You-Ri Yamanaka trained at LAMDA and Ecole Philippe Gaulier (Le Coq) after completing a BA in Politics at Waseda University, Tokyo, and an MA in Directing  at Royal Holloway University of London. Se studies Kabuki dance and avant-garde Japanese dance (Butoh) in Japan. She directed a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Loughborough University in 2003.