Aki Saito

Aki Saito began her ballet training in Japan. In 1990, she won the first prize at the Japanese Competition for Young Dancers and in 1991 was awarded a scholarship at The Prix de Lausanne which allowed her to train at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp. She won the gold medal at the Concours International de Danse in Houlgate, France and in 1994 joined the Royal Ballet of Flanders as a demi-soloist. In 2004, she was promoted to the rank of principal dancer. During that time, she danced the leading roles in the company’s various repertoire, including The Sleeping Beauty, Onegin, Giselle, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadère, and Don Quixote as well as a new version of Swan Lake created on her by Marcia Haydée, Theme and Variations, The Four Temperaments, Who Cares?, Divertimento No.15, Artifact, In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, Sonate, Forgotten Land, Infra, Chronicle, The Grey Area to name a few.

She has appeared as guest artist to various international ballet companies and performances, including Ballet de Santiago, Hong Kong Ballet, the Gala des Etoiles Paris, The Gala of Prix de Lausanne, Dance Salad Houston, The Prague Ballet Gala.

In 2018, Aki danced Akram Khan’s Giselle as her farewell performance with the Royal Ballet of Flanders, earning her a nomination for “Dancer of The Year” by DANCE EUROPE.

She is currently a faculty member at the Royal Ballet School Antwerp. Aki has served as a jury member with the Prix de Lausanne in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2017. In 2016, she got knighted to become Chevalier in the Order of Leopold, a very prestigious recognition in Belgium, for her outstanding work in the field of dance.