Mme. Jacqueline Akhmedova
Founder and Artistic Director of ABA
Mme. Jacqueline Akhmedova graduated with honors from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and the Ukrainian Academy of Dance in Kiev, with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Ballet Performance, Pedagogy and Choreography, she quickly moved into the world of European classical dance performance.
In a professional career of more than 20 years, she was a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet in Tashkent, the Munich State Opera Ballet, and the Vienna State Opera Ballet, dancing every major role in the classical and contemporary repertoire.
She has worked with the world’s greatest choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, John Neumeier, Rudolph Nureyev, Hans van Manen, and Peter Wright. She has toured extensively across Europe and performed as guest artist in major companies worldwide.
Her students have won such prestigious competitions as the Youth America Grand Prix, Prix de Lausanne, and Tanzolymp. They have gone on to successful careers in such companies as American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Dresden Ballet, Staatsballett Munich, Staatsballett Berlin and Stuttgart Ballet. She has also judged influential international ballet competitions and taught master classes in Mexico, Italy, Portugal, New York City, Austria and Japan.
In her professional teaching career, Mme. Akhmedova prepares students and choreographs for them for competitions and advises them on their careers, helping them pursue their dreams of dancing with professional companies. After retiring as a professional ballet dancer, she started a professional training program at the Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts in Vancouver, Canada. In 2001 she was invited to the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC where she taught as a senior teacher for 7 years. Then for 2 years, she was the ballet master for City Dance Ensemble and started the City Dance Conservatory Ballet Program at the Strathmore Center for the Arts.
“Dance is important because you can experience the free expression of the human mind and senses which only aims at its own existence and its own beauty.”
She is the Founder and Artistic Director of her own school, the Akhmedova Ballet Academy, in Silver Spring, MD. ABA just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Her vision for ABA is to provide the finest quality ballet training utilizing the Vaganova Method. Her Professional Training Program offers a well-rounded training with personal and artistic mentoring to prepare young dancers to become strong and fully developed artists ready to take their places in major dance companies around the world.