Summer Intensive 2026 Faculty

Marina Osipova,

Ph.D.

Founder & Artistic Director

Marina Osipova, Ph.D., is a renowned Russian ballet instructor, choreographer, and artistic director with a distinguished career in the world of classical ballet. She is recognized as one of the world’s leading specialists and methodologists in the Vaganova method, a testament to her profound expertise and dedication to the art of ballet.

Marina Osipova's journey in ballet began in 1984 when she enrolled at the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy, where she studied in the Performing Faculty with a specialty in Ballet Dancing. She graduated in 1992, marking the start of her professional journey in classical ballet. After her graduation, Marina joined the Russian Ballet Company, where she performed from 1992 to 1997. She then joined the Opera and Ballet Theater. M.P. Mussorgsky, where she danced until 2005, further honing her skills and artistry. In 2000, Marina was accepted into the pedagogical faculty of the Vaganova Ballet Academy, specializing in the Methodology of Teaching Classical Dance. She graduated in 2005 with the highest scores in the Vaganova Method of Education. Her commitment to academic excellence continued as she pursued postgraduate education from 2005 to 2010, specializing in the Theory and Methodology of Professional Education. She completed her thesis, "Professional Preparation of Future Ballet Dancers for the Execution of Jumping Movements," and earned the degree of Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences from the State Pedagogical University of Russia Al Herzen in 2011.

Marina Osipova has over 23 years of teaching experience, including her roles at the Vaganova Ballet Academy and the Boris Eifman Dance Academy, where she served as Deputy Artistic Director and Head of the Department of Classical Dance. Her contributions to ballet education are vast, including authoring methodical manuals and numerous scientific articles on classical dance. Her notable book, "Professional Training of Future Ballet Dancers for Performing Jumping Movements," is held in the Library of Congress of the United States.

Marina Osipova is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Osipova Ballet Academy (OBA). Under her leadership, OBA has become a beacon of excellence in ballet education. Since its founding, her students have achieved remarkable success, winning prestigious awards at esteemed competitions such as the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP). Her students have been honored with accolades including the coveted Youth Grand Prix and Top 12 Junior Women in the World at the NYC International Finals.

As a member of the International Dance Council (UNESCO), Marina Osipova has played a critical role in developing dance instruction worldwide. She has served as a jury member for international ballet competitions and collaborated on the organization and methodological support of educational and creative processes. Her expertise extends to the design, development, and writing of educational programs and study plans, influencing ballet education globally.

Marina Osipova's illustrious career, marked by her dedication to the Vaganova method and her significant contributions to ballet education, continues to inspire and shape the future of classical ballet dancers around the world.

Anastasia Vasilieva, Ph.D.

Classical & Character Dance Instructor

Guest Teacher/Choreographer

IIn 1991, Anastasia Vasilieva graduated with honors from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg. Russia from the class of the famous Natalia Dudinskaya, who was a student of Agrippina Vaganova herself. In 2005, Anastasia graduated with honors from the pedagogical department of Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet as a teacher of classical, historical. and character dance. In 2009, she finished her post-graduate stud at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and later in 2015 she received her Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D). For more than 20 years, Anastasia Vasilieva served as a ballet dancer at the prestigious Mariinsky Theatre in St.

Petersburg, Russia. She danced various roles from the Theatre's repertoire in both the corps de ballet & as a soloist. She toured with the theatre and was part of its many premieres all over the world. In 2012, Anastasia was awarded the prestigious diploma of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, a highly regarded honor. Anastasia teaches masterclasses in the classical, character, and historical dance disciplines in theaters and dance schools all over the world including Finland, Great Britain, Italy, France, South Korea, and United States of America. As of now, Ms. Anastasia works as an Associate Professor at the Department of Methodology of Character, Historical Dance and Acting at the prestigious Vaganova Academy of Classical Ballet in St.

Petersburg, Russia. Anastasia Vasilieva is the author of numerous works and papers as well as the author of various books specializing in the methodology of ballet. Since the opening of Osipova Ballet Academy in 2021, Ms. Anastasia Vasilieva has been a leading advisory and consultant for Osipova Ballet Academy.

Riccardo Riccardi

Classical & Character Dance Instructor

Guest Teacher/Choreographer

Riccardo began his studies in the Neapolitan school of Gino Lemaire, the former soloist of the San Carlo Theater and trained under Zarko Prebil, a student of N. Tarasov. He danced with the company of the San Carlo Opera House in Naples, Italy from 1985 to 2022 working with Carla Fracci, Vladimir Vasilyev, Ekaterina Maksimova, Rudolf Nureyev, Roland Petit, etc. He studied ballet with renowed dancers such as Zarko Prebil, Sulamith Messerer, Michail Messerer, Anatoliy Nisnievitch, Michail Lavrovsky, Alla Sisova.

In 1995 he graduated as maitre de ballet at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. Riccardo started organizing instructional courses for ballet teachers in the Vaganova Method across Italy soon after. In 2007, Mr. Riccardi translated and published the book “The Russian School of Classical Dance“ of V.S.Kostrovitskaya, A.A. Pisarev (Gremese 2007).

Starting in 2011, in collaboration with the international trade and show dance event “Danzainfiera“ (Italy) Riccardo organizes Ballet Master Classes with the Vaganova Ballet Academy. In 2015 he collaborated with the Vaganova Ballet Academy on publication of the book Maestro Enrico Cecchetti.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019 Riccardo was invited to the prestigious Forum of Cultures organized by the Ministry of Russian Culture. 2018 marked the year when he published the book “I temps lies del metodo Vaganova“ (Joker 2018) with reface by Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Marina Vasilyeva. In 2018 and 2019 he participated in the Update Courses of the Vaganova Academy for courses lower, intermediate and higher. From 2019 Mr. Riccardo started teaching at the Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington as a guest master teacher.

Vasily Medvedev

World-Renowned Choreographer, Ballet Master & Honored Artist of Estonia, Co-Founder & Artistic Direcor Petipa Ballet Association, Former Associate Professir At The Vaganova Academy Of Russian Ballet, Official Ballet Master Anton Dolin Foundation, Founder International Ballet Festival “Dance Open“

Vasily Medvedev received his ballet training at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet under legendary teachers such as Natalia Dudinskaya, Konstantin Sergeyev, and Gennady Seliutsky. He later earned a master's degree in choreography from the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory under Nikita Dolgushin. His career is documented in the biographical novel The Choreographer by Yana Temiz, housed in major libraries worldwide, including the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington. At the beginning of his career, Vasily performed smaller solo roles at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, and later became a principal dancer and choreographer at the Vanemuine Ballet of Estonia, where he also staged his original works. He holds the title of Honored Artist of Estonia.

Since 1989, Vasily has performed and choreographed internationally, participating in renowned events such as the Gala des toiles (Montreal), World Ballet Festival (Donetsk), and the World Stars Galas (Argentina, Baltic countries). As an associate professor at the Vaganova Academy, he has influenced future generations of ballet choreographers.

His choreography encompasses more than 70 productions, including works for the Bolshoi Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, Compañía Nacional de Danza in Mexico, Slovak National Ballet, Croatian National Ballet, National Opera Bucharest, Czech National Ballet, Ural Opera Ballet, Azerbaijan's State Academic Opera and Ballet, National Ballet of Panama, Lithuanian National Ballet, Grand Theatre Lódz, Croatian National Theatre in Split, Brno National Theatre, Mikhailovsky Theatre, State Ballet in Samara, Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre in Perm, National Theatre Sarajevo, and others.

His productions The Nutcracker (Staatsballett Berlin) and La Emeralda (Bolshoi Ballet) were broadcast internationally in more than 400 cinemas worldwide, as well as on Mezzo.

Among his acclaimed works are Onegin, La Emeralda, The Nutcracker, Pilate's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Le Corsaire, Coppélia, Lady of the Camellias, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Satanella, and La Bayadere.

Vasily has received numerous accolades, including the Zirvya Award for Seven Beauties (Azerbaijan), Audience Choice Diva Award for The Nutcracker and Le Corsaire (Czechia), the Pushkin Legacy Award (U.S.), the Crystal Lyra Award for Pilate's Dream (Bulgaria), and the UMAl Award for Romance of the Rosebud and the Butterfly (Kazakhstan). He has been nominated for Russia's highest theatre award, the Golden Mask, as well as for the Thalia Award, the highest theatrical honor in Czechia. He was also recognized for his contribution to the legacy of Marius Petipa by the Association of the Friends of the National Ballet of Panama.

Vasily co-founded the renowned International Ballet Festival Dance Open (St.

Petersburg) and the Dance Open Award. He also founded the Eurasian Dance Festival (Astana) and served as an advisor to the Kremlin Gala (Moscow). In 2016, he co-founded the International Petipa Heritage Fund, later establishing the Petipa Heritage Foundation in California in 2022. In 2023, he organized the Petipa Awards Gala in San Francisco, celebrating excellence in ballet. In 2025, he co-founded the Petipa Ballet Association in Czechia.

Stanislav Feco

International Ballet Master & Choreographer, President & Co-Founder Petipa Ballet Association, Official Ballet Master Anton Dolin Foundation, Former Principal Dancer Czech National Ballet & Graduate Vaganova Academy Of Russian Ballet

Stanislav Feсo graduated from the Prague Ballet Conservatory as a dancer and later from the renowned Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg.

He has been a principal dancer with the Czech National Ballet, St. Petersburg Russian Ballet, and the National Theatre in Brno, as well as a guest principal with renowned companies worldwide, including Teatro Colón, Mikhailovsky Theatre, National Theatre in Sarajevo, State Opera and Ballet Theatre in Baku, and the State Opera Prague.

His distinguished career features leading roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Raymonda, The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, La Bayadère, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, La Sylphide, Onegin, Romeo and Juliet, Les Sylphides, and Cinderella. He has performed works by celebrated choreographers including Roland Petit, George Balanchine, Jirí Kylián, Alvin Ailey, Hans van Manen, Yuri Grigorovich, and Vasily Medvedev.

Feco has appeared at major international ballet galas alongside world stars such as Svetlana Zakharova, Uliana Lopatkina, Yuan Yuan Tan, Sarah Lamb, Evelyn Hart, Carlos Acosta, Roberto Bolle, and Nikolay Tsiskaridze. He has partnered renowned ballerinas, including Mariinsky stars Galina Mezentseva, Yulia Makhalina, Lyubov Kunakova, Larissa Lezhnina, Natalia Sologub, Zhanna Ayupova, and Margarita Kullik, English National Ballet prima ballerinas Elena Glurdjidze and Daria Klimentová, and Czech National Ballet stars Jana Kurová and Hana Viácilová, among many others.

Alongside legendary ballerina Yulia Makhalina performed on stage of Mariinsky Theatre duet from ballet Onegin in choreography of Vasily Medvedev.

As a choreographer, Feco has staged original ballets such as Giselle, Palladio, Last Lullaby, Irresistable, La Bayadère, Emeralda, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and Coppélia for prestigious companies including the National Ballet of Panama, Compañía Nacional de Danza in Mexico City, Slovak National Ballet, Lithuanian National Ballet, National Opera Bucharest, Ural Ballet, Theatre Vanemuine Tartu, Croatian National Theatre Split, and the Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre in Perm. His acclaimed ballet Palladio has been performed worldwide. He has collaborated extensively with Vasily Medvedev, staging over 50 productions internationally.

As a guest teacher, Feco has worked with Staatsballett Berlin, Compañía Nacional de Danza in Mexico, Lithuanian National Ballet, National Theatre Brno. National Ballet of Panama, Azarbaijan's State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, National Theatre Sarajevo, Macedonian Opera and Ballet Theatre, State Ballet Stara Zagora, and other leading institutions. From 2007 to 2013, he served as leading ballet master at the Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre in Perm and the Ural Ballet in Ekaterinburg. From 2014 to 2016, he was ballet master of the Slovak National Ballet.

Feco is also a highly respected pedagogue whose students have achieved significant success. His pupils have won numerous awards at major international and national ballet competitions, including YAGP, Tanzolymp Berlin, the International Ballet Competition in Prague, the International Ballet Competition in Brno, the International Ballet Competition in Kazan, and the Ballet Competition in Panama. He was also a head of the judges for several regional ballet and dance competitions in Yekaterinburg and other cities in Ural region. In 2022, Feco co-founded and became director of the Petipa Heritage Foundation in California. In 2023, he co-organized the Petipa Awards Gala in San Francisco, honoring ballet luminaries and featuring world-class performers. In 2025, he co-founded the Petipa Ballet Association in the Czech Republic. His contributions to ballet as a performer, choreographer, teacher, and mentor have left a lasting impact on the international dance community.

Tatiana Ulitina

Classical & Character Dance Instructor

Tatiana Ulitina was born in Leningrad, Russia. She received her training at the prestigious Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia graduating from the class of the legendary professor Natalia Dudinskaya who was a student of Agrippina Vaganova herself. Soon after graduating, Ms. Tatiana danced with The Leningrad Maly Theatre Ballet, presently known as the Mikhailovsky Ballet Theatre, performing ballet lead roles and touring all over the world. In 2003, Ms. Tatiana graduated from the Pedagogical Department of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet (class of professor Liudmila Safronova) as a teacher of Classical Dance, Character Dance, and Historical Dance. From 2002-2012, Ms. Ulitina was a teacher at the Classical Dance Department at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. During the years of 2016-2017, Ms. Ulitina taught at the Boris Eifman Dance Academy as a teacher of Classical Dance. Her students went on to dance at some of the world's most renowned stages & theaters such as the Mariinsky Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet, Eifman Ballet, National Opera of Budapest & The Joffrey Ballet; to name a few. Ms. Ulitina's students include - Olga Smirnova (Prima Ballerina of Dutch National Ballet, Former Prima Ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, Russia), Maria llyushkina (First Soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre), Anastasia Lukina (Soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre), Vlada Borodulina (Soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre), Nika Tskhvitaria (Soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre), Alisa Rusina (Soloist of Character Dance at the Mariinsky Theatre) & many more. Ms. Tatiana’s students won top prizes at international and national competitions, including YAGP and California Dance Classics. Ms. Tatiana is well respected & loved by all her students. She has changed & touched the lives of many young dancers on their ways to becoming professional dancers.

Irina Dovidovskaya

Pre-Ballet Program Director - Classical, Contemporary & Character Dance Instructor, Choreographer, Pre-Ballet Instructor

Born in Minsk, Republic of Belarus. Irina began her dancing career at the age of 3, dancing in a group on the main stages of the country. At the age of 10, Irina entered the Belarusian State Choreographic Gymnasium-College in the class of Klara Nikolaevna Malysheva. Over the course of 9 years of study, Irina showed excellent results and, while still studying, toured the cities of Germany and England with other students . She also completed an internship at the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of the Republic of Belarus

After completing her studies, Irina was hired by the Belarusian State Academic Musical Theater as a Stage Master.

In 2013, Irina was accepted into the troupe of the Moscow Classical Ballet Theater of Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov to the position of Stage Master.

Throughout her creative career, Irina danced the main roles in the ballets Giselle (Myrtha), The Nutcracker (Myshilda), The Rite of Spring (Besovataya), Swan Lake (Great Swans, Spanish Dance), Don Quixote (Gypsy Dance, Mercedes, Bolero) and others.

Performances with her participation took place on the best stages of the world: the Historical Stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, the Alexandria Theater, the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theater, as well as in the cities of Japan, America, Europe, Morocco, Taiwan, Thailand, China and many others. Irina also conducted master classes for students of ballet schools during tours

In 2017, she graduated from the State Institute of Theater Arts GITIS, choreographer department (ballet pedagogy) on a course with Prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia Maria Evgenievna Allash.

In 2022, Irina joined the World Ballet series as a ballet dancer, and also conducted ballet classes for artists.

In 2023, she completed training in Progressive Ballet Technique (PBT) and conducted master classes for students of ballet schools New Tampa Dance Theater and Alessi Dance Factory (Tampa, Florida).

Ekaterina (Katya) Ulitina

Classical, Contemporary & Character Dance Instructor, Choreographer, Pre-Ballet Instructor

Ekaterina Ulitina, born in Saint Petersburg into a family of dancers from the Mikhailovsky Theatre, is a distinguished ballet dancer and educator. She graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in 2011, where she trained under esteemed professors in classical, character, and contemporary dance. She later completed a master’s degree in pedagogical studies at the academy in 2023.

Her performance career began at the National Theatre Belgrade in Serbia, where she performed a full classical repertoire before becoming a leading soloist at the St. Petersburg Tchaikovsky Ballet Theatre. Notable roles include Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Mari in Nutcracker, and soloist roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, and Don Quixote.

As a teacher, she has been instructing students since 2012, focusing on classical, contemporary, and character dance. She has prepared students for competitions and specialized in ballet conditioning and talent development. Additionally, she has served as a judge in international ballet competitions and authored a scholarly work on A.Y. Vaganova’s scientific methodology of classical dance.