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There is an exceptional quality to stories of people who decide to leave their homes and build a new one in the United States. People gravitate to them because they inspire, showing how through resilience, it’s possible to overcome even the biggest of obstacles.
Timofey Shalnev’s dream brought him from Russia to the United States in 2006. “I was just out of school, I knew English, and I believed that I achieved a lot in my hometown and wanted to try and make it somewhere else,” he recalls. “But then I got this opportunity, one of the schools in the United States invited me to come here, and I got my visa.”
Timofey Shalnev earned a master’s degree in fine arts from one of the most prestigious universities back home. He was a championship ballroom dancer with his fair share of World DanceSport Federation titles from Eastern European competitions.
“My mom took me to my first dance lesson. She wanted me to start learning how to dance, and we didn’t have many options so she chose ballroom dancing,” says Timofey. “Growing up in the Soviet Union. Parents didn’t really ask kids what they wanted to do, they just kind of decided for them. I’m glad I ended up doing ballroom because it’s really fun.”
When he arrived in New York, his first few years were tough. “I realized I didn’t speak English as well as I believed,” Timofey recalls. “I got my first phone while here and didn’t have anyone in my contacts.” He was able to start teaching right away, thanks to his visa, so he took positions in two different studios. The people he met there recognized his talent and mentored him about how to successfully do the job and beyond.
“People were very welcoming and appreciative of me coming from another country,” Timofey recalls. “They used to tell me, if you cannot explain, just show us. They recognized I was a good teacher. And in time, I improved my language skills, got better at teaching, and ran lessons in the American way.”
During those first years of struggle, Timofey experienced revelations about the value of hard work, especially for people who immigrated to the United States. He knew he had to run that extra mile to get where he wanted to go, but he didn’t mind. Every step got him closer to achieving his goals.
Timofey didn’t only teach others to dance — he competed in championships, representing the United States on five separate occasions in the South American Worlds Dance Championship in Argentina. Not that he wasn’t successful as a teacher — his student won the South American Ambassador of Dance award in 2013.
Business was improving, too — in 2014, Timofey opened his own Fred Astaire Dance Studio in New York Midtown. Over time, he made that studio into one of the best-ranked dance studios in the United States, fostering a special commitment to excellence of movement, acceptance, and joy in dance.
He took those same principles and ramped them up when he opened his second studio in Chelsea. Noted as a favorite among the local LGBTQ+ community, it’s become the go-to place for same-sex couples who want to strengthen their dancing skills for their wedding dance. The multinational staff who work there are the not-so-secret ingredient to making the studio so prosperous.
When reflecting upon his journey, Timofey is able to appreciate the obstacles he faced. “Sometimes people ask me if I would repeat everything, and I would, as a 20-year-old of course,” he says. “But right now? I’m not sure because it takes a lot to start everything from scratch and in a completely new country.”
Besides, Timofey is not sure he’d want to go anywhere else. The door back home is closed — his standing in solidarity with the Ukrainian people made sure of it — and he’s found acceptance where he is. He even represented the United States at the Blackpool Dance Festival in the United Kingdom, one of the most important competitions in the world. As far as Timofey is concerned, the home he built is the only one he needs.
