TATEVIK MKRTOUMIAN
The best ballet app full of incredible exercises
Tatevik Mkrtoumian is a globally respected ballerina and ballet master, with an international career and the world’s most widely used ballet app.
Tatevik has been featured in L’Officiel Arabia, Marie-Claire, Elle, VTM and major television networks in Belgium and Russia.
Tatevik is also the author of the book Ballet Workout and Methodology, and founder of the Ballet Workout School that teaches ballet to adults and children and coaches professional dancers in their careers. She also organizes performances in Belgium’s largest theaters and hosts ballet events. She gives her master classes around the world, including in Russia and Dubai.
Tatevik Mkrtoumian is one of the most recognized adult ballet teachers in the world, with a ballet school with more than 3,000 members and the Ballet Workout App with more than 100,000 users.
Many doctors, ballet experts, ballet teachers and professional dancers in Belgium rely on Tatevik to help them get fit, learn ballet, coach for shows, solos and prolific competitions and see the results they want to achieve.
MEANT TO DANCE
I grew up in Russia and both my parents are professional ballet dancers. My father was a soloist with the Armenian Opera and my mother was a soloist with the Caucasian Military Ballet. They met while dancing in Georgia. My mother danced with me during pregnancy until 6 months, ballet has always been part of my DNA and life.
At our house, there was always music, dancing and talk about art. I grew up in an environment that supported every professional choice. My parents always said to me, “Are you sure you want to be a ballet dancer? It’s a very tough profession”. I inherited their passion and wanted to do nothing but dance all day. They supported my choice and guided me on this difficult path to become a professional ballet dancer. In Russia, I studied at a private school and participated in ballet competitions and received private lessons in singing and piano. Ballet classes and competition preparations were taught by my mother at her school.
At the age of 7, my parents moved to Belgium where I met my first ballet teacher and director of the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp Marianella Panieda who believed in me from the first lesson. I am honored to say that I was the first and only student in the 55-year history of the school to enter mid-year and did not have to audition thanks to the great preparation I had. I continued my ballet training in Belgium. 10 years of hard teaching with classical ballet, repertory, jazz dance, flamenco, folk dance, contemporary dance and acting classes had fruitful results and I received 4 contract offers. The choice was Amsterdam, Milan, Berlin or the largest theater in Estonia, theater Vanemuine. I decided to go to Estonia because their repertoire was extremely exciting, interesting, diverse and very close to my heart.
This was a turning point.
My dream came true and every day I entered the theater and heard the orchestra playing, opera singers warming up, costume ladies wearing extraordinary costumes, actors rehearsing their lines…It was truly a magical place with a unique atmosphere and a service of art at the highest level and dedication. I couldn’t believe I was a part of this and my hard work paid off.
My director put faith in me and gave me my first solo role in Sleeping Beauty ballet after only 2 weeks as a new member. This was an invaluable opportunity, I did not want to disappoint her confidence so I prepared well for my role as a fairy and the audience and company members celebrated my grand debut.
Sleeping Beauty became my favorite ballet. This was the beginning of a successful career and many solo roles in classical ballets as well as jazz, contemporary, neoclassical pieces and musicals, operas and operettas. Shows were almost daily and sometimes even twice a day for 5 years straight. Ballet novels and ballet reviewers wrote many positive reviews of my performances.
Some of the most memorable productions I danced were: Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Oneigin, Swanlake (pas de trois), George Balanchine’s “who cares! ” La Bayadere, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote lead, Fairyqueen, Carmen, La Dolce Vita, Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Raymonda, Thriller, Kreutzwald Meets Dance, New Years Jazz, Beauty and the Beast, Giselle, Nuud, Casanova, Mary Poppins, Edit Piaf, Abba, Petrushka, Mowgli, Kevade, Orpheus, Losbus Lesk, In Memoriam by Sidi Larbi, Incontro Il Ballo, la givotentu, l’amore, Vision de l’Energie, Don Quixote, Giselle, Bolero, Esmeralda, Swanlake, Oneigin.
I danced and toured all over the world with the company, and by age 24 I was a ballerina with a very broad repertory background. I have danced all the great ballet classics and many more than I could have dreamed of.
I was still full of energy and decided to return to my family and hometown of Antwerp, Belgium.
Together with my mother, we started a brand new ballet school that quickly became the largest in Belgium. We wanted a different approach and created our own Ballet Workout Methodology to make ballet accessible and beneficial to any adult or child with a ballet dream.
Although I now have a successful ballet career, have written a book, started a ballet school and reached a hundred thousand people through the ballet workout app, I remember when I started. I was a little girl with a dream who received good guidance that allowed me to achieve what I wanted. My goal is to be that person who believes in and supports others while giving them excellent training and passing on precious ballet knowledge. Because life consists of paths that cross, find and appreciate each other, I want this encounter to be meaningful for you.
I hope my story shows that with the right guidance, training and people who believe in you, you can achieve your dreams and fully enjoy ballet. It will bring much joy, benefits and beauty into your life.
Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Dream big, believe in yourself, work hard and know you will get there! You can do it!
