Soviet Diaspora in American Ballroom

"Dance, in all its forms--folk, social, professional--is about identity. In his penetrating study of professional ballroom dancing, David Outevsky, both practitioner and scholar, exposes how professional ballroom dancing, with its Western Euro-American roots and history, was long rejected by the former Soviet Union before its acceptance as an athletic enterprise in which it could produce outstanding performers and a new identity. A welcome addition to serious dance studies." -- Anthony Shay , Professor Emeritus, Pomona College, Claremont, USA "Balancing ethnographic insight with critical analysis, Soviet Diaspora in American Ballroom makes an important contribution to the study of diasporic cultural expression and will appeal to readers across dance studies, migration studies, and cultural history." -- Ania Nikulina , Binghamton University, Binghamton, USA This book tells the historical journey of migrant ballroom dancers from post-Soviet countries to North America, supported by interviews with these dancers about education, identity, and social integration. Through movement analysis, author David Outevsky dissects their daily training and international performances to analyze the commodification and politicization of DanceSport in the current neo-Cold War climate. Carefully uncovering the cultural characteristics that enabled former Soviet nationals to rise to the top of the ballroom industry and become household names on Dancing with the Stars , he shows how dancers use DanceSport as a tool for economic development and social assimilation. Using direct evidence from competitors such as Val Chmerkovskiy, their parents, and coaches, Outvesky untangles the threads of cultural policies, parenthood, and training philosophy to reflect on how Soviet values such as stoicism, filiality, and authoritarianism have migrated through the bodies of these dancers to reinvent the image of American ballroom. David Outevsky has taught in dance programs at York University and the University of Calgary and published articles on ballroom dance pedagogy and conditioning in journals including Research in Dance Education and Medical Problems of Performing Artists . He was a Canadian National finalist in the NDCC Professional Latin category.