Creative Generations
Dance Advisors &
Wellness Team
Dancers, you and your families deserve
clarity around career training and wellness advice,
from dedicated former professional dancers
who put you first — and who bring
unbiased strategies and lived experience
to help you map your own path.
Derek Sakakura — Present: Founder & Director, Creative Generations · Past: Joffrey Ballet
Ikolo Griffin — Present: San Francisco Ballet School Faculty · Past: Principal, Dance Theatre of Harlem
Elise Elliott — Present: Resident Faculty, Cincinnati Ballet · Past: Soloist, Houston Ballet
Rhodes Elliott — Present: Principal, Professional Training Division, Cincinnati Ballet · Past: Demi-Soloist, Houston Ballet
Jamie Dee Clifton — Present: Charlotte Ballet Academy Faculty · Past: Principal, Charlotte Ballet
Charles Trojanowski — ABT JKO School, promoted to Upper 3 · 2026–27
Andrew Powell-Arellano — Milwaukee Ballet II to Grand Rapids Ballet, Company Artist · 2026–27
Acaju Gastelum — Milwaukee Ballet II to Milwaukee Ballet, Company Artist · 2026–27
Dancers are elite athletes.
It's time their care reflected that.
Personalized mentorship, career guidance, elite training support, and a dedicated wellness team — from professionals who've lived it. Creative Generations gives young dancers something that can change everything: a professional team built around them.
Our advisors are former principals, soloists, and company dancers from San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet, Joffrey, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Paris Opera Ballet, BalletMet, and Charlotte Ballet. They've stood on the stages you're aiming for, navigated the career you're building, and understand what it takes — not just technically, but as a whole person.
The dance world has always needed this. We built it.
Creative Generations is an independent mentorship and wellness ecosystem for youth and pre-professional dancers — and the families beside them. We pair dancers with former professional dancers and clinicians who offer real guidance, whole-artist care, and welcome the questions that matter most.
Rigor and joy are not opposites. Dancers deserve both — and the support to sustain them.
WHAT WE OFFER
One-time, seasonal, or continuing — support is individualized and built around each dancer. Services include mentor guidance on training and transitions, injury risk reduction and recovery with our physical therapist, mental performance coaching, nutrition support from a Registered Dietitian, and family advisement sessions.
Our work is independent and dancer-informed. No dancer should navigate high-stakes decisions alone.
Schedule your initial consultation today.
Pre-professional mentorship application →
Article about Creative Generations -
Canvas Rebel
Creative Generations: Voices
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“Having a mentor outside of Sacramento Ballet has been extremely beneficial for me in the sense that this is someone who has a different set of eyes and can give me so many new perspectives and ideas on my artistry and ideas in dance. It’s also beneficial because there is only so much that my directors and artistic staff can say and do for me, whereas having a mentor from CG doesn’t feel like it has the limitation.
CG has given me so many helpful resources such as controlled breathing/meditation techniques that help me both inside and outside the studio that helps with both my dancing and my anxiety’s that can relate to dance.
They have also just given me what I feel like is an extremely safe space to talk about all my concerns and thoughts about being a dancer and how hard it can be at times without any judgment or backlash.
My mentor, Derek, has given me a huge boost of confidence in myself both as a human being and as a dancer. To be sound with who I am and to utilize myself to the best of my ability without having to be apologetic about it.
Derek has also given me personal breathing techniques that have especially helped with my jumps allowing for the jumps to feel less strained and tense, and allowing me to suspend them even longer in the air!”
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How has having access to mentors from outside Sacramento Ballet, who bring diverse experiences from companies and backgrounds, expanded your perspective or impacted your approach to dance?
Something nice about having a mentor who has experienced the career is they can give real-world advice without bias and a boundary of them being your boss. They have also experienced many different teachers and directors and can give great, expansive advice.
What resources or guidance have you found most valuable in navigating your professional growth and personal wellness through Creative Generations?
The parts that I have found the most valuable are having someone who cares to help me without interior motives and being able to be honest and myself. It’s a well-rounded program that is able to give many types of help that can make a well-rounded dancer!
Can you share an experience where a mentor’s insight or advice helped you overcome a specific challenge in your training or performance?
How being present on stage can be very freeing, and showing yourself on stage can be the best experience.
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“I am so grateful to be a part of the Creative Generations Mentorship team! I was lucky enough to meet Derek while guest teaching together in Texas - after one conversation about his program, I knew I wanted to be a part of helping it grow. As a former Soloist with Houston Ballet, I had incredible opportunities to dance with amazing choreographers in countries all over the world - but the challenging times that come with being a professional dancer (especially in the early years) would have been so much easier to navigate if I had had a program like CG to help give me guidance. I feel lucky to be on the other side of company life now as a Rehearsal Director for Sacramento Ballet, where I can guide my dancers with support and knowledge I gained from my own career. I look forward to mentoring dancers around the world through this platform! “ ~ Elise Elliott, former soloist Houston Ballet