Jessey Yokoyama

Jessey began her ballet journey at the age of 9 at Ballet Studio Liliya in Japan. After moving to Canada, she trained under Arlene Minkhorst at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and then continued her studies with Ida Gerasolo at I.D.A. International Dance Academy, where she has been since 2017.

Following her high school graduation, she enrolled at Humber College, earning a diploma in Protection, Security, and Investigation. The strong emphasis I.D.A. places on balancing academics and ballet training allowed her to pursue post-secondary education while fully committing to her dance training. During her time at I.D.A., she was offered trainee and apprentice positions with Oklahoma City Ballet, Ballet de Barcelona, United Ballet Theatre, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Recently, she competed in the Global Dance Open finals in Spain, where she placed first in both her ballet variation and contemporary solo, earning four scholarships to dance in Québec, NYC, Madrid, and Florence. In July 2024, she competed at the South African International Ballet Competition in Cape Town, where she received third place in the final round.

With her extensive training in the I.D.A. International Dance Arts syllabus, Jessey hopes to inspire the next generation of dancers through teaching and coaching.