Ema Takahashi

Ema Takahashi was born in Japan and moved to New Zealand at the age of three, starting dancing in Christchurch the same year. She began full-time training through Convergence Dance Studio’s ‘Aspire’ programme in 2020 before being accepted into the New Zealand Youth Ballet Company in 2021 and 2022. Her tutors at New Zealand Youth Ballet included former RNZB Principal Abigail Boyle. In 2022 she was awarded her RAD Solo Seal and was also runner-up in the National Young Performer Awards. She was a member of the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s National Mentor Programme in 2021 and 2022. Ema performed with the RNZB as a guest for Cinderella and Venus Rising in 2022 and joined the company as the Royal New Zealand Ballet Foundation Scholar in 2023 and was promoted to Artist in 2025. 

In 2023, Ema danced in Holberg Suite and Cold Winter’s Waiting for Tutus On Tour, as a Montague Lady in Romeo and Juliet by Andrea Schermoly, and in George Balanchine’s Serenade. She closed out the year as a Child, Fairy and Witch in Loughlan Prior’s Hansel and Gretel. In the 2024 revival of Russell Kerr’s Swan Lake, Ema danced as a Cygnet and in the Neapolitan Divertissement. She also originated the role of ‘Chicken’ in RNZB’s newest children’s ballet, Dazzlehands.