Born in Saitama, Japan, Ryo Kato trained at the National Conservatory of Dance School in Portugal and was a Soloist at State Ballet of Georgia in 2012. He joined Hong Kong Ballet as a Corps de Ballet member in 2015 and was named Soloist in 2016. He joined Houston Ballet in 2017 and returned to HKB in 2024.

With HKB, Kato has danced featured and main roles, including Prince Siegfried in John Meehan's Swan Lake, Prince in Terence Kohler's The Nutcracker, Blue Bird in Cynthia Harvey's The Sleeping Beauty and Paris in Rudi van Dantzig's Romeo and Juliet. He has also danced in George Balanchine's Serenade and Fei Bo's Shenren Chang. Prior to joining the company, he performed roles like Count Albert and Basilio in Alexei Fadeyechev's Giselle and Don Quixote, respectively, and Philips in Vasily Vainonen's Flames of Paris.

With Houston Ballet, he performed as Prince Desire and Blue Bird in Ben Stevenson‘s The Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker Prince in Stanton Welch’s The Nutcracker, Prince Siegfried in Welch’s Swan Lake, Basilio in Stevenson’s Don Quixote and James in La Sylphide as well as in works by Justin Peck, Trey McIntyre, Cathy Marson, Jorma Elo and Aszure Barton.

In 2012 Kato was a finalist at Prix de Lausanne competition in Switzerland.

Dancer Q&A

1. Why do you dance?
It’s because I love it! 

2. What does ballet mean to you?
I can express myself. 

3. Why did you start dancing?
I started to dance when I was a kid. 

4. What was the first ballet you ever performed?
My first performance was Seguidille from Don Quixote. 

5. What is the most challenging ballet you have danced and what made it so challenging? 
The most challenging ballet I danced was La Sylphide. It was really challenging for me to try to do Bournonville style. 

6. Most memorable/weird onstage moment and why? 
The most memorable onstage moment is Basilio from Don Quixote.

7. How do you unwind after a show? 
I will drink Coke to unwind after a show. 

8. What attribute do you most like about yourself? 
I like jumping.

9. What keeps you motivated on tough days? 
I’m always thinking that ‘if I can do it now, I can do onstage as well’. 

10. What place do you feel most yourself? 
I feel most myself when I’m onstage. 

11. If you could have one more talent, what would it be? 
I would play piano.

12. What is your favourite food? 
My favourite food is sushi. 

13. What would you be if you were not a dancer? 
If I’m not a dancer I’ll be probably another athlete. 

14. What are your hobbies? 
My clothing style is very casual! 

15. What are your hobbies?
None. I’m looking for it! 

16. What is your favourite movie/book?
My favourite movie is Leon. . 

17. What is the most interesting place you have ever visited or want to visit? 
I want to go to Italy because I’ve never been.

18. What is the coolest thing about being a dancer? 
The coolest thing about being a dancer is you can be someone else. 

19. If you could have a super power, what would it be? 
If I could have a super power, I’ll try to figure out how I got it!  

20. Who is your favourite dancer who has inspired you?
 My favourite dancers who have inspired me are Baryshnikov, Kumakawa and Soloviev.