Meet Christopher
Christopher Tsukada began his ballet training at the age of five at the Maple Conservatory of Dance under the artistic direction of Charles Maple, where he studied until 2020. Following the conservatory’s closure, he continued his training at V&T Dance Academy with Victor and Tatiana Kasatsky. At 16, after winning first place at the California Dance Classics Youth Ballet Competition, Christopher was invited by Edward Ellison to join the Professional Training Program at Ellison Ballet on scholarship. He trained there for three years under Mr. Ellison’s tutelage and graduated in May 2025.
While at Ellison Ballet, Christopher performed a wide range of repertoire, including the Ali variation from Le Corsaire, Actéon from La Esmeralda, the Hungarian Dance from Swan Lake, the Flames of Paris pas de deux, Franz’s Act III variation from Coppélia, as well as ensemble works such as Raymonda’s four cavaliers, Coppélia’s four cavaliers, Seguidilla and much more.
From 2020 to 2025, Christopher also competed in ballet competitions. Some of his awards include first place in pas de deux at the 2025 YAGP New York Semifinals, finalist in the Senior Male Solo category at the YAGP Finals in both 2022 and 2024, first place in classical and second in contemporary at the 2024 YAGP New York Semifinals, and Top 10 Senior Men at the 2023 ADC IBC. He also won first place for classical solo at California Dance Classics in 2022, third place classical and Top 12 contemporary at the 2022 YAGP Los Angeles Semifinals, first place contemporary and second place classical in the 2021 YAGP Los Angeles Junior Category, was named a Young Artist Scholarship recipient by Laguna Dance Festival in 2020, and earned second place classical at the 2020 YAGP Los Angeles Semifinals.