Grand Premier Invitational Ballet Mistress (All Programs)

Natalia has more than 25  years of experience in the entertainment industry, and is a highly talented artist. Born in Russia, Natalia trained at the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow and Bolshoi Ballet University. She became a principal dancer for the prestigious Bolshoi Theater Grigorovich Ballet from 1989-1994 and immediately after was a guest principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. 

Her repertoire included many title roles in the great classics including Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Kitri in Don Quixote, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake among many others. Awards include "Best Ballerina of the Festival" at the 1992 Spoleto International Arts Festival held in Spoleto, Italy. She has toured worldwide to countries including Holland, Greece, Egypt, Hong Kong, France, and Belgium among many others. 

After moving to the United States, she joined  Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas as a lead dancer in Mystere. In 1998, she moved to Orlando to perform in Cirque du Soleil's "La Nouba" where she currently performs. She has been featured in numerous television commercials, interviews, and videos with Cirque du Soleil. 

Natalia is founder of ARTASTAR ARTIST MANAGEMENT and PRODUCTION company, which supports the dancers from the foreign countries. One of the directions of her company is to support young talented dancers of the new  ballet generation in giving gthem an opportunity to be selected and be a part of the new production on stage with the most recent world known ballet dancers. 

EXPERIENCE

• Principal Dancer, Bolshoi Ballet,1989-1994

• Guest Ballet Dancer, New York City Ballet, Ruth Page The Nutcracker Production, Philadelphia Ballet Theatre , 1994-1997

• Principal Dancer, Cirque Du Soleil Mystere, 1997-1998; La Nouba, 1998- present

• Ballet Teacher, Central Florida Ballet 2014- present

• Head of Judges, World Ballet Competition, 2015

• Judge, World Ballet Competition, Orlando FL, 2014-2016, 2019

• Judge, YAGP 

• Choreographer, Show Case Collaboration between Orlando Ballet and Cirque Du Soleil La Nouba 2013-2015

EDUCATION

Bolshoi Ballet Academy , Moscow Russia  1980-1989 ( High School Diploma for the performing art )

Bolshoi Ballet University , Moscow Russia 1989-1993 ( Bachelor Degree  for the performing art and choreography)

SKILLS

• 25 years of professional experience as a ballet dancer

• Choreography for World Ballet Competition, Orlando Ballet and Cirque Du Soleil

• Judge for World Ballet Competition 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019

• Head of Judge for World Ballet Competition 2015

• Judge for YAGP semi finals 2017

• 10 years of master ballet classes at Cirque Du Soleil La Nouba • Ballet Master Classes for YAGP and WBC 

• 4 years Ballet Master, Point and Variation Teacher for Central Florida Ballet Academy

Born in Rio de Janeiro, began his ballet education at the age of 6 at Petite Danse School of Dance
with a scholarship from ONG “Dançar a Vida” Social Project, under the direction of Nelma Darzi.
Finalist at Youth America Grand Prix 2005, won a scholarship for San Francisco Ballet School,
where he studied for two years.
At 16 years old, started to work under the Direction of Marcelo Misailidis, at Municipal Theater of
Rio de Janeiro.
From 2011-2013, Alysson was coached by Pedro Kraszczuk and Cecilia Kerche. In parallel, he was
Choreographer and Artistic Coordinator of „Dancar a Vida Youth Company“, Rio de Janeiro.
In 2013, after attending the Job Fair of YAGP, Alysson was invited to join Ballett Dortmund in
Germany, creating roles alongside his director Xin Peng Wang and performing pieces from William
Forsythe, Alexander Ekman, Jiri Bubenicek and Demis Volpi.
In 2018, Mr. Rocha was appointed Ballet Master with Ballett Dortmund, assisting and keeping the
pieces from Ballett Dortmund’s director, Alexander Ekman, Douglas Lee, Wubkje Kuindersma,
Giuseppe Spota, Marijn Rademaker and William Forsythe.
Winner of the prize “Dortmunder Löwe 2019” for his “Silent Orchestra” dance/music project with
deaf kids.
Since 2020, Mr. Rocha supervises the Professional Ballet Class CDs of Pascal Sévajols, former
dancer and accompanist of Roland Petit, Ballett Dortmund and current pianist of the Ballet de l'Opéra
National de Bordeaux.
In 2021, Alysson Rocha was appointed by Xin Peng Wang as First Ballet Master with the Ballett
Dortmund and in 2022 and 2023 was also invited by Prof. Dr. Alkis Raftis to become a member of the
International Dance Council of UNESCO.
Teacher and Judge for the YAGP 2024 NY Finals, YAGP 2022 and 2023 Tampa Finals as well as
the Semifinals of YGP 2022 and 2023 Barcelona, YGP 2022 Riccione, and YGP 2019 Brazil, YAGP
2025 Semi-Finals in Paris, San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago and the Finals at Tampa and New York.
Mr. Rocha was the Artistic Curator of the 37th International Ballet Gala, Ballett Dortmund, in
celebration of Xin Peng Wang’s 20th season with Ballett Dortmund and honoring Ted Brandsen’s
20th season in Het National Ballet and prepared the young conductor Koji Ishizaka for his debut as
Ballet Conductor.
The gala was accompanied by the Dortmunder Philharmonic Orchestra and counted with major artists
of the ballet world such as: Marianela Nunez, Reece Clarke, Polina Semionova, Friedemann Vogel,
Anna Tsygankova, Giorgi Potskhishvili, Mayara Magri and Matthew Ball among the Ballett
Dortmund and the NRW Juniorballett.
Guest Teacher with the Royal Ballet of London under the direction of Kevin O’Hare, European
School of Ballet under the direction of Jean-Yves Esquerre, YGP International Summer Workshop at
Nervi International Festival under the direction of Larissa Saveliev and Gennadi Saveliev and Theatro
Municipal do Rio de Janeiro under the direction of Helio Bejani and Jorge Texeira.

GPI Premier Contemporary Master

Victor is the artistic director and owner of Stars Dance Company, one of the top dance studios in the United States. Before opening Stars, Victor was a Top 12 finalist on Season 6 of FOX's So You Think You Can Dance. Along with his business partner Angel Armas, Victor has trained and developed some of the top young dancers in America over the last ten years. These dancers have gone on to be winners at at the top dance competitions in the world, featured on numerous national and international television shows, and students at some of the world's top dance institutions. Victor has also trained SYTYCD winner Ricky Ubeda and SYTYCD finalists Derek Piquette, Daniela Avanzini, and Logan Hernandez, and NBC's World of Dance competitors Diana Pombo, Nick Daniels, and Vivian Ruiz. In 2012, Victor and his studio were featured on Life Time TV Show Dance Mom’s Miami.  STARS has grown to include dance convention, Liberate the Artist, and Non-Profit organization STARS for Artists.  Victor brings his love for dance and artistry around the world, having taught over 750 Master Classes in 43 states and 4 countries.   

Grand Premier Ballet Mistress: GPI Technique and Performance Boot Camp

Maria Mosina was born in Moscow and graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Russia. Upon graduation, Maria joined the Bolshoi Ballet Grigorovich Company and immediately was chosen for principal roles.  She toured the world appearing on all major European, American, African and Asian stages. In 1995, Maria was invited by Colorado Ballet to join as a leading principal dancer.  She performed all major parts in classical productions and had the chance to show her talent in neoclassical, modern and contemporary choreographed master pieces.  Maria was a featured dancer on the cover of Dance Magazine and has been featured in other magazine articles.  She holds a bachelor's degree in methodology and pedagogy from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography.  She is also an active ballet instructor throughout the United States.  She participated as a master teacher and judge for the Youth American Grand Prix.  Maria performed leading roles in all major productions as a member of the Company, as well as a guest artist with many other festivals, galas, and companies.  After 21 seasons as a principal dancer with Colorado Ballet, she retired at the end of the 2016/2017 season.  She has now joined the artistic staff of the company.

Alexei Moskalenko, Youth America Grand Prix, Assistant Artistic Director

For the past 19 years Alexei has served as Youth America Grand Prix Regional and International Judge, Master teacher, NYC Rehearsal Director and currently YAGP Assistant Artistic Director.  He is a graduate of the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet Academy and formerly dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet Grigorovich.

In 1990 Mr. Moskalenko was accepted to Moscow Academy of Choreography, where he studied Methodology of teaching Classical Ballet. For the last 27 years in US, he had carrier as principal dancer, ballet school director and owner, director of Pre-professional program, national – international guest teacher and International competitions Judge.

Alexei’s students have won the highest awards in international ballet competitions, including numerous top placements in YAGP, Moscow IBC, and Varna, and have received many scholarships to prestigious ballet schools in the U.S. and around the world.

Dancer/Choreographer and singer Blake McGrath has shared the stage with Madonna, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Beyonce and many more. 

Blake's skills became apparent on the premiere season of the famed US dance competition-reality series, So You Think You Can Dance. Immediately following SYTYCD Blake was cast in Jennifer Lopez’s MTV Dance Life, a reality series that chronicled choregraphers in LA. From there he returned to his home country of Canada to Judge and choreograph 4 seasons of SYTYCD Canada! Blake has also choreographed and appeared extensively in high profile commercials and advertisements for various Gap campaigns alongside Sarah Jessica Parker and Old Navy, as well as Pepsi, Hummer and iPod. His film credits which include Academy Award-winning films, Chicago and the musical, Rent.

McGrath produced a soulful, vocally gifted debut recording after discovering his passion for music. He licensed his debut album Time To Move to music industry power house Universal Music. Since then he has produced 5 more studio albums which sat at #1 on the iTunes Charts. His upcoming album Wild Love is set to release Jan 15 2021.

Blake’s has recently been seen guest choreographing and performing on hit shows including ABC’s Dancing With The Stars,  Life Times Dance Moms and So You Think You Can Dance.

Blake is on Faculty at 24 Seven for Dance One.

Brian Friedman is an Award-Winning pioneer with a multifaceted legacy in the Entertainment
Industry, spanning 3 decades. As a dancer his credits include Films such as Newsies, Charlie’s
Angels, You Got Served, She’s All That & Austin Powers. He performed with top music artists
such as Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Prince & Paula Abdul. As a Choreographer,
Creative Director & Producer he worked on shows such as Dancing with The Stars, So You Think
You Can Dance, Will & Grace, The X Factor, America’s Got Talent, VMA’s, AMA's & Billboard
Music Awards. Artists such as Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Ciara, Usher, Pink,
One Direction, Cher & Normani have called on Brian to collaborate with for Iconic performances.

Alexey Kulpin is a graduate of the Institute of Culture and Art in St. Petersburg, Russia. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ballet pedagogy and choreography. In 1998, he was the Grand Prix winner at the Muse of St. Petersburg Ballet Competition. As a professional dancer, Mr. Kulpin has performed soloist and principal roles in both classical and contemporary ballets in Russia, Israel, and the United States. He danced professionally with St. Petersburg State Opera Ballet, St. Petersburg State Male Theatre by Mihailovsky, Ballet Israel, City Ballet of San Diego, Grand Rapids Ballet, Charleston Ballet Theater, Stars of St. Petersburg Municipal Theater of Music and Dance, and Krasnoyarsk Dance Ensemble. His roles included Basilio in Don Quixote; James in La Sylphide; Prince Ivan in Firebird; Spirit of the Rose in Le Spectre de la Rose; Swan Lake Pas de Trois; and the male leads in Tarentella and Maurice Bejart’s Trik Trak.

Mr. Kulpin specializes in teaching classical ballet, male and female variations, and character dance. His teaching career includes the Ballet Israel School, City Ballet of San Diego, Grand Rapids Ballet, and Charleston Ballet Company, where he taught company classes and served as director of the Charleston Ballet Young Artists Group. Most recently, he served as principal ballet teacher for Northern California Dance Conservatory. He has staged classical variations and choreographed solos for performance and ballet competitions, including Youth America Grand Prix. Mr. Kulpin joined The HARID Conservatory’s faculty in August, 2016. He remains active as a guest teacher and a ballet-competition judge.

Olga Ginzburg trained with Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) Corky Ballas -(Dancing With The Stars Professional, World Latin Ballroom Champion, 10 time US Ballroom Champion, and Actor) 

AND

Shirley Ballas  “The Queen of Latin Ballroom.” Corky and Shirley are the parents of DWTS Mark Ballas. 

Olga Ginzburg is not only one of California’s top competing Latin Professionals, but a very talented teacher, dance coach, and instructor. 

Olga has been dancing since she was 9 years old.  

She moved to San Diego from the Ukraine and has been formally trained in Standard and Latin.  

She has won several competitions throughout the nation, including the US National Professional Rising Star International Latin Championship. 

Olga is a national and championship judge, her program is one of the biggest and most successful programs in the world. 

Our mission at Intricate Training for Dancers is to inspire each student to meet their full potential through our unique training method. We invite and ask that studio owners and teachers be involved not only through open communication about student’s strengths and weaknesses but in utilizing our teacher training program as well. Consistency is key and will ensure each student's progression one session at a time. We have created a specialized training method that enables students to understand and connect with their bodies enabling movement quality through proper muscle structure and technique. Through our hands-on approach, and equipment usage our students are able to enhance their body knowledge providing an understanding an understanding of a dancer’s anatomy. Each class is structured to include strength, flexibility, and a variety of technique with a focus on core alignment and body connection. Our program offers sessions with various styles for our students to participate in, better known as intensives. These intensives present an innovative way of training and conditioning for dance that will increase power, strength, flexibility, alignment, and balance with a focus on core alignment and body connection. We desire for all who train with us to be inspired to grow and accomplish their goals through consistent and ongoing training; never settling but always striving to be their personal best.

Iryna Yemengulova is Founder and creator of the Farfalla Stretch  Method. In the past - a professional gymnast, at the present time - a personal trainer and choreographer. Even during her sports career, she worked a lot on herself in order to increase her level of achievements and to be beyond the reach of her rivals. Master in Sports in Rhythmic Gymnastics. Have trained and competed in Ukraine, Bulgaria, and other countries. As well as more than 10 years as Main Ariel Performer at several shows in Sea World Orlando and San Diego, Half time NBA, MLB performer and much more.

Iryna developed an innovative method of individual and group training that combines elements of strength training and flexibility techniques from rhythmic gymnastics. The essence of the method is a special sequence of movements, which allows you to develop flexibility, strength and coordination, to become more agile and fit. In 2014, she launched a special flexibility training program for dancers and athletes.

The Farfalla Stretch Method has been created for over a decade by professional decorated rhythmic gymnast and choreographer Iryna Yemengulova. Training thousands of young athletes to achieve their individual goals, the Farfalla Stretch Method has produced Olympians and National Champions in many different disciplines. Farfalla's graduates of all levels will experience improvements in their flexibility and strength necessary to excel in their sport. Highly regarded throughout North America and Europe, students will learn how to safely improve their skills with proper training technique and learn more effectively to stand out among competitors! 

2020 Grand Premier Invitational Theater and Performance 

2020 Grand Premier Invitational Natalia Bashkatova Signature Series Technique and Performance Boot Camp