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Yumiko Takeshima

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Yumiko Takeshima (竹島 由美子, Takeshima Yumiko, born 1970) is a Japanese designer and former Principal dancer with Semperoper Ballett, Universal Ballet, the Alberta Ballet Company, Feld Ballet, and the Dutch National Ballet. Born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Takeshima began dancing at the age of four in Sapporo. At the age of thirteen, she studied at the San Francisco Ballet School in the United States. Takeshima continued to dance throughout the 90s and early 2000s and started designing dancewear and costumes for ballet companies from all over the world.

Takeshima founded the dancewear company YUMIKO and the YumiGirl Network in 2002. Her dancewear was used in Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 award winning film Black Swan. She was the 2003 and 2005 recipient of the 'Best Female Dancer Award' by Dance Europe Magazine and won a gold medal at the 1996 Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition in Kiev.

Early life and training

Takeshima was born on 5 August 1970 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan and grew up in Ebetsu, Hokkaido.[1] Her grandfather and parents owned a small kimono shop.[2] She has often cited this as being the beginning of her inspirations for her later work as a designer.[3] At the age of four, she began her ballet training at the Miharu Ishikawa Ballet School.[4] At the age of thirteen, she was accepted into the San Francisco Ballet School.[1]

Career

Takeshima danced with Universal Ballet in Korea, the Alberta Ballet Company in Canada, and the Feld Ballet in the United States.[5] In 1993, she moved to Holland and joined the Dutch National Ballet in 1993.[5] In 2006, Aaron Watkin, the director of the Semperoper Ballett, based in Dresden, Germany, asked Takeshima to join the company as a Principal dancer.[1][5] Takeshima was a long time dance partner of Watkin and agreed to join the newly revisioned company.[6]

Takeshima begin sketching designs for leotards and experimenting with various fabrics in her free time as a dancer when she exchanged a toaster for a sewing machine.[7] At the time, other dancers in the company took notice and soon began asking for custom body suits of their own.[7] Takeshima founded the dancewear brand YUMIKO in 2002 which has stores in New York, Spain, Germany, and Japan.[7] Design workshops and clothing production for the brand is done in Cazalla de la Sierra in the Province of Seville, Spain.[8]

As a costume designer, Takeshima has designed for choreographers George Balanchine, David Dawson, Jorma Elo, Krzysztof Pastor, Alexei Ratmansky, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and William Forsythe;[5][9][10] for ballet companies such as The Royal Ballet,[11] Finnish National Ballet,[5] Scottish Ballet,[12] Boston Ballet,[9] Vienna State Ballet,[9] Polish National Ballet,[10] Norwegian National Ballet,[10] Royal Ballet of Flanders,[10] Mariinsky Ballet,[10] Pacific Northwest Ballet,[13] West Australian Ballet,[14] Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet,[15] and Semperoper Ballett;[16] and her dancewear was featured in the Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 award winning film Black Swan.[1][5] Her designs have been called “elegant, simple and among the most beautiful dance costumes in the European dance scene.”[5] Takeshima's first design and collaboration was with Dawson for the Dutch National Ballet in 2000.[5]

Takeshima was the 2003 and 2005 recipient of the 'Best Female Dancer Award' by Dance Europe Magazine and won a gold medal at the 1996 Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition in Kiev.[17] Takeshima has also performed at numerous galas such as multiple performances at the International Ballet Star Gala at the National Theater and Concert Hall, Taipei.[17][18] In April 2014, Takeshima retired from dancing.[17] Her final performance was in Dawson's classical ballet Giselle, a ballet created on Takeshima and in which she also designed the costumes.[17]

Personal life

Takeshima is married to Mark Mahler Gomez who helped her co-found YUMIKO.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Kris Kosaka (3 May 2011). "Dancewear's 'principal' designer, on stage and off". The Japan Times. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  2. ^ Maggie Foyer (11 May 2014). "Retiring ballerina Yumiko Takeshima on her career and designing dancewear". CriticalDance. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  3. ^ David Mead. "Stitches From Steps". No. February 2015. Dancing Times. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Yumiko Takeshima". The Royal Ballet. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Emilia & Linda (21 March 2011). "DESIGNING FOR THE STAGE: AN INTERVIEW WITH YUMIKO TAKESHIMA". The Ballet Bag. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  6. ^ Laura Cappelle (1 October 2014). "Director's Notes: Repertoire Revamp". Pointe. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Kendra Ratliff (1 February 2010). "Yumiko, A Ballerina With Style". Movmnt. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  8. ^ Pilar Bernal (12 October 2015). "Paseo de cine por Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  9. ^ a b c Laura Cappelle (20 April 2014). "Interview: Yumiko Takeshima". Bella Figura. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  10. ^ a b c d e "About Yumiko". Scottish Ballet. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  11. ^ Zoë Anderson (12 November 2013). "Dance review: The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House". The Independent. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  12. ^ Luke Jennings (15 May 2016). "Swan Lake review – antique and modern". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  13. ^ "PNB 2014-2015 season, plus Stowell/Sendak "Nutcracker" last". Pacific Northwest Ballet. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  14. ^ Sarah Green (6 February 2016). "Five by Night: Ballet at the Quarry". Australian Stage Online. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  15. ^ Leilah Bernstein (17 July 2015). "Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet Balances Music and Movement". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  16. ^ Roslyn Sulcas (17 February 2015). "At Dresden Semperoper A New Take on Tristan and Isolde". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  17. ^ a b c d "SEMPEROPER BALLETT PRESENTS 'GISELLE'". Dance Informa. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  18. ^ Diane Baker (11 April 2011). "The Weekender: A week in the world of dance". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  19. ^ GUADALUPE JIMÉNEZ (7 July 2015). "Yumiko, la bailarina nipona cuyos diseños hechos en Cazalla dan la vuelta al mundo". ABC Newspaper (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 November 2016.
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