Born in Tokyo, Japan in 2001, Mao started practising ballet at the age of 4. Later she trained under the guidance of Kiyoko Kimura. In 2014. Mao won the third prize at the NBA Ballet Competition, and in 2016. she won the second prize at the Tokyo Art Bridge Ballet Competition.
In 2014. Mao was accepted into The Australian Ballet School, Melbourne where she graduated in 2019. In her final year, Mao participated in the Australian Ballet’s “Giselle”, performing in over 20 shows at the Sydney Opera House. She also partook in the Australian Ballet’s Regional Tour – “Coppélia”. In 2020. she was accepted to the Helsinki International Ballet Competition which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
So far Mao has performed the role of Princess Florine in „The Sleeping Beauty“, various solos from Balanchine’s „Who Cares?” and „Serenade”, as well as in pieces by Simon Dow, Margaret Wilson, Stephen Baynes, Mark Annear, Maina Gielgud etc. In September 2020., Mao has joined the Croatian National Theatre Ivana pl. Zajca, Rijeka where she debuted as Marie in Mauro de Candia’s „Nutcracker“, then danced in „Lace“ and „Le Sacre du Printemps“ by Maša Kolar, „Burning Water“ by Andonis Foniadakis and „Pathetique“ by Duglas Lee.