Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kai Kanzaki trained at The Tokyo Ballet School and graduated from The National Conservatory Dance School in Portugal in 2019. He then performed with State Ballet of Georgia before joining Hong Kong Ballet as a Corps de Ballet member in 2021 and became Coryphée in 2023.

With HKB, he was featured as Blue Bird in Cynthia Harvey’s The Sleeping Beauty, the Nutcracker, Lead Peacock and Lead Jockey in Septime Webre’s The Nutcracker and Joker in Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland). He also danced in George Balanchine’s Jewels and Webre’s Cinderella and Romeo + Juliet. His other repertoire includes Alexei Fadeyechev’s Swan Lake, Giselle and The Sleeping Beauty, Vassily Vainonen’s The Nutcracker, Mikhail Fokine’s Firebird, Yuri Possokhov’s Medea with State Ballet of Georgia and Eric Volodine’s Don Quixote with National Ballet of Portugal, among others.

Kanzaki’s accolades include first prize at the 2017 NBA Ballet Competition, silver medalist at the 2018 TanzOlymp in Berlin and semi-finalist at the 2018 Varna International Ballet Competition.

Dancer Q&A

1. Why did you start dancing?
My older sister was doing ballet before I started.

2. What was the first ballet you ever performed?
The Nutcracker.

3. How do you unwind after a show?
Go to eat some tasty food with my friends.

4. Where do you feel most yourself?
At home with my family.

5. What’s your favourite food?
Korean BBQ.

6. What would you be if you were not a dancer?
Office worker.

7. What are your hobbies?
Watching movies or dramas.

8. What is your favorite movie/book?
The Notebook.

9. What is the most interesting place you have ever visited or want to visit?
I’d love to visit Paris someday.

10. Who is your favourite dancer?
Mikhail Baryshnikov.