Yuiko Masukawa is a Japanese choreographer based in Naarm (Melbourne) Australia. Her work brings together the inclusive and iconoclastic ethos of contemporary performance with her deep expertise of ballet. She has worked extensively between Japan and Australia to create connections between her two homes.

In 2026, she will premiere a new commission for The Australian Ballet, This Moment, as part of its Signature Works season. This follows on from previous presentations with the company: Standing on a Rising Wave for Bodytorque, Yugen for Frame Festival, and receiving TAB’s Telstra Emerging Choreographer’s Award for her film 3. In September 2025, Yuiko presented a full-length performance iteration of 3, a choreographic work for three dancers, a basketball team and a live cinematographer.

In addition to ballet work, Yui’s practice also extends to contemporary and experimental choreography. In

This year, she also presented Running Machine, co-created with a team of Artists from Australia and Japan at Toyohashi, Arts Theatre PLAT, Japan. She is also the recipient of Lucy Guerin Inc’s Naarm/Solo exchange program for 2025/26, which will take place across Indonesia and Australia. Yui is a current recipient of The Australian Ballet’s Telstra Emerging Choreographer’s Award for her work 3. A full-length performance iteration of 3 premiered in September 2025. In 2026, she is set to premiere a new work for The Australian Ballet as part of the Signature Works season.

This year, she also presented Running Machine, a work co-created with a team of artists from Australia and Japan at the Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT, Japan.

Additionally, Yui is the recipient of the Lucy Guerin Inc and Eko’s dance company’s Naarm/Solo exchange program for 2025/26, which will take place across Indonesia and Australia.

In 2025, she undertook a choreographic secondment at Trisha Brown Company under choreographer Lee Serle, following on from 2020 secondments with New York City Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet, supported by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust. Her works have been nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Dance in the 2018 Australian Dance Awards (Artistic director of Melbourne City Youth Ballet) and Design/Technical Achievement in the 2023 Green Room Awards (Running Machine).

A full-length performance iteration of 3 premiered in September 2025.

Yui’s intercultural work between Japan and Australia takes many forms, including artistic collaboration, reciprocal residencies, leading workshops, and teaching, as well as acting as a cultural liaison and interpreter for organisations such as Tokyo Ballet, The Australian Ballet, and Terrapin for Asia Topa. Her choreographic work has been presented at Arts House for Bleed Festival, at The Australian Ballet for Frame Festival and Bodytorque as well as the Bowery Theatre, Dancehouse, and Lucy Guerin Inc.