北海道生まれ。1987年、英国ロイヤル・バレエ学校に留学。89年、ローザンヌ国際バレエコンクールで日本人初の金賞を受賞。同年、英国ロイヤル・バレエ団に東洋人として初めて入団。91年には同団史上最年少でソリストに、93年にプリンシパルに昇格。主要なレパートリーで数々の名演を残し、名実共に世界的ダンサーとしての評価を確立する。98年、英国ロイヤル・バレエ団を退団。翌99年、K-BALLET COMPANYを設立。以来、芸術監督/プリンシパルダンサーとして団を率いるほか、演出・振付家としても才を発揮し、全幕古典作品の演出・再振付や、台本から手がけた完全オリジナル全幕作品「クレオパトラ」や「蝶々夫人」「カルミナ・ブラーナ」などの新作を数多く上演している。また、劇場音楽を専門とするシアター オーケストラ トウキョウの設立、後進の育成機関として2003年にK-BALLET SCHOOLを創設するなど、総合芸術としてのバレエを多角的にサポートする組織を運営。2012年1月、Bunkamuraオーチャードホール芸術監督に就任。2013年、紫綬褒章受章。
2023年2月、東京観光大使就任。7月、バレエ芸術文化の振興を目的とした一般財団法人熊川財団を創立。
Tetsuya Kumakawa
Tetsuya Kumakawa was born in Hokkaido, Japan. In 1987, he started studying at The Royal Ballet School. In 1989, he became the first Japanese dancer to win a Gold Medal at Prix de Lausanne. Later the same year, he joined The Royal Ballet as their first Asian dancer. He then became the youngest soloist in its history in 1991, to later become principal dancer in 1993. He left his mark performing lead roles in numerous performances and gained his status as a world renowned dancer. In 1998 he decided to leave The Royal Ballet and in 1999 he founded K-BALLET COMPANY. Since its inception, not only has he led the company as Artistic Director and Principal dancer, he has choreographed and directed original pieces, presented his own version of full act ballets, and created original full length ballets from scratch such as “Cleopatra”, “Madame Butterfly” and “Carmina Burana”. Additionally, he founded Theater Orchestra Tokyo (an orchestra specializing in theater music for operas, ballets, musicals, etc.) and K-BALLET SCHOOL (an institution to support future generations of dancers) and has continued to create a brand as a company supporting ballet as an art form from multiple perspectives. In January 2012 he was appointed Artistic Director of Bunkamura Orchard Hall. In 2013, he was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon for his contribution to the arts and academia. In February 2023, he was appointed Tokyo Sightseeing Ambassador and in July the same year he founded the Kumakawa Foundation with the intention to promote the art of ballet.