I express my most heartfelt thanks to my outstanding colleagues, friends and dancers for their recommendations and touching words about me and my work. Thank you for your appreciation and support, professional attitude, sustaining solidarity and compassionate memories! It is immensely valuable to me.
Ashley Hanafusa Coupal
Ms. Olga has been an amazing coach for me, passing on her deep experience of Russian ballet technique. Beyond just technique, her method of translating the artistry in every movement is exceptional. Ms. Olga gave me the preparation I needed to achieve Gold at the 2018 World Ballet Competition (at which she won Best Teacher Award) and I am forever grateful.
Lukas Bareman
I've had the pleasure to have had Miss iakovlevskaya in my early pre professional dancing years.
She can be a tough teacher and knows what she want's and is required from the dancers but mostly she is fair and incredibly kind. She helped me a lot and created/gave me many opportunities in the dance school by pushing me to my limits and not taking 'no' for an answer. I learned from her many things in ballet like not to be always content with what I put down in class but to try and push that further and to improve constantly. One of the best teachers I've had the pleasure to have been taught from and hope I will have that pleasure again one day.
Elizabeth Ryznar
During the last few years of my training before accepting my first contract, I had the privilege to work with Ms. Olga. As a first impression, it was already a given that she had been educated meticulously in the history of ballet. She joyfully passes down to her students her knowledge of the beauty of the pure, classical form that ballet can withhold. With just a few years under her instruction, I learned to dance with an entirely new outlook. She gave me the chance to go back to the basic foundations of ballet. From there one can build a solid technique, able to perform the most challenging roles of any ballet with confidence.
Ms. Olga was the first of my coaches to emphasise the importance of understanding a variation so in depth so that, if going back in time, the well respected choreographer would have felt greatly appreciated. Whether it be who the audience was, or what message was portrayed from a specific gesture, no detail could be left out or considered unimportant with Ms. Olga. I remember my training years and coming out of the studio doors feeling so pleased to be able to understand the real story behind the dance. This has surely come useful in my professional life as dancer, as I am able to let go of the technicality of ballet and focus more on becoming the story, losing myself in each fantasy I dance. Ms. Olga is joyful, enthusiastic and determined.
She puts herself in the shoes of her dancers and helps them reach the fullest of their potentials. Putting your trust in Ms. Olga, I can guarantee that her training will enhance your knowledge of the beauty of dance like no other.
Lucas de Koning
Ms. Olga is a very special teacher. When she was my teacher in Canada, she acted not just as a teacher to me, but also as a mother. The dedication and passion she has for her job and her students are breathtaking. That together with her immense knowledge about classical ballet, the Vaganova method and the history of ballet make her an amazing teacher. Her way of teaching is very direct to get the most result out of every student, in a short amount of time.
Marsha Kwan
Ms. Olga is someone who I was lucky enough to work closely with for a couple of years. She is someone who always believes in me, even when I don't even believe in myself, and I always felt confident with myself before I went on stage to perform a piece that she coached me in. She is one of the most genuine teachers I have worked with and she is never afraid to let you know exactly how she feels about something, and this has helped me with my dancing tremendously. Even now that she is halfway across the world, I know that she is just one call away and she is always there to help me with anything if I need it.
Margot Paroussi
With thank for my beloved Vaganova Mother, Olga Iakovlevskaya!
Today a big dream has been fulfilled: I have received my letter of acceptance from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy! It all started when I was 13 and met OLGA at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp! OLGA was far more than a teacher for me. She instructed me through the Russian technique to the art of Dance, through the movement to the passion for motion and through the discipline in teaching to the perseverance in following goals. She was just wonderful and showed me how hard working contributes to the formation of true artistic characters. Through her example, I learned how to preserve dignity in difficult times and always manage to get out of it as a winner! I consider all dancers who happen to be her students very privileged and suggest to all to follow and keep preciously her instructions. OLGA IAKOVLEVSKAYA you are a great teacher! Love you and thank you!
Kotomi Iwase
Best coach Ms. Olga Iakovlevskaya! Thank you for all your inspiration and motivation all these years. For your passion, dedication and unconditional love. For believing in me and teaching me to believe in myself. You gave me roots and you grew my wings. And you are always in my heart.
Anna Maria Deconinck
Dear Miss Olga,
Three years ago I entered Brussels International Ballet and as if it was meant to be, exactly at that time you returned to teach at the BIB.
At that moment my ballet base was zero like you always say. From the first moment together in the studio I was inspired by you. I started to understand my body by everything you said, you showed me my weak points and taught me how to improve.
Your honesty was not always easy to deal with, but finally I always knew that it was exactly what I needed, that you were right. I cannot say anything else then that I’m impressed by your knowledge about the classical ballet technique! Besides that your principle of rather smart work than hard work totally matched with me and I found out how to use that.
Your passion and knowledge about Vaganova that you showed with us made me totally fall in love with it and gave me a lot of respect on how this was created!
As a perfectionist, I couldn’t be more happy than working with someone that has such a detailed eye as you have. I have no idea how many hours we spent cleaning choreographies together with you and it was not always that much fun. In the end, perfection is in the details and because of that, you always amazed me by the results!
I know that I’m still far from perfect and as a ballet dancer I know that I’ll never get there, but I’m thrilled to get as close as possible and I’m sure that I have made a big step in the right direction already because of you!
I hope that this goodbye will not be for forever, but anyways, your knowledge and love for ballet will always be with me!
Thank you for everything!
Lots of love,
Babette