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Nikita Malakhov was born in Riga and raised in Montreal, where he began dancing and competing at the age of 6. Nikita was a finalist in all major Canadian juvenile and junior division competitions. Nikita's dance career in Montreal came to an end, when he became the Junior II National champion in the Standard, Latin and 10 dance categories, landing him a chance to represent Canada at the Junior II 10 dance World Championships in Ireland. Nikita, then moved to the USA to continue his dancing. Soon after, he became the vice champion at the 2009 USA Dance National Championships giving him and his partner a chance to represent the US at the Youth Latin World Championships in China, where they were quarter finalists. Nikita also was included on the top 16 male dancers on So You Think You Can Dance Season 7!
Nadezda Vlasova, who was Born in St-Petersburg, Russia, started competing in ballroom dancing at the age of 8. In 2005, she was ranked 3rd in the Youth Latin division by the St-Petersburg Dancesport Federation. In addition, Nadezda was featured as a lead dancer in the movie "Lucky: No Time For Love".
The dancers met in 2008, working for the same company, Dance With Me USA. After some time Nikita and Nadezda became a couple off the dance floor, which in turn, sparked the beginning of a new dance partnership. Marking their seventh year as a competitive couple, they have been the 2013 and 2015 USA Dance National Champions. In 2013 they secured the World Masters title at the Yankee Classic. With this came the international results including:
- 7th place in Latin Showdance event at the 2013 WDSF World Dancesport Games, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- 2nd place in the Rising Star Amateur Latin at the 2014 Fred Astaire Cup in Paris, France
Nikita and Nadezda are competing in Professional Latin Division since 2015, and in two years some of their remarkable achievements include:
- 2nd place in Professional Rising Star Latin at the 2015 Dutch Open, Netherlands
- 3rd place in Professional Rising Star Latin at the UK Open, United Kingdom
- 4th place in Professional Rising Star Latin at the International Championships, United Kingdom
- 6th place in Professional Rising Star Latin at the Blackpool Dance Festival, United Kingdom
Nikita and Nadezda also taking lead role in Brooklyn Dancesport Club Dance Company performing at prestigious events such as Dance Legends and Blackpool Dance Festival congress.
Nikita and Nadya are representing Paragon Ballroom under the coaching of Andrei Gavriline and Elena Kruchkova. Some of their trainers also include Eugene Katsevman, Maria Manusova, Graham Oswick, Klaus Kongsdal, Markus Homm, Carmen and Ruud Vermeij. This couple has a bright future and radiate high hopes for the entire ballroom community, which ultimately got them their sponsorship from AIDA Dance US at the end of 2014.