Sponsored by Luanne Adams and Murrell Smith
Adult Program Faculty, Company, Faculty
Born in Kanagawa, Japan, Maki enters her 20th season with The Washington Ballet after one season with The Studio Company. Before joining TWB, she danced and studied with Goh Ballet in Canada under Choo Chiat Goh and Lin Yee Goh. She trained at John Crank Ballet School in Stuttgart, Germany, on a full scholarship under the direction of Tadeusz Matacz and at Mika Sasaki Ballet Academy under Mika Sasaki and Mikio Ikehata. Additionally, she attended Boston Ballet’s summer program on scholarship.
She has received numerous awards, including the 2010 bronze medal at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, a MetroDC Dance Award for Outstanding Individual Performance for Wunderland by Edwaard Liang in 2011, and a gold medal at the VKIBC competition in 2014.
She has performed leading roles in numerous ballets, including Ashton’s The Dream, Birthday Offering, Meditation from Thais Pas de deux, Balanchine’s Serenade, Allegro Brilliance, Theme and Variations, Tchaikovsky Pas de deux, Rubies, Violin Concerto, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Giselle, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, Diana and Acteon, La Sylphide, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Flames of Paris. She also has performed in contemporary works by Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Edwaard Liang, William Forsythe, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Karole Armitage, Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Jiri Kylian, Septime Webre, Christopher Bruce, and Trey McIntyre. She toured in Hawaii, Turkey, Georgia, and the Dominican Republic with the Washington Ballet, and she was invited to participate in gala performances in Moscow, Milan, Johannesburg, Japan, Columbia/South Carolina, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and West Virginia.
Headshot credit: Dr. Ceylon Mitchell, M3 Mitchell Media & Marketing
