Meet Principal Artist

Ako Kondo

Poised and elegant The Age

Introducing Ako

Ako was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1991. At three years old she began her training at Shiho Kanazawa Ballet Studio. In 2005 Ako won second prize at the Japan Grand Prix and in 2006 she studied at The Royal Ballet School’s International Summer School. In 2007 she was awarded The Australian Ballet School Tuition Scholarship, which was announced at the Youth America Grand Prix. Ako toured with The Dancers Company in 2008 and in 2010 she joined The Australian Ballet. She was promoted to principal artist in April 2015 following her debut as Giselle.

an exceptionally fluent dancer

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

REPERTOIRE HIGHLIGHTS

  • Titania in Sir Frederick Ashton’s The Dream 2015
  • Giselle in Maina Gielgud’s Giselle 2015
  • Baroness von Rothbart in Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake 2015
  • Lescaut’s Mistress in Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon 2014
  • Nikiya and Gamzatti in Stanton Welch’s La Bayadère 2014

REPERTOIRE HIGHLIGHTS

  • Sugar Plum Fairy in Sir Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker 2014
  • Kitri in Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote 2013
  • Principal Lady in Marius Petipa’s Paquita 2013
  • The Sylphide in La Sylphide 2013
  • Glen Tetley’s Gemini 2012

You may not know

Ako is currently learning her third language, Chinese, and plans to learn more languages in the future.

Professional accolades

Awards
  • Susan Morgan Scholarship 2013
  • Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nominee 2015, 2012
Guest appearances
  • The Dancers Company tour, 2012

In the media

A revelation

The Age