Congratulations to our ballet teacher Kenta Kura
We are preparing to bid a fond farewell to ballet teacher Kenta Kura who will be returning to Japan after nearly a decade of teaching at The Royal Ballet School. At the end of the School year, Kenta will join one of Japan’s largest ballet schools, K-BALLET ACADEMY and K-BALLET SCHOOL, as the newly appointed Director.
K-BALLET SCHOOL was founded in 2003 by Tetsuya Kumakawa, former Principal of The Royal Ballet and founder of K-BALLET COMPANY, and offers classes to meet the various needs of both children and adults.
K-BALLET will launch K-BALLET ACADEMY in September, with a new course providing a tailored education for Japanese dancers to prepare them for international study programmes.
The first Japanese teacher appointed to the School’s Artistic Staff, Kenta joined The Royal Ballet School upon retirement from his role as Soloist with The Royal Ballet after 17 years with the company. He contributed to embedding the School’s positive, holistic teaching ethos, driven by his commitment to and passion for nurturing young dancers.
Kenta has been a cherished ballet teacher at White Lodge, known for his ability to encourage students to be curious, to challenge themselves, and to not fear making mistakes. Our students are fortunate to have benefited from his expertise and enthusiasm for the art form.
Artistic Director & CEO, Christopher Powney, offered his sincere thanks to Kenta:
Kenta has been a valued teacher at The Royal Ballet School for the past nine years, having been a student at the Upper School and a dancer with The Royal Ballet. He has dedicated his career to British ballet at the highest level and taught, nurtured and supported the next generations of dancers. He has done this with the utmost integrity and pride, and I cannot thank him enough for being the most conscientious, hardworking and dedicated team member. We will miss him immensely and wish him every success on his exciting new adventure.
Kenta graciously spoke of his departure from The Royal Ballet School:
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at the School, both staff and students. A special thank you to Christopher Powney for his unwavering support from day one.
The Royal Ballet School is a wonderful school because of so many great people who work here. I am so grateful and will take a lot of what I have learned with me in my career. I will look back on my time here as a valuable period in my professional life.
I wish the School continued success, and I hope to stay in touch in the future.
From the staff, students, and supporters, we wish Kenta all the best for his new and exciting chapter with K-BALLET, and we thank him for his outstanding contribution to The Royal Ballet School.
