Stevan Novakovich began his life in dance as a child performer with the Yugoslavian National Folk Company followed by training at the Vaganova-based Ballet Academy in Novi Sad. In the U.S., he trained at the Ballet West Conservatory, Broadway Dance Center and Alvin Ailey School of American Dance. He has performed with Ballet West, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, New York City Opera, and Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre. He earned his BFA in Ballet from the University of Utah, and is presently an MFA candidate at California State University Long Beach, California, where he is serving as a teaching assistant. Through the United States State Department and in association with the Battery Dance Company, he has served as a Cultural Ambassador to the United States teaching and performing in Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Hungary, Poland, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia and Germany. He has been a guest teacher at various American universities, including NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and served as a guest teacher at the Open Look Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2004. He has taught master classes and workshops in classical and contemporary ballet, modern and jazz dance, composition and improvisation, partnering, contact improvisation, creative movement for children, dance appreciation classes and modern repertory with students ranging from kindergarteners to professionals. He has also taught residency programs that introduced regular and special needs students, teachers, administrators and parents to the joy and value of dance. Mr. Novakovich’s performing career includes his work as dancer in collaboration with today’s best-established choreographers such as Stephen Koester, Daniel Ezralow, Bill T. Jones, and Doug Varone among others. He is also a recipient of Performer of Great Merit Award, Olympiad Award Winner, Governor’s Award Winner and Honorary Achievement Award in Dance Performance. His present day focus is directed toward fully engaging himself in producing his choreographic work and in finding his own creative voice.