When students join our studio, they will be trained by our elite team of professional ballet dancers, all former members of renowned ballet companies around the world. In addition, we have partnered with State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara. This partnership provides our students the opportunity to dance and work with elite dancers in a professional ballet company. We have found that observing and dancing with these professional dancers inspires our students to even greater levels of achievement, focusing their goals and dedication to train.

Marina Fliagina

Is in charge of all ballet productions of Northwest Studio for Ballet and has been a regular faculty member since 2014. She was born in Russia and graduated with distinction from Perm State College of Choreography in Russia. In 1990, she was admitted to the Moscow State Theatre Kremlin Ballet where she worked with the renowned Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova. She has performed roles in all of the famous classical ballets and has toured internationally with the Russian Imperial Ballet, Moscow Classical Ballet, and the Moscow Festival Ballet. Ms. Fliagina joined State Street Ballet as a dancer in 1998 and was promoted to Ballet Master for the 2000-2001 Season. She has choreographed and directed the production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” performed by State Street Ballet & Fresno Ballet Theatre in 2009 and 2014. She choreographed and directed “Sleeping Beauty Act III” for Northwest Studio / Kingsburg Ballet Recital 2010, “The Little Humpbacked Horse” for Recital 2013, “La Sylphide” for Recital 2014, “Don Quixote” in 2015, “Chipolino” in 2016, “Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2017, “Swan Lake” in 2018, “Coppélia” in 2019, “La Bayadère” in 2021 and “The Firebird” in 2022.

Elizaveta (Leeza) Domrachev

Was born in Santa Barbara CA. She graduated with honors from International Perm State Ballet Academy – professional Ballet School in Russia. In 2016 she became a finalist in the Russian National Talent TV show ” Blue Bird” in Moscow. In the spring of 2019 was a Second Place winner at the International Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition “Domenico Modugno” in Italy, there she also received a “Special Jury Prize”.

In the fall of 2018, she performed the main part of Liza in the ballet premiere “La Fille Mal Gardee”, on the stage of the famous Perm Opera and Ballet Theater. Before moving to Russia to enter to Perm Ballet, she was trained at the Gustafson Dance in Santa Barbara, the official school of State Street Ballet and Ballet Academy Ventura. While she was young she joined the performing tour with State Street Ballet to Fresno and performed in “Snow White“ in 2011 and “Cinderella” in 2012 with Fresno Ballet Theater students. She had been teaching at Northwest Studio for Ballet since 2018 sharing her knowledge of classical ballet which she gained from her 9 years study at Perm Ballet.

Carla Stallings-Lippert

Carla Stallings Lippert (Artistic Coordinator) trained with Marquerite Phares in Sacramento, CA, New York’s School of American Ballet, and the American Ballet Theatre School. She subsequently joined ABT II, and from there joined the corps of ABT. After winning the Bronze Medal in the Senior Division at the International Ballet Competition Lippert was promoted to the rank of soloist at ABT by Mikhail Baryshnikov. After 11 years with ABT Ms. Lippert joined Boston Ballet as a principal dancer, where she performed for nine years. She has danced as a guest artist with Baryshnikov and Company, Nureyev and Friends, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet. She has guest taught for the Boston Ballet company and school, the Harvard Summer Dance program, Capital Ballet of Sacramento, the Sacramento Area Dance Alliance, and Fort Worth City Ballet. Carla is certified in the ABT Curriculum and has taught for the ABT Summer Intensives in New York and Orange County, is Coordinator for the ABT Summer Intensive in Alabama, and is on the faculty of the ABT Gillespie School in Orange County, CA. Her teaching specialties include classical ballet technique, pointe, and variations; staging the major works of the classical ballet repertoire; and hair and make-up for the stage.

Samantha Harikian

Samantha received her training in Fresno at Severance Ballet Conservatory/ California Arts Academy. Upon graduating, she moved to Jackson, MS to become a trainee at Ballet Magnificat before joining Paradosi Ballet Company in Tacoma, WA in 2012. During her time there, she was eventually promoted to Artistic Director and had the opportunity to set multiple original works on the company as well as continue to dance, tour and perform. 

Samantha has been teaching for 10 years, including giving master classes and workshops throughout the United States. She is now back in Fresno teaching at California Arts Academy, Northwest Studio for Ballet and at SonDance Ministries in Manteca. She considers it an honor to pass on the skill and passion of an art form that has been, and still is, such a love of hers.

Annabelle Raley

Annabelle is a Fresno Native with 13 years of ballet experience. She has danced at California Arts Academy from ages 5 to 17 with a majority of her experience being in ballet. She has also studied jazz, modern contemporary, character, flamenco and West African Dance. She has attended three ABT Summer Intensive programs and is now a second year student at UC San Diego studying Human Developmental Sciences with the aspirations of becoming a dance therapist. Annabelle is also the treasurer of UCSD’s Aequora Ballet Company. 

Ava Patton

Ava is a Fresno Native with 12 years of ballet experience and training. Ava started dancing at Northwest Studio for Ballet at age 5 under Yukari Thiesen. Ava has also studied contemporary ballet with master teachers. She is a High Gold Medalist in multiple competitions and has danced with State Street Ballet Santa Barbara in Ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Cinderella, The Jungle Book and many others. She has also danced lead roles in The Nutcracker, The Little Humpbacked Horse and Giselle. Ava is also studying with the ABT National Training Curriculum and also taking ABT certification classes such as The Art of the Port de Bras led by ABT William J. Gillespie School Artistic Director, Susan Brooker, and guest instructors Liudmila Polonskaya and Dr. Claire Spivak, PT, DPT. Her teaching specialties include classical ballet technique, pointe, and variations.

Cecilia Donan

Cecilia began dancing at the age of 5 at the National School of Ballet de El Salvador. Then moved to Los Angeles where she danced with the San Pedro Ballet City. In 2018 she moved to the Northwest Studio of Ballet and continued her training under Yukari Thiesen and also is a part of the Stage View Company. She has danced in different productions such as Sleeping Beauty , La Bayaderes, Nutcracker and Pinocchio. 

Cecilia also has extended her education with certification from PBT (Progressive Ballet Technique) and PCT (progressive Contemporary Technique). 

Oscar Lozano

Oscar is a graduate student of Fresno State University in 2022 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine arts. Oscar has been teaching since 2015 and has been dancing in productions since 2009 such as Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, La Bayadere and many others. Oscar has a true passion for ballet but also specializes in contemporary. Oscar was also part of the Fresno City Dance Ensemble. 

Guest Faculty

Aaron Smyth

Born on the Gold Coast Australia, Aaron Smyth dancer, actor and entrepreneur has been a company member with the American Ballet Theatre II in New York, The Royal Ballet in London where he created a role in Christopher Wheeldon’s Titian: Metamorphosis a collaboration with the National Gallery, and The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago were he danced soloist and principal roles. He has danced for Royalty, the Obamas and now travels the globe as a guest principal artist. He has recently performed on London’s West End in Christopher Wheeldon’s New Musical An American In Paris. He’s danced on TV, appearing on two series of the Got Talent. He appeared as the Snow Cavalier in Disney’s upcoming feature Film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms coming out in 2018. Mr Smyth has also won numerous medals in International Ballet Competitions and is the Founding Director of his company “Dance For Humanity” and wellness house EC1 Studios in London.

He was Basilio in “Don Quixote” in 2015, Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet” in 2017 and Cavalier in “The Nutcracker 2018 with the State Street Ballet Fresno tour and danced with Fresno Ballet Theatre. He was Price Siegfried in “Swan Lake’ in our Recital 2018, Fritz in Coppélia”, Sola in “La Bayadère” and Ivan Tsarevich in “The Firebird” in 2022 “. He has been Summer Program Faculty for Northwest Summer Intensive Ballet since 2018.