Lani Yamanaka is a fourth-generation Japanese American artist based in California. She began her training in Judo and Dance and graduated from UC Irvine with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography. At UCI, she was honored to learn and perform legendary works from the late Donald McKayle as part of UCI’s Etude Ensemble.

Upon graduating, Lani started her freelance career as an original ensemble dancer in Pearl by Daniel Ezralow, which premiered at Lincoln Center. As a freelance artist, she has performed works by Edward Clug, Yin Yue, Bryan Arias, Alba Castillo, Kat Burns, Kate Weare, Yayoi Kambara, Shanda Sawyer, Laura O’Malley, and as a company member with SF Danceworks, Entity Contemporary Dance, and ODC Dance. In 2018, she was Dance Captain for the off-broadway production Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise, her first time working with choreographer Akram Khan and associate choreographer Joy Alpuerto Ritter. She went on to collaborate with AKC as Lead Dance Artist for Father: Vision of the Floating World and is featured in MOVE, a Netflix documentary series.

Beyond performing, Lani has taught masterclasses across the US and internationally at USC Kaufman School of Dance, University of Chicago Dance, Towards Vivencia, Shift Dance Hong Kong, Millennium Dance OC, and the AKC Dhaka Training Program, along with numerous Dance Studios in California. Lani is a NASM-certified personal trainer and collaborates with DancePrehab to educate artist athletes on injury prevention and wellness. She is working towards her next black belt degree in Judo in her free time.