Our Instructors
Ieva Pauksena
Ieva Pauksena was born in Riga, Latvia and started dancing at 5 years old. Right from the beginning she fell in love with the sparkly dresses and how much fun it was to be with friends in a dance studio. She was so busy with dancing after school that it taught her from a young age how to organize her schedule. She learned to mange her dance classes as well as finishing all her school work on time and also learning the importance of team work with her dance partners. As Ieva become older, she became very serious about dancing and committed to becoming the best. She became 3 time Latvian Amateur Champion and started to teach younger dancers in her dance club. She wanted to take her dancing to the next level so she moved to the USA in 2001 to partner with Victor Fung. Together they won all amateur competitions in the USA and soon became
USA Amateur Standard Champion (2001)
Blackpool Dance Festival Amateur Standard Finalist (2001)
World Amateur Standard Finalist (2001)
In 2002 she turned Professional, partnering with Giampiero Giannicco. They began to win many major competitions in the USA and all over the world. Soon they become
USA Professional Standard Vice Champions (2002-2004)
Blackpool Dance Festival Professional Standard Finalist (2004)
World Professional Standard Finalist (2004)
In 2006 she became partners with Linas Koreiva and also maintained a great professional career/partnership and achieved great results together. But eventually they both decided to concentrate on teaching the next generation of champions. Ieva retired from competitive dancing in 2008. She was always very competitive and now shifted her goals to winning through her students.
Ieva is now a National and World Class Adjudicator and has trained many US Amateurs and Professional Champions. She is also co-creator of a big dance group called NY Dance Force. NY Dance Force has preformed at many top dance competitions and prestigious events such as Dance Legends. Ieva has also worked as a choreographer for “Dancing With The Stars“ and “So You Think You Can Dance” Canada.
Ieva was taught by world class teachers from England and Italy whom which she learned so much from. She continues to learn to better teach her students, picking up knowledge from ballet, contemporary ballet, martial arts, and yoga where she studies body mechanics, movement, and new skills. Teaching dance is her life passion and she loves to see changes and improvements in her students not only in a technical level but through learning teamwork, improving their confidence and improving their performances. Ieva says this will be a strong aspect for a successful life.
Zachary Buchanan
Zachary Buchanan was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. At the age of 10, after watching his five-year-old little sister perform in her ballet recital, he signed up for his first dance classes: jazz, tap and street funk. Zach loved dancing and never looked back. Over the years, he added lyrical, hip hop, and ballet. During this time, he also studied martial arts, eventually earning the rank of Second Degree Black Belt and as a member of the Boy Scouts of America, he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.
Zach began his ballroom journey in 2021 during the peak of the pandemic. He learned through online classes with Ieva Pauksena for several months until studios started to reopen. By the time Ieva and Zach started dancing in person, he had fallen in love with ballroom and knew this was what he wanted to pursue as a career. With Ieva as his partner in the Pro/Am category, Zach competed at many competitions across the country including the Ohio Star Ball, American Star Ball, New York Dance Festival, Philadelphia Dancesport Championships and Manhattan Dance Championships, placing 1st nearly everywhere he went.
To diversify his ballroom experience, Zach started competing in collegiate competitions with Mercedez, his new amateur partner. After only a short time dancing together, they placed 3rd Overall in the Silver category at the Big Apple Dancesport Challenge. Less than three months later at the Rutgers Dancesport Competition, Zach and Mercedez placed 1st in Waltz/Tango, 1st in Foxtrot/Quickstep, and 1st Overall in Silver.
In September 2023, Zach traveled to Orlando, Florida to compete with Ieva in the United States Dance Championships. His hard work and dedication culminated in him winning and becoming the United States Pro-Am Closed Silver National Champion.
When Zach isn’t dancing, he is pursuing a business degree at Penn State and continues to teach martial arts as the Head Instructor at On Guard Martial Arts. Moving into the future, Zach is excited to continue learning from Ieva and looks forward to many more competitions with both her and Mercedez. Under Ieva’s guidance, he eventually plans to turn Professional. Above all, he hopes to use his dance knowledge to teach others who want to experience the joys of ballroom dancing.
