Meet the Moscow Ballet "Dance With Us" Audition Directors
Moscow Ballet’s Vaganova-trained Soloists and Audition Directors are integral to the success of the “Dance with Us” student dancers who perform beside the pros in the Great Russian Nutcracker! These accomplished soloists audition and rehearse over 5,000 local ballet students annually in cities on the tour, helping to prepare them for their debut alongside Moscow Ballet's company of 40 professional Russian dancers. Read more about each one below...
For many aspiring young dancers, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Olga Aru
Olga Aru is a rising star ballerina and ballet pedagogue as well. Summer 2014 Olga was honored to participate in the International Dance Council CID, Paris in the Athens symposium submitting her paper titled “Modern Dance for Different Generations or Dance on the Edge of the Century”. The CID, official umbrella organization for all forms of dance, was founded in 1973 within the UNESCO headquarters in Paris where it is based, and brings together the most important international, national and local organizations, as well as select individuals active in dance from 155 countries.
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Mariia Skoruk
Mariia Skoruk was awarded "Honorable Mention" at the Fifth Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition in Kiev. In 2009 she graduated with a Choreographic Teaching Degree from the National Dragomanova Pedagogical University.She was born in 1989 in Kiev, Ukraine. At just ten years old she was invited to attend the famous ballet school of the Kiev State Opera and Ballet Theater.
Olena Nalyvaiko
Olena Nalyvaiko is a 2011 graduate of the Kiev State Choreographic College which aims to develop a new generation of dance specialists who excel in their choreographic training as well as independent creative endeavors. The college is known for its highly qualified academic staff specializing in all dance disciplines and participating as jurists in national and international ballet competitions.
Lana Popova
Moscow Ballet welcomes the multi-talented Lana Popova as Audition Director and Soloist to the 2016 Great Russian Nutcracker tour! Lana is a very experienced ballerina, teacher and artist. Lana performed on ballet tours to New Zealand, Australia and China, Mexico, Europe; including Spain, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden; India, and more countries. She was the Head Assistant of the Delegation of the North-East of Moscow to the Para-Olympic Winter Games in Sochi 2014.
Anna Radik
Moscow Ballet Audition Director and Soloist Anna Radik has performed with the company for five years as Soloist in Act II of the Great Russian Nutcracker. 2016 is Anna’s first tour as Audition Director. Anna was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine and was accepted as a Ballet Student at the Academy of Ballet at the National University of Art in Kiev, Ukraine at age 10.
Sanda Lungu
Petite Sanda Lungu hails from Moldova’s Chisinau National Academy of Ballet and Opera. 2016 is her second tour with Moscow Ballet as a Soloist and first tour as “Dance with Us” Audition Director. Sanda performs a wide variety of roles including Arabian Variation in the Great Russian Nutcracker, soloist in Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Romeo and Juliet; and corps de ballet in Maria Biesu, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Chipolino, Coppelia and in Operettas Aida, and The Bat.
Alisa Bolotnikova
Moscow Ballet Soloist and Audition Director Alisa Bolotnikova premieres with the Moscow Ballet compnay in 2016 and as Audition Director in the “Dance with Us” program. Alisa brings with her many years of professional training in classical ballet’s Vaganova method, modern and folk dance, and as choreographer and ballet teacher.
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Mimi Ewers of Ballet Arts Academy of Spokane in Spokane ~ “For me this experience of partnering with Moscow Ballet was both exciting and rewarding... Moscow Ballet presented a group of beautifully trained dancers with sweet, elegant and simple choreography with high attention to kids participation. What a delight!! It was a breeze of very fresh air! Please extend my gratitude to Akiva and Mary for the wonderful things they do to propagate culture around the United States. I have always believed that the arts are the heart and soul of a city.”
Julia Zhmutski of Julia’s Dance Academy in Oklahoma City ~ “Our studio was honored to be able to participate in the Great Russian Nutcracker with Moscow Ballet. It was such an amazing opportunity for our young dancers to learn and grow and see how a professional company works. We loved the fact that the original Nutcracker was used and the costumes were breathtaking. Everyone we worked with was wonderful. We can't wait to participate in the show next year, our girls are already talking about what parts they hope to get!”