Yuliya Zavadska

Age: 29
Occupation: Dance Teacher and Choreographer
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Audition City: Edmonton, AB
Place of Birth: Donestk, Ukraine
Primary Style of Dance: Latin
Signature Dance Move: Nobody spins as quickly as me!
Favourite Song to Get Pumped Up and Ready to Perform to: “Dancing Queen” by ABBA
Favourite Dance Movie: Take The Lead, Happy Feet
Couldn’t Live Without: Dessert…especially chocolate!
Motto: “Keep a good balance between your logic and your emotions.”

Dancing for over 20 years, Yuliya Zavadska has travelled all over the world for ballroom competitions, and is now competing in SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA’s Top 22. Viewers can expect honest and sincere dancing from this Latin dancer, with a high quality of movement

Standing on the shoulders of dancers before her, Yuliya was raised by her mother and father who were professional ballroom dancers and owned their own studio. “I was literally raised in the studio by dancers,” said Yuliya, who credits her mother for being the biggest inspiration in her life.

At 13, Yuliya became the national Ukrainian Junior Latin, Ballroom and Ten Dance Champion. With that achievement brought new opportunities in other parts of the world such as Poland, Canada, The United States, Mexico, England and Italy, to name a few.

Yuliya compares her formal training to other sports where you work with a coach one-on-one. “I was fortunate enough to work with a world-renowned coach, Sergey Ryupin. He trained me for the first 11 years of my career and continues to be my most trusted mentor,” says Yuliya.

Yuliya feels that Canadian dancers are the best in the world because, “all the flavours of the world are here, and you can sample from cultures or teachers from almost anywhere.” It was for this reason that Yuliya moved to Canada, leaving her whole life behind. “I flew to Canada all alone, just believing in my potential,” she says.

When asked what she wants viewers to know about her, Yuliya responds, “I spent most of my dance career defining how a woman’s body should move, so I would say my biggest quality is feminism in my dancing. Hopefully people at home can connect to me and my dancing and vote!”