HER face is Japanese. But the lean, muscular body and the exuberant handshake are anything but demure or doll-like.
Add a little music - maybe a lambada, frevo or samba - and Yuri Sato defies her name, features and culture. She becomes Brazilian.
When she adjusts the dazzling headdress and rearranges the tangle of beads that spill over the glittery bikini, she strikes a resemblance to those long-legged, beguiling creatures on the travel posters, the ladies who invite you to Rio.
Once a year, however, the 29-year-old dancer/choreographer honours her roots. ''My mother, grandmother and I put on kimonos and go to the annual Japanese festival in Sao Paulo.'' Other than eating sushi and listening to Japanese (her fluency is lousy), she grew up speaking Portuguese and living like the natives in Brazil. Only when her Japan-born grandmother got upset and sputtered in Japanese, was she reminded of her ancestors.
''My looks used to get in the way, especially at home,'' explained the dancer. ''I had to convince people I was Brazilian in my heart. It used to bother me. But not anymore. I just dance and let them judge for themselves.'' One afternoon recently, she sipped blackberry tea and stood out against the tables of matrons in the Mandarin lounge in her fire-engine red mini-skirt and matching suede jacket. Her waist-length mane nearly hide the leather trim on her shoulders.
The founder of Brazil-Asia dance company came here three years ago on holiday. And after several weeks, she returned home to pack up, close her gym and kiss her parents goodbye. Although she misses the family and the warmth of the Brazilian people, she is a woman with a mission.
''I am convinced that 1993 will be my year. I can feel it.'' Like any artist struggling to establish herself and her group, Brazil-Asia, she juggles several jobs. During the business week she sells advertising space and subscriptions for a new action-travel magazine.