International Ballet Theatre & Academy

This is what Dracula sounds like live🩸🧛

More than classical ballet, Dracula is a theatrical performance where movement, character and spectacle collide - blending classical and contemporary dance with Eastern European folk and character dance, theatrical performance, and even tap.

Dark, unexpected and deliberately unlike a traditional night at the ballet, it was created to be experienced live - with the energy of the performers and the audience in the same room.

🦇 DRACULA — ONE NIGHT ONLY
October 25, 2026 | 7:00 PM
The 5th Avenue Theatre | Seattle

One performance. One chance to be there.

🎟️ Tickets available now — link in bio.

🎙️ Introducing the IBT & IBA Podcast Series

Episode 01: Meet Vera Altunina
The Person Behind the Theatre and the Academy.

Our first full episode is now available on YouTube.

▶️ Watch now — link https://youtu.be/z7M72L_gDik

🩰 ALISA NISHANOVA | ALUMNI STORY

Alisa Nishanova joined International Ballet Academy in 2002, just one year after the Academy opened, and trained here until 2016.

After continuing her studies in England and Scotland, she spent several years touring with different ballet companies and is now a Soloist with Tbilisi Chamber Ballet in Georgia.

Looking back, Alisa says there is something she understands much more deeply now as a professional dancer: at IBA, students are taught not only ballet technique, but how to become artists.

She remembers spending time with Ms. Vera discussing what every gesture means, where a dancer is looking, what they are thinking, and why. Students also gain extensive experience performing full story ballets - learning how to communicate a character, tell a story, and develop true stage presence.

“I’ve never seen someone who’s so good at training artists rather than just technique.”

🤍 Today, when she returns to the Academy, she sees herself in each new generation of young dancers: their excitement, their questions about the future, and the same journey she once began here herself.

From one generation to the next, the tradition continues.

🩰 Professional ballet training • Vaganova Method • Performance experience
🎭 International Ballet Theatre & Academy
🌐 Programs & enrollment — link in bio

🩰 Our new Academic Year is officially underway.

Here’s a little glimpse into the first week back at International Ballet Academy - returning to the studio, reconnecting with teachers and friends, and finding that familiar rhythm again.

✨ After the summer break, our dancers are gradually rebuilding strength and technique before returning to pointe work, giving their bodies the time they need to adjust safely to the full training load.

This week, we joined Miss Stephanie Soland’s ballet class - corrections, concentration, beautiful movement, and that unmistakable feeling of being back where you belong.

🤍 And there’s still time to become part of our Academy family. Enrollment for the 2026–2027 Academic Season continues through September, with programs beginning at age 3.

📍 International Ballet Academy | Bellevue, WA
🩰 Ages 3+ | Beginner through Professional levels
🔗 Explore programs & enrollment through the link in bio

MANAMI KAWAI | ALUMNI STORY — PART 2 🤍
SOME LESSONS MAKE SENSE YEARS LATER

Sometimes you have to grow up to finally understand what your teachers were trying to tell you.

When Manami returned to IBA, something felt different.

The teachers she had grown up with were still warm. Coming back to take class still felt natural. But Manami was returning with something she didn’t have when she was younger: perspective.

And she admits, with a little humor, that now she feels like she owes her teachers “a big apology” 🤍

Because one of the hardest things to understand as a young dancer is that ballet takes time.

🩰 You can put in so much work and still not see the results right away.

Manami remembers how frustrating that could feel. But she also remembers trusting her teachers — and trusting the process.

Years later, she can see how much that process benefited her.

✨ And that lesson eventually became something bigger than ballet: don’t let fear stop you from taking an opportunity simply because it feels uncomfortable.

Her advice to the dancers coming after her says it best:

“You only regret every chance that you don’t take. So be fearless” 🤍.

For every young dancer walking into our studios: you don’t need to know yet where ballet will take you.

You just need somewhere to begin 🩰.

✨ SEPTEMBER ENROLLMENT AT IBA
Ages 3–6 | Complimentary Trial Class
Ages 7+ | Annual Fee Waived
Offer valid through September

📍 International Ballet Academy | Bellevue
📩 Enrollment is now open

MANAMI KAWAI | ALUMNI STORY — PART 1 🩰
10 YEARS AT IBA — AND WHAT STAYED WITH HER

She came to International Ballet Academy at around 7 years old. She stayed until she graduated at 17. Ten years that became the foundation for everything that came next.

Meet Manami Kawai, International Ballet Academy alumna 🤍

After graduating from IBA, Manami continued her training through Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Graduate Program and the University of Utah’s ballet program. This August, she begins her next chapter as an apprentice with American Midwest Ballet in Omaha.

But one of our favorite parts of this conversation wasn’t where Manami went next.

It was hearing what stayed with her.

🩰 She talks about developing a critical eye — learning how to walk into any studio, work with different teachers, recognize what needs to change and correct herself.

✨ And then there is what she learned from Miss Vera: that becoming a dancer is about much more than executing the steps. It is about performance, artistry and learning to make the movement your own.

Manami calls that kind of training rare.

And perhaps that is what makes alumni stories like hers so special to us. When a child first walks into the studio, no one knows exactly where that first class may eventually lead 🤍

A new generation is walking through those doors now.

🩰 SEPTEMBER ENROLLMENT AT IBA
Ages 3–6 | Complimentary Trial Class
Ages 7+ | Annual Fee Waived
Offer valid through September

📍 International Ballet Academy | Bellevue
📩 Enrollment is now open