The World Famous Ballroom Dancer
Anna was born and raised in Chelyabinsk, Russia in a family of professional ballroom dancers, so the transition to the dance floor was a natural progression of her heritage. She began her journey as a dancer at the ripe young age of six, winning her first ballroom dance competition a year later. When she was 17, Anna moved to the United States with her parents to further pursue her career as a professional, world class dancer. She won her first US title of Amateur Standard Youth Championship in 1997.
In 2000, Anna became a professional competitive dancer and instructor and shortly thereafter moved to California to partner with dancer Jonathan Roberts. From 2001 to 2006 they achieved many high placements in prestigious competitions around the world. Anna was the 2004 USA Rising Star Latin Champion, ranked 6th in the U.S., 24th in the world and placed 2nd in the Blackpool Rising Star Latin championship.
In 2006, Anna teamed with Pavlo Barsuk for two years, capturing 3rd place in the Professional Latin U.S. final, 2nd place in the Rising Star Professional Latin UK Championship and 4th in the Rising Star Professional Latin Blackpool Dance Festival. In the same year, Anna made her Dancing With The Stars debut during Season 2, partnering with NFL legend, Jerry Rice, coming in runner-up. For nine more seasons, she was a staple on the show, becoming a fan favorite with her fiery red hair, spunky personality to match, charming sense of humor, and graceful approach to dancing. She was partnered with model Albert Reed (season 5), actor Steve Guttenburg (season 6), mixed martial artist and UFC champ Chuck Liddell (season 9), Olympic gold medal figure skater Evan Lysacek (season 10), NFL quarterback and Superbowl XXXIV champ and MVP Kurt Warner (season 11), boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard (season 12), fashion expert and TV personality Carson Kressley (season 13), actor Jack Wagner (season 14), and pop group singer Drew Lachey (season 15 All-Stars). After a brief hiatus while she embarked on the beautiful adventure of motherhood, she'll be putting on her dance shoes once again with her partner, prolific actor, musician, and larger than life personality Gary Busey (season 21).
In addition to her television appearances, Anna continues to perform in various live stage shows all over the country. You can see her headlining productions such as Dance to the Movies, Ballroom with a Twist, Forever Tango, and more. To maintain her top level of performance and svelte figure, Anna not only spends many hours in the dance studio, but also works out using various strength and flexibility techniques such as pilates, yoga, gyrotonic, ballet, hiking and resistance work.
The Russian beauty has been featured in numerous media outlets including Shape Magazine, Life & Style, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, TV Guide, Runway, InTouch, People, US Weekly, and many others. She has also made appearances on ABC's Shark Tank as an endorsee of Posture Now, the infomercial for Total Gym, Hell's Kitchen, a special celebrity episode of Family Feud and was a celebrity curator on Opensky.com. She has also been on ESPN's Mike & Mike Show teaching Mike Greenberg to salsa.
The perrenial artist, Anna is a trained, professional actress, with a recent appearance on the final season of HBO's critically acclaimed show, The Newsroom (watch the clip and read more about her acting here)
In 2013, Anna brought her stage hosting experience in front of the camera when she became a co-host for the AfterBuzzTV.com live streaming web show. Since then, she has continued to gain experience and exposure as a television personality and host. (Read more about her hosting experience here)
Also an entrepreneur, Anna and her mother Irina together own the You Can Dance ballroom studio in Hermosa Beach, CA. Anna currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor/writer/filmmaker Nevin Millan, their daughter Amalya and son Kaspyan.
