Jasmine Nikitenko

Born and raised in Northern Virginia, Jasmine Nikitenko received her early ballet training from Ricardo Moreira and Vycheslav Mesropov as well as summer programs at Virginia Governor's School of Performing Arts and Washington Ballet.

As a professional dancer around the D.C. Metropolitan area, Jasmine studied with ballet masters D. Tuboltsev, I. Stabrova, I. Sapotko, A. Saburov, V. Mesropov and her husband, Yuri Nikitenko while performing classical and character soloist roles in much of the classical repertoire.

She received her BA in History from George Mason University in 2006 where her thesis on Agrippina Vaganova's impact on the revolution of Russian ballet (Krasnaya Terpsikhora) was submitted by Professor Rex Wade to the Southern Conference of Slavic Studies for its Undergraduate Award. While at GMU, she received an invitation to study in Cambridge University, England's History Department.

Jasmine's students have won awards in all divisions at Youth America Grand Prix 2006-2025 as well as other international ballet competitions. Additionally, she has been accepted into the Bolshoi Academy's Teacher Training Program as well as provisionally accepted into the Pedagogical Department of the Almaty University of Dramatic Arts in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She was awarded "Outstanding Teacher" at the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025 Youth America Grand Prix. Her students are regularly accepted to prestigious ballet schools such as John Cranko, Bolshoi Academy, etc and are performing professionally around the world.