Team

Founder & Executive Producer

Irena Veres

Founder & Executive Producer

Irena Veresh is the founder and executive producer of Ovation Events and International Festival Ballet. For more than two decades, she has been developing and producing international touring projects across Europe, bringing together artists, orchestras, theatres and local partners.

Her work combines artistic vision with the practical reality of international touring — from the first idea and repertoire selection to production, logistics and the moment the curtain rises.

Today, alongside classical ballet productions, Irena is developing a new generation of live cinematic projects, combining symphonic music, dance, visual storytelling and contemporary stage technology.

For her, producing is not simply about bringing a performance to the stage. It is about creating something an audience will remember after the lights go down.

Principal dancers

Mykyta Moskalets

Graduated from the Kharkiv Ballet School in 2006 and from the Perm State Choreographic School in 2009.

Prize winner of the Dance Without Borders competition in Kyiv (2007).

From 2007 to 2014, soloist with the Ural Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. Since 2014, guest soloist with St. Petersburg Festival Ballet, Kyiv City Ballet and National Russian Ballet Theatre. In 2020–2021, soloist with the Kharkiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.

Since 2021, soloist with the International Festival Ballet.

His repertoire includes leading roles in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Le Corsaire, Paquita, Carmen Suite, One Thousand and One Nights and The Stone Flower.

Ballet masters

Oleksandra Naidonova

Graduated from Ballet School and Ballet College in Kharkiv. Received a degree in Ballet Pedagogy from H. S. Skoworoda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University.

2006–2021 — Ballet dancer at the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (ChNATOB) with more than 15 years of stage experience in classical and contemporary productions.

2018–2021 — Ballet teacher at private dance studios in Ukraine and choreographer for children’s and adult ballet groups.

Since May 2024 — Ballet teacher at International Ballet School Munich, Germany. Teaching classical ballet for children, teenagers, and adults.

Artistic Director and Conductor

Normunds Vaicis

Normunds Vaicis studied opera and symphonic conducting at the Latvian Academy of Music under Vasilijs Sinaiski and Rihards Glāzups, and further refined his artistry under the guidance of the distinguished masters Ilya Musin and Yuri Simonov.

He made his conducting debut with the Latvian National Opera in 1990 and is now regarded as one of its most experienced conductors. Maestro Vaicis has collaborated with numerous orchestras in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and has conducted premieres of works by Latvian composers including Pēteris Vasks, Imants Kalniņš, Arturs Maskats and Ilona Breģe.

His concerts have been broadcast on Latvian radio and television. He has taken part in prestigious festivals including the Mstislav Rostropovich Festival in Riga, the Verdi Festival at the Estonian National Opera and the Dalhalla Festival in Sweden, as well as major cultural events in Finland, France and Spain.

He has performed in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Russia, China and many other countries. Since 2022, Normunds Vaicis has served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Festival Orchestra, leading the ensemble with passion and distinction towards growing international recognition.

Irena Veres

Mykyta Moskalets

Oleksandra Naidonova

Normunds Vaicis

Principal dancers

Soloists

Ballet dancers