Elena Samodanova, whose biography began to interest viewers immediately after the Russia-1 TV channel aired the project “Dancing with the Stars,” is a professional dancer and international category judge. How did Elena’s career begin and what facts from the star’s life might be of interest to her fans?
Curriculum Vitae
Elena Samodanova was born in the Rostov region, in the city of Volgodonsk. Her father and mother were professional dancers.
The girl began ballroom dancing from an early age. Thanks to her determination and hard work, Samodanova was already considered one of the youngest professional Latin American dance performers in the world at the age of sixteen.
Samodanova performed at dance championships held in China, Australia, Japan and England. Elena was repeatedly awarded the champion title. Once, a young athlete even made it into the world's top ten performers of Latin American pair dance.
In between dance championships, Samodanova managed to get a higher education - she graduated from the Moscow State University of Culture and Arts with a degree in Choreography. A little later, Elena received a diploma from the Sydney Theater School and received international certification as a ballroom dance teacher. This allowed the choreographer to work in England, Australia, Hong Kong and Russia.
Participation in television projects
Elena Samodanova began participating in television projects in 2010. Then the choreographer was invited as a judge to the Chinese show “Mr. Hong Kong.”
In 2012, Elena appeared as a dancer on Australian shows - AACTA and “Everybody Dance Now”. And when in the same year the project “Dancing with the Stars” was launched on one of the Australian channels, she paired up with a local celebrity.
After that, Elena worked as a director and dancer on the Sydney television programs “The Voice of Australia” and SYTYCD. In 2014, Samodanova took part in the Indian “Dancing with the Stars”, and in 2015 she took pride of place on the jury of a similar Russian competition.
In Russia, the choreographer proved herself to be the strictest judge. Each time she rated the performing couple 2-3 points lower than her colleagues. Elena explained such strictness with her objectivity, because she practically does not know Russian stars, so she has the opportunity to evaluate exclusively their choreographic data.
Working with celebrities
Elena Samodanova is not familiar with the Russian elite, because she has been living abroad for the last ten years. According to the choreographer, she is invited to perform at world championships for different countries - China, Australia, etc.
Foreign television projects played a big role in the dancer’s career, which allowed her to make acquaintances with world stars of show business: Ricky Martin, Rihanna, Sheryl Crow and many others.
As a result, Samodanova worked on a concert in Hong Kong as a choreographer in 2009, collaborated with a rapper named Akon in 2012, and with Seal and American star Ricky Martin in 2013.
Personal life
Elena Samodanova and her husband Gleb Savchenko are both dancers. They met when they were eighteen: during this period, both choreographers studied in the same dance studio. Then the young people began to communicate, but a romantic relationship never happened between them - Gleb soon left for America. A few years later, Elena had a downtime in her work, and Gleb invited her to the States to dance with him in pairs. This is how their love story began.
Elena Samodanova began to interest the public immediately after the airing of “Dancing with the Stars.” And all because in this project Samodanova sat in the judge’s chair, and her husband Gleb Savchenko danced together with Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova. After the first release of the TV show, the yellow press began to invent stories about the affair between Gleb and Adeline, which were not confirmed. Journalists also asked what it was like to evaluate your own husband? But Elena reasonably answered that the organizers of the show did not ask her to evaluate Gleb: Samodanova’s main task is to evaluate the dancing star, and not her professional partner.
In her spare time, Elena enjoys Bikram yoga, surfing and horse riding. Samodanova's favorite dessert is ice cream.
Raising a daughter
Elena Samodanova, whose daughter has the foreign name Olivia, admits that she and her husband have different views on raising children. But they always find a way to agree.
Both spouses work actively, so they constantly have to schedule who their daughter will spend her time with and when. Over the course of eight years, Gleb and Elena learned to maneuver under conditions of terrible time constraints.
Olivia has been attending a dance studio since she was two years old, and it is quite possible that the girl will continue the choreographic dynasty. Despite the fact that Samodanova’s daughter is growing up abroad, Elena tries to instill in her the foundations of Russian culture and learns the Russian language with her.
This talented choreographer is also an actor. He is reported to be ranked 10th among professional Latin dance performers worldwide. The guy first started dancing at the age of seven. He made a firm decision to connect his own life with ballroom dancing 7 years later. Like all professional dancers, Gleb Savchenko fills his Instagram with photographs taken during the performance of his next number. He is often invited to television programs not only in Russia, but also abroad.
Among the new photos you can see the dancer surrounded by his family: his wife and child. He also often appears in photographs in the company of his dance colleagues. On Instagram, Gleb Savchenko publishes pictures where he had to perform with world-famous stars. The dancer is now incredibly in demand.
At one time, the choreographer studied theater art at Moscow University. He also has several film roles in his arsenal. If you look closely at Gleb Savchenko’s Instagram, you will notice that he is photogenic and knows how to take beautiful poses. In fact, everything can be explained by his modeling background. He managed to realize himself in this area before he left Russia.
Gleb Savchenko’s Instagram has a large number of foreign subscribers. The dancer managed to gain popularity in many countries around the world. He took part in a large number of Latin American dance championships and won an unconditional victory in them. While in the USA, the talented dancer also managed to work a little as a model, and even walked the catwalk for several fashion houses. The career continues successfully to this day.
The personal page of an incredibly charming and handsome man is loved by his many fans, and this is not surprising, because many photos show what a beautiful and pumped up body Gleb has. He carefully monitors his appearance: he plays sports, organizes proper nutrition. More precisely, the celebrity is pampered with tasty and healthy food by his beloved wife, joint photographs with whom often appear on Gleb Savchenko’s official Instagram. In them, the couple looks in love and incredibly happy, which greatly pleases and delights the large army of fans of Gleb’s work.
Where he performed in tandem with Olympic figure skating champion Adelina Sotnikova, and now the charming handsome man shines in the British version of the project. Foreign TV viewers are delighted with the new participant in the program!
A new season of the dance show Strictly Come Dancing has started in Britain. And all the attention of the public turned out to be focused on our compatriot Gleb Savchenko (who, however, has not lived in Russia for a long time). The brown-eyed brunette has already been dubbed the most desirable, handsome and hot man of the project. The first episode of the show had barely ended when the Internet was flooded with enthusiastic messages:
"Oh my God! Gleb Savchenko is the most handsome man I have ever seen!”, “I will watch this show just for him,” “His partner has already fallen in love with him, look!” - Internet users wrote on Twitter.
37-year-old journalist Anita Rani, who is now performing with the handsome man, really glows with happiness next to him and does not hide her joy.
Gleb is no stranger to such increased attention from women: he took part in “Dancing with the Stars” in different countries of the world and managed to acquire fans, it seems, on all continents. In Russia, many still remember his performances with Adelina Sotnikova: this couple was one of the brightest in the 9th season of the domestic version of the franchise.
It’s interesting that at that time, among the jury members was Gleb Savchenko’s wife, Elena Samodanova, who is also a professional dancer. To the deep regret of the fans, Elena and Gleb have been together for more than 9 years and are raising a 4-year-old daughter, Olivia. The couple met in Moscow, but have been working and living abroad for many years: they perform in Australia and the USA. The couple's daughter was actually born in Hong Kong!
Savchenko takes his popularity calmly and says that in life he is not at all what his fans think of him. The dancer states that he does not like parties and prefers to spend time at home with his family, whom he adores, after training and work. Not a man, but a dream, don’t you agree?
Account: glebsavchenkoofficial
Occupation: dancer
Gleb Savchenko has been on Instagram not long ago, but has already gained enormous popularity. The famous dancer gained such fame because of his photogenicity.
This beautiful and intelligent choreographer, in addition to his career in Latin American dance, also appears in many Russian films. Gleb Savchenko often adds photos from Instagram. Mostly these are photographs taken during the filming of a new issue. Gleb is often given invitations to foreign television programs. That is why his Instagram has a large number of foreign subscribers. Among the pile of new photos on his page you can see a photo with his beloved wife and child, in which they look like the happiest people, which brings joy and admiration to all Gleb’s fans. And also personal photos of Gleb surrounded by his dance hall colleagues may catch your eye. At the moment, Gleb Savchenko is a very popular dancer.
In the Instagram feed itself, Savchenko communicates with his foreign subscribers and publishes new photos. Gleb hardly comments on his photographs. In a word, Gleb Savchenko’s Instagram is the blog of an incredibly attractive man who attracts all women. He takes very good care of his physique, often goes to the gym, and eats right. To put it simply, his charming wife prepares delicious and healthy food for him.
Biography of Gleb Savchenko
Such an interesting and fascinating biography of Gleb Savchenko began in the capital of Russia. Famous dancer and actor, born September 16, 1983. From early childhood he was engaged in dancing and already at the age of 14 he realized that in the future he would become a great dancer. Therefore, after school, Gleb entered the Moscow Theater Institute, where he graduated with honors and received a diploma in choreography. Since then, Gleb Savchenko, whose biography interests many fans, began to cross the first step on the career ladder:
- After college he moved to New York, but before that he became famous in his modeling career in Russia and repeatedly starred in several Russian films.
- In 2007, he won the Latin American dance championships among experienced dancers six times.
- In America he continued his modeling career, where he can often be seen at various fashion shows of the most popular fashion companies.
- At the same time, he works as a TV presenter of the legendary Time Out program on the NTV-America channel.
- In 2015, he participated in the show “Dancing with the Stars” on a Russian TV channel, paired with Adelina Sotnikova.
- In 2016, it ranks tenth in professional Latin American dances worldwide.
He is one of the top ten professional Latin American dance performers in the world. This couple delighted television viewers throughout the entire season of Dancing with the Stars - 2015, and it is not surprising that they received the audience award.
“Around TV” has no questions about Gleb Savchenko as a professional: he is a dancer of the highest class. We decided to find out what kind of person he is off the floor, what he dreams about, how he raises his daughter and when was the last time he had the opportunity to invite his own wife to dance Elena Samodanova.
How do two professionals in one family get along (Gleb Savchenko’s wife Elena Samodanova is a choreographer and international category judge. - Ed.)?
We are both leaders, both with character. Naturally, everyone has their own opinion. But we already know each other so well that we easily overcome disagreements that happen in any family. Our secret is that we have learned to work as a team. A family is a kind of business where partners do one thing together. In addition, we have learned to separate our personal lives, family relationships, and raising a child from work and careers. That's why our union really works.
Elena Samodanova
- Who helps the other more in developing a career and personal growth in your tandem?
Probably Lena helps me more. She sets me up, advises me, generates some crazy ideas, which we then implement together. She comes up with an idea, and I take it and do it (laughs). This is a double collaboration: without my participation, her ideas would not have come to fruition, and without her ideas, I would be sitting somewhere in Bali and calmly sipping beer.
- Gleb, how are you raising your daughter? What kind of dances do you dance with her?
Oh, she loves to dance! She has a lot of energy and emotions. Since we live in different countries and constantly move between them, in each country she does something different. Here, in Moscow, she goes to gymnastics, ballet and dancing, in Australia she does swimming and surfing, and in America she also dances and gymnastics.
Elena Samodanova and Vadim Lyubushkin
- Do you want a son? Will you teach him to dance too?
Yes, I want a son. I actually want three children. I will teach dancing to a certain level. In my opinion, children need to develop what they really like, but you shouldn’t put pressure and impose your opinion in terms of choice. You never know, maybe he will like growing tomatoes? So he will be an agronomist. Why not?!
- How to fight the stereotype “dancing is not for boys”; boxing, football are another matter...
I think every dancer has inevitably encountered this. And this opinion exists not only in Russia - this situation is everywhere. This is especially true for those who specialize in ballroom dancing. Although now in Russia they are very popular. There is a ballroom dancing section in almost every school. Yes, they laugh at you at first, but then, when you come out and show your skills, they say: “Wow, that’s cool!”
Gleb Savchenko and Adelina Sotnikova
- "Wow that's cool!" TV viewers also spoke. It’s not for nothing that you and Adelina Sotnikova received the Audience Award. By the way, how was it working together with the Olympic champion?
I was sick and worried about Adeline when I watched the Olympics in Sochi. But we didn’t know her personally before the project. When I found out that I would be dancing in the show with Adeline, I was wildly happy. Everything coincided so coolly with her: the weight category, the characters, and the age. Adelina, and I am not afraid to say this, is the partner one can only dream of. I think that any professional partner in the project, having learned that it was not him who got it, was to some extent jealous of me.
- Was Adeline really superior to the other participants in everything, and did she have no vulnerabilities?
Adeline is the youngest participant in the project. She is only 18 years old, which means she has less life experience compared to others. In addition, she is only an athlete - she does not have an acting background, unlike other participants. Therefore, I was faced with difficult tasks. It was necessary to set it up for each of the numbers and explain the nature of each dance. This took quite a lot of time and was a bit of a challenge for me personally. I was nervous for Adeline, because she had never danced before. This is something new for her. Therefore, in each number I thought not only about myself and how I could dance, but also about her: I always watched Adelina out of the corner of my eye. This was my share of responsibility for her.
Gleb Savchenko, Adelina Sotnikova and Daria Zlatopolskaya
The main thing for me in a partner is desire: the desire to dance, the desire to learn, the desire to do better, the desire to stay on the project, the desire to create, understand, live. After all, if you really want something, you will definitely succeed. For example, Valeria Gai Germanika... At the beginning of the project, no one thought that she would succeed. And she reached the quarterfinals and danced in a way that half of those who remained in the finals now did not dance. She had this desire! Plus, of course, endurance is important, because in the project professionals dance with stars who, as you know, all have different characters: some are capricious, some are lazy, some are hot-tempered, some are just crazy. Patience must be ironclad.
