Gen Horiuchi, originally from Tokyo, Japan, moved to the United States after winning the Prix de Lausanne, the international ballet competition in
Switzerland in 1980, and receiving a scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet. In 1982, the great George Balanchine invited him to join the New York City Ballet, where he became a principal dancer in 1989.  He
performed many ballets with the renowned company; Balanchine created the role of Mercury in the ballet Perséphone especially for him. Peter Martins, ballet master-in-chief, created ballets Eight More and Les Gentilhommes for Horiuchi as well.

Gen Horiuchi’s Broadway musical credits include Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song and Dance and the role of Mr. Mistoffelees in Cats. He went on to
perform that role in London’s production of Cats and became the first
performer to play the lead on both Broadway and in the West End in 1998. That same year, he choreographed the magnificent Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.   

Horiuchi became Executive and Artistic Director of Saint Louis Ballet in 2000 and created more than 20 original works including seven full-length ballets for the company.  

In 2010, he founded “Ballet for the Future” which tours Japan’s major cities each summer with a company of professional ballet dancers.  In 2016, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology awarded Horiuchi the prestigious Art Encouragement Prize in recognition of his work with “Ballet for the Future.”