Ukrainian Teen Wins Dance World Cup

16-year-old student Anastasia Zelena from Ternopil became the champion of the Dance World Cup, which took place in the Spanish city of Burgos.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to Ukrinform.

Anastasia received a gold medal for her solo performance in the contemporary category. She dedicated her victory to her mentor, Ukrainian choreographer Volodymyr Rakov, who choreographed this number for her in 2021. After the full-scale invasion, he stood up to defend Ukraine but was killed on the front lines in January this year.

“Anastasia is having a very hard time coping with the death of her mentor on the front line and dedicated her victory to him,” said Anastasia's father, Vitaliy Zeleny.

Anastasia Zelena is a 10th-grade student at the Nazariy Yaremchuk Ternopil School-Lyceum No. 6 and attends the Wonder Jazz Studio dance studio. She has been passionate about dancing since the age of seven, and before that she practiced artistic gymnastics for four years. During this time, she has won 82 medals at various competitions and championships.

Anastasia has participated in the Dance World Cup in Burgos three times. In 2021, when the championship was held online due to the pandemic, she won silver in the solo performance and five gold medals for group compositions. This year, the Ternopil native won gold for her solo performance and silver in a duet with her partner Sofia Stelmakh. 

Anastasia notes that discipline and daily work were the keys to her victory, and the friendly atmosphere among the participants of the championship provided support and inspiration.

“I dream that there will be peace in Ukraine and that children will be able to develop their talents, representing the country at the world level,” she said.

As The Gaze reported earlier, the Ukrainian national team entered the top three strongest teams in the world according to the results of the last day of competition at the XII World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China.