Ken Saruhashi was born in Hokkaido, Japan, and trained at Harumi Shimoda Ballet School before joining English National Ballet School. He joined English National Ballet in 2011 and was promoted to First Artist in 2014, Junior Soloist in 2016, Soloist in 2017, and First Soloist in 2019.

His repertoire with the Company includes Sugar Plum Cavalier and Drosselmeyer in Watkin and Smith’s Nutcracker; Ali and Lankendem in Anna-Marie Holmes’s Le Corsaire; Siegfried in Derek Deane’s Swan Lake; Albrecht in Mary Skeaping’s Giselle; Hilarion in Akram Khan’s Giselle; Nephew/Prince in Wayne Eagling’s Nutcracker; Mercutio in Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet; The Messenger of Death in Kenneth MacMillan’s Song of the Earth; Bluebird and Prince Désiré in MacMillan’s The Sleeping Beauty; Lescaut in MacMillan’s Manon; Benjamin in Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella; and Zuniga in Johan Inger’s Carmen.

His additional repertoire includes Harald Lander’s Études, the Mazurka from Serge Lifar’s Suite en blanc, Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, John Neumeier’s Spring and Fall, Aszure Barton’s Fantastic Beings, Hans van Manen’s Adagio Hammerklavier, Pina Bausch’s Le Sacre du Printemps, Stina Quagebeur’s Jolly Folly, and William Forsythe’s Playlist (Track 1, 2).