Akira Thornton is a Japanese-Canadian dancer. She danced with Ballet De Barcelona, a company with which she experienced solid professional growth, starting as an apprentice in the 2023–2024 season and moving on to the corps de ballet in the 2024–2025 season. Previously, she also worked as an aspirant at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet during the 2022–2023 season. In the classical ballet repertoire, she has performed key principal, soloist, and corps de ballet roles. In the productions of “Giselle” (2024–2025), she debuted in the principal role of Myrtha, Queen of the Willis in Act II, while also performing in the Peasant Pas de deux, as part of the villagers in Act I, and as a Wili in Act II. In the production of “The Nutcracker” (2023–2025), she performed as a soloist in the Spanish Duet in Act II and danced in the ensemble pieces of the Snowflake Waltz, Arabian Dance, Waltz of the Flowers, and Mirlitons Pas de Quatre. Furthermore, she was part of the corps de ballet in “Swan Lake” (2023), performing the roles of the Princesses in Act I, the Swans in Acts II and IV, and the Hungarian Dance in Act III, in addition to dancing in the Baby Ballerinas dance in “The Wizard of Oz” (2019). In the contemporary frame, she performed as the lead female dancer in the productions “Tongues” (2024), choreographed by Luke Prunty and David Rodriguez, and “Drone Saga” (2025) for Fever Production. She danced soloist roles as the lead couple in “Divergents” within Chase Johnsey’s work “Indentations” (2024), and was involved in soloist and group roles in “You Charge Me” (2024), choreographed by Juan Mora. In the fashion and live performance sectors, she worked as a dancer and model for the brand Intermezzo Dancewear (2025), as an actress and dancer for the brand film “Desacato” and the “Ed Harvey” magazine project promoted by the IED Fashion Marketing School (2025), while also participating with Ballet de Barcelona in 080 Barcelona Fashion in 2023 and the Dance Intersect event in 2024. Her academic training includes graduating from both the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and the University of Winnipeg Collegiate during the 2019–2022 period, supplemented by summer intensives at the San Francisco Ballet School in 2022 and Ballet West in 2023. Throughout her studies, she received several awards and honors, including the First Steps Choreographic Competition Award at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in 2022, the Canadian Pacific Scholarship in 2020, the Royal Winnipeg Alumni Scholarship in 2019, honors student distinction at the University of Winnipeg Collegiate in 2019, and completion with highly commended and honors in Cecchetti method exams in 2016, 2017, and 2018. In 2026, she joined Balletto di Roma Company.
