About Us
Our History
NIKA INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY was established in 1976 by the renowned dancer and choreographer, Elena Zakharova, in Penza, Russia. Initially, it started as a youth dance program and has now evolved into a prestigious and globally recognized dance school. In 2004, NIKA's program was adopted by studios in the United States, propelling their dancers to participate in national and international competitions. As a result, our dancers have achieved remarkable success, including becoming US National finalists and champions, as well as World Open finalists. Notably, many of our original NIKA students have gone on to become accomplished professional ballroom and Latin coaches, adjudicators, performers, and choreographers. They have worked on popular TV shows such as "Dancing with the Stars" in the US and Russia, "America's Got Talent," "Oprah," and more.
Our pride
The NIKA alumni include:
- Natalia Kuzieva (Kherson, Ukraine) - International adjudicator, coach, and competition organizer.
- Alexander Muratov and Kseniya Putko (Russia) - Norway and Dutch Open champions. Kseniya is also a professional dancer on "Dancing with the Stars" Russia.
- Alexander Muratov and Elena Markelova (Russia) - Russian Open champions.
- Pavel Balykin and Maria Gershenovich (Russia and USA) - multiple US National champions and finalists. Pavel is also the World Pro/Am Ballroom Champion.
- Stepan and Olga Pogorelsky (Samara, Russia) - Russian National Professional Ballroom finalists, coaches, adjudicators, and competition organizers.
- Nathan Murstein and Polina Dickenson (Seattle, Washington, USA) - multiple US National champions and two-time Blackpool Junior festival semi-finalists.
- Gabriel White and Lyubov Morgan (Seattle, Washington, USA) - 2015 US National representatives to the World Pre-teen Championships.
- Scott Nicholson and Evgeniya Gorobets (Seattle, Washington, USA) - 2014 US National representatives to the World under 21 10-dance Championships.
- Yegor Novikov and Katia Zakharoff (Russia and USA) - US National finalists, US/UK/British Open RS Professional finalists. Katia is also a choreographer and coach, and her routines have been showcased on TV's "Dancing with the Stars" and "America's Got Talent".
- Sergey Nekrasov (Russia and USA) - World Pro/Am Show dance champion with student Nina Nikolova.
Feature something
Although we are primarily focused on competitions and helping our students progress nationally and internationally, we also offer various social programs for personal enrichment. Whether you have an upcoming wedding, anniversary, going on a cruise, or simply want to dance for everyday exercise, our experienced teachers are here to help. You can even purchase gift certificates for lessons to give to your friends and family. Additionally, our directors Elena Zakharova, Katia Zakharoff and Michael Levenkov are available for guest coaching for competitive couples.
Our academy is conveniently located in Bellevue on the Northup Way, between downtown and the Crossroads, at 12121 Northup Way, Unit 112.
We offer the following programs:
- Group classes for beginning children ages 3-4, 4-6, and 7-10
- Syllabus competitive classes for children age 7-10
- A social dance courses for adults
- A wide range of private lessons for any age and level.
- Championship level classes for children age 10-14, youth, and adults
- Weekly supervised competition rounds open to all competitive dancers on one of the largest floors in the area.
Please refer to our schedule page for more information.