Iori Araya began her training in Japan and received the Idemitsu Scholarship at the Asian Pacific International Ballet Competition, which enabled her to train at The Australian Ballet School. She has performed with The Australian Ballet’s The Dancers Company, Singapore Ballet, and New Jersey Ballet before joining Ballet Memphis. Her repertoire includes Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, the principal woman in George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations, and Fate in Choo San Goh’s Romeo & Juliet. She has performed works by George Balanchine, Steven McMahon, Trey McIntyre, Matthew Neenan, Durante Verzola, Val Caniparoli, Edwaard Liang, Stanton Welch, and others. Outside of Ballet Memphis, she has performed internationally at the Ballet Ensemble Gala in Japan, the Palm Desert Choreography Festival, and NCI 2024.