OUR FOUNDERS
In 2016, world-renowned choreographers Vasily Medvedev and Stanislav Fečo established the Petipa Heritage Foundation in Europe to honor the creative and academic genius of Marius Petipa – the father of classical ballet. Their mission was to preserve, restore, and further develop his choreographic work. Under their artistic guidance, reconstructed versions of many of Petipa’s treasured works debuted with major companies worldwide.
HONORARY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. Yuri Rabover is a seasoned entrepreneur, technologist, strategist and researcher in the wide area of enterprise software with more than 40 years of industry and academia experience. He started his career as a researcher and continued with a number of successful startup companies which he co-founded or joined as a member of founding team. Some of these startups resulted in very successful acquisitions and the technology innovations which Yuri pioneered still serve thousands of enterprises all over the world.
Currently Yuri shares his vast entrepreneur expertise as a mentor and advisor to many aspiring startup companies helping them to position, grow and reach success. He is also an avid patron of the arts, sitting on the boards of ballet schools, companies and foundations and providing support to the art of ballet, promoting young artists and helping to establish successful operations.
Yelena is a knowledgeable, passionate, and creative leader in the non-profit arts industry. Her depth of experience in developing companies and launching nonprofits comes from her earlier career as a corporate and business immigration attorney at a global law firm in Silicon Valley. During her practice she advised entrepreneurs, emerging companies, and technology startups on a variety of business immigration, corporate governance and finance matters.
Yelena holds an LLM degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, a Masters of Law from the Moscow State Academy of Law, and NEBS Management Certificate from the British College of Banking and Finance
Founder and Artistic Director of Bayer Ballet Academy, Inna has provided world-class Vaganova method instruction to generations of dancers, and was named “Outstanding Teacher” by Youth America Grand Prix.
A master teacher in the Russian Vaganova Method of Classical Ballet and Character Dance, Inna founded Bayer Ballet Academy in 2005 and serves as Artistic Director. She has received numerous honors including Choreographer of the Year and Outstanding Teacher of the Year. Inna serves as director with Petipa Foundation.
After a 13 year career as a professional dancer and soloist all throughout Europe, Inna studied extensively at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, earning a master's degree with honors in Pedagogy and Choreography. Her storied teaching career began at the prestigious Bat-Dor company in Israel, instructing both Classical and Character Dance, followed by a move to the United States to teach at San Francisco Ballet School. Inna then became Ballet Mistress at Westlake School for the Performing Arts, where she prepared countless students for performances, recitals, and competitions. During her time at Westlake, American Dance Awards named Inna the "Choreographer of the Year.”
Fueled by her own unique vision and with a passion for providing truly world-class Vaganova-based instruction, Bayer Ballet Academy was founded in 2005. BBA has been named “Outstanding School” by Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) six consecutive years (2018 - 2023), with students receiving top honors including Grand Prix and first prizes at regional and international competitions such as YAGP, International Dance Challenge, World Ballet Competition, and American Dance Awards. Inna herself was named "Outstanding Teacher" at the Youth American Grand Prix in San Francisco.
In 2021, Bayer Ballet Academy became the only official partner in California of the Vaganova Ballet Academy, cementing Inna’s vision for world-class instruction in the Bay Area. Her students have been accepted into programs such as Vaganova Ballet Academy, Paris Opera, American Ballet Theatre, Royal Ballet, Princess Grace Academy, and Bolshoi Ballet, and many have gone on to dance professionally with troupes including Mariinsky Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, New York City Ballet, Batsheva Dance Company, Compania Nacional de Danza, HNK Split Balet / Croatian National Theater, State Ballet Bulgaria, Atlanta Ballet, Eifman Ballet and many more
Graduating from Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet under the guidance of Dudinskaya, Sergeyev, and Seliutsky, Vasily began his performance career in Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg. He soon accepted an invitation to be a principal dancer and choreographer with Estonian Vanemuine Ballet. During his long dancing career, Vasily performed all the leading male roles in classical and contemporary repertoire, guested with numerous companies, and participated in prestigious ballet galas and festivals around the world. His feature ballets include La Esmeralda, Onegin, Le Corsaire, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Coppelia, Vain Prudence, Lady of the Camellias, Salome, Seven Beauties, Cinderella, Katya and the Prince of Siam, Satanella, Don Quixote and others. After receiving a master’s degree in choreography from Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory, Vasily began working with leading ballet companies such as the Bolshoi Ballet (La Esmeralda) and Staatsballett Berlin (La Esmeralda, The Nutcracker). He has staged ballets for national ballet companies and schools in Mexico, Croatia, Germany, Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Panama, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Vasily’s impressive list of awards includes the Pushkin Legacy Ballet Award for choreography of Onegin, the Zirvya Award for best choreography for the ballet Seven Beauties, the Diva Audience Prize for best ballet for The Nutcracker, and Russia’s Golden Mask Award nomination for best choreographer. He also is the founder and artistic director of the International Ballet Festival “Dance Open” and “Eurasian Dance Festival” in Astana. Vasily’s life and career were chronicled in a biographical novel The Choreographer by Yana Temiz.
During his extensive career as a principal dancer, he has interpreted dozens of male lead characters in ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, Raymonda, The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, La Bayadere, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Onegin, Lady of the Camellias, Romeo and Juliet, and Cinderella, performing with companies including the Czech National Ballet, Mikhailovsky Theater and Teatro Colon. Stanislav has partnered with many world-famous prima ballerinas including Galina Mezentseva and Yulia Makhalina, and performed at prestigious international ballet festivals and galas such as Dance Open in St. Petersburg and Gala des Etoiles in Montreal. As a choreographer, Stanislav has produced ballets such as La Bayadere, Giselle, and Palladio. Working together with Vasily Medvedev, he choreographed The Sleeping Beauty, La Esmeralda, and Don Quixote and many others for Bolshoi Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, Lithuanian National Ballet, Compañía Nacional de Danza, and other leading companies. Stanislav is the recipient of the Philip Morris Flower Ballet Award, Best Ballet Dancer of the Czech Republic, the Pushkin Legacy Ballet Award for the best interpretation of the role of Onegin, and the Nureyev Prize from the International Ballet Festival in Kazan
