Yuriko Kajiya - Early Life

Early Life

Yuriko was born in Nagoya, Japan, and started training with Matsumoto Michiko Ballet when she was eight years old. She moved to China at the age of 10, where she studied with and graduated from the school of the Shanghai Ballet. She won the Best Performance Award in the senior category at the Tao Li Bei National Ballet Competition in 1997, at age 13. In 1999, she was a finalists at the Third International Ballet Competition, held in Nagoya. She won a Prix de Lausanne in January 2000, allowing her to continue her training with the school of the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto.