um, yes. Many people has asked me was there called, you know, “Were you bullied

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because you're Japanese,” or all of that questions. I mean, I mean, yes and no. If I say yes in one word, that's wrong.

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If I say no, that's wrong too. Um, but all my friends all protected me. They didn't think, “Oh, because I'm from Japan, so we not going to talk to her.” There

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was none of that. But the biggest thing was because I'm a foreign student and the school was funded by the government, which everything – everything makes sense because government is paying for the

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school and the government's paying for these students, so, they have to produce someone that's very good out of this class because these are the-the students of their own. So, the teacher is also

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doing the same thing, which means in class the teacher is only watching the Chinese students, but even for them too. Let’s say I had, uh, think I had fifteen classmates. She's really only looking at one or two.

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The other, even the other Chinese students, she would on—the teacher will really only looking at the ones that she or he thinks will come out that will be the international level or that they think will be the best one.

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But that was just a natural thing for them to do. So as a child, for me, I wanted to be Chinese because I felt like, “Oh, maybe the teacher wasn't looking at me because I'm not Chinese.” So, at that time

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I didn't like being Japanese, not because I was bullied or anything. No, no, not because of that, but because I wanted them to look at me the same way as the other students.

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So that was maybe my struggle that I had there for sure. But I definitely had, I felt like I had more drive in the end than the other students because I wasn't picked.

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Maybe I didn't have the body. My parents are paying for the tuition, but the others are not. So, they are not necessarily there because they wanted to be there.

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They’re chosen, that's why they're there. But I, I made the decision to be there so maybe I do feel like my drive was maybe more than the others in class. Um, and then when did

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you realize you wanted to pursue a career in ballet? That was about when I was age thirteen. Oh, it still did take two, three years in the school, just kind of wondering .

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Even though it wasn't easy. Well I think all started because around the age thirteen that's when my class started doing competitions. So, which

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means you start doing things that are more dancing. So, you have the music and you start doing like a solo role. So, before it was more strict—strictly steps in class.

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So a little more dance element came in and I decided that I wanted to do the competition and all of the practice towards

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the competition kind of got me into ballet, because as much… All the hard work you put it in – cause you're, cause I was little – when the, when the teacher says, “Oh you got

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better,” or you can feel that something is working or the teachers say “That's better,” or “That looks good,” or, you know, all the praise as a child was so, inspiring to me and he goes, “Oh—" cause

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usually they'll say “That's wrong. This is what you need to fix. This needs all of that.” But physically I could feel like, “Oh I practiced this and then I can feel this is

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better. Or now it's working.” So, the reward I guess, you know, so the rewards that you can feel was made me want to do more. So that made me want to practice more, made me stay in the studio even

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longer. So that really got me into more and more time in the studio and that's when I became a bunhead and I was in the studio all the time and I, and I liked it. Yeah, yeah.

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Did you, I guess the part of like expressing yourself is what you liked versus, cause in the beginning they only taught you form and technique, but then you liked the expressiveness through dancing. Yes. Do you remember your first performance or competition,

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I guess? My first competition was a national competition in China. So, unlike here in United States, anyone can do the competition, but they're in China because it's a national competition, you can

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only do if you're picked, also within the school. So even get into the competition, you have to do a little competition inside the school of your classmates to get there. So, I don't know, I just liked

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the process of—. Okay, and then do you remember your first, I guess repertoire that you like rehearsed and like memorized and performed for an audience?

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Um, the very first one was probably eleven in China? Right. Um, it was like a group piece. I think we were still on flat shoes, not on point shoes, the toe

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shoes, but that was just a good piece. But then when we did through the competition, I think I did something from Swan Lake. Not a swan, it's a human role, but I can't remember,

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I don’t... Something from Swan Lake, okay. Yeah. And were your parents ever able to watch you perform? Um, yeah, I mean they came, they came to China… Well we didn't do – unlike the, maybe

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like a school in United States or in Japan, you know, the school has a once a year performance. It wasn't, there was none of that. Mm-mm. So maybe I had, I mean there were a few performances,

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but it's not a annual thing. And they were supportive with, for you, like throughout your ballet training? Mmhm, they, I mean, they were never for—they were, they never forced me to say, “Well you started this so you must become ballerina,” or, or I don't

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know. They let me decide what I wanted, and I decided I wanted to do this. So, they supported me til, til now, til the end. Yeah. And so, after… or

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how did you go, like, what was your next step after, you know, studying at Shang– studying in Shanghai? Um, so what happened was, um, my last year in a school I did a competition called Prix de

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Lausanne competition. It's one of the very prestige, um, competition in ballet world for young students. And it's in Lausanne in Switzerland. Yeah. And I – it just happened to be that

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competition, they aired that in national TV in Japan every year for the finals. So, I grew up watching that and so I really wanted to do that competition. So, I actually told the school, and it

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happened to be the last year of my school year. So, if everything worked out, I would do the competition and I could go somewhere else. The competition is not just gold, silver, bronze

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medal. It's about giving opportunity to the younger students. So, if you're age, youngest will be fifteen, if you're age fifteen, sixteen, you get a full scholarship to any of the school of your choice around the world and you get to go there.

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And if you're a seventeen, eighteen, a little bit older, you get a scholarship to go to a company. So, you will become an apprentice for whichever company of your choice, which is amazing.

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But I was only fifteen so I would have been going to another school. So, I, that was always been dream of mine at that time. So, I told

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school, I told my school in Shanghai that I want to participate in this competition. My direct answer first was “no.” They say, “You cannot go because they're planning to participate.” And the rule for the competition that they had

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was you can only have four students participate at the same time. So, if they wanted to bring four of their Chinese students, I would've been taking their spots so I wouldn't be able to go.

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So, they told me that you can’t go because we are going to bring four students. I was crushed, I really wanted to go, and I just thought it was not fair and I really, really wanted to go.

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So, I begged the school and school decided to do a competition within the school and see whoever wins the top four will get to go. And I earned my spot and that's how I got to go to the competition.

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Okay, um, and then, how did you do at the competition? So, I won the competition when I was, I was actually got the highest points out of any of them in my school.

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So, four of us went and actually three of us won. So that was a big thing for the school and definitely an eye opener just because opportunity just opened up. And,

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obviously I realized I was good enough to win the competition and go somewhere else. So, um, winning the competition definitely changed – really opened up my ballet,

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um, world and opened up my future, just because that time in China, that's just we didn't have the computer. The internet situation wasn't there yet.

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Didn't have a cell phone, no computers. So, there was no outside information coming in. So, I didn't know the other ballet world besides what I had in school. So, one, even after winning the competition you get to pick

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the school, but I didn't know the other schools, what, what are the difference in what, what is the best? The only thing I knew were the few of them that you always hear the names of, but what are the difference?

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What would it be the best fit for me? So, the competition kept asking me, so have you decided, have you decided? But I actually couldn't decide. So, I actually did the opposite.

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I asked the competition, where do you think will be the best fit for me? And they told me that maybe I should go to National ballet school in Canada. So that's how I chose the National Ballet School

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in Toronto, in Canada. And that's how I went from – so, after I graduated from Shanghai Dance School, that's where I went. And what year was that? This is 2—the competition was 2000.

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Competition was January, February 2000 and I graduated June or July, I think? And the school starts in September, I think? Okay. The Can—Canadian Ballet School?

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Uh, huh. Okay. Yeah. So, you were like sixteen? I was just when I won competition, I was fifteen, and I just turned sixteen when I went to Canada. And did you ever get nervous at the competition?

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At the national or the international competition? The competition? Um. Yes, and no. So, unlike the other ballet competition, usually, normally when you do ballet competition, you just do solos.

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You practice this one solo forever and then you bring it to the competition. And then just the one chance that you do it, one-minute, two-minute, three-minute variation and then you get judged.

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But what's different about this competition is they're trying to give opportunity to see the future for these young students. So, you start from class, so they're watching it from the very beginning to do the

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entire class. And you get judged by that and then they see you do solo and so on. So, the first round is only class, you don't even get to do the solos that you practiced. So, they, what we do,

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we do this thing called bar, you're holding onto the bar and you do like a basic practice and you're judging you by them. So that part, because the competition has just started, I wasn't sure

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where I belong in the competition. So that was the only part that I wasn't sure. So, am I going to be able to get through the second round? But once I got through the first round, I was never

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nervous. I don't know, I just felt like I just, I started enjoying the competition. Okay. Um, and so, when you moved to Canada, how was that, you know, difference in

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culture like? So different, super different! Well, well, Canada is more like Japan now. So, when I first, like when I first went to China, it's, it's

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completely different now. Shanghai is like New York, you have everything, the skylines are just insane. But when I first went there, there was nothing.

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Maybe there was one tall building, but everything else is flat. It would just, it was before the Shanghai became the Shanghai now. So even for the school, um, I was staying in the dorm, my

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room, my, the girl's dorm was on the fourth floor. The water doesn’t even come up to the fourth floor and just so as a ten year old carrying a bucket of water to

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the fourth floor so, you can brush your teeth and you know, wash your face. So that was what was happening for the next year. That was just, you know, maybe no water to flush the

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toilet. And you know, that was just normal. I never thought twice. But when I got to Canada, you have everything there. You have, uh, air conditioning,

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which I didn't have and you know... the studios are beautiful and there's… I don’t know, it's just, it was a completely different environment and not as strict.

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So, one of the reasons why I found, that I did find out later that the fact that Prix de Lausanne competition told me to go to this particular school in Canada was because the school was not trying,

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the motto for the school was trying not to give the students so much pressure. So, which was completely different than when I was in China. Not that they were just pressuring us, but it was just a lot more strict, and a lot more

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practice time. So, I did feel like when I first went to Canada, I was panic a little bit, not because the language or anything like that, just because I felt like, “Oh, but I want to be in the studio more.

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I want to practice more,” but they won't let you. They’ll lock the studio so you can’t go in. So that was just so

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different for me. So that part was definitely a culture shock. Mmhm. And how long were you at that school? I was only in there for a year, so I got a scholarship for one year to go to the school from,

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um, the competition. And then when I was in school, I auditioned for the companies and I got into the company. So, I only stayed in the school for one year. Oh okay, and how would you describe their approach to teaching and training ballerinas

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compared to when you were in China? Um, it's just so different, huh . But I do feel like, because I had the

00:30:57.240 - 00:31:09.370

one year in Canada, if I would have gone to – so after Canada I went to New York. But if I have gone from straight from what I had in China to New York, I

00:31:09.430 - 00:31:24.660

think I might've been just completely lost to go to a company or big cities or just the environment was so different. But because I was still in a school, even though the environment is so different in China, but I was

00:31:24.660 - 00:31:37.230

still protected by the school and the teachers that had the support because if you go straight to a company, you're alone because you're not a student anymore.

00:31:37.790 - 00:31:49.610

You're one individual. So that definitely gave me preparation to go to a company where I would have gone to go in New York.

00:31:49.610 - 00:32:02.380

So that preparation one year Canada was very big for me and I met some great teachers that are still in touch and then they're my, they’re teacher for one year, but they're also

00:32:03.100 - 00:32:15.330

a great friend of mine. And some of the friends, classmates they are still, I still talk to. And so those connection means a lot to me,

00:32:15.500 - 00:32:30.140

and, I don’t know, it's a great school, just different . Um, and so the teachers that you met were very supportive of you through everything?

00:32:31.690 - 00:32:40.470

Mmhm. Yes. Okay. And then was it natural? Oh, just to stay there a year. Could you have chosen to stay in school longer or—?

00:32:40.540 - 00:32:54.380

I could have, yes, because I was – so the National Ballet School in Canada is also like in China that the academic school is built into the school. So, I would have gone in because of my

00:32:54.640 - 00:33:03.960

age, I was grade eleven so I would have had another year in the school. But I actually did all of that when I was in China.

00:33:05.100 - 00:33:20.190

So, it all worked out. But mm, I could've stayed for another year. Yes. What made you decide to apply to be part of a company? Um, so it gets a little bit complicated, but the

00:33:20.480 - 00:33:34.320

school year, I was grade eleven so I would have one more year. But my ballet class, I was with the top level, so my ballet classmates were all grade twelve, so they were the

00:33:34.430 - 00:33:46.300

graduating year school students. So, I was with them even though I was a year younger, so they were all auditioning because they're about to graduate. So that's why I went and auditioned.

00:33:46.300 - 00:34:04.370

It was just a natural thing for me. Mmhm. And then how was auditioning like that process like? Um, scary, a little bit I guess, but, I mean, scary looking back

00:34:04.470 - 00:34:17.270

now. Didn't feel that when I was, I guess I had a lot of more gut when I was younger. You get, as you get older, everything you, you think more so you get more cautious.

00:34:17.790 - 00:34:32.810

But when you're younger you just see – you go with your drive so I didn't feel scared, but I auditioned for two companies and I got – actually, with American Ballet Theater, I didn’t get the job right away.

00:34:33.510 - 00:34:49.590

So I was devastated, because that’s where I wanted to go. But, so I was planning to stay another year in the school possibly, but that’s when the company ABT, American Ballet

00:34:49.640 - 00:35:00.400

Theater, called, said, “We want to give you a—” it was just a—the reply was much, much later, than I expected so I thought that I didn’t get a job. Oh, okay they just replied super late.

00:35:02.030 - 00:35:11.950

Okay. And then, how old were you when you started working with the, like, company? Um, seventeen. Seventeen. Okay. Were you the younger one?

00:35:12.160 - 00:35:27.600

Um, yes, mm-hm. Um, so did you I guess, face any, I guess age differences? Was it hard to like talk to people of older age at that company?

00:35:29.640 - 00:35:41.310

Um, I think it’s just like any other job. You know, you have the younger ones and everyone’s different age. That’s just—I don’t think there’s any company in the world,

00:35:41.390 - 00:35:56.590

not just ballet, normal work, you know, that has same age, everyone’s same age. So, but, obviously, because I’m the youngest and—which means it’s the—doesn’t have any experience than others.

00:35:56.640 - 00:36:09.220

So, you just have to watch and learn, but I have other friends that are same age, so I didn’t feel like I was alone. Okay. But I didn’t join the main company right away.

00:36:10.190 - 00:36:24.060

The company has a junior group, called, at that time, it was called studio company that was for people who were from age seventeen to maybe twenty. So, there were six boys and six girls, and then from there,

00:36:25.850 - 00:36:38.280

some would join the company, and some don’t. So, I—normally you can only stay in the junior company for two years, the maximum, and then you have to either join—if you don’t get to

00:36:38.280 - 00:36:53.210

join, you have to go somewhere else. I was there for, quite short was there for three months. Oh, wow. Yes, and then I joined the main company, so all my other friends stayed in

00:36:53.210 - 00:37:10.840

the junior company for another year. But, most of them joined later, so we were still together. And that’s based on your performance, being able to join? Um, obviously at that time you would like to think because of

00:37:10.840 - 00:37:25.520

your performance but now you do learn that, you know, joining a company, ballet company, a lot has to do with— yes, you have to have—obviously you have to be good. Technically, um, physically, performing-

00:37:25.520 - 00:37:33.860

wise all of it together. But also, timing has to be right. If nobody leaves the company, the company doesn’t have a spot.

00:37:35.070 - 00:37:46.720

And sometimes, they’re looking for certain look. Looks meaning not, not necessarily have to be Asian or American, not like that. But height. If someone very tall

00:37:46.720 - 00:38:01.110

leaves, they might want to replace someone around that height, or short, or medium, or anything. So, it has a lot of different things happens. But… How was it like going to New York City from

00:38:03.290 - 00:38:14.640

Canada? Like all these cultural differences? I do remember going there first as an audition, so I went there for audition with two of my other friends from Canada.

00:38:15.860 - 00:38:35.370

My first impression of New York was so scary. Um, I was able to speak English then, but New Yorker just speak so differently, they speak so fast and everything just move so fast, everyone is

00:38:35.370 - 00:38:48.500

just in their own zone, and just street and so much going on, I was just lost. So even though I was there for a few days to do the audition, I just felt like this is crazy city,

00:38:49.610 - 00:38:56.460

but that was only when I auditioned. After that, after I moved there, I love New York. And, that was my home.

00:38:57.250 - 00:39:12.730

Mm-hm. What do you like about New York? Um, hard to pinpoint one thing that’s just—that became my home for so long. Um... Um, what about food-wise?

00:39:13.800 - 00:39:29.220

Did you ever like seek Chinese or Japanese food? Um, you can get pretty much everything there in New York. And, I-I think one of the biggest things I liked about New York was because all my friends were there.

00:39:29.750 - 00:39:43.390

Mm-hm, so, they were like my family, so naturally, I wanted to stay there. Yeah. Okay, and what were the demographics of, uh, the American Ballet Theater?

00:39:43.660 - 00:40:01.070

Were most other ballerinas, like, Asian or Caucasian? Uh, American Ballet Theater is very international. Um, when I was there, um, we had Cubans, Am-, obviously Americans, Argentinians,

00:40:03.030 - 00:40:16.860

Spanish, Italian, French, and then for the Asian cultures, so we had Japan, Korea, Thailand, China. Um,

00:40:22.880 - 00:40:41.110

Filipino, so it’s a—I mean New York, the city itself, is so international so naturally the company is also very international and, you don’t feel like, “Oh just because I’m an

00:40:41.200 - 00:40:53.030

Asian,” no I never felt that. Um, and so your first job was in, like, the studio? The studio company, mm-hm.

00:40:53.100 - 00:41:08.540

Okay. Were you paid for it? Somewhat . Not a whole lot. Not that you can be living in New York City, no, so that was actually one of the biggest concerns that my

00:41:09.770 - 00:41:24.680

parents had in the beginning. My parents are not multi-millionaires, so they were aware of the culture and the price difference and living situation in New York was so expensive.

00:41:26.070 - 00:41:40.350

So, if that would go on for a long time, it just felt like I wouldn’t be able to live there. But luckily because I was move up to the main company only in three months, so once I got into the company, I was

00:41:40.400 - 00:41:51.660

paid like a normal, and the insurance and all that. So, the situation changed. Okay, great. Um, and then can you, kind of, briefly

00:41:52.470 - 00:42:05.660

explain the ranks and positions the ballerina or like the positions that you acquire throughout your career at American Ballet Theater? So, every company, the ranking is different. So, some company has more

00:42:05.660 - 00:42:19.330

ranking than the others. Um, right now, where I am, Houston Ballet, has more ranking than American Ballet Theater does. But, in the big picture, we all do the same things, we all

00:42:19.330 - 00:42:33.170

use the same words, which, corps de ballet, which means the group dance, solo dancers that does solos, and then the principal dancer that carries the entire ballet in the center. So, the big words would

00:42:33.210 - 00:42:47.210

be corps de ballet, solos and then principals. We think that you can, um, break it a little more to give more opportunities, so, so American Ballet Theater, we only had corps de ballet, soloist,

00:42:47.350 - 00:43:01.450

principal. So, it’s a big jump going from the corps de ballet to soloist, soloist to principal. And Houston Ballet, where I am now, we have corps de ballet, demi soloist, soloist, first soloist,

00:43:02.190 - 00:43:13.640

principal. Mm-hm. Okay, um, and then how long were you at American Ballet Theater? And then, what was the transition like to go from that company to Houston

00:43:15.380 - 00:43:33.380

Ballet? So, I was with American Ballet Theater for—I always have to rethink… fifteen years? And—that was a long time. And I—to be honest, I never thought that I would come to Houston.

00:43:33.430 - 00:43:45.990

Just like I never thought that I would go to New York, or never thought that I would become a ballerina . But, just at the time, what American—where American Ballet Theater was,

00:43:45.990 - 00:44:01.940

was not the—I didn’t like the direction the company was going, so I feel like I had to leave to become a better dancer. So, I started looking for different places, then that’s when I

00:44:03.010 - 00:44:15.500

chose to come to Houston, mm-hm. And what was that year that you came to Houston? 2014. Oh okay. Mm-hm. And what were your first impressions of Houston?

00:44:16.470 - 00:44:30.160

I have come to Houston before, so, it wasn’t my first time. I actually came to Houston to do a few Nutcracker guesting. So, we call it guesting, meaning like you’re not

00:44:30.760 - 00:44:41.980

travelling with your company, but individually you go dance with some school or the company. So that’s what we call guesting. But I have come to Houston for Nutcracker performances as a

00:44:41.980 - 00:44:57.040

guest, so I’ve been here probably five or six times before I moved here. Do you remember what you first thought of Houston? Like weather or just the people?

00:44:57.970 - 00:45:11.490

Uh, I just remember after I moved here, everyone, literally everyone across the board, says, “Are you ready for the Houston weather?” . Everyone says, “Are you ready for this

00:45:11.560 - 00:45:27.290

hot weather?” But my answer was always, well you’re always in the car, and you’re always inside, so I never actually felt—I mean yes, I mean you go out sometimes, you’re like, “whoo, the heat,” but you don’t really walk outside as

00:45:27.290 - 00:45:41.940

much. Because in New York, you have to walk everywhere, so you actually feel the heat more. So, I was always like, “Oh what are you guys talking about?” So, it wasn't—you were okay with the weather?

00:45:41.940 - 00:45:57.680

No, no, I mean just like now, it’s always inside, so I never always felt the heat, but I was actually shocked with how much the, how great the Asian, um, food scene is here.

00:45:58.310 - 00:46:12.360

There’s a great Chinatown that has everything. Which I was shocked with all this supermarkets that you can practically get anything you want from all this different Asian countries.

00:46:12.360 - 00:46:27.730

So, in that way, I have everything that I need to . Do you find yourself cooking more—or like if you do cook at home, do you cook more Asian cuisine? Uh, I think I only cook Asian cuisine .

00:46:27.730 - 00:46:45.750

Oh. Is it a mix of, um, like, Chinese or— Mix of Chinese, Japanese, and sometimes Korean. Okay, so, um, let’s see. Oh, what was your position when you came to Houston Ballet?

00:46:46.700 - 00:47:01.240

For Houston Ballet? I was the first soloist. And then, two, two months later I became the principal. Oh okay, wow. And then, can you tell us about your first performance, like, with the

00:47:01.280 - 00:47:18.700

Houston Ballet as a principal? As a principal, what did I perform—well I was promoted—what’s great about or tradition that Houston Ballet has, is when someone becomes principal, they announce on

00:47:18.780 - 00:47:33.280

stage, which at ABT we didn’t do that. We were told in the studio in front of all—all of our colleagues, but here, they, the artistic director, Stanton Welch, comes on stage, and announces, “This is a very special

00:47:33.280 - 00:47:48.210

performance, because you’re just about to witness this so and so become a principal, or so and so is announced the principal.” So, you become principal on stage after a performance. So that performance was Nutcracker .

00:47:48.720 - 00:48:05.620

So, you’re debuting as principal or— Uh, so would that performance count as a principal, I’m not sure . Well, that’s definitely a special moment for a lot of us who became a principal, because you become one on

00:48:05.620 - 00:48:23.270

stage, and you share that moment with the audience, and the friends, and dancers on stage. Uh, and you said you wanted to come to Houston Ballet to grow as a dancer? Uh, do you still have coaches who help you or the

00:48:23.760 - 00:48:35.650

environment helps you become a better dancer? Well the reason why—there were other offers that I could go to, not only in the States, actually all in Europe.

00:48:37.560 - 00:48:54.590

And, they had offered me the positions, and I went there, and took classes with them. In some places, you take class, and you can already feel that maybe it doesn’t fit,

00:48:55.190 - 00:49:09.080

it’s not your—you don’t feel comfortable or—all the artistic directors are so nice, they always say I want you to come because I want to make sure you like the company, and you like the city, because you’re going to have to live in the city .

00:49:09.530 - 00:49:23.270

So, some cities, maybe I just felt like, I don’t know if I can imagine myself living here, or, you know, so things like that. But, with Houston Ballet, the biggest draw was maybe the repertoire.

00:49:23.700 - 00:49:37.750

They are—ballets that they do was very interesting, and there were a lot of ballets that I wanted to dance. So, I ended up talking to the director Stanton Welch.

00:49:38.150 - 00:49:49.840

Stanton and I actually has a unique, um, history. My first day at American Ballet Theater in the studio company, he was there. He was—I was a baby,

00:49:49.840 - 00:50:02.120

and he was also a young choreographer then. So, he was actually choreographing for studio company where I was. So, that was my first thing at ABT, so it, kind of,

00:50:02.450 - 00:50:14.230

in a way, made a full circle, and, and I—so I was talking to him on the phone, and, and he felt like it would be a good fit—fit for me.

00:50:14.230 - 00:50:23.620

And I liked where the company was going with the repertoire. So, that’s one of the reason why I chose Houston Ballet. So not because of, um,

00:50:27.170 - 00:50:39.340

one thing—just it was a big picture, mm-hm. Okay. Um, have you ever had any injuries that like stopped you—like how do you keep

00:50:39.340 - 00:50:54.160

yourself from getting hurt with all that training? Mm-hm, well unfortunately you always try not to get injured, but you do get injured. What we do as a ballet dancer is very—not an easy thing for the body because nothing

00:50:54.160 - 00:51:11.500

is natural. So, I say if you ask any dancer, “Do you have injuries?” Everyone has big or small— they all have some kind of injuries. So, to prevent injuries you always have to maintain yourself

00:51:11.500 - 00:51:25.850

in certain level, and certain, um, condition, and also have to do a lot of maintenance. But unfortunately, injuries sometimes just happens, you can’t prevent it sometimes. Um, I do have a

00:51:25.850 - 00:51:42.560

big injuries, I call it the bomb , so because it’s, uh, not like it can’t, um, stop me from dance right now, but if it does get worse, I will have to probably get a surgery, but I am

00:51:42.640 - 00:51:55.760

listening—you have to learn—you will learn how to listen to your body when you get injured. Because you can’t just go, go, go. You maybe be able to do that when you’re really young, but

00:51:55.760 - 00:52:10.930

your body does—the body’s an interesting thing, it will react to what you’re doing . So, it won’t last forever if you just bash into the wall every day. So, I have learned to—how to

00:52:10.930 - 00:52:24.060

maintain my body with my injuries, so it’s been okay. Okay, um, have you ever experienced any difficulties or, like, dilemmas that made you question or even regret your career choice?

00:52:25.260 - 00:52:42.830

Um, sure maybe one day or two, but it’s never a thing that you just, um—I think all of us dancers, if you ask anyone, they would always say, um,

00:52:44.380 - 00:52:57.750

it’s a lot of hard work behind what we do, but you can only do it because you love it, so that drive is definitely what’s keeping us going forward.

00:52:58.310 - 00:53:13.410

So, you may have a down day that you might think for a second, “Oh what am I doing,” or you want to do something else. But most of us, next day will just forget about what you’re thinking because we love what we do.

00:53:13.410 - 00:53:31.870

Okay, awesome. And what are your most memorable accomplishments so far? Hmm, so many things that I’m proud of

00:53:31.950 - 00:53:47.580

and feel like I’ve achieved, but obviously it’s never just one goal, you can always keep going especially with art form. Um, unlike the math you do

00:53:47.650 - 00:54:00.600

this and then there’s the answer and that’s it. I mean, for us, we don’t have an answer, you can change the answer, and everyone will judge you differently. And there’s no limit on how much

00:54:00.600 - 00:54:16.750

you can give and how much you can get better, and how much you can do. So that’s one, that’s one reason why we do—it’s interesting and everyone reacts differently. So, I don’t know, it’s

00:54:16.810 - 00:54:30.760

hard to pinpoint one . Yeah. For sure, that makes a lot of sense that you never have like an end goal. No, it’s—and especially for us, um,

00:54:32.490 - 00:54:51.110

all the performers, um, opera singer’s same thing, we don’t just do one role, and that’s it, and you move on to next. That role will probably come back, um, because we keep constantly doing a lot of the big classics, and that’s

00:54:51.170 - 00:55:06.650

one of the reason why it’s a great ballet. That’s why it’s been going on for hundreds and hundreds of years. So that’s great for us, because we mature as a person, mature as a dancer, so how I did at age twenty at the

00:55:06.820 - 00:55:22.260

same role to twenty-five to thirty, to thirty-five, each time it comes back you do something different. And discover different things, and I don’t know, it’s very interesting and very fun.

00:55:22.840 - 00:55:44.240

Awesome. Uh, so, let’s see. How do you manage work/life balance? Um. Everyone’s different. But, it’s hard for me to just completely shut down just because I

00:55:44.890 - 00:56:02.820

move out of the Houston Ballet or the studio or the theater, that I just become no more, no I think constantly I’m always thinking about dance and even the day off, constantly doing something towards ballet, meaning like, maybe it’s, uh, say

00:56:05.340 - 00:56:13.080

I’m getting a massage. It’s not a massage to relax, it’s a massage to maintain your body. So, for us, massage is quite painful.

00:56:13.310 - 00:56:29.770

Because it’s not, uh, fall asleep kind of massage because my—our muscles are so tight that it has to, to, um, maintenance for us to continue for the next week or the next performance, or you’re

00:56:29.770 - 00:56:43.040

seeing an athletic trainer, or physical therapist or you’re getting acupuncture, or, um, you’re doing pilates, or you’re doing gym work. You’re doing so many different things, so everything

00:56:43.900 - 00:57:00.020

somehow is always towards what I do. Um, do you ever go overseas to perform, or to like, um—coach anything? Coach, yes.

00:57:00.960 - 00:57:14.750

So, performance wise, um, I do my personal guesting, so sometimes I do guest outside the country. Um, and also, when the company travels, um, even though Houston Ballet is

00:57:14.800 - 00:57:27.550

based in Houston, American Ballet Theater is based in New York, we have a lot of tours. So, I did do more tours with American Ballet Theater, just because ABT is a touring company, and

00:57:27.550 - 00:57:42.010

Houston Ballet is a Houston-based company, so, but, like with Houston Ballet, last year we were in Dubai— How has ballet training and living abroad, um, affected, like, family back in Japan or, like,

00:57:42.280 - 00:57:56.500

friends you’ve made along the way? Um, I feel like being outside a country, it made me realize how great, um, how much I

00:57:56.500 - 00:58:16.060

appreciate my own background. Um, me being Japanese, I didn’t realize how great a country Japan was, and me being Asian, I appreciate the Asian culture compared to maybe over here, or

00:58:16.380 - 00:58:31.990

the—what’s great about Asian culture, so it made me realize all these things that I would’ve not realized maybe if I lived in—if I never left Japan, or if I was only in Asia. And family bond

00:58:31.990 - 00:58:49.430

definitely got stronger by leaving—I mean, I left when I was ten, so, um, made me appreciate things so much sooner than the other people maybe. Mm-hm. Um, and

00:58:50.920 - 00:59:07.230

how would you identify yourself as? Like, um, Japanese, Japanese American, or, like, how would you identify? Um, I’m from Japan, but I have spent

00:59:08.810 - 00:59:24.150

more than half of my life now in here, in the States, so it’s very interesting because when I’m here in the States, people say, “Oh, Yuriko,

00:59:24.150 - 00:59:44.550

you’re so Japanese,” but then if I’m in Japan, people will say, “You’re so American.” So—so I’m very hybrid I guess . Yeah, um, and have-have you interacted with the Japanese community here? Yes, and the Houston

00:59:44.550 - 01:00:00.400

Ballet actually have quite a few Japanese dancers, and not just Japanese, but there are Chinese dancers—two Chin—now two Chinese dancers, and now two Korean dancers. So, there are quite a

01:00:00.810 - 01:00:17.300

big number as compared to other companies I think—I feel, there are big numbers for Asian dancers in the company. So, I’m proud to be one of them, and I’m one of the older ones in the company, so I’m proud to, um, be their big

01:00:17.360 - 01:00:30.600

sister and take care of them. And, do you mentor them, or like do you support them? Mm-hm, yes, mm-hm I do love mentoring younger generation, that’s one of

01:00:30.640 - 01:00:43.530

my other passion. Even though I am a ballerina, I’m still dancing on stage, I feel like one of the thing that you are supposed to do as a ballerina is to mentor the

01:00:43.530 - 01:00:57.800

younger generation because I was mentored as a young ballerina to someone who were older, or my coach used to be one of the biggest ballerinas in Russia, and she was giving me all the information

01:00:57.800 - 01:01:11.400

that she could give, and with unconditional love. So, I would like to do the same to the next generation. Mm-hm. And then…

01:01:15.680 - 01:01:34.840

has your drive towards ballerina, uh, ballet, and the dance profession—has it changed since when you were young at the Shanghai school? Um, the drive, the love towards ballet has always been there.

01:01:35.190 - 01:01:51.240

But I think your way of thinking is always constantly changing, just because I’m maturing as a person and as a dancer, so maybe when you’re younger, you’re more, maybe you’re,

01:01:52.290 - 01:02:06.320

maybe not just maybe—that’s just, uh, nature of it actually. When you’re young dancer, you’re a little more focused on maybe just the form of dance, or the steps, or just the technique.

01:02:07.430 - 01:02:23.260

Which means for us it’s more like how many turns can you do, how high can you jump so more on technical elements. But we are art form and I believe the—at the theater, people not here to come see us do the

01:02:23.350 - 01:02:38.260

turns and jumps, you can see that on YouTube on the phone, but, um, the reason we are called artists, we are not sports, we are theater, it’s part of the art form is because we have a performing

01:02:38.330 - 01:02:53.010

aspect, and if we can’t move someone who’s watching a performance, then I feel like I have failed as a dancer on stage. So that kind of way of thinking is definitely changing,

01:02:53.490 - 01:03:10.570

so that’s, that’s also same way for approaching a role, or the piece that I’ll be dancing, or the way that I practice towards a part is definitely different than how, maybe, I would prepare when I was younger.

01:03:10.570 - 01:03:23.050

Um, what do you think is important to, like, create a successful performance? Uh, I know you said like connecting with the audience.

01:03:23.050 - 01:03:37.580

Connecting with the audience, to bring the audience to our world on stage. I call it sometimes like catch ball, when you do, um, playing ball game. You know, when you throw

01:03:37.580 - 01:03:48.260

something, have to have someone throw it back. You can’t just constantly throw it towards them, and nothing comes back. So, it’s the same thing on stage, you want to invite the audience to what

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we do on stage, so we become one. So sometimes, we call it when the magic happens. So that’s when you can feel the whole, whole theater becomes one, and that’s a very magical moment and

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also if you’re doing a story ballet, most ballets you have man and woman, you know there’s the—most ballets have a romantic love story, either it’s a tragic love story or there is a

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happy ending. But, when the chemistry happens between your dancers, that’s always a great moment also. Um, do you have any, like, advice for aspiring ballet artists?

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Um, you have to love, not just for ballet, but for any profession, if you don’t love it, I don’t think you can make it, not—maybe some can be forced

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and become successful, but I don’t think any profession—if you’re becoming a professional in something, there’s so much hard work behind it, nothing comes easy. So, if you don’t have the love and the drive, you can’t, you can’t

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make it . Yeah. Mm-hm. Um, and I guess overall, like, how has your experience moving around to so many different countries, how do you think that has changed you or helped you grow?

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Um, moving to different places always, um, happy and sad at the same time, because you have to say goodbye to your friends that you met but you get to meet new friends in different

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city, so, um, I love the getting connection with different people. So that’s making me a better person. Um, have you been able to go

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back to Japan? Yes. Um, and how has, I guess, Japan received you as, you know, gaining, uh, recognition as a ballerina in different countries, how has Japan received you as a

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ballet—ballerina? Um, they have been very supportive, I think. Um, but my ballet background also came from China. So, I’m also talking to, actually right now, as of now, I’m talking to the Chinese ballet

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side too, so maybe I will be able to go back and, um, give back what I—what I have learned to the Chinese school, so I do feel, I feel fortunate that I—even though my passport might be

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Japanese, but I can represent so many different countries, I can represent Japan, and Chinese ballet, and then I do represent America also. So, it’s been very, very . Do you feel like your, I guess, ballet

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style is, uh, a mix of all three or it changes based on what you’re performing and where you’re performing? Uh, it’s definitely a mix of a lot. But, I—but you have to constantly get better and learn new

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things, so I don’t know if I have still what I learned the first day from Chinese school or the Japanese school, because then I’m going backwards. So, I’m constantly trying to learn something

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new, so I don’t know what I am now, but I think, um, I’m my own way, I guess. Mm-hm. Okay, um, and that kind of concludes the interview today.

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Is there anything you’d like to add about—anything you’d like to add in the interview? No, I think we got quite a lot. Okay, great. Thank you so much for interviewing with us. No, thank you.