Kateryna Derechyna
KATERYNA DERECHYNA, of Ukraine, is in her first season with The Washington Ballet. She began training at the Odessa Ballet Academy under Elvira Karavaeva and performed with the main company at the Odessa Ballet Opera house. In 1997 she competed in the International Competition in Kiev where she won first place in the senior category. Kateryna came to the United States to compete in the 2000 Youth American Grand Prix where she was awarded a full scholarship to the Harid Conservatory. She has danced as a soloist with Columbia Classical Ballet and performed as a guest artist with Carolina Dance Theater. In 2005, she joined the Grand Rapids Ballet Company. She has danced a variety of repertoire including Gordon Peirce Schmidt's Petra, The Tempest, Rite of Spring, Firebird, Jack the Ripper, George Balanchine's Prodigal Son, Who Cares, Valse Fantaisie, Serenade, Septime Webre's Where the Wild Things Are, Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, Lew Christiansen's Con Amore, Mario Radacovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Black White Swan, The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Paquita, Raymonda, and Napoli. Most recently she worked with Olivier Wevers, who is the recipient of the Princess Grace Choreography award, on his piece The Sofa.