Tatiana Stepanova
Tatiana Viktorovna Stepanova, also Tetiana Stepanova, (; , "Tetiana Viktorivna Stepanova") (born 1962, Odessa, Ukraine then Soviet Union) is a Ballet master, choreographer, ballet dancer, critic, essayist and historian of the dance. Biography. Tatiana Stepanova began her ballet training in the Special School of Ballet of Odessa (Ukraine) as a student of Klaudia Vasina, who was a disciple of the great Russian dancer and teacher Agrippina Vaganova. She completed her dance training at the State School of Ballet and Choreography of Minsk² (Belarus) where she was a pupil of Vera Shvetsova (distinguished disciple of Agrippina Vaganova), who danced in the  Maly Theatre of Saint Petersburg (Russia) and in the Great Theater of Opera and Ballet of Riga (Latvia). Stepanova graduated in Choreographic Art from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory³, Russia (The N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory), where she studied with Gabriella Komleva, Nikita Dolgushin and Nicolai Boyarchikov, great dancers of the Mariinsky Theatre (before Kirov Ballet) and of the Mikhaylovsky Theatre (before Maly Theatre) both in Saint Petersburg. She danced as the soloist in the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater¹ (Ukraine) and in the Great Theater of Ballet of Minsk² (Belarus). Since 1985, is a Teacher of Ballet, giving  classes in Odessa (Ukraine), Saratov and Saint Petersburg (Russia), Madrid, Valencia, Puertollano and Lugo (Spain) and Ashiya and Nishinomiya (Japan) Founder and Artistic Director of the Institute of Investigation and Studies of Dance (Instituto de Investigación y Estudios de Danza) in Madrid (Spain). Stepanova has published numerous articles of criticism in newspapers and weeklies in the Ukraine (Vecherniaya Odessal), Russia (Glásnost, Perestroika and Dance), Spain (El Cultural of La Razón) and United States. As a teacher intent on purity and on the maintenance of choreographic heritage of classical ballet, Stepanova created a short version of The Sleeping Beauty (1h 20 '), which best maintains the heritage of Marius Petipa in the steps that are conserved as well as in those that are added in his style. This version premiered December seven, 2008, in the Hyogo Performing Arts Center (Nishinomiya, Japan), under the title of "Sleeping Beauty Suite". Currently, Tatyana Stepanova directs the Institute of Investigation and Studies of Dance in Madrid, (Spain) and is the Artistic Director of the AIS Ballet Japan in Ashiya (Japan). Choreographic work. Ashiya's Diptych. Stepanova is known for the Ashiya's Diptych, a suite of works of Marius Petipa. She reinterpreted the pieces in such  a way that her choreography seamlessly combines with that of Petipa.