AVAILABLE FOR YOUR EVENT

Misako Ballet Company is available to dance at your cultural, corporate, multicultural, or educational events!

Misako Ballet Company creates classical ballet and Japanese-themed performances to bring joy to our community and increase awareness of Howard County's cultural diversity. Artistic director, Misako Aoki and the Professional and Student Company dancers present “classical ballet with a Japanese twist”. 

Additionally, our Japanese Cultural Workshop is suitable and adaptable for students of all ages. MBC will visit schools to present an interactive introduction to Japanese culture and dance. Activities include learning introductions, greetings and counting in Japanese; storytelling; and dance. 

MBC normally charges a fee for these unique opportunities as our dancers are paid professionals.

A Letter from the Artistic Director

My background and training is in classical ballet, so of course, I’ve always been interested in creating traditional ballet pieces for performance - Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere, Swan Lake, Esmeralda, and so on.

And I am Japanese, so whatever I do is with Japanese spirit.

When I created Misako Ballet Company, I wanted to present a form that combined Western style ballet with Japanese culture. From there, our company theme "Classical with a Japanese Twist" was born. And I started to make one-act ballets based on Japanese folktales. Beautiful, funny, interesting, and always with a life lesson.

Through our ballets, I want our audience to share in the fun from my childhood in Japan. Going through narrow streets and climbing up small mountains and fishing at rivers. Children running around and playing together outside using small Japanese toys around the wells. Playing at the yard of shrines and temples.

Music is an important element in my choreography. It inspires my decision making - as do my dancers.

I am so lucky to have dancers who are all devoted to this company. Ballet is very hard work. We practice again and again and again. We labor over detailed changes and corrections to continuously improve.

And ultimately, our dancing tells a story we hope you will enjoy. I look forward to seeing you at our next performance.

- Misako Aoki

Misako Aoki, Artistic Director began her dance training in Japan and later at the Royal Ballet School in London. From there she joined the Matsuyama Ballet Company, one of the major companies in Japan.  With them she performed in Europe and China with Rudolf Nureyev. After moving to the United States, Misako  founded her own studio and taught at Towson and UMBC.  She was also a rehearsal assistant for the Moscow’s Ballet Nutcracker and the Washington Ballet’s Nutcracker at the Hippodrome.  Misako is the Artistic Director of Misako Ballet Company (a non-profit, professional dance company). She has served as a scholarship review panelist for Howard County Arts Council for several years and as a Dance panelist at Maryland State Arts Council in 2015.  Ms. Misako Aoki is the recipient for the Howard County Arts Council’s FY 2019 Mark Ryder Original Choreography Grant.

Misako Ballet Company Dancers

Sara Bradna is originally from Chicago, Illinois. She began her dance training in Oak Park, Illinois, at the Academy of Movement and Music where she performed with Momenta!. Sara continued her training with Homer Bryant, performing with Bryant Ballet of Chicago. She went on to train with Dolores Lipinski-Long and Larry Long at Ruth Page Center for the Arts where she performed with Ruth Page’s Chicago Civic Ballet. Since relocating to the Washington, DC area, Sara has performed professionally with Nancy Flores, Moveius Contemporary Ballet, and Olney Ballet Theatre. Aside from dancing, Sara enjoys spending time with her husband, Trevor, and their two dogs, Lula Mae & Milo.

Jessica Markiewicz received her early training with Barbara Willis at the Carter School of Dance, and continued her training at the Ballet Royale Institute of Maryland under Vyacheslav Mesropov. Ms. Markiewicz has attended summer programs at The Washington School of Ballet, the Kirov Academy in Washington D.C., and American Ballet Theater. She has also received her Cecchetti Intermediate certificate. Jessica graduated with a B.A. in Dance from Goucher College, and also has an M.A. in Dance Education with a concentration in ABT Ballet Pedagogy from New York University. She has been a member of Misako Ballet Company since 2007, and currently teaches dance in AACPS.

Artistic Recognition

Ms. Misako Aoki is the recipient for the Howard County Arts Council’s FY 2019 Mark Ryder Original Choreography Grant! 

We are incredibly honored to announce that out Artistic Director Misako Aoki has been awarded the 2019 Mark Ryder Original Choreography Grant from Howard County Arts Council.

This grant program was established to "recognize individual creative expression and to provide financial assistance to choreographers to create a new work and to broaden opportunities for artists and encourage and sustain their pursuit of artistic excellence."

Mr. Ryder was an established mover and leader in the community, dancing alongside Martha Graham in the 1940s and serving as the Dance Department Chair at University of Maryland before retirement.

We are incredibly grateful for this opportunity and join us in congratulating Misako Aoki!

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