Alexandra “Ola” Tarnowski grew up in Old Bridge, New Jersey where she began her dance training at three years old. At age fourteen, she started her classical ballet training at the conservatory at Princeton Dance and Theatre Studio where she studied the American Ballet Theatre curriculum. After high school, she attended Butler University where she received a B.S. in Dance Arts Administration and a minor in Strategic Communications. Ola started her professional dance career with Ballet Theatre of Indiana, where she performed principal roles such as ‘Mina Harker’ in Dracula and ‘Daisy Buchanan’ in The Great Gatsby; and held the title of Marketing and Public Relations Director for two seasons. She then co-founded Ballet INitiative, a project-based dance collective serving the greater-Indianapolis area, in August of 2020. With Ballet INitiative, she was a performing artist, choreographer, producer/director, Marketing and Public Relations Director for two seasons, and performed principal roles such as ‘the Nutcracker’ in Nutcracker with a Twist, ‘Titania’ in A Mischievous Midsummer, ‘the Queen of Hearts’ in Whimsical Wonderland, and ‘Cinderella’ in Cinderella’s Stardom: From Simple to Show Girl. Ola then started dancing for New England Ballet Theatre as a Company Artist in 2023. She started teaching alongside her dancing career, and has taught ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre, tumbling, modern, contemporary, and Pilates to students ages 3-adult while
holding administrative titles throughout the greater Indianapolis area. Ola has also been on the Production Team and choreographed for the Carmel Apprentice Theatre’s productions of The Descendants (2020), The Little Mermaid (2021), and The Addams Family Musical (2022); and has her Mat Pilates certification from the National Exercise Trainers Association.