Oksana Kalinuka, who is originally from Riga, Latvia, is no stranger to music and dance.  Growing up in the Soviet Union, like most Russian kids, was exposed to music and dance at a very young age.

She began taking ballroom dance lessons at the age of 8, and fell in love with it.  In addition to ballroom dancing, she also took over four years of figure skating lessons.

Oksana graduated from Moscow University with a degree in economics in 2000.  At the age of 22, she won the citizenship lottery to come to the United States.  Leaving behind her family and friends, and not knowing a word of English, she moved to Orange County.  In a very short period of time, she learned English, made friends and made family – a beautiful daughter named Katya.  Oksana has since obtained her U.S. citizenship.

After Katya was born, Oksana continued dancing socially and enjoyed raising her daughter, but never forgot the dream of dancing.  She eventually started working at a dance studio as a teacher, where she also gained amazing training, experience and started competing in pro/am ballroom dance competitions.

Introducing her own daughter to ballroom dancing, Oksana realized she has a gift and a passion for teaching children.  In addition to teaching adults, for the past three years Oksana has devoted majority of her time to teaching children ages 4 and up how to ballroom dance. You can find her teaching at the Avant Garde Studio, Russian Children’s School of Orange County and Children's Center at University of California, Irvine, Chapman University.