Dr. Elena Ovchinnikova graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and obtained her PhD in Pedagogic Science and her master’s degree in Ballet Pedagogy. Additionally, Elena graduated from Russian State Medical University in Moscow, Russia, and thus, possess both a PhD and an MD. She is the author of scientific publications in ballet pedagogy, psychology and ballet medicine. Her publications are stored in the leading scientific library of Russia, the Russian State Library. Elena performed as a soloist and principal dancer in Swan Lake, Raymonda, Nutcracker, Giselle, Cinderella, Coppelia, Paquita, and Don Quixote. She performed with renowned companies including Russian State Theater “Ballet of Russia”, Astana Opera in Kazakhstan, New Classical Ballet in Moscow, and Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker, which toured internationally. Elena has taught at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and in the USA at the Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington DC. She is the former Artistic Director of Reston Ballet Conservatory. She is a guest Professor of Dance at the International Ballet Festival in Panama, guest lecturer in Methodology of Teaching Character Dance at the Dance Department of Michigan State University, and a guest teacher and choreographer for ballet academies across the USA, Austria, Spain, and Hong Kong.