People behind The Nutcracker

Sasha Gorskaya, hailing from a small town in Belarus, always harbored a passion for the entertainment world. Armed with a master’s degree in Journalism from Belarusian State University, she quickly shifted her focus from writing to pursuing her true ambition: breaking into show business.

With a career spanning decades, Gorskaya has established herself as a seasoned producer, orchestrating an impressive array of projects from live music performances to large-scale ballet productions across Europe, the US, and beyond.

Her early professional journey included key roles in PR and production for the world-renowned Eurovision Song Contest, a pivotal experience that propelled her into co-founding the World Ballet Company, which produces and tours grand-scale ballet performances internationally.

Gulya Hartwick, originally from Riga, transitioned from a background in piano and psychology to a successful career in journalism and TV production before following her passion for the performing arts.

Since 2013, she has been channeling her creative energy into making the arts more accessible, co-founding the World Ballet Company with a mission. 

Gulya is driven by a strong belief that the exquisite beauty of ballet should be mainstream, a cultural treasure available to all, enriching lives globally.

Marina Kesler graduated from the Tallinn School of Choreography in 1988 from the class of Tiiu Randviir and joined the ballet troupe of the Estonian National Opera. In 1992–2010 she worked as a teacher at the Tallinn Ballet School.  Since 2010, she works as a repetiteur at the Estonian National Ballet. In 1997, she obtained master’s degree from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS, Moscow). At the Estonian National Opera she has been the choreographer for several opera and operetta productions. She has created works also for Bel-Etage and Endla theatres.

She came among the three best at the X International Moscow Choreographers’ Competition 2005 and received a prize for the dance piece “Danse sacral” (I. Stravinsky) and for “Ne me quitte pas” (J. Brel). Marina Kesler received the Annual Estonian Theatre award in 2007 for “Werewolf” (Estonian National Opera) and in 2021 for her production of “Anna Karenina” (Estonian National Opera) to the music of Dmitry Shostakovich. In 2011 and 2021, she was awarded the Colleague Prize of the Estonian Professional Dancers’ Union and in 2021 the Ida Urbel grant by the Estonian Ballet Union.

PRODUCTIONS

“One Day” (2006)

“Bernarda Alba’s House” (2008)

“Werewolf” (to the music of L. Sumera, R. Kangro, A. Pärt and L. Auster, 2007)

“Othello” (to the music of A. Pärt, 2010; Israel Ballet Company, 2012; ESTO Days in San Francisco, 2013)

“The Generous Tree” (Nargenfestival, composer Tauno Aints, 2011)

Prokofiev’s “Cinderella” (2012)

Tubin’s “The Goblin” (2015)

“Death and the Maiden” (2015)

“Undine” (2016)

“Taming of the Shrew” (2018, Jerusalem Ballet)

“Three Sisters” (2019)

“Anna Karenina” to the music of Dmitry Shostakovich (2020)

“The Glass Menagerie” (2021)

Ballet Master for the following productions:

MacMillan’s “Manon” 

Cranko’s “Onegin”

Schiavoni’s “Medea”, “Alice in Wonderland”

Balanchine’s “Serenade”, “Who Cares?”

Edur’s “The Sleeping Beauty”, “Swan Lake”, “La bayadère”

Martinez’s “The Corsair”

Lifar “Suite en blanc”

Meckler/Ochoa/Salem’s “Streetcar Named Desire”

Skeaping’s “Giselle”

Harangoszó’s “Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs”

Stevenson’s “The Nutcracker”

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Birkadze trained at the National Academy of Dance of Tbilisi with Vakhtang Chabukiany. He was invited to attend the Bolshoi Ballet Academy where he graduated with Honors in Classical Ballet, Pas de Deux, and Traditional Dance. Birkadze was awarded the Gold Medal in Moscow in World History and Literature. Upon graduating from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, he furthered his studies as a Pedagogy in Dance.

Birkadze has danced and choreographed throughout Europe with an international career dancing for the Bolshoi Ballet, Kremlin Ballet, Corella Ballet de España, CND among others. He was appointed Artistic Director of BMK Company, bringing elite dancers from around the world to perform in their galas.

As a choreographer, Birkadze has created numerous works for world renowned companies and dancers. He has also worked extensively on opera productions rising to Lead Assistant to Production at the Gran Teatro de Liceo, and Assistant Choreographer to David McVicar. He has also worked closely with Yuri Grigorovich, Christopher Wheeldon, Natalia Makarova and performed works especially by Twyla Tharp, George Balanchine, and Stanton Welch to critical acclaim. Birkadze has since created new works for companies throughout Europe, Southeast Asia, and the United States, and was recently on faculty at the Boston Ballet.

Birkadze is currently artistic director of The Dallas Conservatory’s professional division, Classical Training Program, and continues to travel internationally for his choreography and other artistic ventures.

Sergey Novikov is an acclaimed set and costume designer, St.Petersburg Repin Academy of Arts graduate, and the former principal designer of the Omsk State Musical Theater. 

As a production designer, he has worked on over seventy productions in the most prominent companies across the globe.

Sergey Novikov work is referred to as “a surprise and delight. They are so colorful and airy that they make one believe in magic!”

Marina Kesler graduated from the Tallinn School of Choreography in 1988 from the class of Tiiu Randviir and joined the ballet troupe of the Estonian National Opera. In 1992–2010 she worked as a teacher at the Tallinn Ballet School.  Since 2010, she works as a repetiteur at the Estonian National Ballet. In 1997, she obtained master’s degree from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS, Moscow). At the Estonian National Opera she has been the choreographer for several opera and operetta productions. She has created works also for Bel-Etage and Endla theatres.

She came among the three best at the X International Moscow Choreographers’ Competition 2005 and received a prize for the dance piece “Danse sacral” (I. Stravinsky) and for “Ne me quitte pas” (J. Brel). Marina Kesler received the Annual Estonian Theatre award in 2007 for “Werewolf” (Estonian National Opera) and in 2021 for her production of “Anna Karenina” (Estonian National Opera) to the music of Dmitry Shostakovich. In 2011 and 2021, she was awarded the Colleague Prize of the Estonian Professional Dancers’ Union and in 2021 the Ida Urbel grant by the Estonian Ballet Union.

PRODUCTIONS

“One Day” (2006)

“Bernarda Alba’s House” (2008)

“Werewolf” (to the music of L. Sumera, R. Kangro, A. Pärt and L. Auster, 2007)

“Othello” (to the music of A. Pärt, 2010; Israel Ballet Company, 2012; ESTO Days in San Francisco, 2013)

“The Generous Tree” (Nargenfestival, composer Tauno Aints, 2011)

Prokofiev’s “Cinderella” (2012)

Tubin’s “The Goblin” (2015)

“Death and the Maiden” (2015)

“Undine” (2016)

“Taming of the Shrew” (2018, Jerusalem Ballet)

“Three Sisters” (2019)

“Anna Karenina” to the music of Dmitry Shostakovich (2020)

“The Glass Menagerie” (2021)

Ballet Master for the following productions:

MacMillan’s “Manon” 

Cranko’s “Onegin”

Schiavoni’s “Medea”, “Alice in Wonderland”

Balanchine’s “Serenade”, “Who Cares?”

Edur’s “The Sleeping Beauty”, “Swan Lake”, “La bayadère”

Martinez’s “The Corsair”

Lifar “Suite en blanc”

Meckler/Ochoa/Salem’s “Streetcar Named Desire”

Skeaping’s “Giselle”

Harangoszó’s “Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs”

Stevenson’s “The Nutcracker”

Irina Prokofieva is a Vaganova Ballet Academy graduate. After graduation, she was immediately invited to the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, where she worked for 18 years and have performed, among others, several solo roles choreographed by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, August Bournonville, Mikhail Fokine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Leonid Lavrovrovsky, Vasily Vainonen, Yuri Grigorovich, Leonid Yakobson, William Forsythe, Alberto Alonso, George Balanchine and other choreographers.

In 2009 Irina enrolled in the Faculty of Education at the Vaganova Ballet Academy and obtained a master’s degree in education in 2012.

In 2010 Irina was granted the title Emeritus Professor of the Jilin Institute of Art.

Between 2013 and 2024, she gave several master classes in classical ballet as well as seminar-lectures worldwide in places such as Changsha, Nanjing, Seoul, Busan, Rapallo, Dezhou, Suzhou, Zürich, Bucharest, Varna, and most recently Budapest.

In 2019 Irina was invited to Budapest as a ballet master and joined the Hungarian State Opera, where she worked for 5 years closely with renowned choreographers and diverse styles of ballet.

Irina also published a book dedicated to the ballet classes held by one of the great ballet masters of his time, Sergei Vikharev.

Starting from 2024, Irina Prokofieva is the guest répétiteur of the World Ballet Company.