Sarkis Kaltakhtchian

A native of Armenia, Sarkis Kaltakhtchian began his ballet training at the Armenian Choreography Academy in Yerevan, where he studied the Vaganova method under Seda Yegorovna, Tatevik Gharibyan, Samuel Abramian, and Maxim Martirosyan.

After graduating with honors, he joined the Armenian National Ballet Theater. In 1989, Mr.Kaltakhtchian was invited to join Ballet Classique De Montreal. As a Dancer he performed, with Banff Festival of the Arts, Classical Ballet of Costa Rica, Ottowa Ballet, Hartford Ballet, (NCDT) Charlotte Ballet, and Tulsa Ballet Theatre. During his tenure as a soloist and principal dancer, he had the opportunity to work with world-renowned teachers and choreographers Roudolf Kharatian, Alla Yevgenyevan Osipenko, Patricia McBride, Franco De Vita, Raymond Lukens, and many more. His repertory included the works of George Balanchine, Marius Petipa, Choo-San Goh, Alonzo King, Val Caniparoli, William Forsythe, Paul Taylor, Nacho Duato, and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux.

In July 1998, Kaltakhtchian performed for First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House Millennium Council.

Mr. Kaltakhtchian started his teaching and choreographing career at Ballet Divertimento De Montreal, where he mastered his Vaganova method pedagogy under the guidance of Maxim Martirosian, former Artistic Director of Bolshoi Ballet Academy. In 2005, Mr. Kaltakhtchian became the Head Instructor for the Centre for Dance Education at Tulsa Ballet, and Director of Tulsa Ballet II, where he continued to further his teaching knowledge with Maestor Jacques Beltrame. He joined Charlotte Ballet Academy in 2010, was promoted to Artistic Vice Principal in 2014 where he created a curriculum for Charlotte Ballet Academy under the guidance of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux.

In 2017, he joined the Hartt Community Division at the University of Hartford as a faculty, and in 2019 was promoted to Artistic and Education Director. He has been a guest teacher, and choreographer with the Chautauqua Institution in New York since 2008, and adjunct faculty member for Hartt’s BFA Dance Division since 2017.

Some of the Mr.Kaltakhtchian’s former students has been accepted into prestigious universities, and companies like IU, OU, School of the Arts, The National Ballet of Canada, Hohg Kong Ballet, BalletMet, Charlotte Ballet, and more.