Ayumi Matsuda was born in Mexico city but started dancing at the age of 5 in Japan during the 9 months her family was living there. She continued dancing when they returned to Mexico and began training with the Royal Academy of Dance and Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance syllabus. Ayumi graduated from Academia de Ballet San Angel Inn’s ballet program in 2011. While in the program she learned from retired ballet master from Mexico’s National Ballet Company, Laura Echeverría, former Royal Ballet dancer Andrea Andraca and prominent ballet teacher Andrea de Granda. She was coached by Mtra. Laura Echeverría in different ballets like, Coppelia, Graduation Ball, Peter and the Wolf, Raymonda, Don Quixote, Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. After graduating high school she danced with a small company that merged dance, theater, storytelling and cinema. She was exposed then to jazz and contemporary dance as well as theatre and particularly enjoyed dancing Fosse style that choreographer, Rocío Echeverría was partial to. 

In 2012, she left Mexico for Toronto and joined Canada’s National Ballet School’s Teacher Training Program. This journey lasted for 3 years and was one of the most enriching experiences for her. She learned pedagogy by prominent teachers like Anuschka Roes, Theresa Randall, Carina Bomers, Talar Margarosyan, Ashley Powell, Laurel Toto, and Young Joo Lee. She fell even more in love with ballet by taking Cecchetti classes from Ms. Delegroidis, Jane Wooding and Angie Seto and found flow and freedom in contemporary classes with Johanna Bergdfelt.  In 2015, she graduated the program with Associates in Cecchetti and National Dance (ISTD) as well as her Advanced 2 Certificate in Cecchetti. 

After working in Calgary for a year she moved back to Mexico to work with her beloved teachers at Academia de Ballet San Angel Inn. While there, she acquired her Associate in Classical Ballet from the ISTD and worked developing a creative movement program for the Modern American School. 

Finally, in 2018, she moved to Seattle and got married. She auditioned for Full Tilt in 2019 and was lucky to be able to participate in a piece by Jo Blake. She started working as a teacher in several schools including PNB, but was always looking to go back into dance. In January of this year, a spot was offered for her by Joshua Grant at DTS and has been dancing with them ever since. Ayumi finds herself very grateful to be part of this group of dancers and teachers that are supportive and kind, share a love for dance and strive for perfection with compassion.