Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Two Utah dance teachers won the Open World Amateur Latin Championship in the Netherlands.
- This marks the first time an American couple has won the Latin American World title.
- They credit Utah's strong dance culture and community for their success.
PROVO — Utah is known for many things — big families, green jello, beautiful landscapes — but Utah is increasingly being noticed for producing talented dancers.
One only has to look at the number of pros on "Dancing with the Stars" who hail from Utah to see the state has an impressive resume of professional dancers.
Two dance teachers at Peak Performance Dance Center in Provo are continuing the legacy of representing Utah on the world stage for dance with a monumental win at the World Dance Council Championships.
Alexander Chernositov and Arina Grishanina are the current U.S. Latin Dancesport Champions, and earlier this month they added another notch to their belt. The dance couple competed in the Netherlands against more than 50 couples for the Open World Amateur Latin Championship.
Peak Performance Dance Center director Oskar Wojciechowski said this was "the first time an American couple has won the Latin American World title in the history of ballroom dancing." Chernositov and Grishanina have been teaching in Utah since 2020 after moving here from New Jersey.
Peak Performance dancers Parley Ford and Natalie Jolley also won the Open World Under 21 Smooth Championship.
For the competition, Chernositov and Grishanina had to perform five routines — a jive, a cha-cha-cha, a rumba, a samba and a paso doble — in five different rounds.
In ballroom competitions, dozens of couples are on the floor at the same time. A random song that matches the musical constraints of the dance style is played, and all of the couples perform their individual routines simultaneously, sometimes getting dangerously close to each other as they dance.
"It's a big achievement for us because this is something we have dreamt of to achieve as kids. Been dancing for over 20 years now; it's quite a long journey," Chernositov said.
The dancers said they feel a sense of achievement and pride winning this competition.
"We are proud for achieving this result that we so wanted and worked so hard for. To represent our country, to really be there and carry the flag and come back home and be able to tell our students," he said.
For both of the dancers, they are grateful for the sense of community dancing provides.
"When people feel they can be good at something and share that love for dancing with other people, there's a great community for that here," Chernositov said, adding that Utah has a great culture for dancing.
"We have heard and seen so many great dancers have come from the state of Utah on television and in our industry. There's a great desire to learn from the kids, and I see that," he said.
Grishanina said she thinks it is amazing Utah has so many dancing programs developed in schools and universities and thinks it contributes to how many good dancers there are here.
"Dancing is such an amazing thing when it comes to developing skills and socializing, body coordination, listening to music, applying some artistic skill. It's so great that it's in school programs. ... People love it here very much," she said.
Dance teaches discipline, communication, respect, perseverance and hard work, Chernositov added.
For Grishanina, she loves the feeling of moving to the music and creating something beautiful in a style she has stuck with and grown in for years.
Chernositov said he has always loved relating movements to the music and experiencing the unity and communication between partners as they perform.
"It's quite a big world in our industry, and we share all the same passion and you can show what you have working on and continue development through the years to get better and better results," he said.
