Faculty
Academy Faculty
Anna Onipko – School Principal
(Academy Ballet, Character Dance & Adult Ballet)
A graduate of the Kiev State Ballet Academy, Anna Onipko was fortunate to study with Madame Virikundova, one of the last pupils of the legendary Vaganova. Ms. Onipko began her performing career as a soloist at the Kiev Ballet and Opera Theater for Youth. Two years later, after participating in the International Ballet Competition, she was invited to join the troupe of the National Ballet of Ukraine and went on multiple tours around Europe and the United States.
After moving to the US in 1996 and joining Ballet El Paso, she soon became the company’s principal dancer, appearing as a lead in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote and Pulcinella. She also performed as a guest artist with the New Mexico Ballet, Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, the El Paso Opera Company and the El Paso Symphony Orchestra.
In 2002, she received her BFA in Dance and graduated with honors from the University of Texas at El Paso.
Ms. Onipko’s more than twenty years of teaching experience includes the University of Texas Ballet Academy, as well as other dance schools in New Mexico, Florida and California. Her choreographic credits include Assistant to the Director for the El Paso Ballet and the Children’s Ballet Theatre Project in Fort Lauderdale, where she’s created an original choreography for “Alice in Wonderland”, “Twelve days of Christmas” and staged a Divertissement from “The Sleeping Beauty”. Ms.Onipko’s adaption of Scottish dance from Les Sylphide and her original choreography of “Plyasovaya” both advanced to the Finals of Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in New York City.
Besides teaching ballet, Ms. Onipko’s other passion is writing. As a part of the Graduate course at the Connecticut Institute of Children’s Literature, she has recently completed her first historical fiction novel “Prelude to Ballet”.
Dominique Clemente
(Academy Ballet, Contemporary)
Dominique began her training with Dmitri Kulev Ballet at age 4 and later became a Company member of Orange County Ballet Theater. She is a native of Orange County, CA and an Alumni of Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy. Rooted in classical ballet training, Dominique was inspired by and drawn to contemporary dance. Her additional training includes jazz, lyrical, tap, musical theater, hip hop,ballroom and the Balanchine style. Along with performing, her passion is teaching and creating choreography. She has worked with Choreographers such as Lindsey Matheis, Joseph Kudra, Lillian Rose Barbeito (Body Traffic), Robyn Mineko Williams (Hubbard Street).
Dominique was the 2015 Elite Dance Tournament Joffrey/Complexions Award Winner, and she has received numerous scholarships that include Miami City Ballet, Joffrey Chicago, Bolshoi, and Ballet West.
Askar Kettebekov
(Academy Ballet and Character Dance)
Askar received his dance training from the National Ballet School of Kazakhstan and graduated from the National University of Kazakhstan with a degree in Ballet Pedagogy and Choreography. After graduation, he was asked to join the National Ballet Theatre of Kazakhstan and performed with the company for eight years as a soloist, after which he joined Moscow Ballet Festival Ballet. Upon coming to the United States, Askar was the Principal guest dancer in the Ballet Theatre of Boston and Tulsa Ballet. For three years, he was a Principal dancer with San Diego Ballet then became the Artistic Director for the Media Dance Center in Los Angeles. As a dancer, he toured through Asia, Europe, and North America.
Askar has enjoyed teaching for DKCBA’s Summer Intensive and is looking forward to joining us for our 2020-2021 season!
Krystal Matsuyama-Tsai
(Academy Ballet, Stretch & Conditioning)
Krystal is a Freelance Performing Artist with the MSA Agency in Los Angeles, California since 2010.
She has taught ballet, movement and Improv workshops to students ages 11+. Krystal was a Guest Artist at Aspen Santa Fe Ballet in Colorado, an Apprentice, Guest Artist with COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet Aug 2008 – Jun 2009 in the Greater New York City Area.
Workshop locations include:
University of California, Irvine | Irvine, CA
Focus Dance Center | Irvine, CA
Walnut High School | Walnut, CA
Taipei American School | Taipei, Taiwan
Contemporary Dance Faculty
Megan Guise
(Modern, Jazz & Contemporary)
Megan Guise is a native of Southern California where she began her training in many
movement forms at a young age. Growing up, she studied Commercial Dance at Orange
County School of the Arts. After high school, she studied at San Francisco State University and
in 2012, trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. She holds a BFA from California
State University, Long Beach where she received the Susan McLain Scholarship. Megan has
had the privilege of appearing in works created by Alex Ketley, Becca Lemme, Lorin Johnson,
Jessie Riley, Liz Imperio, Christian Burns, Keith Johnson, Sophie Monat and others. Recently,
she has been the Artistic Director of the Westside Dance Project Performance Company in
Laguna Hills, and teaching Contemporary at Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy since 2015.
Jessie Riley
(Contemporary and Westside Dance Project)
Jessie Riley trained with Alicia Head, Paula Morgan, Reid Olson, Stanley Holden and many other teachers across the U.S. and Europe. Jessie has performed works by Peter Chu, Sonya Tayeh, Mike Esperanza, Lauren Adams, Billy Bell, Helen Blackburn, Mia Michaels, and many. Jessie was a member of Sonya Tayeh’s “Tayeh Dance”, and Mike Esperanza’s BARE Dance Company. Jessie started her choreography and production career at 18 when she produced and directed the choreography showcase Terpsicoreal in Hollywood. Jessie Formed WESTSIDE Dance Project in 2009 geared towards young dancers training for a career in contemporary concert dance. WESTSIDE Dance Project, under Jessie’s direction, has produced many shows including Bodies Never Lie, Vessel, Emerge-A double billing with Billy Bell’s Lunge Dance Collective, Thread, Porcelain, The Watcher, Integrate in 2015 co-choreographed with Matt Luck, and 2016 Depth of Field. Jessie has taught for various conventions, intensives, and workshops, She has also hosted her own intensives in the U.S., England, and Italy. Her choreography has been honored at Youth American Grand Prix. Her choreography has also been shown at The Spotlight Awards in 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. She has been accepted into the Dancing Under the Stars Festival in Palm Desert CA in 2009, 2010, and 2013 with her company WESTSIDE Dance Project. Jessie’s work competed at The Capezio Ace Awards in 2014 and 2015.