Introduction
My sport activity began when I was 5 years old. My parents brought me to figure skating — my first exposure to something that brought an artistic character into my life. After about a year, we switched to International Latin Dancing. I was six years old at that time. Here is an old photo of me learning how to figure skate:
This is the moment when my professional sport career began. On this page I will chronologically introduce you to my broad dancing career.
My first visit to a dance floor happened in September 2009. When my foot stepped on the dancing floor, I already knew my destination in this sport — to become a world champion.
As in any professional sport career, a strong team is the main key to success. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my lovely parents, who became one of the most concrete supports for me during my professional career. In all my ups and downs, my parents were the ones who supported me each single second of my life. My mother Natalia and father Nikolai were not just parents — they became my coaches, friends, and mentors. Thank you so much for supporting me through all the brightest and darkest moments of my sport career and life overall. Sincerely love you both.
Secondly, I would like to express a massive thanks to all my partners and coaches who supported me all along the career. Now, let's finally dive into it.
The Beginning — Coach Dmitry & First Partners
It all started from my first day on the dance floor when I met my first coach — Dmitry Semenyuk, who taught me the basics of International Latin Dancing. This person built the fundamental base of my knowledge in this sport. Dmitry is one of those people who was contagious with the idea of dancing. He inspired and lit the spirit of dancing inside my soul, which will never be extinguished. He gave me an immensely strong initial momentum that carried me throughout my entire career.
I was learning quickly, and in about 3 months I was given a chance to collaborate with my first partner — Elena Yastrub. We danced our first competition in 2010, held in my hometown Mykolaiv (Nikolaev). This was the first competitive experience of my professional career.
I danced many competitions with Elena locally in Mykolaiv and neighbouring towns — Odessa and Kherson. This first year of local, beginning-level dancing gave me tremendous initial experience. It shaped my young and eager dancing character toward a greater level. Thanks to Elena and coach Dmitry, I understood how this sport requires an immense amount of work and practice. We competed together for about a year.
I am currently looking for old pictures with my first partner from 2010. Be patient :)
New Coaches & Partner Masha Starostenko
In 2011, Dmitry introduced me to my next coaches — Vyacheslav Viktorovych and Lyudmila Aleksandrovna. These people opened a new door for my professional development.
After dancing with Elena, I collaborated with a new partner — Masha Starostenko. We danced together for about a year, during which my new coaches raised a new level of dancing character in me. We visited some competitions, two of which became the first rating tournaments that started my history as a professional dancer.
Since May 2012, competing in the Juvenile category, I kicked off my professional career at the professional level with my next partner — Maria Markina, under the supervision of the same coaches.
Partner Maria Markina — European Debut
My career with Masha turned out to be the most productive. We competed in 62 rating championships, spanning from European Championships to World Championships, in the Juvenile and Junior categories.
The first competition we entered as a couple was a European competition in Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2012. We placed 7th in the final out of 38 couples. With the great support from our coaches and parents, we started rising very fast and collecting top placements.
That first year we also got a chance to perform in our first foreign championships — the 'Imperial' and 'International' competitions held in England.
Ukrainian Championship — Interview
In 2012, we won 7th place in the final of the Juvenile 2 category at the Ukrainian Championship. Here is a recorded interview taken after the championship:
World Champions — France & International Championship
In 2013, our career had a massive spike. We won many European championships and placed in the top 10 of World Championships.
World Championship — France 🏆
One of the most brilliant moments of 2013 was winning the World Championship in France in the Juvenile category. Below you can watch videos of us dancing in the final, the award ceremony, and the interview where we were told live that we are the World Champions.
Having the title of World Champion, we continued performing at a highly professional level in Ukraine, France, and England. Coaches Vyacheslav Viktorovych and Lyudmila Aleksandrovna dedicated all their time and desire to invest precious knowledge of proper dancing technique and psychology. I am very much grateful to them for creating a stone base of the champion spirit — this spirit will stay with me forever, not only in dancing but in life. Love you both.
International Championship, England — 4th Place
Also in 2013, we performed in the International Championship in England where we placed 4th in Juvenile Latin. Below are videos from our performances and a photo from the award ceremony.
Junior Category Debut
Having successfully finished the Juvenile category, we moved to the Junior category from 2014. We continued performing in numerous championships and winning top placements. Below are videos and pictures from various championships during the 2014 season.
New Coaches in Kyiv — Final Year with Masha
2015 brought some challenges to my professional career and life overall. My lovely coaches Vyacheslav and Lyudmila had to migrate to another country. It was a tremendously hard time — each single practice day I was expecting to see them back. However, with the help of my parents, I accepted the fact that they would not return.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Yuri Vasilievich and Yana Alexandrovna Vasyutyak, Dasha Maryushchenko and Anton Nesterko, who became my new coaches in the capital city of Ukraine — Kyiv. These people took the initiative of supporting me morally and continuing to teach me professional dancing.
I cannot stress enough how thankful I am to these people who took care of me during this turning point. They contributed all their love, knowledge, and time to support me and keep my level of dancing at world rank. They became my true dancing family!
2015 became my last year collaborating with my partner Maria Markina. We finished the year with dignity, performing in many competitions and continuing to win top placements.
I would like to conclude this period of my dancing life with a huge thanks to my parents for their enormous support and love.
New Partner — Valeriya Pronyuk
At the beginning of 2016, I collaborated with a new partner — Valeriya Pronyuk. We participated together for about a year in 6 rating championships. My coach for the 2016–2017 period was Igor Katana. Thank you very much, Igor, for supporting and teaching me during this time.
Partner Alika Gugnina — Peak of Career
For the period from November 2016 to mid-2017, I had another spike in my career with my new partner — Alika Gugnina from Odessa. With Alika I competed in 25 rating competitions in Ukraine, England, and France. I also met my new coach — Alexey Gotsulyak. I am very much grateful to Alika, Alexey, and Igor for their constant support and dedication.
Debut — Kyiv, November 2016 (2 First Places)
The first competition with Alika was held in Kyiv in November 2016. We won two first places in our debut together.
Kiev-Open — 4th Place
The next competition was held the following week, also in Kyiv — called "Kiev-Open". We won 4th place at this Ukrainian Championship.
World Championship — France, December 2016 (Top 8)
The next competition was held in France in December 2016, at the World Championship. We got into the top 8 couples.
Ukrainian Championship — 3rd Place
Back in Kyiv, we competed in another Ukrainian Championship where we won 3rd place.
2017 — Kyiv & Mykolaiv Championships
Starting from 2017, we competed in many championships in Kyiv and my hometown Mykolaiv.
Odessa Championship
Here is a video from a competition held in our neighbouring city — Odessa.
Blackpool Dance Festival — A Dream Fulfilled
Now it is time to talk about that first photo I showed at the beginning of this biography. After a tremendous amount of work and many successful championships, Alika and I performed at the competition called Blackpool. It was my dream since the first time I found out about this championship to visit and dance on that beautiful floor. And the time had come. This was perhaps the peak of my dancing career from both a technical and emotional perspective.
We performed in many categories and took many good placements. Here are videos and photos from this competition.
I would like to express my gratefulness to my partner Alika, my coaches Alexey and Igor, and my lovely parents for their support and the fantastic results we achieved together.
On 4th of June, 2017, Alika and I danced our last competition as a couple. This was also the last competition I danced before my family decided to move to Canada.
Moving to Canada
However, I have never stopped dancing. Even though I do not compete in competitions at this time, I am keeping myself in great shape. The art of dancing never leaves you once it becomes a part of who you are.
Canada — Searching for Champions
At the time I moved to Canada in September 2019, I was trying to find good coaches and a partner in order to continue dancing at a professional level and compete in serious championships. I have emphasized throughout this page on the importance of team and the champion spirit. During 4 years of living in Canada, I could not find that coach and partner who would raise a champion couple.
In this 4-year period, I visited many coaches and clubs here. However, I observed something that quite concerned me. The environment in which I was raised was full of tremendous champion spirit, insane amounts of encouragement, effort, support, and hard work. All people who surrounded me in this sport back in Ukraine were contagious with the idea of dancing and could not live a single day without dedication to this sport. This is what I did not see or feel from the dancing world here. Many people here treat International Latin Dancing as simply a business idea — a way to earn money — without any supreme purpose: raising champions. There are a few people who treat this sport as a magnificent piece of art, embracing and living every moment of it.
I am glad that I came from Ukraine with the background of an unbreakable spirit raised by champions. I am still hoping to find that coach and partner who will be interested in raising a champion couple capable of competing at the highest professional level.
Closing Remarks
My sport career is quite saturated with competitions, wins, ups, and downs. Thanks to this sport and my parents who brought me into it early, I had the chance to mature early as a kid. Since my childhood I was able to master multitasking — balancing a busy athletic life with school gave me enormous experience and trained me well for the future. With this sport, I understood that only with an immense, enormous amount of work, dedication, and persistence can any goal be achieved.
I am thankful to everyone from my country who invested their time and knowledge into my personal character. The champion spirit that was instilled in me will always stay with me, thanks to Vyacheslav Viktorovych and Lyudmila Aleksandrovna for setting such a foundation. Endless thanks to Yuri Vasilievich, Yana Alexandrovna Vasyutyak, Dasha Maryushchenko and Anton Nesterko for continuing to teach and nurture my spirit. And of course thanks to Igor Katana and Alexey Gotsulyak for their coaching. I would like to thank all my partners, their parents, and above all — a huge thanks to my parents who assist me through this whole life journey. Thank you mother and father for constantly supporting me in everything I do. And thanks to everyone who loves dancing the way I love it.
My sport career has not finished. All this momentum that I got from all these years is stored in me, and can be used anytime to continue doing the art that I love — dancing.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .