06/26/13 • 6:30pm
FREE with BPT Library Card
12/15/12 New England Ballet
NEBC Welcomes Guest Artists from New York’s American Ballet Theater 
New England Ballet Company proudly presents its 21st Anniversary Nutcracker featuring guest artists from American Ballet Theatre, Jared Matthews and Yuriko Kajiya. Ms. Kajiya is to perform the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Mr. Matthews is to perform the role of Sugar Plum Cavalier on December 15, 2012 at The Klein.
Born in Nagoya, Japan, Yuriko Kajiya began her training at the age of eight. At ten, she moved to China and became one of the first foreign students to study and graduate from the Shanghai Ballet School. During her stay in China, Ms. Kajiya performed many times on Chinese national television. In 1997, at 13, Ms. Kajiya won the Best Performance Award in the senior category at the Tao Li Bei National Ballet Competition. In 1999, she became one of the youngest finalists at the third International Ballet Competition in Nagoya. In January 2000, she won the renowned Prix de Lausanne Scholarship which enabled her to study at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto. Ms. Kajiya joined American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company in September 2001. She became an apprentice with the main company in 2002, and was promoted to corps de ballet in June. Ms. Kajiya was appointed a soloist in August 2007.
Jared Matthews was born in Houston, Texas and received his early ballet training there under the guidance of Victoria Vittum and Gilbert Rome. In 2001 Mr. Matthews joined American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. He joined the main company as an apprentice in 2002 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2003. Jared became a soloist in August of 2007. Mr. Matthews is currently being coached by David Howard. As a guest artist Mr. Matthews has appeared with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Les Ballet GranDiva, the Noriko Hara Ballet Company and the New England Ballet Company. He has appeared in Hopes and Pride Gala, Prix de Lausanne Gala Japan, New National Ballet Gala, Chicago Dancing Festival, Santa Fe Ballet Festival, and West Virginia Dancing Festival.
Mr. Matthews appeared on the popular television show “So You Think You Can Dance” in a live broadcast dancing the Pas de Deux from Don Quixote with Yuriko Kajiya.
Ms. Kajiya starred in the 2007 documentary Passion Across a Continent in Japan. It aired on channel MBS becoming hugely popular having the highs ratings in this television series. She also appeared on the Tokyo Talk Show and presented the American Ballet Theatre documentary, “Dancers.” She has appeared in galas at the West Virginia Dance Festival, Santa Fe Ballet Festival, Chicago Dancing Festival, Hopes and Pride Gala of Japan, New National Ballet Gala, and the Prix de Lausanne Gala. Most recently a 90 minute documentary entitled Yuriko: Ballerina appeared on national television across Japan.