Kristina's journey began in the unforgiving, arctic climate of Siberia . Her father, a musician and composer, enveloped Kristina's home in music, and Kristina fell in love with music and dance at an early age. As a child, Kristina used her ballet training to hone the skills that would one day make her a ballroom champion. She studied both Latin and Standard styles, but it was the Latin harmonies and movements that truly stirred her passion.

Kristina entered her first dance competition at the tender age of seven, and has never looked back. Her lifelong love affair with dance guided her through scores of competitions as a youngster, and she ultimately became a renowned dance champion in Russia 's Far-Eastern region.

Kristina began teaching dance lessons when she was only sixteen, an occupation that combined her fondness for children and the hobby that was quickly becoming a destined profession for the young star.

Kristina never ignored the importance of higher education, however, and by age 21, she had obtained a Master's degree in Tourism and Hospitality. It was then that she was invited to the United States to compete professionally.

In 2001, Kristina moved to Seattle , Washington , and dedicated all of her time to professional dance competition. She learned several new styles of dance in the U.S. , including salsa, American rhythm, and exhibition/theater style. She was so successful that she and her partner won second place at the American Rhythm Finals for three years in a row. They traveled around the U.S. and abroad to perform and compete around the world.

In 2004, Kristina and her partner were invited to represent the U.S. in the most prestigious competition in the professional dance world, the World Exhibition at the Blackpool Dance Festival, where the couple placed second in the theater-style category.

Kristina then returned to International-style Latin with new partner Michael Wentink, one of Latin dance's most famous ballroom masters. Kristina and Michael promptly won the South African Championship and were also semifinalists at the 2007 Blackpool competition in the Latin American division. In fact, Kristina's won quite a few awards:

. 2nd Place , U.S. National American Rhythm Finals, 2003, 2004, and 2005
. American Rhythm RS National Champions 2004
· 2nd Place , Open to the World, Mambo Championship, 2003 and 2004
· 2nd Place , Open to the World, American Rhythm Finals, 2005
· 1st Place, South African National Latin Champions, 2006
· 2nd Place , World Exhibition British Final,(Blackpool) 2004
· Semifinalist, Open to the World, British Open ( Blackpool ), 2007

Since then, Kristina and Michael have been very busy! They've toured around the world, with stops in such diverse locations as Australia , Korea , and Argentina . They've even created an entire series of instructional videos demonstrating International style ballroom dance, which is scheduled for release in October 2008.

Kristina has been busy with other projects as well. She's currently completing a how-to makeup and stage preparation book for newcomers to ballroom competition. Having studied stage makeup for two years in Russia , Kristina has always been involved in every detail of her unique competition appearance, from the design of her beautiful costumes to her exquisite hairstyles and stage makeup.

In the book, Kristina includes valuable information about the unspoken rules of the ballroom - the type of information that she wishes someone had shared with her when she was just a beginner! Click here for a free preview of Kristina's step-by-step competition makeup instruction.

Kristina has also released a series of instructional DVD's with former World Champion Corky Ballas. This set covers the entire International Dance syllabus, including the cha-cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, and jive, and is now available for purchase at dancevision.com.

Kristina's currently touring with the cast of Dancing With The Stars, and plans to include photos from the tour in her new book for everyone to enjoy. You can also watch her at learning2dance.com, where she provides online dance lessons designed to help anyone learn to light up the ballroom and dance like the professionals do! Watch Kristina perform the Argentine tango, mambo, cha-cha, rumba, bolero, and many more, all for free!

Kristina's certainly come a long way since that first ballet class in Russia . Although she still misses her family, Kristina loves the U.S. , and is extremely thankful for all of the opportunities she's had to learn and grow. Kristina truly is living her dreams! Stay tuned for future news and events as Kristina continues to set the ballroom world on fire!

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