Biography

Chisako Oga was born in Dallas, Texas. She trained at San Francisco Ballet School on a full scholarship, prior to being promoted to trainee and then apprentice. In 2016, Oga joined Cincinnati Ballet, where she quickly rose to the rank of principal.

As principal dancer at Cincinnati Ballet, Oga appeared as the leading role in ballets including Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), The Sleeping Beauty (Aurora), Coppélia (Swanilda), Rubies (Principal Couple), and Serenade (Russian Girl).

Since joining Boston Ballet in 2019, Oga has performed leading roles in classical repertoire that includes Giselle in Jean Coralli and Jule’s Perrot’s Giselle (adapted by Larissa Ponomarenko), Mikko Nissinen’s Swan Lake (Odette/Odile) and The Nutcracker, Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote (Kitri), and Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty (Aurora). Oga has also enjoyed dancing in contemporary and neoclassical works such as George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Apollo, and Chaconne, William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, and Blake Works I, Jiří Kylián’s Bella Figura, and Justin Peck’s Everywhere We Go.  

Oga has received several awards throughout her career. In 2016, she received a silver medal in the Shanghai International Ballet Competition. In 2018, she won the bronze medal at the USA International Ballet Competition. Oga has been praised by Dance Magazine for being a “technical whirlwind” with “riveting acting abilities”. She was named one of their “25 to Watch” in 2019. In May/June of 2021, Oga was featured as the cover story for Pointe. 

 Oga joined Boston Ballet as a second soloist in 2019, was promoted to soloist in 2020, and to principal in 2023.