Today we’d like to introduce you to Yurie Ono.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a dancer, choreographer, and dance instructor from Japan. I started ballet when I was four and trained in classical ballet for about 15 years. When I was in college, I was studying veterinary medicine, but I joined a street dance team and discovered how much I truly loved dance.
After that, I started training and performing in different street dance styles, and eventually decided to make dance my career. I moved to New York, where I continued growing as a dancer and also started learning Contemporary dance.
Now, I work as a freelance dancer, choreographer, and teacher. I also serve as the Artistic Director, Choreographer, and Lead Dancer of Umami Playground Dance Inc. My journey has taken many unexpected turns, but I think all of those experiences have shaped the artist and person I am today.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not. My first and biggest struggle actually started with my family. I grew up with very strict parents, and we had a lot of conflict because we had very different ideas about what would make me happy.
For my parents, studying hard and getting a stable job meant having a good and happy life. They always wanted me to have a secure future, but they didn’t really support the things I truly loved and wanted to do. I wanted to dance, but I felt like I had to choose something that they would accept. That’s why I ended up studying veterinary medicine in college.
Even while I was studying veterinary medicine, I couldn’t completely let dance go. When I joined a street dance team in college, I realized how much I really loved dancing. Choosing dance as my career later was not easy because I had to go against the path I had been following for so many years.
The conflict with my parents was really tough for me, both mentally and financially. I knew they wanted me to have a stable and secure life, but at the same time, I felt like I was giving up the life I truly wanted if I followed their expectations. Choosing dance meant giving up a more stable career path and becoming financially independent while trying to build a career in dance.
There were many moments when I questioned myself and wondered if I was making the right decision. It was hard to keep going when I didn’t have the same financial security or support that I might have had if I had followed the path my parents wanted for me.
My path definitely hasn’t been smooth, but going through that experience made me understand more clearly how important dance is to me and what kind of life I want to create for myself. Now, I want to build a life where I can follow what I truly love.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a freelance dancer, choreographer, and dance instructor. As a dancer, I work across street, club, and contemporary dance. I currently work with a few contemporary companies as well as street and freestyle dance companies, and I also take on independent projects in different styles depending on the project.
I’m also the Artistic Director, Choreographer, and Lead Dancer of Umami Playground Dance Inc. I work closely with our director and dancers to create work together. We combine different dance backgrounds and cultures, and I really value the fact that we don’t try to make everyone move the same way. I’ve experienced so many different things in my life, and I know everyone carries their own experiences, even if we can’t always see them. I think that’s one reason I care so much about individuality. Each dancer has their own personality, experience, and way of moving, and I want that to be part of the work. To me, our differences are not something we need to hide or make smaller. They can become part of the beauty of the work, and I hope people can see a little bit of themselves in it.
As a choreographer, I’m interested in using movement to express ideas, feelings, and everyday experiences. I like simple concepts that people can connect to, but I also like finding different ways to show them through the body. I think my background in both street dance and contemporary dance has given me a unique way of approaching choreography. Street dance taught me a lot about individuality, musicality, and freestyle, while contemporary dance taught me to think more deeply about concepts and how the body can communicate them.
I’m also very passionate about teaching. I teach Waacking, Contemporary Fusion, and Floorwork, and I enjoy helping students understand their own bodies instead of just copying movements. I want them to feel comfortable exploring and finding their own way of moving.
What I’m most proud of is how I’ve kept accepting new things and new environments throughout my life. I’ve had to adjust many times, learn new things, and sometimes completely change the way I thought about dance and about myself. Instead of trying to stay the same, I’ve learned to take those experiences and make them part of my life. I think every new environment, person, and experience has taught me something and helped me grow, both as a person and as an artist.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
There are many ways people can work with me or support me. I’m always open to collaborating with dancers, choreographers, musicians, visual artists, and people from other creative fields. I really enjoy meeting people with different ideas and backgrounds and seeing what we can create together.
People can also connect with me through my classes and workshops. I teach Waacking, Contemporary Fusion, and Floorwork, and I enjoy helping people explore movement and find their own way of expressing themselves.
With Umami Playground, we’re also open to performing, teaching workshops, and creating projects with different artists, organizations, and communities. I especially enjoy projects where we can bring people from different backgrounds together.
And support doesn’t always have to be something big. Coming to a show or class, sharing our work, recommending us to someone, or simply telling me that something I created connected with you means a lot to me.
I’m always happy to hear new ideas, so if you feel like there could be something we can create together, please reach out.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yurie.siva/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yurie.ono.16
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yurie.ono23008
- Other: https://umamiplayground.wixsite.com/umami-playground-dan/team-1
