Mayu Odaka, originally from Los Angeles, trained at the Lauridsen Ballet Center in Torrance, California, where she danced in the pre-professional company Ballet California. She was offered an apprenticeship with Oklahoma City Ballet after participating in the 2015 Summer Intensive and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2017 and to soloist in 2019.

Since joining Oklahoma City Ballet, her repertoire includes works by Jerome Robbins, Bryan Pitts, Jessica Lang, Nicolo Fonte, Helen Pickett, Paul Vasterling, Agnes de Mille, Dennis Spaight, Robyn Pasternack, Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye, Amanda Herd-Popejoy and Dayoung Jung. Favorite roles include Lucy in Michael Pink’s Dracula, Lucille Grahn in Robert Joffrey’s Pas des Déesses, Clara and Sugarplum Fairy in Robert Mills’ The Nutcracker and Ariel in Robert Mills’ The Little Mermaid. She has also performed feature roles that include Firebird in Robert Mills’ The Firebird, Eaglet in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in Wonderland), and demi-soloist roles in both George Balanchine’s Serenade and The Four Temperaments.

In 2022, Odaka was one of only two American ballerinas to be selected for the 2022 Helsinki International Ballet Competition in the senior division.