Igor Golovach

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 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 the age of seventeen, Igor's father passed away. This stage in Igor's life was not easy for the young, talented athlete. Without doubt, his father was sure in 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 own 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 of technique, musicality, and performance skills to prepare students better for competition. The dancers he instructed went on to win and place 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.

Entrepreneurship

At the age of twenty-one, Igor received an O1 visa (visa for extraordinary talent) and traveled to the United States to further excel in his career as an athlete as well as an instructor. While training in a studio, Igor met Michelle-Angela Blank, with whom he would continue his competitive career representing the USA.

As soon as Igor and Michelle started working together, they immediately bonded as not only a dancing couple, but also as partners who were alike in their views and goals regarding their future careers. Together, they soon realized the need of 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. Together, they founded WikiDanceSport.com, a free-access, free-content Internet encyclopedia of Ballroom Dancing.

Igor and Michelle also started working on a new venture known as DanceSport Studio (DSS). The proposed platform would offer navigational help to anybody who would want to learn the physics and art of Ballroom Dancing. DSS would offer online skill evaluation and a training platform to allow the highest ranked instructors to offer training sessions via web interface from the comfort of their own surroundings without any geographical boundaries. DSS would provide invaluable service to the community of dance admirers and professionals to find their own place for communication and social connections.

The couple is also developing DanceSport Rankings (DSR). 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, performances, and popularity and will allow athletes to participate in the opinion sharing and evaluation of said models.

Igor is also currently undergoing professional USISTD training to become a certified instructor in the International Style Latin division. (United States Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing). He instructs all levels and age groups of competitive dancers from juveniles to seniors at locations including Spotlight Dance Center and Medford Fitness.

Trained With

Throughout his dancing career, Igor has had the opportunity to train with some of the top coaches of the industry including Bryan Watson, Vladimir Karpov, Allan Tornsberg, Vibeke Toft, Hans Galke, Carmen Vincelj, Colin James, Rufus Dustin, Markus Homm, Maria Manusova, Eugene Katsevman, Andrei Gavriline, Elena Kryuchkova, Slavik Kryklyvyy, Ruslan and Katusha Wilder, Melanie LaPatin, Michael Wentink, Andrej Skufca and Melinda Torokgyorgy.

Instructors

Currently, Igor's elite team of instructors include Vladimir Karpov, Maria Manusova, Eugene Katsevman, Allan Tornsberg, Vibeke Toft, Andrei Gavriline, and Elena Kryuchkova with whom he continues expanding his competitive career.

• Vladimir Karpov (New York, USA)
• Maria Manusova, Brooklyn DanceSport Club (New York, USA)
• Eugene Katsevman, Brooklyn DanceSport Club (New York, USA)
• Allan Tornsberg, Stepping Out Studios (New York, USA)
• Vibeke Toft, Stepping Out Studios (New York, USA)
• Andrei Gavriline, Paragon Ballroom (New Jersey, USA)
• Elena Kryuchkova, Paragon Ballroom (New Jersey, USA)

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.

• Michelle-Angela Blank (2015 - current)

The couple has achieved numerous victories in the competitive arena since beginning their partnership. Not only have they become the 2016 Virginia Open Amateur Latin Champions as well as the Liberty Ball Amateur Latin Champions, but they have also placed in the semi-final of the 2017 USA Dance National DanceSport Championships.

In May of 2017, the couple became the New England DanceSport Amateur Latin Champions.

Accomplishments

• WikiDanceSport.com: Co-Founder, Lead Editor
• DanceSport Studio (DSS): Co-Founder, Co-Owner
• New England DanceSport Championships(NEDSC) Amateur Latin Champion (2017)
• USA Dance National DanceSport Championships Semi-Finalist (2017)
• Virginia Open Amateur Latin Champion (2016)
• Liberty Ball Amateur Latin Champion (2016)
• Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education (Chernivtsi National University)