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Bravo’s new docuseries Dancing Queens is all set to premiere on Tuesday, May 9, at 9 pm ET. The show will feature six amateur dancers who have their eyes set on the prize training with professional dancers to win the ballroom competition. The contestants will themselves have to spend “thousands of dollars on their hair, makeup and outfits” and even pay for the expenses of their professional partners.
The contestants and their partners are:
- Gaëlle Benchetrit with Nino Langella
- Leonie Biggs with Kostiantyn “Koysta” Samarskyi
- Donie Burch with Iliah Vinikovskiy
- Pooja Mehta with Kristijan Burazer
- Colette Marotto with Oleksiy “Alex” Pigotskyy
- Sabrina Strasser with Stanislav Kochergin
Stanislav Kochergin and others to feature as the pro dancers of Dancing Queens
The pro dancers for Dancing Queens season one will coach and counsel the ladies to become the best dancing team on the stage. The six contestants will not shy away from sabotaging the competition and even poaching other dancers’ partners.
Nino Langella
Originally from Italy, Nino has been dancing since he was a kid and won his first professional competition at the age of nine. He won the IDSF world championship in 2000 and gave away the entire prize money to charity after being impacted by the post-war situation. Langella has won the European dance championship three times and Italian Championship 11 times.
Sabrina calls him the “best of the best” and confessed that it was a “bit scary” to dance with him.
Kostiantyn “Koysta” Samarskyi
Not much is known about Kostiantyn, but according to his Instagram and Bravo, he has won the European dance championship 10 times. Samarskyi knows five Latin ballroom dances (jive, samba, rumba, cha-cha, and paso doble) and five international dances (foxtrot, quickstep, Viennese waltz, waltz and tango).
Kostiantyn and her partner Leonie are currently trying to build a “connection and confidence” one step at a time.
Iliah Vinikovskiy
Originally from Kiev, Iliah was just 12 years old when he won his first Latin national championship prize. He has been studying dance from the top instructors in Europe since the age of 15. He is very popular in the Latin dancing arena and has trained with world champions like Colin James, Carolyn Smith, and Graham Oswick.
According to Dancing Queens description:
"The sparkle in his eye rivals the sequins on the dancers’ dresses."
Kristijan Burazer
Kristijan grew up in Slovenia and began ballroom dancing at the age of 10. He revealed in an interview with Vogue that he started dancing because he loved music, which gave him the “freedom and ability to express who I am.”
After winning numerous championships, Burazer now teaches ballroom dancing to other dancers and knows samba, cha cha cha, rumba, waltz, and tango.
Before becoming partners with Pooja on Dancing Queens, Kristijan was supposed to compete with Colette, who compared the experience to being “partner-dumped.”
Oleksiy “Alex” Pigotskyy
Alex has won the U.S. National Dancesport championship three times and is the official ambassador of International Dance Shoes. He currently resides in Phoenix and teaches students how to do ballroom dancing. He became Colette’s dance partner after Kristijan left him on Dancing Queens.
Colette praised him by saying that he is "sexy" and a "completely different dancer" than Kristijan.
Stanislav Kochergin
Coming from Canada, Stanislav has years of experience in ballroom dancing, Not much is known about him but according to Bravo, Kochergin has won multiple dance trophies. He promised Sabrina that he will make her a champion from the moment they met.
It does not look like things went great for the partners as Sabrina stabbed Kochergin in his eye with the heel of her shoe during a rehearsal.
Fans will be able to watch new episodes of Dancing Queens every Tuesday at 9 pm ET on Bravo.
