Ryo Shimizu trained at the Shimada Ballet Institute, the Princess Grace Dance Academy in Monaco and the Ariake New City Ballet School in Tokyo. He began his professional career with Alberta Ballet of Canada in 2013, before joining Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal two years later. He joined the Ballet de l'Opéra national du Rhin in 2019, then the Ballet de l'Opéra de Lyon in 2024. He has performed in Jiří Kylián's Kaguyahime, Ivan Cavallari's Nutcracker and Giselle, Hélène Blackburn's Les Beaux dormants, William Forsythe's Enemy in the Figure, Bruno Bouché’s Les Ailes du désir and Ohad Naharin's Kamuyot.