Karina Melikyan

Founder/Artistic Director of KKSD

Karina has been trained in Vaganova style classical ballet  at the Yerevan State Choreographic School. Upon graduation she joined Opera and Ballet National Theatre of Yerevan as a ballet artist.

She then studied languages at Yerevan State University and earned her MS in oriental studies in 2008. During the course she traveled to Syria and took her passion to dance with her. While learning the language she also taught Armenian dances in Damascus, Syria.

Upon moving to USA, Karina continued pursuing her dream of teaching dance and worked with a number of ballet schools in the greater Seattle area. Karina founded KKSD in 2015.

Victoria Gutierrez

Classical ballet and modern instructor, performer

Victoria received her professional training at Academia de la Danza Mexicana INBA, where she
graduated with a BFA in Classical and Contemporary Dance. In 2007 she moved to Seattle
and continued her training. Victoria has performed for various dance companies such as IBT, ECB, ARC Dance, COB, OBT, KHD Project, and KKSD. As a choreographer she has collaborated with the Seattle International Dance Festival, KHD Project, Bohemia, Drybones Artist Collective and Le Faux. Victoria truly enjoys teaching and has been doing it since 2009 for numerous schools in Seattle.

Shushanik Babayan

Guest choreographer, performer

Shushanik was born in Yerevan, Armenia. First step in dance world she did  at the Yerevan State  Dancing Art College and graduated as an artist of ballet in 2010. Same year Shushanik joined ,,Barekamutyun’’ State Dance Ensemble of Armenia and shortly was promoted as a soloist. Her breakthrough performance was in ,,Siretsi’’, which became her signature performance. Meantime she continued her studies at Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography. Currently Shushanik works as an instructor of classical ballet (Vaganova method) and National dances in Los Angeles area.

Datev Tavitian

Instructor assistant

Datev, a Kirkland, Washington native, has been dancing at KKSD for over eight years. Her dedication to Armenian dance led her to become one of KKSD's first graduates in 2023.

With roots from Armenia and the Middle East, Datev's heritage deeply influences her journey. Introduced to Armenian/National Dance by KKSD founder Karina in 2015, Datev's connection to her roots grew stronger, inspiring her to share her heritage. Seeking excellence, she pursued advanced Armenian dance training at "Nane Dance Studio" in Yerevan, Armenia, enriching her repertoire with unique cultural forms and techniques.

Alisa Sargsyan

Guest pianist, music educator, composer

Alisa is an award-winning composer, pianist and music educator currently based in Kirkland, Washington, USA.University of Washington alumna, Alisa holds a Master of Music degree in Composition, a Master of Arts degree in Piano Performance from the Yerevan State Conservatory of Music and a D.M.A. from the Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among her honors are Grand-Prix in the Juniors Assembly of the Arts International Competition, First Prize and Gold Medal in the Amadeus Belgian-Armenian competition, Third Prize in the Benjamen Britten competition. Alisa alsо received a Special Prize from Moscow News Newspaper and a Fellowship from Arno Babajanian Foundation. Her compositions have been performed in the USA, UK, Finland, Netherlands, Russia, Armenia and Georgia. Among Alisa's latest works is the Little Prince ballet, commissioned by Karin Kirkland School of Dance and successfully premiered in the United States in June 2022. A box office success, it gained positive reviews from both the critics and the public. For the past several years Alisa has participated at KKSD summer programs and annual performances as a pianist/educator.

Hsin-I Cheng

Costume manager

Hsin-I always wanted to dance and had taken some classes throughout the years. It wasn’t until she joined KKSD in 2018 that she started dancing more seriously. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Architecture. In her childhood, she studied piano and performed regularly. During a piano performance at college, she realized how much she missed performing. She is thrilled to be part of KKSD, both as a dancer and as a costume manager behind the scenes.