Senior Katerina Petrenko is a professional ballroom dancer who performs at competitions around the world like England and Ireland. Petrenko started taking dance lessons when she was just 5 years old, and she has danced professionally for about 11 years according to Petrenko herself.
In an email interview, Petrenko described what ballroom dancing entails. It is performed with a partner and can be either competitive or social. It consists of two styles: Latin and Standard. Petrenko said she specializes in the latter style of dancing, which consists of its own five separate dances: waltz, tango, foxtrot, Viennese waltz, and quickstep.
“I like dancing the Foxtrot because it is a very swift and classy dance,” Petrenko said, “but also has a zest to it.”
Petrenko described the environment at the various dance tournaments she has attended as a unique mix of competitive yet friendly.
“My partner and I compete and perform all around the country, even the world,” Petrenko said. “Some places [include] New York, Las Vegas, Columbus, Dublin, Blackpool, Los Angeles, and many more. When I am not on stage and getting ready and warming up, everyone is super friendly and having fun together. On the dance floor, your friends become your competitors, so everyone forgets about friendships and being nice. It is a really interesting experience.”
When asked about competing in other countries, Petrenko responded that not much changed about the competitions as a whole. She, however, mentioned other issues she encountered in her travels.
“Jet lag is a huge issue for me when I travel out of the country for a competition,” Petrenko said. “I have never encountered language barriers because at competitions all over the world the main language will always be English. Other than that, everything feels the same.”
Unfortunately for Petrenko, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a myriad of issues to arise for her professional career.
“Sadly, COVID caused many setbacks for my career, but it also gifted me with a lot of time to practice and improve,” Petrenko said. “Many dance competitions have been canceled and for the first couple months of the pandemic, I was not allowed to go to my dance studio.”
Despite these struggles, Petrenko persevered. When COVID-19 restrictions loosened, she was eventually able to return to practice at her dance studio.
“Now, my dance partner and I go to our dance studio and have lessons with our coach,” Petrenko said. “It was also hard to adjust to dancing in a mask, but after a couple months I got used to it,” she added.
Petrenko stated she felt very fortunate to be able to go back to her studio to practice; however, when COVID-19 restrictions tightened again, Petrenko still looked toward the positives.
“Usually, at this time I would be traveling to competitions a lot and would complain that I have no time to practice,” Petrenko said. “But right now I have all the time in the world. I also physically got stronger because I have time to workout with my trainer over zoom. Whenever competitions open, I will be more prepared than ever to step back into the competitive world.”
Petrenko’s advice to her younger self, or any aspiring dancer for that matter, is to stop judging yourself.
“I would tell myself to not worry about other dancers, and that my only competition is me, myself, and I,” Petrenko said. “Obviously, every dancer likes to win, but I think that my favorite part of dancing would have to be inspiring others and performing for an audience.”
