At the age 6, Yoshi accompanied her mother to dance classes. Watching and listening from outside the room, the music propelled her to mimic the way the women moved and before long the teacher took notice and invited her to enroll as a student. Always energetic, the outlet of dance created an entirely new world to inhabit. The love of dance – of music and movement - transferred from her mother became the center of her life. Before long she was training in Jazz and Ballet and then moved on to learning Contemporary, and competitive Ballroom dance. In dance she found a voice of her own and refuge from the self-doubt, obstacles and criticisms of everyday life and academics.

 At 18, she was exposed to the teaching world when her own teacher went on maternity leave. As with dance itself, teaching grabbed hold of her and she has never looked back. In the students she taught, each navigating a challenging world, she saw glimpses of her own story and the golden opportunity to share the self-building power of dance. Starting her own school was a natural progression, a way to ensure that dance stayed at the center of her life as she helped it branch into the lives of others. In 1996 she established School of Dance Moves in Sri Lanka catering to aspiring dancers from ages 8 to 18. The school grew to 250 students and was one of the most renowned schools of its kind in Sri Lanka, and most importantly, she was able to both pass on her deep love and knowledge of dance, and provide validation for the pursuit of careers in the arts. Travel – her other passion - brought her to Shanghai. There she opened the international branch of Dance Moves while working as a part-time teacher of Jazz, Ballet and Contemporary dance at Dulwich College.

 Singapore was the next pin on the map, and it was there that she got the opportunity to further study the art of dance, graduating with 1st class Honors in Contemporary dance studies from LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore. Dancing with international choreographers including Loretta Livingston, Liz Lea, Roberta Shaw, Ming Poon and Marion De Cruz, she also developed she ability as a producer and director. These skills blossomed into the launching of Sri Lanka’s first International Performing Arts Festival, an ongoing project that aims to educate underprivileged children through dance, music and theatre. This mission remains vital to her, and she hopes to continue collaborating with artists worldwide to bring joy, hope and meaning to children through the magic of the performing arts.

 As her teaching, production and direction roles expanded, she was appointed Head of Dance at United World College of South East Asia in Singapore, where she taught a diverse dance curriculum to K2-12 students as well as the IB diploma program till June 2017. But even as the scope of her work fostering others in the performing arts widens, my affection for performance remains and she continues to dance both as a project artist and as a guest with the company she founded, Movement-Collective International. Her performance and choreography has taken her to Dubai, New Delhi, Indonesia and Australia for international dance festivals. Yoshi is now based in Los Angeles where she continues to make connections through the common love of dance.

 Always teaching. Always learning. Always dancing.