Indiana Ballet Conservatory

Artistic Faculty

The artistic faculty of the Indiana Ballet Conservatory consists of a group of highly esteemed individuals with worldwide reputations for classical ballet excellence that are committed to training and serving the next generation of young dancers. There is no other school of classical ballet with instruction by such a group of accomplished professional instructors and dancers in Indiana. The IBC artistic staff has received the Outstanding School, Outstanding Teacher, and Outstanding Choreography awards from the Youth America Grand Prix, the largest international student ballet competition in the world, among many other awards and accolades.

Alyona Yakovleva, Artistic Director

Ms. Yakovleva is a highly-degreed, award-winning ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and artistic director. Ms. Yakovleva began her training at the Academy of Ballet in Novosibirsk and continued to St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Art in Russia, graduating in 1999 with a degree certifying her in Professional Ballet Dance Performance; Choreography; and Ballet, Character, and Historical Dance Instruction. In the summers of 2006, 2007, and 2010 she completed seminars at the Vaganova Ballet Academy of St. Petersburg, Russia, on the preservation and uniformity of the Vaganova Method of ballet instruction. She is currently working on a Masters Degree in Choreography at the Vaganova Academy as part of a special competitive program that was offered to only four choreographers worldwide.

As a Professor of Performance Arts at Dong Duk's Women's University in Seoul, Korea, Ms. Yakovleva performed, taught, and choreographed for such renowned organizations as Universal Ballet Company, Chong-Dong Theatre and MadeInDance Company. In 2001, Ms. Yakovleva began teaching for the Clara R. Noyes Academy of Ballet Internationale, in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA where she was an instructor of Ballet, Pointe, Variations, Character and Historical Dance for four years. In 2005, Ms. Yakovleva was named Artistic Director of the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana and later the Indiana Ballet Company. Following the closing of RBAI, Ms. Yakovleva then worked with her artistic staff and a new business and legal team to form the Indiana Ballet Conservatory in 2010.

Ms. Yakovleva's classical repertoire includes Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote, Paquita, The Nutcracker, Chopiniana, and La Esmeralda. Her contemporary repertoire includes much choreography by Leonid Jacobsen, of St. Petersburg, Russia. She also worked with Indra Reinholde of Riga, Latvia — who was choreographing exclusively for Ms. Yakovleva, Vivaldi's Duet for Violin and Orchestra, and several others. She also worked with MadelnDance Company, Seoul, Korea, in the production Floating & Walking.

In Indianapolis, Ms. Yakovleva danced many leading roles in productions for Gregory Hancock Dance Theater, including It's all Greek to Me, Dracula, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In 2007, she danced featured roles in the Indiana Ballet Company's On Earth We Stand and Love and Gravity (choreography by Nicholas Owens).

Ms. Yakovleva has produced the original ballets, Phantom of the Opera-- named one of the “Top Fall Events to See” by the Indianapolis Star in 2008, and From Shakespeare with Love, for the Indiana Ballet Company, and has also choreographed numerous pieces for her students at the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana and the Indiana Ballet Conservatory.

Ms. Yakovleva’s students have won numerous awards at competition throughout the years, including the "Hope Award" (Demitra Bereveskos) and "Youth Grand Prix" (Timoor Afshar) at the Youth America Grand Prix 2011 Indianapolis Regional Competition. In addition, the Indiana Ballet Conservatory won 1st Place in the Ensembles category and IBC students won 1st Place Senior Contemporary, 1st Place Junior Classical, 2nd Place Junior Classical, and 3rd Place Senior Classical, among other awards.

Out of 42 schools competing in Indianapolis including local schools and those from as far away as Texas, Canada, and Florida, Indiana Ballet Conservatory also won the prestigious “Outstanding School" award.

Ms. Yakovleva continues teaching, choreographing, and dancing in IBC’s annual Nutcracker in the highly-anticipated and audience-acclaimed "Spanish" dance.

Awards:

2011 Outstanding School & 1st Place Ensembles, Indiana Ballet Conservatory, Youth America Grand Prix
2010 Outstanding School & 1st Place Ensembles, Russian Ballet Academy of IN, Youth America Grand Prix
2009 Outstanding School & 1st Place Ensembles, Russian Ballet Academy of IN, Youth America Grand Prix
2007 Outstanding School & 1st Place Ensembles, Russian Ballet Academy of IN, Youth America Grand Prix
2009-2010 Recipient of the Arts Council of Indianapolis Artist Fellowship Renewal
2006 Outstanding Teacher, Youth America Grand Prix
1999 Grand Ballerina of Russian Conference for Young Scientists and Specialists

Tatiana Pali, Academy Principal & Ballet Mistress

Ms. Pali achieved stardom as a Prima Ballerina with the Moscow Classical Ballet, garnering numerous international awards for her performances in Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Giselle, Romeo & Juliet, The Creation of the World, Paquita, and many others. She won the Gold Medal at the prestigious International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria, received the August Bournonville prize from the Paris Ballet Academy, was acclaimed with the title "Honored Artist of Russia" and was named as "Best Ballerina of the Year in Moscow" in 1991.

Ms. Pali has been regularly featured in international galas and participated with other gold medalists in the "Russian All-Stars Super Gala" in Tokyo. Indianapolis audiences have enjoyed Ms. Pali in many leading roles in Coppelia, La Sylphide, Giselle, The Creation of the World, and many others. In April 2000, Ms. Pali retired as Principal Dancer with Ballet Internationale by offering a magnificent and unforgettable performance as Scheherazade in A Thousand and One Nights. She continued to assist in the artistic direction of the company and was a member of the Clara R. Noyes Academy, and was a senior instructor with the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana from 2005-2010. In 2004 and 2007 she was named Outstanding Teacher at the Youth America Grand Prix Competition. Ms. Pali brings years of experience, credibility, and a worldwide reputation to her position as Academy Principal of the Indiana Ballet Conservatory.

Sergey Sergiev, Gentlemen's & Contemporary Instructor/Choreographer

A native of Sofia, Bulgaria, Mr. Sergiev studied ballet at the State Choreographic Institute. In 1993, he was awarded the third prize at the Bulgarian National Ballet competition in the name of Anastos Petrov.

In 1996, he was a semi-finalist at the 17th International Ballet Competition in Varna, and in 2000 performed as a guest artist at the 19th Varna International Ballet Competition Super Gala performance. His repertoire with Ballet Internationale began in 2000 and includes featured roles in Dracula, Sleeping Beauty, Marz, The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Interzone, Peter Pan and One Thousand and One Nights.

In addition to performing featured roles in the Indiana Ballet Company's Paquita, The Nutcracker, and On Earth We Stand, Mr. Sergiev has quickly earned a reputation and garnered awards as a contemporary ballet choreographer and soloist. His most recent roles as "The Phantom" and Shakespeare in the Indiana Ballet Company's original ballet productions of Phantom of the Opera and From Shakespeare with Love received tremendous reviews. Mr. Sergiev received the honor of Outstanding Choreographer at the 2009 Youth America Grand Prix competition, as well as the Choreography Award at the 2010 World Ballet Competition, and has choreographed numerous student pieces for the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana and the Indiana Ballet Conservatory. His motivation and commitment to pushing students to their fullest potential in contemporary movement makes him an enormous asset to IBC.

Hailey Agran, Academy Director & Children's Instructor

Ms. Agran began her ballet training with Aimee Langlas and Dawn George in Waterloo, Iowa, where she was a member of the student performing company, Andante. She moved to Indianapolis in the summer of 2005 to train at the Academy of Ballet Internationale, and upon its closing, the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana. She has trained under the instruction and guidance of Alyona Yakovleva, Tatiana Pali, Vladilen Semenov, Irina Kolpakova, Vera Solovyeva, Nikolai Levitskiy, and Maria Gribanova, among others, and has attended summer programs with the Classical Dance Alliance (on scholarship), Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington, D.C., Ballet Chicago, Cincinnati Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Internationale, and Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana.

Ms. Agran competed in the 2006 Russian Pointe USA National Youth Ballet Competition where she was offered scholarships to two universities. She became an apprentice with the Indiana Ballet Company in the fall of 2006, and joined the Company in 2009 upon graduation from the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana. Ms. Agran has performed in IBC's productions of The Nutcracker, Paquita, Love and Gravity, Chopiniana, On Earth We Stand, From Shakespeare with Love, and Phantom of the Opera. In addition to instructing the young children's classes at the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana, Ms. Agran also served as the Assistant to the Artistic Director from 2006-2009, and as the Academy Director for the 2009-2010 academic year. She is also currently working towards a degree in English from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Ms. Agran's individual and caring approach to teaching young children, as well as her strong administrative and communication skills as Academy Director, make her a valuable asset to the Indiana Ballet Conservatory.

Nicholas Owens, Modern Instructor

Nicholas Owens is known throughout the Indianapolis area as an educator, dancer, choreographer and the co‐founder of Kenyettá Dance Company. Recently, Mr. Owens formed a new professional modern dance company, NODC (Nicholas Owens Dance Company). Mr. Owens began dance at age 13 at Kenyettá Dance Studio, and his training includes modern, classical ballet, jazz, African dance forms and tap. He has attended major dance workshops, such as the International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference, and the African American Dance Company workshop in Bloomington, IN. He has traveled and performed nationally in California, Washington DC, New York, Texas and internationally in Toronto, Canada.

Over the past five years, he has taught contemporary modern classes at numerous local dance studios and schools, such as the Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana and Kenyettá Dance Studio. Credits for direction and choreography include Kenyettá Dance Company’s full‐length productions of Excerpts of Dreams, Signs of the Times, Out of the Box, Speaking Without Words and Groundwork Suites; Indianapolis Civic Theatre’s 2006 production of Ragtime the Musical, Indiana Ballet Company’s productions of On Earth We Stand and Love and Gravity; and Dance Kaleidoscope’s productions of Callused Hands and Love Key.

Jill Godwin, Jazz Instructor

Jillian Godwin is currently a company member with Dance Kaleidoscope, where she has been dancing professionaly for the past seven years. An Indianapolis native, she graduated from Broad Ripple High School's Center for the Performing and Visual Arts (BRHS) in 2003. Ms. Godwin has been a dance instructor since age seventeen, specializing in ballet and modern techniques, as well as jazz, tap, and lyrical. In addition to teaching, she has also helped choreograph two original ballets, numerous recital numbers, solo competition pieces. Last year, she was a guest choreographer at BRHS where set a group modern piece called Flight. Recently, she was the dance instructor at Indiana Repetory Theatre for their Summer Conservatory, teaching non- dancing actors ages 8- 18 dance history, dance vocabulary, and basic movement techniques. Ms. Godwin is thrilled to be starting a new journey with Indiana Ballet Conservatory.

Sean Bartram, Yoga/Pilates Instructor

British born Sean Bartram is head trainer and owner of Core Pilates and Fitness. Sean came to the United States in 2002 to play professional soccer for the Indiana Blast having played soccer in Europe. He has worked and/or lived on 3 continents. He holds a Bachelor of the Sciences degree in Leisure Resource Management from the University of Portsmouth, and is a contributing member of the British Association of Sports and Exercises Science. He is one of very few Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) certified instructors in the Midwest. He has over 10 years of experience which includes professional athletics, personal training and Pilates. He has also been a master instructor for a Los Angeles based celebrity trainer whose clients include Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. The program taught at Core Pilates and Fitness is Sean’s personal system of body conditioning. This program has been developed and constructed over years of experience as an instructor and professional athlete and is designed to get the best and most effective results possible for your body. This system has benefited athletes from MLB, NFL, MLS and IRL and allows Sean to part host International teacher training in London, England, with renowned fitness expert James D’Silva whose current clients include Sting and Bruce Springsteen. Sean is the Head Trainer to the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders taking them through carefully designed and constructed cardiovascular, strength and flexibility workouts and is very proud to partner with an organization as illustrious as the Indianapolis Colts.

Emily Dyson, Jazz Instructor

Emily Dyson is currently a company student with Dance Kaleidoscope and a recent graduate from the University of Oklahoma, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet Pedagogy. While at the University she had the opportunity to work under the direction of Mary Margaret Holt, Austin Hartel, Steve Brule, Clara Cravey, Jeremy Lindberg, Donn Edwards and Derrick Minter. She performed with both the ballet company, Oklahoma Festival Ballet, and the modern company, Contemporary Dance Oklahoma. Ms. Dyson began her training in Houston, Texas with Gilbert Rome and Victoria Vittum and was a company member with Houston Repertoire Ballet where she had the privilege to work with guest artists and choreographers such as Julio DeBethencourt, Lauren Anderson, and Sandra Organ. She has trained at intensives with Paul Taylor Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey, Washington School of Ballet, and Atlanta Ballet where she received training in ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, and pilates. Ms. Dyson is grateful to have the opportunity to work with young students and pass forward a love for dance that was instilled in her at an early age.

Shannon Branic, Tap Instructor

Ms. Branic, an Indianapolis native, trained in ballet, tap, contemporary, and jazz for 16 years in Indianapolis and New York City. She has performed in numerous musical theater productions at Footlight Musicals and Civic Theatre. Ms. Brannic attended New York University and works as a child social worker in the area of adoption.