• Ex Principal Dancer and leading soloist for the Leonid Yacobson Ballet and Swansea Ballet Russe
• Graduated from the Vaganova Academy (class of M. A. Vassilieva) and of the Royal Ballet School
Chika Temma is a distinguished ballet educator and former Principal Dancer with an illustrious international career spanning Japan, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Her unique background blends the precision of The Royal Ballet School with the soul and technical mastery of the Vaganova tradition.
Chika Temma’s foundational training began at the Temma Ballet School in Osaka, followed by two years at The Royal Ballet School in London. She then achieved the rare distinction of training at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg under the tutelage of the legendary M. A. Vassilieva.
Her professional dancing career is marked by nearly a decade as a Principal and Soloist for the Leonid Yacobson State Academy Ballet Theatre in Russia. She later served as the Principal Dancer and Director of Swansea Ballet Russe (Wales) and Guest Principal for Cork City Ballet (Ireland). Her extensive repertoire includes the leading roles in Swan Lake (Odette/Odile), Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty (Aurora), Don Quixote (Kitri), and Coppélia (Swanilda).
Since 2008, Chika Temma has been the Principal of the Bristol Russian Ballet School and Youth Ballet Company. A highly sought-after pedagogue, she is a faculty member at the Bristol Conservatoire and has served as a guest teacher for the London Studio Centre and Temma Ballet School in Japan. Her international impact extends to masterclasses and workshops across the UK, Ireland, Dubai, and the USA. Through her dedicated teaching, Chika continues to preserve and transmit the excellence of classical Russian ballet to the next generation of dancers.
