Kansas Ballet ​Summer Showcase 2016
July 30th 6:00pm

WE BRING WORLD CLASS PROFESSIONAL DANCERS TO TOPEKA!

Oksana Maslova

​Ms. Maslova is originally from the Ukraine. She is a former soloist of the Odessa National Opera House and was a guest artist with Moscow Ballet in Russia. As an international award winning artist, she has danced extensively throughout  Europe as well as the United States and in Canada. Her early engagements were with the Kiev Youth Ballet and the Suziriya Dance Theater. Ms. Maslova's artistic development includes early training in rhythmic gymnastics which led to an intensive ballet program with Irina Sycheva, former ballerina of St. Petersburg Ballet. Ms. Maslova studied with great teachers and artists, including Anna Petrechuk, Nina Kosenko and Sergei Bondur.  In addition to a large classical repertoire: Nutcracker, Swan Lake,  La Bayadère,  Giselle, Sleeping Beauty to name but a few … she performs neoclassical and modern works. Ms. Maslova was a featured ballerina with the Grand Rapids Ballet, the Connecticut Ballet and is currently a Principal Dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet.

anton Kandaurov

​Mr. Kandaurov was born in Donetsk, Ukraine. He is a graduate of the Kiev State College of Choreography and is an award winner of the international competition “Youth Ballet 2002”. Mr. Kandaurov continued to study at the "HochShule fúr Musik und Theater in Zurich". His professional engagements began with the Croatian National Ballet, then the Kiev National Opera House Ballet. He was a soloist with the Kiev City Academic Theater and the Moscow Ballet Company which toured a great deal world wide. . In 2008, Mr. Kandaurov became a member of Grand Rapids Ballet Company, where he created the wonderful role of Sebastian of Shakespear’s Tempest. His rich repertoire includes the IXI century classics as well as neo classical works such as Balanchine’s "Who Cares". Mr. Kandaurov is currently principal dancer with Connecticut Ballet.

kaleena Burks

Ms. Burks was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ms. Burks was trained by Magda Aunon and Magaly Suarez, spending summers at the School of American Ballet, Ballet Austin, Miami City Ballet, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. In 2005, she was awarded first place in the pre-professional division of the American Ballet Competition and has been invited to perform in many galas, including the International Ballet Festival of Miami. Ms. Burks has danced with Cincinnati Ballet, Columbia Classical Ballet, and the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami. With Kansas City Ballet, Ms. Burks has been featured as Myrtha in Giselle, Elegy Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Fairy Godmother in Victoria Morgan’s Cinderella, and Dew Drop in Todd Bolender’s The Nutcracker.

ryan jolicoeur-Nye

Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye is a native of Waterville, Maine. He began his training at the age of 15 under the instruction of Andrei Bossov. In 2003, Mr. Nye joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division where he received the prestigious Arnold Spohr Scholarship. Upon graduation in 2005, Mr. Nye was asked to participate in the Banff Summer Arts Festival in Banff, Alberta. There, he originated roles in Sabrina Matthews’ Losing Groundand Peter Quanz’s Quanz by Quanz, and performed the leading role in Fernand Nault’s Carmina Burana. Mr. Nye began his professional career with Festival Ballet of Providence and then in 2006 joined the Eugene Ballet Company where he performed soloist roles in several works by Artistic Director Toni Pimble. In 2007, he joined Director Peter Anastos at Ballet Idaho and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2011. Mr. Nye is an award-winning choreographer and has had three world premieres with Ballet Idaho, including Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and City Symphonywith music by Philip Glass. With Kansas City Ballet, he has danced in Jessica Lang’s Splendid Isolation III, Toni Pimble’s Carmina Burana, Margo Sappington’s Common People, and as Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker. This is his fourth season with the company.

Krishnapriya Pramod

Krishnapriya Pramod, Artistic Director of Chilanka School of Dance, has trained in Indian classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam for over 15 years in the vibrant and culturally rich state of Kerala in India, under the tutelage of Gurus Smt. Kalakshetra Vilasini and Sri Kalamandalam Gopinath. Krishnapriya has performed extensively and organized many events both in India and the US. Apart from Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam, she has won many artistic awards and accolades in a variety of other Indian dance forms such as Ottanthullal and regional folk dance forms.

After completing her Bachelors in Physics, she went on to follow her passion in Education by completing her Bachelors in Education from Mysore University. It’s the combined desire in both Education and Dance that made her eventually the founder of Chilanka School of Dance.