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Igor Golovach

See also: Categories: WikiDanceSport, DanceSport Studio, Igor Golovach & Michelle Blank - Dance Couple, Instructors, Dancers

Hometown: Chernivtsi, UA
Current location: New Jersey, USA
Current Status:

Igor Golovach is a currently active DanceSport athlete specializing in the Amateur Latin division. 5-time has represented Team USA at the World Championships and World Cup in Latin & ShowDance. Aside from competing, he is also an NADTA Certified DanceSport Instructor and entrepreneur. A co-founder of WikiDanceSport, Igor has also been involved with the start-up of such entities as DanceSport Studio (DSS) and DanceSport Rankings (DSR). He is a two-time United States National Vice-Champion in the Amateur Latin Showdance division (2018 - 2019), the 2019 & 2022 United States National Vice-Champion in the Adult Amateur Latin division a World Finalist of the 2019 WDSF World Showdance Latin Championship. In 2020, Igor was elected one of the new DanceSport Delegates of the USA Dance Federation, the USA Member Body of the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF). In 2022, Igor resigned from his position as a DanceSport Delegate. On March 4th, 2022, Igor, Michelle, and the Sports Administration team organized their first competition, Eminence Junior Dance Festival (EJDF), in Jersey City, NJ

Overview

Igor Golovach's dancing career began in his early childhood. At the age of 5, his father, a former Folk dancer, decided to take him to a dance studio in their hometown of Chernivtsi. From the first lesson, it was clear that the boy was gifted. Coming from a family fully involved with music, as Igor's mother was a piano teacher and father a dancer, it was said Igor felt the music naturally. He fell in love with this new passion instantly.

Throughout his entire childhood, Igor dedicated himself to dance. It was one of the most important and dearest parts of him. Traveling throughout Europe to Germany, Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Czech Republic, Igor represented Ukraine in the international dancing arena. His commitment to the sport led him to become a multiple-time champion of Open DanceSport Championships and Festivals held throughout Ukraine. He also became a multiple-time finalist in various WDSF competitions throughout Europe.

After finishing high school at seventeen, Igor's father passed away. This stage in Igor's life was not easy for the young, talented athlete. But, without doubt, his father was sure of the talent of his one and only son. With time, Igor understood that dance was the outlet that helped him fill the emptiness that consumed him after this tragedy.

Aside from training and competing for his athletic career, Igor began getting involved with the careers of the younger generations. He began instructing Juvenile, Junior, and Youth dancers at Andrey Piskarev's Karnaval Dance Studio in his hometown, where he led group classes on technique, musicality, and performance skills to prepare students better for competition. As a result, his young students were placed in the finals of some of the top Championships in Ukraine.

While training, competing and instructing, Igor also attended the Chernivtsi National University, where he obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education.

And the Competition Begins

After just one year together, Igor and Michelle became the 2016 Virginia State International International Latin Champions and the Liberty Ball Amateur International Latin Champions. They also placed in the semi-final of the 2017 USA Dance National DanceSport Championships.

In May 2017, Igor and Michelle became the New England DanceSport Amateur International Latin Champions. Soon afterward, October brought them to the second year of the American DanceSport Festival, where they won the Bronze Medals at the WDSF Amateur Rising Star Championship.

In December, Igor and Michelle traveled to Riga, Latvia, to compete internationally for the first time at the Baltic Grand Prix in the WDSF Amateur Rising Star and International Open Championships. Before the competition, they participated in the Baltic Grand Prix Workshops. They met and trained with Alexey Silde and Zoran Plohl.

2018

As the year of 2018 kicked off, Igor and Michelle took first place at the Islanders DanceSport Challenge in the Amateur Latin division.

In April, the couple became the USA National Amateur Latin Showdance Vice-Champions, a great feat to have achieved in their first-ever Showdance performance of their careers. Later that month, they traveled to San Marino to compete at the San Marino DanceSport Festival. They became semi-finalists in the Latin Rising Star event, placing 9th out of 33 couples, and quarter-finalists of the WDSF World Open Latin, placing 23rd out of 67 couples, out-dancing the champions of the Rising Star competition. This proved quite an achievement for Igor and Michelle's 2nd international competition.

May brought a strong victory for the couple as the duo took 2nd place at the WDSF Rising Star Latin Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia.

2019

In 2019, Igor and Michelle became the National Vice-Champions of the United States of America in the Amateur Latin division. They also claimed their second title as U.S. Amateur Latin Showdance Vice-Champions with their performance of "Fear," a piece based on Stephen King's novel and famous cinematic masterpiece, It. As a result of these placements, they represented the USA at two WDSF World Championships, both held in Moscow, Russia. In addition, Igor and Michelle achieved a fantastic result in the WDSF World Open Latin held in Wuppertal, Germany, at the DanceComp Wuppertal. Out of 103 couples dancing in the event, the couple placed 18th in the quarter-final, their highest result yet achieved at an international event.

The conclusion of the dance year brought the duo a fantastic victory: on December 14th, 2019, Igor and Michelle became World Finalists of the 2019 WDSF World Showdance Latin Championship held in the beautiful Kremlin Palace of Moscow, Russia. From all around the world, family and friends watched live as the Team USA couple brought home a strengthening victory with their performance of their showdance "Fear," based on Stephen King's famous It.

2020

In 2020, Igor & Michelle won the Mid-Atlantic Amateur Latin Championship, a USA Dance National Qualifying Event. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and the restrictions enforced throughout the World, Igor & Michelle didn't have the opportunity to travel and compete as they and all dancers have done before.

From March until May (during the main lockdown timeline), Igor and Michelle, together with Alessandro Scalora, decided to take the time to unite people from all over the world in the beautiful DanceSport industry. Instructors, choreographers, and dancers joined the trio to share their thoughts on staying strong and positive during this global crisis, sharing their advice on fighting on and not losing hope, and sending their messages of support and aspiration. Thus, the project DanceSport - Stay United was formed.

During the summertime period, when studios were allowed to reopen in the New Jersey area, Igor & Michelle started focusing on bringing in and developing the new generation of dancers in their studio - DanceSport Studio (DSS) as well as posting dance tutorial videos ("DanceSport Series") on their Youtube Channel (DSS Productions).

In November of 2020, Igor Golovach was elected as one of the new DanceSport Delegates of the USA Dance Federation, the USA Member Body of the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF).

2021

Igor & Michelle successfully represented their country at the WDSF World Cup Latin in Portugal, where they made it to the 1/4 final. 2 weeks later October 11th, Igor and Michelle placed 3d at the USA Dance Nationals Championships. Igor and Michelle were chosen to represent USA Dance at the 2021 WDSF World Adult Latin Championships in Pforzheim, Germany.

In July 2021, DanceSport Studio(DSS) students Aiden Shea & Stephanie Micken became USA Dance National Youth Latin Champions. They successfully represented the United States at the 2021 WDSF World Youth Championships in Yerevan, Armenia.

2022

In February 2022, Igor resigned as a DanceSport Delegate of USA Dance. On March 4th, 2022, Igor, Michelle, and the Sports Administration team organized their first competition, Eminence Junior Dance Festival, in Jersey City, NJ.

In April, Team DSS successfully participated in the 2022 USA Dance Nationals and won many USA titles in the syllabus level, including Junior II Gold, PT1 & PT2 Bronze/Silver. In addition, Igor & Michelle placed 2nd in Adult Latin and became representatives of the USA at the 2022 WDSF World Latin Championships.

Entrepreneurship

WikiDanceSport

As soon as Igor and Michelle started working together, they soon realized the need for a community data center to provide all dance enthusiasts with a one-stop information hub. The idea was to create an encyclopedia that would become an information center for all things DanceSport. So, together, they founded WikiDanceSport.com, a free-access, free-content Internet Encyclopedia of Ballroom Dancing.

DanceSport Studio

In 2018, Igor and Michelle launched DanceSport Studio (DSS). DSS is a cross-federation collaborative training platform that is on the path to establishing one uniformed The Art of DanceSport Training System for competitive and social dancers in all aspects of fitness, health, and wellbeing (physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual). DSS encompasses organizations and individuals of multiple federations that work together as one unit to accomplish the highest standards of DanceSport training and education. The first DSS location is currently open in Medford, New Jersey (USA).

DanceSport Rankings

The couple is also developing DanceSport Rankings (DSR), the reputation management platform. This idea was driven by the necessity to uniform and synchronize DanceSport industry-related activities. The platform will offer a way to rank and rate the individuals, organizations, and events of the industry based on various criteria, historical data, performance, and popularity and will allow athletes and fans to participate in the opinion sharing and evaluation of said models.

Instructor

Igor is certified as an Instructor under the North American DanceSport Teachers Association (NADTA) in the International Style Latin division. He instructs all levels and age groups of competitive and social dancers, from juveniles to seniors. He offers such training at DanceSport Studio (DSS) in Medford, NJ (USA)

Trained With

Throughout his dancing career, Igor has had the opportunity to train with some of the top coaches in the industry, including:

HALL OF FAME

Main Coaches

Dance Partners

Since relocating to the United States in 2015, Igor Golovach has partnered with Michelle-Angela Blank. They currently compete in the Amateur International Latin division, representing the United States of America.

Accomplishments

Competitor

Education

  • Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education (Chernivtsi National University)


Photo Gallery

Video Gallery

Social Media

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Ratings, Reviews & Comments

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