Askar Kettebekov trained at the National Ballet School of Kazakhs- tan and earned a degree in ballet pedagogy and choreography from the National University of Kazakhstan. He was a soloist with the National Ballet Theatre of Kazakhstan for eight years before joining Moscow Festival Ballet. In the U.S., he was a principal guest dancer with Ballet Theatre of Boston and Tulsa Ballet and later a principal dancer with San Diego Ballet. Now artistic director of Media Dance Center in Los Angeles, he has toured internationally, performing The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, Giselle, Swan Lake, and more.