Bellevue's ballet academy, founded with International Ballet Theatre in 2001 by Vera Altunina. A school built on family, where each dancer is taught as a unique artist.
The International Ballet Academy is Bellevue's premier ballet and dance academy, specializing in professional dance training. We strive to keep the classical traditions of dance and theater alive in a world more connected than it has ever been, so that they are never forgotten, and so that we may grow not only as people but as artists.
The IBA curriculum offers young dancers an award-winning education in ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz and character, taught by a world-renowned faculty. Professional training is our main focus, and we also offer programs for children and adults so that the whole community can grow through the beauty of dance.
Each student receives individual attention from the faculty: every dancer needs focused instruction to blossom and evolve. The academy was built on family and has kept that unity for all these years. At its core it is a place of learning, of an art developed over hundreds of years, where every student is treated with the love and care they deserve.
Students dance in Stars of Tomorrow at Meydenbauer Theatre and audition for IBT's season productions. Students in Ballet V and up have traveled with the academy to St. Petersburg for master classes, performances and the city's ballet history.
Once upon a time, people dreamed of the future. Of flying cars, space, and easy living. Yet, as they dreamt, the future came and went. We are witnessing the future that was talked about evolving and flourishing right in front of our eyes.
But there are also those who look at the future or the present and dare to dream of the past. We are an academy with such dreams. The caretakers of traditions and teachings built long ago, perfected over hundreds of years.
A renowned choreographer and ballet master from St. Petersburg, Russia, Vera Altunina brought her talent and love of dance to the United States in the early 1990s. Born in 1965, she began her ballet career at five. In 1973 she was accepted by the Vaganova Ballet School and graduated in 1981 as a professional ballet dancer. She graduated with distinction from the Leningrad College of Cultural Education in 1985 with two bachelor's degrees, as Director of Performing Arts and as Pedagogue Specializing in Performing Arts, and while dancing professionally earned her master's degrees in choreography and as a ballet master, specializing in ballet direction, at the N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory.
Her credentials include classical and character dance, and choreographing and staging new and classical productions such as Giselle, Paquita, Chopiniana, The Nutcracker and Raymonda in Russia and the United States. Since arriving in 1993 she has been lead ballet instructor and choreographer for the Washington Academy of Performing Arts, a guest instructor for Cornish College of the Arts, Ewajo Dance Workshop, Whidbey Island Dance School, Olympic Ballet School, Ballet Bellevue School, the Everett Chorale and the Issaquah Chorale, a guest artist for Whidbey Island Dance Theater, and assisted in staging Paquita for the Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet.
With the founding of the International Ballet Academy and International Ballet Theatre in 2001, she committed herself to preserving classical ballet and its education. Her mission is to enrich the lives of children and adults, in her community and abroad, with an education that inspires imagination and an appreciation of the performing arts, and to help her students achieve their dreams of becoming professional dancers.
Francois Serre y Berga is a French citizen born in Barcelona, Spain. He graduated with honors from the Opéra de Paris and the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, and in Europe danced as a soloist with companies in France and Switzerland, including the Ballet National du Rhin under Jean Sarelli, Basel Ballet under Heinz Spoerli, Ballet de Marseille under Roland Petit, and the Zurich Opera House. He studied jazz with Gus Giordano and Lea Darwin at the Gus Giordano Dance Center in Chicago, danced for film, television and music videos in France, and toured Europe with Tina Turner in 1990 and 1991.
He was Assistant Artistic Director at Spectrum Dance Theater, taught at Cornish College of the Arts, and chaired the ballet school at the Washington Academy of Performing Arts in Redmond. He has been a guest teacher for companies and competitions worldwide, including the Rock School of Dance and the Prix de Lausanne. His students have taken top honors at the Youth America Grand Prix and Tanzolymp, his choreography has been seen at the State Hermitage Museum Theatre during the International Dance Open Festival and at the Prix de Lausanne, and it is featured each year in International Ballet Theatre productions.
Stephanie Saland was born in Brooklyn and entered the School of American Ballet just before her fifteenth birthday. Three years later George Balanchine invited her to join New York City Ballet for the Stravinsky Festival. In a 21-year career with City Ballet she was showcased in leading roles under Balanchine's direction and worked closely with Jerome Robbins on his repertoire. Guest performances included Nureyev and Friends, Giselle with Alexander Godunov, and numerous Live From Lincoln Center and Dance in America films. Before moving to Seattle in 1993 she taught movement for student actors at Playwrights Horizons.
Since finishing her performing career she has coached dancers in a wide range of choreography and repertoire, and conducted workshops and intensives across the United States and in Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Madrid, Mallorca, Mexico, Canada and Holland. In 2005 she joined the Youth America Grand Prix for its regional and final competitions and has been with the organization ever since.
"As a teacher, she is as unparalleled as she was in her dancing. Dance becomes understandable when touched by Stephanie. It also becomes magic." Elizabeth Kaye, contributing arts editor, LA and NY Times.
Le Yin was born in Nanchang, China, and began his training at the Beijing Dance Academy before continuing at the Houston Ballet Academy. He is a former principal dancer with Houston Ballet and with Pacific Northwest Ballet. He danced the lead in International Ballet Theatre's 2010 Don Quixote and performed in IBT's 2011 Giselle.
Hiromi Rudd was born in Yokohama, Japan, and started dancing at five under Kiwako Tsukamoto, continuing her training with Yaoko Sato, a former principal dancer with the Tani Ballet Company in Tokyo. She came to the United States in 2004 with over 20 years of teaching experience, and since 2005 has taught at the International Ballet Academy, Evergreen City Ballet and Ballet Bellevue, among others.
Natalia stepped into the world of ballet in Russia at four, as one of the first students of the ballet theater Shelkunchik. She later danced with the folk dance ensemble Solnyshko and the Theater of Ballet Terpsichore, where she became a laureate and nominee at regional and national competitions in classical variations, contemporary and jazz. While earning a master's degree in arts from the Ural State University in 2003, she was a ballet soloist with the Ekaterinburg State Circus, touring Russia.
After moving to Canada in 2005 she completed all Royal Academy of Dance vocational exams, intermediate through Advanced 2, with distinction, performed the Solo Seal at the Michael J. Fox Theatre in Vancouver in 2009, and completed a Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies. She moved to Seattle in 2015 and teaches Ballet Levels 1 through 3 at IBA.
Alison trained in London at the Royal Ballet School before completing her training at the English National Ballet School and, on scholarship, at the London Studio Centre, where she graduated with a BA (Hons) in Theatre Dance with First Class Honours. Her theater credits include On Eagle's Wing at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast; Michael Flatley's Celtic Tiger, from its world premiere in Birmingham to Madison Square Garden and the US tour; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; show dance partner to Latin ballroom champion Paul Killick; and Follies in Concert at the London Palladium.
Since moving to Seattle she has danced for International Ballet Theatre as Mina in Dracula, Myrtha in Giselle, Coppélia, the Street Dancer and Mercedes in Don Quixote, and Clara in The Nutcracker, and Juliet for City Opera Ballet.
Originally from Fort Collins, Colorado, Thomas Phelan brings a background in gymnastics, diving and acrobatic partnering, as well as classical and contemporary dance, to his work. He earned a BFA in Performing Arts from Colorado State University and has performed with Alaska Dance Theatre, Whim W'Him, Coriolis Dance, Khambatta Dance Company, The Can Can, House of Verlaine, Alana O Rogers Dance Company, The Gray Dance, International Ballet Theatre and Olympic Ballet Theatre. He is also a teacher and choreographer who guides dancers of every level in expressing themselves through movement.
Miles Pertl is a Seattle-based dancer, educator and arts administrator. He began his professional career with Stuttgarter Ballett in Germany before joining Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam, and later spent ten seasons with Pacific Northwest Ballet, performing a broad repertoire of classical ballets and contemporary works by internationally renowned choreographers.
Since leaving the stage he has turned to teaching and arts leadership, mentoring the next generation of artists. As Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Damfino Arts, a Seattle non-profit, he connects artists across disciplines through performances, education and collaborative programming.
Serene Wong was born in Newport Beach, California, and began her ballet education at Huntington Academy of Dance. From 2014 to 2020 she trained at the International Ballet Academy through the preparatory, pre-professional and professional divisions, graduating in 2020.
She studied in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's Graduate Program under Marjorie Grundvig and Janet Popeleski, with further training at Houston Ballet Academy, American Ballet Theatre School and the School of Philadelphia Ballet. In 2022 she returned to Seattle to join Spectrum Dance Theater under Donald Byrd, where she is now in her fifth season. She holds a BA in Linguistics from the University of Washington and has performed with International Ballet Theatre, ARC Dance and Chamber Dance Company.
Sasha Lane is from the Bay Area, California, and trained at Lise la Cour's LaCademy of Ballet and New Ballet, an American Ballet Theatre certified school, where she was a member of its studio company. Summers took her to ART of Zurich and the Royal Danish Ballet Summerschool. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a BA in Dance and a BS in Computer Science, training under Molly Lynch and receiving the William J. Gillespie Dance Scholarship and the Kris and Linda Elftmann Scholarship.
She has danced professionally with South Valley Ballet, Peninsula Ballet Theatre and Oceánica Ballet, in roles including Carmen, the Autumn Fairy in Cinderella and the Sugar Plum Fairy. She was a teaching assistant at the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, is certified in the ABT curriculum from Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering, and holds an MA in ABT pedagogy from New York University Steinhardt.
Jackie Villegas-MacLin has over 40 years of training and performance in flamenco and Spanish classical dance. She is the founder and director of the flamenco troupe Dances of Spain and an independent flamenco instructor in the Seattle area, with a background in Mexican folk, ballet and jazz, and has been a featured dancer and choreographer in musical theatre. She performs regularly with Seattle flamenco groups and is Executive Director of Espacio de Arte, a non-profit that brings flamenco artists from Spain for workshops.
Yulia trained in Yekaterinburg, Russia, starting gymnastics at six before turning to classical ballet and dance at the Ballet Theatre Terpsichore, and later worked with jazz and contemporary dance companies.
In the United States she has taught at schools across the Seattle area, including ARCB, Evergreen Rhythmics and Glass House Dance. Her more than 20 years of teaching span young children, beginners and high school students. She wants every student to share her love of dance and music, and to build confidence and express themselves through movement.
Kelsey fell in love with dance at six. An alumna of the International Ballet Academy and a former International Ballet Theatre company member, she has trained in ballet for over a decade and in tap, jazz and character for more than four years.
Having grown up with the academy's curriculum and care, she connects with her students and inspires them to be the best dancers and people they can be, in and out of the studio. She has brought the same approach to many ballet schools, and now returns to the academy to teach the Children's Program.
Oleg Dusaev is a pianist and chamber musician who graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 2003 with a master's in piano under Vera Gornostaeva, continuing with her in graduate school through 2005, when he was awarded the Mstislav Rostropovich grant. He is a prizewinner of international competitions in Europe.
In New York from 2013 he accompanied for Manhattan Youth Ballet, Ellison Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Broadway Dance Center, Peridance and Brooklyn Ballet, and collaborated with artists from Juilliard, the Manhattan School of Music and Mannes. Since 2016 he has accompanied in Seattle for the International Ballet Academy, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Spectrum Dance and Evergreen City Ballet, and in 2021 he opened the Pacific Northwest Conservatory.
For over a decade Maria has been the foundation of the costume department at the International Ballet Academy and Theatre, helping dancers and students prepare for every performance.
Shannon Holm has loved dancing since she began at three, and danced through high school before college and family. She joined the IBA family over ten years ago as a dance parent, then served as IBT Production Manager and Volunteer Coordinator before joining the front desk. She enjoys connecting with every dancer and family who comes through the doors, and keeping everyone up to date with all that goes on in the studio.
Zoë grew up dancing at IBA and considers it her dance home. She has returned to support the academy as an office assistant, and enjoys working with and meeting new people.
Karina Chirkova is a marketing and communications professional working in public relations, social media, digital marketing, content production and audience development. Since 2018 she has worked across arts and culture, education, non-profits, healthcare and other fields.
She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Biology and Ecology, completed the University of Washington's Storytelling and Content Strategy certificate, and trained in Meta Social Media Marketing. Her work combines marketing strategy and public relations with photography, video, social media, digital campaigns, website and email, with a focus on building audiences and connecting organizations with their communities.
A board-certified physical therapist, Bret Swigard works with IBA students to build a strong understanding of their bodies and their limits, so they can train rigorously and avoid injury.
