( NEWS ARCHIVE )


An invitation for all UBA Alumni !
Please read this important message.


Hee Seo wins at Prix de Lausanne!
Universal Ballet Academy is proud to announce that our own Hee Seo was the top female winner at the Prix de Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland on February 2. She will receive a one-year scholarship for placing fourth overall in the competition of 130 dancers from around the world. Last year UBA's Matt Golding and Hyo Jung Kang won scholarships at the Prix. Matt is now at theRoyal Ballet school in London and Hyo Jung is with the John Cranko Ballet School in Stuttgart, Germany.
Congratulations to Hee, her teacher Madam Alla Sizova and her coach, Luke Newton-Mason!

 
Danny Tidwell covers Dance Spirit.
Danny Tidwell, now with the ABT studio company is featured in the January, 2002 issue of Dance Spirit magazine. Danny credits the experience he had here with other students for his success. Good luck Danny!

Michele Wiles on Cover of Dance

Our own Michele Wiles is on the November, 2002 cover of Dance Magazine. The article (see page 53) is all about Michele and how her hard work at the KAB and the ABT has paid off for her. Congratulations Michele!


Magazines Full of UBA!
Numerous mentions of KAB/UBA teachers and former students are in the magazines this month. Rasta Thomas and Sergiu Brindusa are pictured in the September 2002 Dancer Magazine. Madame Sizova is pictured in Dance Teacher. The article is about Nonprofit schools and refers to the Kirov Academy as a preeminnet Nonprofit school. In teh same September issue, Matt Golding's win at the Youth America Grand Prix is featured in the dancewire section.

Rasta Thomas in September '02 Dancer.
Brasilia Gold Goes To Dowd!
August 4, 2002: Olympia Dowd, a former Kirov Academy student, brought home the Gold Medal from the XII Brasilia International Dance Competition. Judges included Alexander Gorbatcevitch and Vera Timachova. In addition to being an accompliched dancer, Olympia has written a book titled A Young Dancer's Apprenticeship which is due out in October, 2002. It is being published by Raincoast Books.

UBA Students Awarded in Jackson!
On June 28, 2002, three Academy students were recognized at the USA International Ballet Competition. Danny Tidwell was awarded the Men's Junior Division Silver Medal while Melissa Hough and Ashley Canterna received Jury Awards. The competition consisted of three rounds with only 34 of the world's finest dancers making it to the third round. Congratulations to Danny, Melissa and Ashley.

Also competing in Jackson was our 1995 graduate Sergiu Brindusa. Sergiu was featured in a Clarion-Ledger article on June 16.

Sergiu Brindusa featured in Mississippi's Clarion-Ledger article.

 

Michele Wiles Wins Eric Bruhn Prize.
May 21, 2002: Michele Wiles, an Academy graduate and current soloist with the American Ballet Theatre, won the prestigious Eric Bruhn Prize in Toronto, Canada. Wiles was partnered with David Hallberg, also of the ABT. The competition was hosted by the National Ballet of Canada. Competitors for the award were chosen by their respective Artistic Directors and were from the following ballet companies: The National Ballet of Canada, San Fransisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Danish Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. More information

Wiles recently appeared in the ABT production of "Le Corsaire," Tchaikovsky's "Rose Adagio" and a modern piece, "Symphony in C." Michelle is also featured in the August/September issue of Pointe Magzine on page 66 in the "How It's Done" column.

 

Unprecedent success in New York's Youth America Grand Prix !
On Monday, May 6, 2002, the Academy made news in the world of Ballet when the Youth America Grand Prix Board awarded the school the prestigious title of Outstanding School for 2002. This international competition was held in New York City with 470 competitors, including dancers from Austria, Canada, France, Great Britain, Japan, Russia and the U. S. Our students brought home the Grand Prix, the Second and Third place, and a Summer scholarship at Colorado Ballet !

Jack Anderson of the NYTimes gave a very favorable review of the Grand Prix in his May 13 column and the August/September issue of Pointe Magzine mentioned Matt Golding's win on page 18.


Letter of congratulation from Mme. Vinogradova to the Academy's students and staff
Dear Teachers, Students and Kirov Staff!
It gives me great pleasure to inform you that the Youth America Grand Prix has awarded our school the prestigious title of "Outstanding School" for 2002.
This award was given to us because our school most closely represented the original criteria of classical ballet applied by the board of judges at the Youth America Grand Prix.
It was judged that the ballet skills and technical level of our participating students were the closest match to the original standards of stage presence, body type and ballet aesthetics in general.
I would like to extend my congratulations to each participant of the competition individually:
Kiri Chapman, April Giangeruso, Melanie Hamrick, Kuzey Kiyican, Brooklyn Mack, Matt Golding, Hee Seo.
Special recognition for:
Matt Golding-Grand Prix Winner
Second place winner- Hee Seo
Third place winner-April Giangeruso
Summer session full scholarship at Colorado Ballet- Kuzey Kiyican
I am very honored and privileged to be the Deputy Artistic Director of a school that has such highly talented and artistic students.


Dragos wins in Rome, Seh Yun excels in Luxembourg
Kirov Academy alumnus Dragos Mihalcea won the Grand Prix and Gold Medal at the 2001 Rome International Ballet Competition. Seh Yun Kim, also a graduate of our Academy, won the top awarded prize (the Silver Medal) at the 2001 Luxembourg International Dance Competition. Congratulations !

The Universal Ballet Company acclaimed at the Kennedy Center
The Universal Ballet Company has recently performed at the Kennedy Center with great success of critics and public !
Read two reviews here.

More Stars on the Rise
Read the review of The Kirov Academy Winter Performance 2000 by Terri Corcoran here.
See images of the performance here.

Julia Moon Receives Honors
Congratulations to Julia Moon, Chairperson of the Universal Ballet Foundation and General Manager of the Universal Ballet Company, who received an honorary doctorate in Dance Arts from the Moscow State University of Arts. Ms. Moon was also awarded the title of Honorary Ambassador by The State Institution, Moscow House of Ethnic Groups/Minorities.

KAB Dean's List 2000-2001
Congratulations to the following students for making the Dean's List. Ameila Abrahams, Ashton Berkley, Emily Bicks, Dlass Blagg, Ashley Canterna, Molly Carroll, Triana Cristobal, Joanna DeFelice, Olympia Dowd, Rachel Drollinger, Elizabeth Fischer, Adriana Flores-Miranda, Julia Higdon, Lauren Keplesky, Go Woon Koo, Raquel McCrae, Michelle Peterson, Anya Russian, Allison Sale, Sadie Strangio, Carolyn Taconi, Karen Uphoff, Kim Uphoff, Ashley Wilkenson, Jacqueline Willie and Shane Wuerthner

Michele Wiles
Congratulations to Michele Wiles, a graduate of The Kirov Academy of Ballet, for winning the 1999-2000 Princess Grace Dance Fellowship Award. We also congratulate all her teachers and coaches and especially Michele's parents. Ms. Wiles was recently named a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre in New York City.

Rasta Thomas
Congratulations to Rasta Thomas for his participation in the 1999 Academy Awards! We also wish to congratulate Rasta on his article that was published in the June 2000 issue of Dance Magazine, which features Rasta on the front cover.

Maria Bystrova
A Kirov Academy graduate and now a soloist with the American Ballet Theater, made her successful debut in the leading role of Giselle in 1999 with the Universal Ballet Company of Seoul Korea, while on tour with the company in Japan. Maria's partner was Dragos Mihalcea, also a graduate of The Kirov Academy, who recently won the Bronze Medal at the 2000 Fourth International Rudolph Nereyev Ballet Competition in Budapest. Both the audience and the company's directors had the very highest praise for Maria's performance.

Dragos Mihalcea
We wish to congratulate Dragos Mihalcea, a graduate of The Kirov Academy, for winning the Bronze Medal at the 2000 Fourth International Rudolph Nureyev Ballet Competition in Budapest, Hungary.

Hye Min Hwang
We wish to congratulate Hye Min Hwang, a graduate of The Kirov Academy, for winning the Bronze Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition - June 2000.

Ashley Canterna
Congratulations to Ashley Canterna who won the 2000 Gold Medal at the Youth America Grand Prix in New York.

Ashley Canterna
Congratulations again to Ashley Canterna for winning the highest awarded prize (the Silver Medal) at the 2000 Varna International Ballet Competition.

Kara Cooper
Congratulations to Kara Cooper who won the 2000 Silver Medal at the Youth America Grand Prix in New York.

Sascha Radetsky
Congratulations to Sascha Radetsky, a graduate of The Kirov Academy who recently appeared in the summer box office hit "Center Stage". Mr. Radetsky played the character of Charlie. He currently dances with the American Ballet Theatre.

Danny Tidwell wins in Shanghai
Kirov Academy student Danny Tidwell has won the highest awarded prize (the Silver Medal) at the 2001 Shanghai International Dance Competition. Congratulations to Danny, his parents, and his teacher !

Improvements at the Academy
The Kirov Academy has made many improvements over the past year. Our Wellness Program is progressing nicely. Students are able to improve their physical conditioning and nutritional requirements through this program. Students are also able to take advantage of our newly constructed conditioning room, which is equipped with weight training, aerobic and Pilates equipment.
We recently completed the construction of our updated and enhanced new library, which is now located on the first floor. Sooin Shim who is our English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher with degrees in English Language and Literature will be overseeing the library. We recently purchased a new generator that will allow us to have backup electrical support in the event of a major power outage, enabling the Academy to function without interruption.
Our Facilities Department has been working diligently on the construction and renovation of classroom and office space. Three new additional academic classrooms were recently completed on the lower level near the cafeteria. A new and expanded recreation room and computer room have been completed.