Anastasia Zelena, a 16-year-old schoolgirl from Ternopil, won a gold medal at the Dance World Cup, which took place in the Spanish city of Burgos.
She dedicated her victory to her mentor, Ukrainian choreographer Volodymyr Rakov, who died on the front lines in January this year, according to the girl’s father, Vitaliy.
Anastasia is a 10th-grade student at the Nazariy Yaremchuk Lyceum No. 6 in Ternopil and trains at the Wonder Jazz Studio dance studio. She has been dancing since the age of seven, after four years of artistic gymnastics. During this time, she has won 82 medals in various competitions and championships.
The Ternopil native has participated in the Dance World Cup finals three times. In particular, in 2021, when the championship was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic, she won silver for her solo performance and five gold medals for group compositions. This year, she won gold for her solo performance and silver for her duet performance with her partner, Sofia Stelmakh.
Anastasia prepared for the competition for about a year, training for several hours almost every day.
