Meet Anita Goshchin | Ballroom Dance Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anita Goshchin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anita, what principle do you value most?

Honesty. I believe that we get what we give away, so success cannot be built on lies or hiding some facts.

On the contrary, people who are not afraid to speak up their truth always make a strong presence and self-presentation. Honesty goes hand in hand with personal strength of spirit, and this is something I am aspiring to.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I am a ballroom dance coach driven by the mission of developing ballroom dancing in the USA. Not that there are no ballroom dancers in the States. Quite contrary, there are amazing professionals and amazing amateur dancers, but I want to see even more of them. I grew up in Moscow, and almost every person I have met there had either done ballroom dancing in the past, or was doing at the moment, or was going to. This is what I want to start happening where I am right now: more kids and teenagers dancing, more competitors in each division, the audience going crazy cheering for their favorite couples, and people knowing what ballroom dancing is not only from ‘Dancing With Stars’.

I cannot say that I have always expected dancing to be my career. Ballroom dancing has been my hobby since the age of 14. I would compete, take coachings and overall spend quite a lot of time on a dance floor, but I always thought that I will remain to be an amateur dancer.

In 2015 I met my future husband Alexander, we were attending the same dance group classes. We started dating, then started dancing together as an amateur couple, and got married in 2017. 3 years ago we relocated to Houston, TX. Unlike my husband/dance partner, I didn’t have many plans for my career at that point. I had worked in Pharma industry for a few years already (my main degree is in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences), and I liked it but didn’t love it. So coming to the USA I was open to all opportunities. And sure enough, such an opportunity has found me. I started working at a franchised dance studio as a dance instructor, and just after few weeks, I had a feeling that this might be a well-fitting career for me.

I have spent 2 years at a franchised studio, was promoted to a dance director, yet felt that this was not the end of my career development. Franchised studios create a quite closed environment within their system. They have their own events, their own competitions, so pretty much you are spending most of your time around the same people. The environment that has brought me up as a dancer is the opposite one. All studios in Russia are independent studios, all competitions are independent events that are open to everybody. In a way, this is a less ‘safe’ environment – you never know who can arrive at the competition, and there are always people you don’t know – but that also makes it more exciting for the type of person I am. This Independent ballroom world is present in the USA as well, developing nicely, and I felt that I wanted to contribute to its development.

The decision to leave a studio was a tough one because of my students. I felt in a way that I was betraying them. But that’s the thing, important decisions are not always the easy ones to make. It took me about a year to make up my mind. During this time I did all I could to make sure that my students will be taken care of by the buddy teacher (each student has at least 2 instructors in franchised studios), and in March of 2021, I have had my last day at a studio.

Everything that has happened since then is pure magic. I knew exactly what I wanted to bring to this world by means of my newly established small business. People started reaching out to me with requests for try-out lessons, and every person who had it decided to continue their dance journey. Right now I am almost set in terms of building a clientele body that brings me consistent income, and with some of the students, we are already preparing for the first competition.

Money is a shadow of success. When a business has its clients’ best experience in mind, there is no way to be unsuccessful. That was I think is the most important lesson I have learned. Do what you believe in, be open to new ideas, listen to what the Universe is telling you, and always, always trust yourself. Your heart knows better.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I am afraid my friend would have to book a little bit more than one week! My friends and I are big coffee lovers, so my favorite coffee spots would be the first ones on the list.

We would check out the Kaffeine to enjoy beautiful art, Siphon to listen to live music, any of the Slowpokes locations to just enjoy cool vibes, Buzz and Bites for their special coffee with honey, EQ Heights to chill on their porch, Day 6 coffee co. to enjoy the Downtown vibes, Tea and Victory to play some board games, and BlendIn Coffee Club. And all of that with a cup of amazing coffee, as each of these places serves very good beverages.

We would check out art galleries, starting with MFAH, Menil Collection, Rothko Chapel, and then switching to the smaller galleries which I have on my ‘to visit’ list: Station Museum of Contemporary art, Anya Tish Gallery, Moody Gallery Inc.

The Museum of Natural Science is a lot of fun, so we would definitely go there. And of course, if we are visiting this museum then we have to visit the Butterfly Center too. I get so excited every time when a butterfly decides to land on me!

When it comes to bars, some of my favorite options are Pimlico, Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar, Surfing Cowboys, By popular demand. Though I feel that there are much more amazing options in Houston, so we are always checking out the new places, and my list of favorites is constantly changing.

Houston breweries are fun places to visit, and my top choices would be quite predictable: Saint Arnold and Karbach.

When it comes to food, I feel that Houston options are limitless, and here I would just go with the flow. The only place that I would have on a list would be the Hobbit Cafe, a cafe inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s book. This cafe is older than me, and I can see why it is so successful. You just enter another world when arriving there.

As you can see, there is already a big list of places to visit, and I haven’t even mentioned all of them… There are walking streets and shops of Rice Village, Montrose, and Houston Heights, there is cat cafe El Gato (visiting which supports Friends for Life, the no-kill shelter which does such a great job), there are bookstores like Brazos Bookstore and Murder by the Book, dance studios with modern styles group classes like Soundbox studio and Soreal Studio, farmer’s markets and so so so much more!

Houston is an amazing city with a vibrant and diverse feel to it, so it’s all about exploring the new layers of this town.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

My dance coaches, close friends, husband, and my big family. Never ever I could imagine myself being a professional dancer and a coach, yet my friends and coaches were not surprised at all when I have decided to switch from a pharmaceutical path to a professional dance career. Apparently, they believed in me more than I believed in myself! I have always felt very loved and supported by these people.

My dance coaches (Svetlana Ivanyushenkova, George Osadchyi, Elizaveta Shaposhnikova, Sergei and Valentina Parakhin, Vadim Volkov, Olga Richardson (Rodionova), Anastasiya Muravyova, and Victor Fung) have provided me with excellent instructions, being very patient and open to my questions. They have also been very supportive to our dance couple, and I feel that whatever questions I have, I can count on them.

My closest friends (Veronika, Darya, Tamara, Natasha, Ester, and Eugene) have been cheering for me from the moment I have decided to move to the USA and try out a new path. They are the ones who are ready to get on the phone in the middle of the night when their friend has a meltdown, and this is a level of support I couldn’t even imagine I would ever have.

My husband Alexander is the one who has the title of my best friend because he really is. I am forever grateful for all love, all assistance, all patience, and trust that he shows. He is the one who helps me with advice when I feel stuck. He has never doubted my ideas, and this is something that means a lot to me.

And, of course, my family. I am the first dancer in our family, so not always my family members can help me directly, but there are so many more ways to contribute to the new business. My nieces Aleesha, Amna, and Hira have helped me with my first photo sessions and graphic designs. My dad Hamid Naseem and mom Lyudmila Demidova share their ideas in terms of business development, and that helps for sure. And something that has been the most important thing in my career: my sister Tamara was the one who helped me with my dance lessons and competitions participation when I was just starting my dancing 12 years ago. I have no idea where I would have been now without her help, patience, and wish for my success.

Instagram: @danceinhouston

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-goshchin-927521210/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/houstonballroomclass

Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/N158TAr4tmSS4TatD-pFBw

Image Credits
Photo #1 – Dmitry Pletnev Photo #2 – Vadim Volkov Photo #3 and 4 – Leigh Franklin Photo 5-8 – Stephen Marino