Alexei Orohovsky
Alexei Orohovsky is 17 years old and lives and studies at the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart, Germany. Alexei is an internationally recognized and award-winning dancer, having won the Youth Grand Prix award at the 2022 YAGP Finals, the Silver Medal at the 2022 Helsinki International Ballet Competition, and the Gold Medal at the 2023 USA International Ballet Competition. He began his ballet training with his parents, Katya and Arkadiy Orohovsky. With them, he performed in numerous full-length classical ballets including The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. For the 2021-2022 Season, he trained full-time at Elite Classical Coaching under the direction of Catherine Lewellen. While there he won the silver medal and the Jury Encouragement Award at the prestigious Helsinki International Ballet Competition in Finland and the Youth Grand Prix Award at the YAGP finals in Tampa. Since the 2022 season, he has continued his training at the John Cranko Schule under Nicola Biasutti and Tadeusz Matacz. Alexei is a Nikolay and Grishko ambassador, and has danced in numerous YAGP Galas including the 50th Anniversary Kick-off Gala, the 2022 Nervi festival gala, and the 2024 Tampa Gala.
Yana Peneva
Yana Peneva grew up in Orlando, Florida (USA). At the age of 3 years, she started dancing at the Orlando Ballet School. At 12 years old, she began her pre-professional ballet training in the Ballet Conservatory at Skyra, Florida where Natalia Bashkatova taught her. She successfully participated in several competitions and many galas worldwide during this time. In 2021 at the YAGP Finals, she was awarded the prestigious Shelley King Award for Excellence. Also in 2021, she won the Gold Medal at the Youth International Ballet Competition (ADCIBC). In 2022 she won the Grand Prix Award at the YAGP Regional Tampa, Florida, and Top 12 at the YAGP Finals. She was a selected candidate twice for the Prix de Lausanne. In 2022 she received a scholarship for the John Cranko School in Stuttgart, Germany where she is training now. During the 50th anniversary of the Prix de Lausanne in 2023 she represented the John Cranko School as the lead role in Goyo Montero’s Choreographic Project.
During the past few years, she performed in numerous galas worldwide: at the YGP Nervi International Dance Festival in Genova, Italy (2021 & 2022), at YAGP Mexico’s 10th Anniversary Festival in Orizaba, Mexico (2021), at YAGP Finals “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala” in Tampa, FL, USA (2022), and the YAGP Tampa regionals “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala” (2024).
As of season 2024/2025, Yana Peneva will be dancing as a Corps de ballet member with the Stuttgart Ballet.
