The face of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is quickly changing.

Last season, three principal dancers left. They will be followed by two more this year.

Kwang-Suk Choi, a disciplined dancer who always delivered, will retire after eight years with the company, and Kumiko Tsuji, whom some consider PBT's brightest young technician, will join husband and former PBT principal Daisuke Takeuchi, who retired last year, in Japan.

Mr. Choi, 41, has been preparing for the inevitable transition that all dancers face. He lives in Ross with his wife, Sae-Young Kang, and two children, Grace, 13, and Daniel, 9. He and his wife, also a dancer, opened a studio called Pittsburgh Ballet House about five years ago because his wife "wanted a teaching opportunity."

Located in Cranberry, the studio offers lessons in ballet, of course, plus tap, jazz and hip-hop, with a schedule that will expand after Mr. Choi's retirement.

"My wife and I love ballet so much," he said. "We're ready to teach the next generation."

Although he enjoyed roles such as Basilio in "Don Quixote" and the title role in "Peter Pan," he contends that "my life is starting now."

Ms. Tsuji also will enter the teaching field when she moves to Hokkaido, Japan. She and her husband will open a studio, and they hope to have a business on the side teaching basic English to potential Japanese travelers.

Although she is only 27, the ballet climate in Japan is such that no performing opportunities are available, Ms. Tsuji said, so she will "probably stop dancing" and raise a family. But she said she has "tons of big dreams" that include a talent for knitting and sewing. That may mean another career designing costumes and dance wear in an economy where a leotard may cost $100.

While her favorite roles at PBT included Kitri in "Don Quixote" and Cupid in "Con Amore," this month's "Swan Lake" will enable her to come full circle.

"It was my first show at PBT as an apprentice, and I performed my first Swan Queen here," she said. Now she will give her final performance at the April 18 matinee with Christopher Budzynski as Siegfried.

"Swan Lake" also played a key role for corps member Kristen Rusnak, who will leave PBT this year, too. It was her first ballet at PBT, and she will be featured as one of the Big Swans in her final performances. A six-year veteran with an additional two years at the company school, Ms. Rusnak feels that the upcoming performances are "a nice way to end my best season," one that included prominent parts in Stephen Mills' "Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project" and Twyla Tharp's "In the Upper Room."

"It just felt right," she said. "I had blinders on during my career -- it was my life. But one day, I woke up and saw so many other things I wanted to do."

She may have loved working with choreographer Dwight Rhoden and playing Jordan in "The Great Gatsby," but Ms. Rusnak is intent on moving to Seattle, where former PBT member James Moore, whom she calls "the love of my life," is performing with Pacific Northwest Ballet. There, she hopes to get her yoga certification and attend the University of Washington.

"James was definitely a factor," she said. "But it's also one of the hardest things I've ever done. Terry [Orr, PBT artistic director] was such a father figure to me, and PBT a real family. I feel you don't realize that until you leave."

Mr. Orr has begun replacing his lead dancers with newly appointed principal Nurlan Abougaliev and soloist Robert Moore. Mr. Abougaliev was a former principal dancer with Moscow City Ballet and came to America with his wife, Aygul Abougalieva.

They performed with Indianapolis Ballet, which quickly folded, and Colorado Ballet. During a guest appearance with Greensburg's Laurel Ballet, he had an audition at PBT and was impressed with the facilities.

It took an additional year for two positions to open up, but the couple eventually joined the company. Mr. Abougaliev was trained in the classics and has had the opportunity to perform in them with PBT, but he was surprisingly taken with George Balanchine's choreography and had a great success in "Who Cares?" It was filled with debonair syncopations set to the American stylings of George Gershwin.

Robert Moore came to PBT to teach with his wife, former Boston Ballet principal Pollyanna Ribeiro. He had been nursing a hip injury and didn't expect to dance. But he recovered and was taken into the company. "I've been working harder and harder," he said. "As you get older, you get smarter about that."

While he was trying to stay healthy as a member of the corps de ballet, he was given the title role in "The Great Gatsby" and was consistently featured in soloist roles. He also is considered one of the company's best partners.

He already is looking ahead to next season when PBT will present "The Three Musketeers" and a new Gershwin ballet from choreographer Victor Plotnikov, who not only worked with him in Boston but came to the Moores' wedding. And then there's the annual "Nutcracker." He still retains an enthusiasm about it, ready to create magic once again as Drosselmeyer.

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