Risa Yoshimura (ne’e Hoshi) is a Japanese contemporary dancer, choreographer, and educator in Hawai’i.

She began her dance training at the age of seven with the Fuji Ballet Comapny/Izumi Kawamura Dance Company in Akita, Japan, under the direction of Izumi Kawamura, head of the Tohoku Branch of the Japan Contemporary Dance Association. Ms. Kawamura studied Tanztheater in Germany under renowned choreographer Pina Bausch and also trained in New York in Cunningham Technique through programs supported by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs.

While training with the company, Yoshimura served as an assistant instructor and youth choreographer, creating original works for younger dancers. In 2013, she was selected for Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs Overseas Study Program for upcoming artists and studied contemporary dance at the Peridance Center in New York City.

Yoshimura relocated to Hawaii in 2015 and has since established herself as a performer, choreographer, and dance educator. Since 2022, she has taught, choreographed, and performed with organizations including Honolulu Classical Ballet, Mid-Pacific Institute, and Pas De Deux Hawaii.

Her work has been recognized through awards at national dance competitions in Japan and internationally, including the Yokohama Competition, the Saitama National Dance Competition, and the Dance Plan Award. In 2004, she received the Edward A “Skeep” Langhans Guest Artist/Scholar Award from the University of Hawai’i.

Awards & Honors

2024

-Edward A. “Skeep” Langhans Guest Artist/Scholar Award, University of Hawai’i

2012

-Dance Plan Award

-3rd Prize (2), President’s Award of the Prefectural Federation of Cultural Organizations, 45th Saitama National Dance Competition

-4th Place, 31st Akita National Dance Newcomer Award/Dance Plan Award

2011

-Kawakami Suzuko Spanish Dance Newcomer Award/Dance Plan Award

2010

-2nd Award, Yokohama Competition

-Kanagawa Prefectural Arts Dance Association Excellence Award

2002

-4th Place, 69th All-Japan Dance Competition (Contemporary Dance Division I)