Britain's Royal Ballet said Friday that two of its Japanese dancers, Ryoichi Hirano and Akane Takada, will be elevated to principal dancers for the 2016-2017 season starting in September.
The male and female pair will be the first Japanese principals at the Royal Ballet since Tetsuya Kumakawa was promoted to the rank in 1993 and ballerina Miyako Yoshida moved to the ballet company as principal in 1995.
Principals are the highest ranked dancers at a company and often play leading roles.