Ken Shiozawa was born in Japan and raised in Irvine, California. They began their training at age seven at the Maple Conservatory of Dance, under the artistic direction of Charles Maple. They spent their senior year of high school attending Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Full-Time Program and have attended various summer programs including Washington Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, and Oklahoma City Ballet. In the summer of 2018, they toured and performed works in various cities throughout Eastern Europe with Butler Ballet. In May of 2020, they graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance from Butler University and now attends the University of Wisconsin Superior as a graduate student in Clinical Mental Health.
Ken also choreographs, with their most recent works being performed at the Duluth/ Superior Pride Festival and the Minnesota Ballet Student Showcase. In 2019, they attended Regional Dance America’s National Choreography Intensive as a Project Tier Choreographer. Ken also teaches ballet, jazz and modern for the School of Minnesota Ballet.
Among their many performances, Ken’s featured roles include the Snow King in Karl von Rabenau’s Nutcracker: A Duluth Tale, Prince Ivan in Flavia Garcia’s Firebird, the Wizard in Darren’s McIntyre’s Wizard of Oz, a soloist in Durante Verzola’s Spirited Syncopations, the Bluebird in Butler Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty, and the Nutcracker Prince in Charles Maple’s Nutcracker. This will be Ken’s third season with the Minnesota Ballet.