Ryo Munakata began his classical ballet training at the age of five at Etoile Ballet Studio under the direction of Misako Kawamura and later continued his training with Sergiy Savoschenko at Savoschenko Ballet Academy. He later expanded his studies to include modern ballet under Yuko Takahashi.
He attended the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive in New York City before continuing his training at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre from 2014 to 2016. He also continued his studies at Manhattan Youth Ballet.
Ryo was a finalist at the USA International Ballet Competition in 2018 and the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition in 2019. He has danced professionally with Minnesota Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, Ballet West, Rochester City Ballet, and New York State Ballet, where he later served as Ballet Master.
He is currently the Founder and Artistic Director of Ballet of New York Arts Collective. As both an educator and artist, Ryo is passionate about making dance accessible to all students while helping them develop strong technical foundations, artistry, musicality, confidence, and a lifelong appreciation for dance.
