Neneka Yoshida

Introducing Neneka 

Born in Kanazawa, Japan, Neneka started her dance training at aged 3 at the Keiko Miyanishi Ballet Studio. At 15 years old she moved across the world to Paris, to start her professional training with Dominique Khalfouni. In 2010, Neneka moved to Spain, and studied with the Fundacion Para la Danza.

She was then accepted into the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in 2011, where she was taught by ballet icons Claude de Vulpian and Celine Talon. Neneka moved to Australia in 2014 and joined Queensland ballet as a Jette Parker Young Artist. She quickly climbed her way up the ranks, being promoted to Company Artist in 2015, Soloist in 2018, and Senior Soloist in 2019. In 2021 Neneka was promoted to Principal Artist with the company.  

Repertoire Highlights  

• 'Manon' in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon
• 'Bethena couple' in Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations
• 'Princess Aurora' in Greg Horsman's The Sleeping Beauty
• 'Mina' in Krzysztof Pastor's Dracula
• 'Ballerina' in Harald Lander‘s Études  
• Cloudland pas de deux from François Klaus’ Cloudland  
• 'Giselle' in Ai-Gul Gaisina’s Giselle 
• 'Russian Girl' in George Balanchine's Serenade 
• 'Madame de Trouvel' in Dangerous Liaisons  
• 'Sugar Plum Fairy', 'Snow Queen' and 'Clara' in Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker  
• 'Cinderella' in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella  
• 'The Firebird' in Liam Scarlett’s Firebird   
• 'Nikiya' in Greg Horsman's La Bayadère  
• 'Odile' in Ben Stevenson's Swan Lake  
• 'Tinkerbell' in Trey McIntyre's Peter Pan  
• 'Moth' in Liam Scarlett's A Midsummer Night's Dream  
• Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo & Juliet  
• 'Diana and Actéon' Pas de deux in Isabelle Ciaravola et ses solistes  
• Jiří Kylián's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen  
• Benjamin Millepied’s Plainspoken  
• 'Titania', 'Hermia' in Liam Scarlett's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Professional Accolades  

• Awarded the Gold Medal of Concours International de Danse de Biarritz  

• Gold Medal of Concours International Chausson d’Or in 2012  

• Finalist at the Prix de Lausanne in 2013.  

Did you know… 

Neneka lived in France for 3 years.

“You can learn from watching other beautiful dancers but try to never compare yourself. We all have different physical abilities and strengths, and it is important to know yourself well and be confident with what you have.”