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 dancer.

During her time at Cincinnati Ballet, Oga appeared in lead roles in ballets such as 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 Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella and The Dream (Cinderella, Titania), Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot’s Giselle (Giselle) (adapted by Larissa Ponomarenko), Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, Raymonda, and Swan Lake (Odette/Odile), Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote (Kitri), and Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty (Aurora).

Oga’s Boston Ballet repertoire also includes numerous contemporary and neoclassical works, including George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Apollo, Chaconne, Rubies, and Symphony in Three Movements, William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite, Blake Works I, Herman Schmerman, and In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Jiří Kylián’s 27’52” and Bella Figura, Justin Peck’s Everywhere We Go, Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon, and Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering.

Oga has received several prestigious awards throughout her career, including a silver medal at the 2016 Shanghai International Ballet Competition and a bronze medal at the 2018 USA International Ballet Competition. Praised by Dance Magazine as a “technical whirlwind” with “riveting acting abilities”, she was named one of the magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2019. Oga was featured as Pointe Magazine’s May 2021 cover story.

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