Kuu
Sakuragi
Kuu Sakuragi (he/him) is from Bellevue, Washington. He studied on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, where he began as a DanceChance student at the Francia Russell Center. He attended summer courses at Houston Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, San Francisco Ballet, the School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He was a recipient of the Flemming Halby Exchange with the Royal Danish Ballet School. In 2017, Mr. Sakuragi joined Alberta Ballet as an apprentice and was promoted to company dancer in 2018. He joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2020, and was promoted to soloist in 2023.
At Alberta Ballet, Mr. Sakuragi performed leading roles in Christopher Anderson’s Cinderella, Jean Grand-Maître’s Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and The Drum, Helen Pickett’s Petal, Edmund Stripe’s The Nutcracker, and Wen Wei Wang’s Futureland.
Featured & Leading Roles
George Balanchine
Allegro Brillante
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(Puck)
The Nutcracker
(Soldier Doll, Green Tea Cricket, Candy Cane)
Peter Boal
Giselle
(Peasant Pas)
Alejandro Cerrudo
Little mortal jump
Alexander Ekman
Cacti
Jiří Kylián
Sechs Tänze (Six Dances)
Jessica Lang
Ghost Variations
Edwaard Liang
The Veil Between Worlds
Jean-Christophe Maillot
Roméo et Juliette
(Benvolio)
David Parsons
Caught
Crystal Pite
The Seasons’ Canon
Kent Stowell
Carmina Burana
Swan Lake
(Jester)
Twyla Tharp
Sweet Fields
Waiting at the Station
(Son)
Original Roles
Donald Byrd
Love and Loss
Jessica Lang
Let Me Mingle Tears With Thee
Vincent Michael Lopez
Op. 21
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
Khepri
Amanda Morgan
This Space Left Intentionally Blank
Alexei Ratmansky
Wartime Elegy
Dwight Rhoden
Catching Feelings
Kiyon Ross
…throes of increasing wonder
DanceChance in 2024 – By the Numbers!
Today on the PNB Blog, we’re sharing about the DanceChance program - join us as we tally some numbers worth dancing about!
PNB Dancers You Should Follow on Instagram
Looking to beautify your feed with more ballet? We have the solution! Here’s a comprehensive list of all the PNB dancers with public Instagram accounts. Plus, be sure to follow the PNB Instagram and PNB School to stay up to date with the company.
Dancer Promotions! Clara Ruf Maldonado, Kuu Sakuragi, and Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan
Before the curtain-raiser performance of Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy on opening night of LOVE & LOSS, Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal and Associate Artistic Director Kiyon Ross announced to the audience that corps de ballet dancers Clara Ruf Maldonado and Kuu Sakuragi have been promoted Soloists, and Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan has been promoted to Principal dancer.
Q&A with Corps Member Kuu Sakuragi
How has your approach to your career changed over the past years? My approach to my work has changed due to my experience in dance over time. As I build more confidence in my abilities, the more I can explore and push myself to the next step.