Inside Riho Sakamoto’s Dance Bag
Dutch National Ballet principal Riho Sakamoto’s dancing is precise, clean, and engaging, and almost as eclectic as her personal style. Her repertoire ranges from contemporary works like David Dawson’s Empire Noir to her upcoming debut as Nikiya in La Bayadère. Recently, she visited Houston to perform in the Youth America Grand Prix annual Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow gala, where she and fellow Dutch National principal Constantine Allen danced José Martinez’s Delibes Suite.
The dance bag she brought is a plain one she uses for travel that can hold her essentials from the Netherlands. “I went home to Japan recently, and when I’m there my mom always wants to buy things for me. This was one of them.”
The Goods
Legwarmers: This single legwarmer is part of a pair made by a friend of Sakamoto’s from her time training at the Kirov Academy in Washington, DC. “I usually have legwarmers on if I have an injury, but even if I don’t, I have this one. It feels like home to put this on.”
Fashion favorites: In honor of her debut as Juliet in October 2025, a friend gave Sakamoto a pair of Romeo and Juliet–themed socks. “It’s one of my favorite roles now, and when these socks are clean, they’re the first ones I wear.”
Her purple ballet skirt was made by fellow Dutch National dancer Sho Yamada. “He made skirts during COVID, but he’s too busy now. They were a trend within the company.”
“My style is all over the place,” she continues. “Nothing matches, but I don’t care. I wear lots of colors, I think because in school we wore very monochromatic uniforms in black, blue, and brown.”
Pointe shoes and ballet flats: Sakamoto cuts half the shank out of her “Anchor”-maker Freeds, and prefers a hard box with soft wings, and what she describes as a “threadbare” toe pad.
She wears Bloch ballet flats. “Blochs have the perfect amount of grip.”
Photography.
Warm-up tools: Sakamoto uses a TheraBand to warm up her ankles. Because she tends to pronate, she also practices balances and relevés on half a foam roller to work on keeping her arches lifted.
Phone and headphones: Instead of listening to music before a performance, Sakamoto plugs into a Japanese comedy podcast. “It takes my mind off of what I have to do onstage,” she says. “If I overthink, I’m not going to perform my best, so I like to have a laugh when I’m warming up.”
Style essentials: She carries a bag of pins and hairnets just in case, but Sakamoto’s signature hairstyle is a bun held with just two mini claw clips. She also carries a perfume oil that she bought during Dutch National’s most recent tour to New York City.
