Askar Kettebekov trained at the National Ballet School of Kazakh- stan and earned a de- gree in ballet pedagogy and choreography. He danced eight years as a soloist with the National Ballet Theatre of Kazakhstan and later joined Moscow Festival Ballet. In the U.S., he was a principal guest with Ballet Theatre of Boston and Tulsa Ballet and principal with San Diego Ballet. He is now artistic director of Media Dance Center in Los Angeles. His professional repertoire includes The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote, and the role of Rothbart in Swan Lake.