Elena Kunikova is a well-known authority on Russian classical ballet.

She is a graduate of Vaganova Ballet Academy, the school of Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a ballerina with St.Petersburg’s Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet, she performed a diverse repertoire of classical and contemporary ballets including Giselle, The Nutcracker, Carmen, Esmeralda, Paquita, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Anthony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, and many others.