Ksenia Zsikhotska (, sometimes

romanised Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

''Zhikhotska''; born 11 August 1989) is a Ukrainian

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

r and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

. She is best known for her role as a professional dancer on ''Dancing with the Stars''. She, alongside professional partner, Ryan McShane, were the 2016 United Kingdom & British Latin Professional Champions & British Show Dance Champions.

Early life

Zsikhotska was born in

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk O ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. She started folk dancing at the age of four and took up ballroom when she moved to

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

with her mother.

Career

In 2015, Zsikhotska toured with ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' professional

Brendan Cole Brendan Cole (born 23 April 1976) is a New Zealand ballroom dancer, specialising in Latin American dancing. He is most famous for appearing as a professional dancer on the BBC One show, ''Strictly Come Dancing''. From 2005 to 2009, he was a j ...

's ''A Night to Remember'' tour across the UK and Ireland. In 2016, Zsikhotska and partner, Ryan McShane, were crowned United Kingdom & British Latin Professional Champions & British Show Dance Champions.

Television career

''Got to Dance''

In 2013, Zsihotska took part in the

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

dance competition show, ''

Got to Dance ''Got to Dance'', originally titled ''Just Dance'', is a British dance competition that was broadcast on Sky 1 in the United Kingdom from 20 December 2009 to 28 December 2014. Auditions for the show were held in specially built "Dance Domes" and ...

'' alongside partner, Ryan McShane. They received three gold stars from the judges and advanced to the next round before being eliminated.

''Britain's Got Talent'' (series 8)

In 2014, Zsikhotska helped establish the ballroom dance group, Kings & Queens, alongside future

professionals,

Katya Jones Katya Jones (born Ekaterina Andreevna Sokolova; rus, Екатерина Андреевна Соколова; 12 May 1989) is a Russian dancer and choreographer. She is best-known for being a professional dancer in the competition show '' Stric ...

and Neil Jones as well as her future ''Dancing with the Stars'' fellow professionals, Ryan McShane and

Kai Widdrington Kai Widdrington (born 23 August 1995) is an English dancer and choreographer. In 2010, he was the Junior World Latin American champion. In 2012, he reached the final of the sixth series of ''Britain's Got Talent''. Between 2017 and 2020, he was ...

on ''Britain's Got Talent''. Kings & Queens reached the semi-finals of the series before being eliminated.

Dancing with the Stars Ireland

In 2017, Zsikhotska was announced as one of the professional dancers for the first series of ''Dancing with the Stars''. She was partnered with singer, Dayl Cronin. Cronin and Zsikhotska made it all the way to the semifinals of the competition before being eliminated and finishing in 4th place. In 2018, Zsikhotska was partnered with

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

broadcaster,

Marty Morrissey Martin Morrissey (born 28 October 1958, Mallow, County Cork) is an Irish sports commentator and television presenter. He regularly presents high-profile sports events for RTÉ Sport, such as the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and Oly ...

. Despite receiving low scores throughout their time on the show, the couple made it all the way to week 8 of the competition, finishing in seventh place. In 2019, Zsikhotska was partnered with

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster B ...

player,

Peter Stringer Peter Alexander Stringer (born 13 December 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player who played at scrum-half. He played 13 seasons with Irish province Munster from 1998 to 2011; he then played seven seasons from 2011 to 2018 in England wit ...

. The couple made it to week 8 of the competition; marking the second year in a row that Zsikhotska finished in seventh place. Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance ¹ This score was awarded during Switch-Up Week.

Series 1 The IBM Series/1 is a 16-bit minicomputer, introduced in 1976, that in many respects competed with other minicomputers of the time, such as the PDP-11 from Digital Equipment Corporation and similar offerings from Data General and HP. The Seri ...

; Celebrity partner : Dayl Cronin; Average: 25.5; Place: 4th

Series 2 Series 2 could refer to: * Apple Watch Series 2, a smart watch by Apple * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2, the automobile model * Aston Martin V8 Series 2, the automobile model * BMW 2 Series, the automobile model line * GeForce 2 series, line of nV ...

; Celebrity partner :

; Average: 13.3; Place: 7th

Series 3 Series 3 may refer to: * 3 Skypephone Series, the mobile phone series * Apple Watch Series 3, smart watch * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 3, the automobile model * Aston Martin V8 Series 3, the automobile model * BMW 3 Series, the automobile model li ...

; Celebrity partner :

; Average: 18.6; Place: 7th

Personal life

Zsikhotska and professional partner, Ryan McShane were in a relationship previously.

References

1989 births Living people Ukrainian ballroom dancers People from Ivano-Frankivsk {{Ballroom-dance-stub