FACULTY
Kyudong Kwak
Artistic Director/Founder of Las Vegas Ballet Company
Kyudong Kwak was born in Daegu Korea. He began his ballet training at an early age with the Universal Ballet Company. Later he received additional training at the Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington D.C.
He won the gold medal at the Korean Dance Competition and in 1992, he won the silver medal at the Dong-Ah Ballet Competition. He was the first Asian guest dancer at the Kirov Ballet where he danced the role of Blue Bird in their production of Sleeping Beauty in 1993.
Kyudong danced with world-renowned Universal Ballet Company for eight years and with the Seoul Ballet Theatre for three years as principal dancer. His career in Nevada began in 1998 at Nevada Ballet Theatre as a principal dancer, and later advanced to ballet master. He was former faculty at Dixie State University’s dance department.
His repertoire includes Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty Copelia, Giselle, Cinderella, Nutcracker,
George Balanchine's Serenade, Allegro Brilliant, Four Temperaments, Somnambular, and most famous classical ballet. He has danced works by Roy Tobias, Oleg Vinogradov,James Jeon, Bruce Steivel, Val Caniparoli, Bruce Mark, and Peter Anastos. Kyudong Kwak has an extensive fan base in the Las Vegas Community.
Yoomi Lee
Ballet Mistress/Executive Director
Yoomi Lee was born in Seoul, Korea and graduated from Sun-Hwa Arts School. She received additional training at the Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington D.C. before going on to dance with world-renowned Universal Ballet Company where she danced numerous supporting and leading roles.
In 1991, she competed in and earned the Silver medal in the Dong-ah Competition. In 1999, she joined Nevada Ballet Theatre and was promoted to principal dancer in 2003. She is now the Las Vegas Ballet Company ballet mistress and principal dancer. She has choreographed The Nutcracker, re-staging Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Paquita.
Ms. Yoomi's repertoire includes Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Scheherazade, Midsummer Night's Dream, and George Balanchine's Serenade, Allegro Brilliant, Who cares?, and many others. She has also danced works by Roy Tobias, Oleg Vinogradov, Bruce Steivel, Peter Anastos, Val Caniparoli, Kathryn Posin, James Jeon.
Summer Reece
Instructor
Ms. Summer started studying dance at a young age with the school of Nevada Ballet Theater, participating in The Nutcracker many years and understudying for company roles. She then switched to Kwak Ballet Academy. Ms Summer was one of their first students at the school's opening. After many years she found a new love for modern and contemporary dance with Las Vegas Academy High School and decided to pursue her more creative side by attending a conservatory college in Valencia,CA, CalArts.
Ms. Summer returned to Las Vegas to finish her Bachelor's in Fine Arts at UNLV with a major in Dance Performance. She has worked with many great artists including, Victoria Baltimore-Dale, Andre Tyson, Cathy Allen, and Jarrett Rashad. And performed in many dance festivals throughout the states including IABD, ACDFA, and Check It Out,as well as internationally performing in Korea collaborating with KNSU.
