Quick Facts

Born: Nagoya, Japan
Trained: Shiho Kanazawa Ballet School in Japan, The HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida and San Francisco Ballet School
Joined as a First Soloist: 2019
Principal Dancer Since: 2021

Five Things to Know

1. 1Koto was involved with competitive swimming before she started ballet lessons at the age of 11. She began her professional training at the HARID Conservatory in Florida.
    
2. 2Her training and early career have involved travel from her hometown of Nagoya, Japan to Florida, San Francisco and Toronto. She was a Soloist with San Francisco Ballet before joining The National Ballet of Canada as a First Soloist in 2019.
    
3. 3Her repertoire with the National Ballet includes the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty. She also danced in Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, Chroma, Piano Concerto #1 and Petite Mort, among other works.
    
4. 4With San Francisco Ballet, she performed principal roles in ballets such as Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Cinderella, RAkU, The Kingdom of the Shades, Brahms Quartet, The Four Temperaments and Serenade.
    
5. 5She created roles in Jiří Bubeníček’s Fragile Vessels, Alonzo King’s The Collective Agreement, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Guernica and Benjamin Millepied’s The Chairman Dances – Quartet for Two.

Favourite Ballets

1. 1Onegin
    
2. 2The Lady of the Camellias (John Neumeier)
3.  
4. 3Romeo and Juliet
    
5. 4Giselle
    
6. 5The Sleeping Beauty

Full Biography

Koto Ishihara was born in Nagoya, Japan and trained at the Shiho Kanazawa Ballet School in Japan, The HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida and San Francisco Ballet School. Koto danced with San Francisco Ballet as a Soloist before she joined The National Ballet of Canada as a First Soloist in 2019. In 2021, she was promoted to Principal Dancer.  

Most recently, Koto made her debut as Oryx in the world premiere of MADDADDAM by Wayne McGregor and performed in the Canadian premiere of David Dawson’s Anima Animus. A technically precise artist who excels in both classical and contemporary works, Koto's repertoire with the National Ballet includes the Sugar Plum Fairy and Bee in The Nutcracker and the Second Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty. A virtuoso yet nuanced performer, Koto has shone in featured roles in Romeo and Juliet, Chaconne, Symphony in C, Etudes, Piano Concerto #1 and Chroma. 

Koto’s repertoire with San Francisco Ballet includes principal roles in Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Cinderella, RAkU, Suite en Blanc, The Kingdom of the Shades, Raymonda, Swimmer, Brahms Quartet, The Chairman Dances – Quartet for Two, Divertimento No.15, The Four Temperaments and Serenade.  

In 2010, Koto won first place at Youth America Grand Prix San Francisco and the silver medal at The International Dance Festival TANZOLYMP. She placed third in 2005 at the Japan Grand Prix and in 2004, she placed first at The Ballet Competition for Youth and third at Competition 21.