Kusakari Tamiyo is a Japanese actress and former ballet dancer.

She began ballet at the age of 8 before joining the prestigious Asami Maki troupe. At 22 she became their principal dancer and had her first leading role as Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake". That year she also won first prize at the All Japan Ballet Competition. The Muramatsu Award and Tachibana Akiko Award were added in the following years culminating in the Hatori Chieko Award in 1997. By 1991 she had reached an internationally-acclaimed standard and was invited to perform with the Stanislavsky and Nemorivich-Danchenko Music Theatre in Moscow. Numerous international guest appearances then resulted as her career developed between Japan and overseas. Between 1997 and 2009 she was a regular performer with the Leningrad National Ballet.

On screen, after a debut in a TV commercial as an up-and-coming ballerina at the age of 16, she went on to star in the multi-award winning "Shall We Dance?" in 1996. She herself won the Best Actress Award at the Japanese Academy Awards, a role which was reprised by Jennifer Lopez in the Miramax remake in 2003.

As her active dancing career came to a close, she focused her energies on acting. 2009 saw her perform a lead theatrical role in the play "Miyagino" directed by the veteran director, Katsuhide Suzuki. In 2010 she joined the cast of the prestigious NHK historical drama "Ryoma Den". 2011 and 2012 saw her return to the big screen in two of Masayuki Suo's movies, "Dancing Chaplin" and "A Terminal Trust". For the latter she received her second Japanese Academy Award. She is now established as one of the leading screen talents of her generation and new roles continue to be offered her.

Kusakari Tamiyo is married to film director Suo Masayuki whom she met during the production of "Shall We Dance?". The couple has been together since 1996. Edit Biography