Yumiko Takeshima
Biography
The Japanese designer Yumiko Takeshima was formerly a principal dancer with the Semperoper Ballett, the Alberta Ballet Company, the Dutch National Ballet and other companies. After completing her studies at the San Francisco Ballet School, she continued to dance throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. In 1996, she won a gold medal at the Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition in Kyiv; in 2003 and 2005, she received Dance Europe Magazine’s Best Female Dancer Award. Her final stage performance was in the title role in David Dawson’s production of Giselle, for which she created the costumes.
She has designed dancewear and costumes since the early 2000s. In 2002, she founded her own brand, YUMIKO. Takeshima has made costumes for David Dawson, Jorma Elo, Krysztof Pastor, Alexey Ratmansky, William Forsythe and other distinguished choreographers.
Her dancewear was featured in Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 award-winning film Black Swan.