Tamiyo Kusakari, one of Japan's best-known dancers, says she is now at the stage of "maturing" as a professional ballerina as well as a person.
She is currently on tour with a troupe of six other top dancers from around the world in a production called "Soiree de Danse" in which she is involved as the producer for the first time in her life, as well as being the main dancer.
With this challenge of being both producer and dancer at the same time, Kusakari, 41, hopes to inspire young professional dancers in Japan, "where there is virtually no profession as a ballet dancer," she said in a recent interview in Tokyo.