Sofiya Ulybina (10) twirls across the dance floor at the California Open Latin Ballroom Dancing competition in the Orange County Hilton Hotel,  Feb. 18. Her partner guides her movements and makes sure she doesn’t bump into any of the other couples on the floor as she dances to the fast-paced music.  

Ulybina does Latin ballroom dancing, a much more fast-paced style of dancing than traditional ballroom dance. She competed in three rounds of dancing at the California Open competition. In each round, dancers perform five Latin ballroom dancing styles in a row without breaks. Cha-cha is the first style in the sequence, and is one of the fastest dances, while the second dance, the samba, is a little slower. Rumba is the third dance and is the slowest and most romantic. 

“My favorite dance is rumba because it feels like a break between all of the really fast dances and I get a second to breathe,” Ulybina said. 

The last two dances are Pasodoble and Jive. Pasodoble is an angry dance, with fast music and a lot of stomping of the heels. Jive is the fastest, with a lot of fast turns, acting as the big hurrah to finish the sequence. 

“I really enjoy paso because the technique is very different from the other dances, which are all about [intimate] connections between the partners, but paso is a very angry dance,” Ulybina said. “For me, the most challenging one is jive because sometimes I can lose my balance in the spins and a few times I have fallen on the floor when competing.” 

On the dance floor, there are 20 different couples: ten on each side for different categories and age groups. Ulybina signed up for three rounds of dancing at this competition, with each round containing five dances. She dances in the 14-16-year-old age group, and danced one round in the open silver level, and two in the open gold, winning all of the rounds. Half of the dance floor consists of the 12-and-under dancers and the other half, where Ulybina was, are the higher-level competitors. Only girls 12 and older are allowed to wear makeup, spray tans, and flashy dresses. Those under 12 wear single-colored dresses and one-inch heels. Ulybina said that when she turned 12, she was excited to upgrade to more elaborate dresses and two-inch heels. She now gets a new dress every season. 

“I was really excited because everyone knows that at that age, you get to start wearing makeup and it’s really fun,” Ulybina said. “You start tanning, you start doing your hair, you start having the dresses. I was really scared to be on taller heels because it’s harder to balance and dance when you’re higher up but, with practice, it came easily. I love seeing little kids at the competitions who are in their small girl dresses because it’s so nostalgic.” 

Ulybina started at her studio at the age of 7, when she moved from Dnipro, Ukraine, to San Diego with her family. She had had some background in dance, as she had done youth cheer at her school in Ukraine. She signed up for Step 2 Dance studio a few months after arriving in San Diego. 

In part, her family was drawn to the studio because the Ukrainian owner provided some familiarity to adjust to this new environment. 

Now she has practice two to three times a week, with competitions occurring from February to October. At the age of 9, she competed for the first time and fell immediately in love with the sport. 

“I really like the environment,” she said. “There’s a lot of adrenaline going through when you’re there because the music is really loud and there are people dancing. When you’re taking your break in between your rounds, you can watch people. The atmosphere there is really cool.” 

Over the countless hours she’s spent at Step 2 Dance over the years, Ulybina has built a strong community through the studio. She knows almost everyone there and is very close with her fellow dancers and coaches. When she gets older, Ulybina hopes to give back to the studio by coaching classes for younger age groups there. Ballroom dancing has become Ulybina’s social and emotional outlet. 

“I think it’s a great way to express your feelings because every dance has a different visual emotion,” Ulybina said.  “And switching between those emotions is really cool. I really enjoy watching it and also sharing my dances with everyone.”