Welcome to Brevard Ballet Academy. We are a highly successful, prestigious school offering the highest level of classical ballet training for all ages. We provide students with the opportunity to aspire in the world of ballet by offering consistent training, private lessons, performances, summer camps, dance competitions, and master classes. Brevard Ballet Academy comprises complete Pre-Ballet, Ballet, Contemporary, and Adult programs.
Our mission: Creating an environment for students to be introduced to dance, grow in their love for ballet, as well as continue development of current ballet skills. Whether to enhance a healthy lifestyle, further discipline, or to become a professional dancer, we provide a consistent atmosphere, training, and scholarship opportunities to attain these goals.
Brevard Ballet Academy is a proud corporate sponsor of the Eau Gallie Art District.
Elena Shokhina – Owner and Academy Director
Elena began her ballet journey at the world-renowned Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. After completing eight years of intense training, she graduated and promptly commenced an eight-year tenure as a professional ballerina based in Russia – first with the Saint Petersburg State Academic Yacobson Ballet Theatre, and later, with the St. Petersburg Ballet. At both companies, Elena quickly advanced to principal status and gained a wealth of global experience traveling to perform in major theaters around the world. In 2000, Elena moved to the United States and earned a position with Nevada Ballet Theatre, where she quickly became a principal and performed until retiring in 2008, the end of a 16 year career as a principal dancer.
Throughout her career, Elena became known for her loyalty, incredible discipline and vast performance repertoire, including leading roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Dracula, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadere and Paquita, among others. Additionally, Elena had the honor of working with numerous esteemed choreographers – such as Val Caniparoli, Bruce Steivel, Peter Anastos and Mark Diamond – who not only enriched Elena's stage life, but also helped lay the foundation for artistic direction of her own productions.
Elena discovered her passion for teaching classical ballet at Nevada Ballet Theatre's affiliated academy. She relocated to Brevard County in 2010 and continued instructing students locally before opening Brevard Ballet Academy in 2014. One year later, Florida Today interviewed Elena about her vision to grow her faculty, facilities and student base in order to support a youth company; a vision that became a reality in 2018 with the founding of Brevard Ballet Youth Company, which produces at least two full-length ballets each year. Elena's dedication to teaching has helped many of her students advance to distinguished ballet schools, university programs and professional companies.
Luba Gulyaeva – Ballet Instructor
A graduate of the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, Ms. Gulyaeva joined the Kirov Ballet in 1972, dancing featured roles in Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, La Bayadere, and Don Quixote. In the 1980's, she was invited by Mikhail Barishnikov himself, to join the staff of the American Ballet Theatre, where she taught company class and coached the dancers, as well as teaching all levels at the ABT school. Ms. Gulyaeva's additional teaching credits include the Australian Ballet in Melbourne, Australia, the School of American Ballet in New York, and seminars at numerous universities in the United States.
Michele “Mimi” MacDonald – Ballet Instructor
Mimi Macdonald Sitterly is a dance education consultant specializing in ballet teacher preparation. Her early training was in St. Louis, MO. She graduated from Principia College with a minor in dance and Temple University with a Master's Degree in dance education. During twelve years in Philadelphia she co-directed a non-profit ballet company, taught ballet, and studied ballet teacher preparation and Vaganova methodology with John White at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet. She has been invited to choreograph and teach ballet as guest faculty at five colleges and universities. Mimi served as Dance Program Specialist and curriculum consultant at COCA (Center of Creative Arts) in St. Louis. She offers professional development opportunities and designs curriculum for studios wishing to implement Russian ballet methodology. Combining her comprehensive teacher training background with Elena's thorough knowledge of the Vaganova method, Mimi helped develop the detailed curriculum now used at Brevard Ballet Academy. She is thrilled to be on the faculty of Brevard Ballet Academy.
Talia Frisco – Head of Pre-Ballet Division and Ballet Instructor
Talia's dance experience is local to Brevard, where she trained in the Vaganova Ballet method, lyrical, jazz, character, tap, and musical theatre. Talia has performed in The Nutcracker Ballet, as well as lead and dance roles in many musicals such as Beauty and the Beast, Brigadoon, Anything Goes, Guys and Dolls, The Little Mermaid, and 42nd Street. Ms. Frisco was a ballet teacher assistant for nine years while she was in school and taught a variety of dance styles during theatre workshops. She has worked with children of all ages, and is especially passionate about teaching our youngest students. Along with her role at Brevard Ballet Academy, she holds her degree in Early Childhood Education and is a preschool teacher.
Kathleen Reau – Ballet Instructor
Kathleen began her early ballet training at the Reilly Academy of Ballet in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and later trained at the School of American Ballet in New York City. Her professional career as a dancer began with the Hamburg Ballet in Hamburg, Germany where she was a company member for four seasons, and toured extensively throughout Europe, Russia, and South America. She later completed 11 seasons as a lead company member with BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio where she performed in a broad range of pieces, from classical ballet to contemporary ballet and modern dance. After Ms. Reau’s successful career as a dancer, she transitioned into teaching. She’s taught ballet technique at various schools including Jansen Dance Project in Tampa, Florida, Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Columbus Dance Arts Academy, Columbus Dance Theatre and BalletMet Academy in Columbus, Ohio.
Jessica Powell – Ballet Instructor
Jessica began her ballet training at the Boehm Ballet Academy of Dance and was later a company member with Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre. She has training in various dance styles including ballet technique, ballroom, contemporary, jazz, and modern. Ms. Powell attended Joffrey Ballet's Summer Intensive and later continued her education at the University of Texas at Austin where she minored in theatre and dance with a concentration in Ballet. Jessica has a love for the performing arts and has been a part of numerous musicals and ballet productions including Brevard Ballet Youth Company’s The Nutcracker Ballet and Cinderella.
Colin Fuller – Contemporary Instructor
Colin Fuller was born, raised, and began dancing in Melbourne, Florida and later trained at New Dimensions Dance Company and Next Generation Ballet. Mr. Fuller completed his classical training in New York City attending the School of American Ballet. He received a Jerome L. Greene Fellowship to attend the Juilliard School and received his B.F.A. there in 2016. Mr. Fuller is a diverse dancer who studied at Paris Opera Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Forsythe’s Art Of Berlin, and Springboard Dans Montreal. He has performed the works of Jose Limon, Peter Martens, Brian Brooks, and Paul Lightfoot and as the lead in works by Merce Cunningham, Ji?í Kylián, and Lar Lubovitch. While enjoying a freelance career in Europe, New York, and Florida, he cultivated his passion for choreographing and teaching. Mr. Fuller is excited to inspire the next generation of artists and share technical knowledge that will prepare them for anything.
Tonia Heidenreich – Ballet Instructor and Certified Progressing Ballet Technique Instructor
A native of Massachusetts, Ms. Heidenreich began her professional training at Walnut Hill School for the Arts. She later continued her training at the Boston Ballet School and with Boston Ballet II performing alongside the main company in productions such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Etudes, and The Nutcracker. After completing high school, she received an invitation to join Charleston Ballet Theatre (CBT) in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. As a member of CBT, she performed the works of George Balanchine, David Parsons, Jose Limon and resident choreographer Jill Eathorne Bahr. During her many years as a professional dancer, Tonia taught all levels of Ballet and completed her classical Pilates certification. Her passion for Pilates eventually led her to hang up her pointe shoes and dedicate herself to helping others feel healthy and confident in their bodies. She has spent the past 10 years at the Palmetto City Ballet School teaching Ballet, Pointe, Body Conditioning and Progressing Ballet Technique. She feels honored to have the opportunity to work alongside Ms. Elena and the incredible staff at Brevard Ballet Academy. We are beyond thrilled to have the privilege of Tonia joining our team and providing her expert training to our students.
Sheila Menendez – Academy Administrator and Fitness Instructor
Originally a Florida native, Sheila spent most of her adult life in Williamsburg, Virginia where she began her fitness journey with Taekwondo. She spent the next 10 years in a leadership program becoming a second-degree black belt and a self-defense instructor for children and adults. In 2009, she began teaching boot camp style fitness classes and became a certified personal and small group fitness trainer. Along with her other prominent certifications, Sheila is a certified Mommy and Me instructor. She has been teaching body conditioning at Brevard Ballet Academy since 2019 and assumed the role of Academy Administrator in 2022.
Dasha Bondar – Assistant to the Director
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Dasha grew up in the world of professional ballet as the daughter of two Vaganova Ballet Academy graduates, one of whom is Academy Director, Elena Shokhina. She moved to the United States at age 5 and immediately began her training at Nevada Ballet Academy, where she was chosen as a full scholarship recipient. Dasha trained at the academy for eight years under various prestigious instructors and choreographers. She was chosen for the role of Clara in Nevada Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker and performed in many other company productions including Peter Pan and Dracula. In addition to ballet, Dasha has advanced training in contemporary, jazz, Fosse, character dance, and hip-hop as well as teaching kids of all ages. After earning a Bachelors of Science from Florida State University and gaining office and administrative experience, she became the academy administrator in 2018.
Guest Instructors
Always Growing!
We are always seeking accomplished instructors to compliment our exceptional faculty. Your inquiry is sincerely welcome. Please contact us to discuss opportunities or send your resume to om</span>?subject=Instructor Resume" class="fp-mail-to" target="_blank"><span data-original-string="I+CCvQ6MOqd4qvzoGKhCVg==7addwCAyuz87mrr6SHpylcu5/frYplIIlDsDwCsOVK0PqM=" class="apbct-email-encoder" title="This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.">re<span class="apbct-blur">****@Br***********.c</span>om</span>.
Because of our overwhelming success developing dancers BBA was forced to do a 3,000 square foot expansion in 2018 to accommodate student enrollment.
Brevard Ballet Youth Company
Brevard Ballet Academy students perform with their associate company, Brevard Ballet Youth Company, a full-scale production company showcasing ballets such as Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Nutcracker Ballet, and My Christmas Dream (written and choreographed by Artistic Director Elena Shokhina). We perform these spectacular ballets at the state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center on the campus of Eau Gallie High School. This 750 seat performing arts center is perfect for our students and their families. Less than a mile from Brevard Ballet Academy, this venue has all the amenities of a large city theatre with ideal seating for ballet viewing and with spacious and clean dressing rooms. The venue is located in the heart of Melbourne.
Our Facility
Now, our facility is nearly 5,000 square foot boasting two large dance studios. Studio A is 1,500 square foot with floating floors and Harlequin dance flooring. It is accompanied by a large lobby, waiting area, warm-up area for dancers, two spacious dressing rooms and restrooms. Studio B boasts a 1,100 square ft floating dance floor with a Rosco Marley dance surface. The waiting area is fully furnished, complete with changing areas, restroom, kitchen and dancer warm-up areas. We have front and back entrances to our school with plenty of parking for easy access.
We are in the center of the acclaimed Eau Gallie Art District; walking distance to the Foosaner Art Museum, Eau Gallie Library, a public park with playground, coffee shop, restaurants, shopping, entertainment, and more.
