Tradition. Precision. Grace.
Director & Instructor
Tatiana Kitlak
Meet Ballerina Tatiana Kitlak!
Tatiana Kitlak’s dream of ballet began in childhood, as it does for many young girls. Very early on—perhaps after attending her first ballet performance at the beautiful theater in Lviv, Ukraine, where she spent her childhood—that dream became a determined desire to learn to dance.Her mother enrolled her in a ballet school, where her first and beloved teacher was Rufina Mikhailovna Lanskaya, a student of the legendary Agrippina Vaganova herself.
Lanskaya R.M. Placht J.I.
Soon afterward, Tatiana’s family moved to Odessa, a magnificent city on the Black Sea and home to one of the world’s most beautiful opera houses. There, she continued her ballet education under the guidance of distinguished teachers Zoya Khairulina and Rozalia Lerman. She graduated from the class of the renowned ballet educator Yuliy Osipovich Placht, Honored Artist of Russia.
At her graduation performance on the stage of the magnificent Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, Tatiana danced the Pas de Deux from Delibes’ Coppélia and performed in the Trio of Shades from Minkus’ La Bayadère.
Only a select number of graduates were invited to join the company of the Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, but Tatiana had little reason to worry—she was considered one of the strongest students in her class. The following season, she began performing professionally as a member of the ballet company. Thus began the challenging journey of mastering an extensive classical repertoire while continuing her daily artistic development under the guidance of Yuliy Placht, the theater’s principal ballet master and répétiteur.
Tatiana "Les Sylphides"
Odessa Opera&Ballet Theatre
Her first solo roles came in children’s ballets and later expanded into the great classical productions, including Giselle, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, Les Sylphides, and La Sylphide. She also toured successfully with the company throughout Canada, Great Britain, Spain, China, and Japan.
Before immigrating to the United States, Tatiana became increasingly interested in ballet pedagogy. She began attending classes not only as a dancer but also as a future teacher, seeking to understand the secrets of effective training and the unique needs of children at different ages. She devoted herself to finding the most effective teaching methods that aligned with her artistic vision and understanding of contemporary ballet.
She studied extensively, reading professional literature, analyzing videos of master teachers, and exploring a wide range of training approaches. In addition to the traditional Vaganova Method and European ballet standards, she incorporated elements of rhythmic gymnastics, floor barre exercises, and detailed pointe work techniques into her teaching philosophy.
After establishing herself in the United States, Tatiana put this knowledge into practice. She gained extensive experience teaching students of all ages—from young children in pre-ballet programs to adult dancers. She also developed significant experience as a ballet instructor working in rhythmic gymnastics and figure skating. Through her work with athletes in rhythmic gymnastics and figure skating, Tatiana has helped them to develop classical body lines, artistry, and movement quality, encouraging athletes to understand
and appreciate grace, elegance, and expressiveness in their performances.
Through the Russian Ballet Academy, Tatiana has created numerous performance programs featuring both excerpts from the classical repertoire she performed as a ballerina and original choreographic works of her own creation.
Tatiana views the mission of the Russian Ballet Academy—and her own mission as a ballet educator—as a combination of accessibility and excellence: making quality ballet training available to anyone who wishes to study ballet while providing talented students with the strong technical foundation necessary for a professional career.
This vision is reflected both in the dedicated work that takes place every day in the Academy’s classroom and in the inspiring performances presented
on stage through RBA’s repertoire concerts.
You can experience this for yourself. Once you step through our doors, you will discover the beauty, elegance, and grace of ballet. Whether you uncover a talent within yourself or in your children, you too can become part of the timeless artistic tradition of dance and join the eternal circle of Terpsichore, the muse of dance.
You are warmly welcomed here. We will gladly help you take your first steps in ballet—steps that can transform you both physically and spiritually.
Teachers
Administrator
Tatiana Kitlak
Ballet Instructor-Assistant
Nicole Kitlak
Ms. Nicole has studied ballet since the age of five and has received comprehensive professional ballet training through the full course of study at the Russian Ballet Academy of Michigan (RBA of Michigan).
She has extensive stage experience, having performed since childhood as a ballet soloist. Her repertoire includes both children’s concert pieces and demanding classical roles from the works of renowned choreographers, including Marius Petipa (Le Corsaire, La Bayadère), Alexander Gorsky (The Little Humpbacked Horse), Michel Fokine (Les Sylphides), and Yuri Grigorovich (Anastasia).
In addition to her performance experience, Ms. Nicole is developing her professional teaching and organizational skills by assisting her mother with ballet classes. Her responsibilities include supporting younger and elementary-level students, organizing and preparing performance programs, coordinating costumes, managing performance logistics, and supervising and assisting younger students.
Through her formal training, extensive stage experience, and practical involvement in teaching and performance production, Ms. Nicole has developed a strong foundation in classical ballet technique, performance, student support, choreography preparation, and concert organization
Ballet Pedagogue-Consultant
Galina Polishchuk
She considers herself a follower of the St. Petersburg balletschool, having received training from its representatives at all stages of her education.
She became interested in creative ballet education early on. Her studies at the LSIC and her assistantship/internship at GITIS in Moskow specializing in «Teaching classical dance», provided her with a wealth of material for independent teaching and the development of her own practical techniques for various classes, from junior and experimental to senior.
While working at the Odessa Choreographic School alongside the renowned teacher Yuly Plakht, she became interested in the experience of retraining students, and later ballet dancers, who had received insufficient training for the academic stage. She developed her own methodology and subsequently applied it in her work with ballet dancers.
She worked abroad, teaching at ballet schools in Japan and master classes in Tokyo, Venice and Paris. Her students have participated in international ballet competitions in Italy, Hungary, Russia, Korea, and Kazakhstan. They have danced and taught in Ukraine, Russia, the USA, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Japan.
She has authored numerous publications about ballet theater, researched the history of regional ballet theater, and has collaborated with the magazine «Ballet» for many years.
She has prepared the textbook (manual) «Classical Dance: Teaching Methodology».
Odessa Choreographic School
Ballet Pedagogue Galina and ballerina Tatiana – ballet lesson
for young students
Class&Rehearsals for ballet dancers
We will definitely let you know when this very useful book is published in English.
