Pasha Kovalev (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

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Pavel ("Pasha") Kovalev () (born 19 January 1980 in Komsomolsk-na-Amure in Siberia) is a professional Latin and ballroom dancer. Pasha Kovalev started dancing at age eight. In 2001 he moved to the United States with his professional dance partner Anya Garnis.

Competitive career

Until 2000 Kovalev (listed under his full name Pavel Kovalev) competed together with Anya Garnis (listed as Anna Garnis) in the Amateur Latin category in Russia. After the move to the US Kovalev and Garnis turned professional and from 2002 started competing in the US, the United Kingdom and Canada. Their palmares includes being finalists in the US Open from 2002 to 2006.

So You Think You Can Dance

In 2007 Kovalev auditioned for season 3 of the US reality show So You Think You Can Dance, and has since participated in all following seasons as either a choreographer or an All Star.

Season 3

Although originally he only attended the audition to support Anya Garnis, he was asked to audition as well and together with Garnis became one of the 20 dancers chosen to compete in Series 3 from June to August 2007. Kovalev was eliminated on 13 August 2007 in the last round before the final. He and Garnis both took part in the So You Think You Can Dance Tour.

Week	Partner	Style	Music	Choreographer(s)	Results
1	Jessi Peralta	Smooth Waltz	"Come Away With Me""Norah Jones	Tony Meredith	Safe
2	Jessi Peralta	Jazz	"Stiff Jazz""dZihan & Kamien	Tyce Diorio	Bottom Three
3	Jessi Peralta	Cha Cha	"Let's Get Loud""Jennifer Lopez	Tony Meredith Melanie LaPatin	Safe
4	Sara Von Gillern	West Coast Swing	"The Rockafeller Skank""Fatboy Slim	Benji Schwimmer Heidi Groskreutz	Safe
5	Sara Von Gillern	Jazz	"Body Language""Queen	Mandy Moore	Safe
6	Lauren Gottlieb	Hip-Hop	"Fuego""Pitbull	Shane Sparks	Safe
7	Sabra Johnson	Broadway	"A Wild Wild Party" from The Wild Party	Tyce Diorio	Safe
		Quickstep	"Mr Pinstripe Suit""Big Bad Voodoo Daddy	Tony Meredith Melanie LaPatin
8	Lacey Schwimmer	Hip-Hop	"In The Morning""Junior Boys	Dave Scott	TOP SIX
		Smooth Waltz	"A Daisy In December""Mick McAuley & Winifred Horan	Hunter Johnson

Following Seasons

Season 4

During season 4 Kovalev assisted Mia Michaels on a contemporary routine, and he and his partner Anya Garnis choreographed a cha-cha routine performed by Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian.

Season 5

During season 5, Kovalev and Garnis choreographed a samba for Evan Kasprzak and Randi Evans.

Season 6

He and Garnis returned to So You Think You Can Dance in season 6 to lead the choreography rounds during the auditions, and later that season choreographed a jive for Russell Ferguson and Mollee Gray.

Season 7 & 8

Kovalev was also an "All-Star" for both the seventh and eighth seasons of the show, and both he and Garnis guest-choreographed for the third season of So You Think You Can Dance Australia around the same time.

Season 9

Kovalev returned to So You Think You Can Dance to choreograph a Cha-cha routine for contestants Janelle Issis and Dareian Kujawa on the third week of live shows of the ninth season of the show.

Burn the Floor

In August 2009 Kovalev joined the cast of Jason Gilkison's production Burn the Floor, one of the leading ballroom based shows in the world, during its stint on Broadway. Kovalev left the show in summer 2011.

Strictly Come Dancing

In September 2011, Kovalev joined the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing as the new professional dancer of its ninth series, replacing Jared Murillo who had left after only one season with the BBC programme. He reached the finals in that season, as well as the following one, finishing as the runner-up both times.

Season 9

In his first series he was partnered with Waterloo Road actress Chelsee Healey. The two made it all the way to the finals, finishing as the runners-up to Harry Judd and his partner Aliona Vilani.

Green numbers indicate Chelsee & Pasha were at the top of the leaderboard that week.

Week #	Dance/Song	Judges' score					Result
		Horwood	Goodman	Dixon	Tonioli	Total
1	Waltz/"See the Day"	7	6	7	7	27	No Elimination
2	Salsa/"Higher"	7	7	8	7	29	Safe
3	Cha-Cha-Cha/"Beggin'"	6	8	8	8	30	Safe
4	Quickstep/"Sing Sing Sing"	9	9	9	9	36	Safe
5	Tango/"Love Potion No. 9"	7	8	9	8	32	Safe
6	Charleston/"Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue"	9	9*	9	9	36	Safe
7	Foxtrot/"Doesn't Mean Anything"	9	8	10	9	36	Safe
8	Samba/"Spice Up Your Life"	8	9	9	9	35	Safe
9	Argentine Tango/"Una Musica Brutal"	8	9	9	9	35	Safe
	Swing Marathon/"Chattanooga Choo Choo"	Awarded	6	Judges	Points	41
10	Jive/"I'm a Believer"	9	10	10	10	39	Safe
11	American Smooth/"Time After Time"	8	9	10	9	36	Safe
	Pasodoble/"Malagueña"	10	10	10	10	40
12	Jive/"I'm a Believer"	9	10	10	10	39	RUNNERS UP
	Showdance/"One Night Only"	9	9	9	9	36
	Rumba/"Because of You"	9	10	10	10	39
	Quickstep/"Sing Sing Sing"	9	10	10	10	39

• In Week 6 Jennifer Grey guest judged for Goodman.

On 18 November 2011, Kovalev took part in a Strictly programme for Children in Need, partnering newsreader Emily Maitlis.

He formed a new professional partnership with fellow Strictly Pro Katya Virshilas. With their show "An evening with Katya and Pasha" they toured the UK from March 27 to May 6, 2012.

On 23 March 2012, Chelsee & Pasha took part in an underwater special of Strictly Come Dancing in aid of Sport Relief, competing against Strictly Come Dancing 2011 winners Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani. After resulting in a tie with the judges' scores, they won the show after a decision being made by Head judge Len Goodman.

Season 10

In September 2012, it was revealed that he will be dancing with Girls Aloud singer, Kimberley Walsh. The two made it all the way to the finals, finishing as the runners-up again, this time to Olympic gymnast Louis Smith and his partner Flavia Cacace.

Green numbers indicate Kimberley & Pasha were at the top of the leaderboard that week.

Week #	Dance/Song	Judges' score					Result
		Horwood	Bussell	Goodman	Tonioli	Total
1	Cha-Cha-Cha/"Domino"	7	7	7	7	28	No Elimination
2	Foxtrot/"Someone Like You"	7	6	6	7	26	Safe
3	Quickstep/"Get Happy"	7	7	7	8	29	Safe
4	Paso Doble/"Hungry Like The Wolf"	8	8	7	8	31	Safe
5	Salsa/"Naughty Girl"	8	8	8	9	33	Safe
6	Viennese Waltz/"A Thousand Years"	8	8	9	9	34	Bottom Two
7	Samba/"Livin' la Vida Loca"	8	8	9	9	34	Safe
8	Tango/"When Doves Cry"	8	9	8	9	34	Safe
9	Jive/"Land of a Thousand Dances"	9	8	8	9	34	Safe
10	Cha-Cha-Cha & Tango Fusion "It's Raining Men"	10	10	10	10	40	Safe
11	American Smooth/"Fever"	9	10	9	10	38	Safe
	Charleston/"Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines"	10	10	10	10	40
12	Viennese Waltz / "A Thousand Years"	9	10	10	10	39	RUNNERS UP
	Showdance / "Crazy In Love"	9	10	10	10	39
	Tango / "When Doves Cry""Prince	10	10	10	10	40

Other appearances

Kovalev and Garnis appeared on the sixth season of Dancing with the Stars in a results show performance, dancing to "Come On Over" by Jessica Simpson.

In early 2009 he again performed with Garnis on the international dance show Superstars of Dance, representing Russia in the duet category, but they were then replaced by another couple in the January 19th episode.

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