Akane Takada

Akane Takada is a Japanese Principal of The Royal Ballet, becoming the company's first Japanese principal in nearly two decades when promoted in 2016. Born in Tokyo, she began training at the Hiromi Takahashi Ballet Studio from age three, before studying at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. A Prix de Lausanne scholarship in 2008 brought her to The Royal Ballet.

Takada is admired for her clarity of line, musical sensitivity, and understated dramatic power in the great classical roles: Giselle, Odette/Odile, Aurora, Nikiya, and Kitri. She has also created roles in several Wayne McGregor works including Limen, Tetractys, and Woolf Works, in which she performed the role of Lucrezia. Her delicacy and precise neck work are hallmarks of a style that bridges the Russian and English classical traditions.