Childhood and adolescence
Alexey Kuzmin (Flying is his stage name) was born and raised in Tula in a very ordinary family. From an early age he was distinguished by flexibility and mobility, as well as innate plasticity and an excellent sense of rhythm. But Lesha did not come to dancing right away; at first he studied wrestling, parkour, artistic gymnastics and even circus arts. At the age of fourteen, I became interested in breakdancing and enrolled in a hip-hop school (there was simply no other one in the city).
Soon, dancing became the main thing in his life for the teenager. Lesha spent all his free time in dance class, and also searched the Internet for video lessons from professional dancers and learned their movements on his own. Even then he understood that he wanted to get on the professional stage, and step by step he began to move towards his intended goal.
Alexey Letuchy before participating in the show
Lyosha's real name is Kuzmin. The young man was born in Tula in April 1997. From childhood, he stood out for his flexibility and mobility. I was involved in various sports, but not finding myself anywhere, I became interested in dancing.
The guy started studying hip-hop because at that time there were no other dance schools in the city. Lyosha quickly learned what the teachers showed him, not forgetting to improve, honing his movements at home and learning new combinations using the Internet.
Since Alexey Letuchy not only loves dancing, but lives it, many thought that he would turn his hobby into a profession, but the guy surprised everyone. Lyosha entered Tula College in the directing department.
Dancer career
After graduating from school, the young man entered the directing department of the Tula College of Culture and Arts. At the same time, he decided to try his hand at television dance projects and went to Kyiv to audition for the sixth season of the show “Everybody Dance.”
Since Lesha had not yet turned eighteen, he was accompanied by his grandmother, who knew little about modern dance styles, but did her best to support her grandson in his ambitious aspirations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NcD2Sez0-g
In general, his performance made a pleasant impression on the jury, which included choreographer Tatyana Denisova, but the young man did not make it past the first qualifying round. Failure only provoked Alexei, and he began to storm new horizons with even greater zeal.
In 2020, Letuchy moved to Moscow, where he took part in the show “Big Dances” on the Russia channel and the television project “Dance” on Channel One. And although he again did not achieve high results, this experience became a powerful foundation for his future career. The guy learned to feel free on stage, took part in master classes from leading choreographers, and met talented dancers from all over the post-Soviet space.
At the same time, he worked as a backup dancer for Glukoza and Lena Temnikova, as well as artists of the Black Star label, and starred in video clips. As part of the Zapashny brothers' show, he took part in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. He became a prize-winner of prestigious dance tournaments several times.
No longer in “Dancing”: how the winners of their favorite TNT project live and what they do
Ilshat Shabaev (Season 1)
Ilshat forever inscribed his name in the history of the project, becoming the first winner of the show and receiving the title of the best dancer in the country. After filming ended, he continued to work as a choreographer, recorded several tracks as a singer, and opened his own dance studio, 7U8.
In 2020, Ilshat married his beloved Alfiya Murzakhanova. Now the couple are raising their son Timur, who was born in March of this year.
Max Nesterovich (Season 2)
Max came to the project already being an experienced dancer. Together with his brother Vlad and colleague Katya Reshetnikova, he founded the Loony band. Ekaterina, by the way, combined work in a team with the position of choreographer of “DANCES,” which is why Nesterovich was often accused of getting a place in the project through cronyism. However, during his participation in the show, Maxim proved his versatility and professionalism. The audience awarded him the victory.
At the final concert, Nesterovich proposed to Katya Reshetnikova, and after filming of the show was completed, the lovers got married. However, the marriage did not last long: after a couple of years, the dancers separated. They do not talk about the reasons for the breakup.
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Dmitry Shchebet (Season 3)
Dmitry Shchebet made his way in “DANCING” under the mentorship of Miguel. He almost immediately became one of the main favorites of the show, so his victory did not come as a surprise to the audience and other participants.
After the project, Twitter continued to dance in the group Apache CREW, where he worked before being cast for the show. He also regularly gave master classes at the PRODANCES studio.
After the end of filming the program, changes came in Dmitry’s personal life: he began dating a participant in the first season of “DANCE” Juliana Buholz. Now the lovers are expecting the birth of their first child.
Vitaly Ulivanov (4th season)
Vitaly Ulivanov got into the project only on his second try. During the castings of the first season, he reached the stage when the mentors recruited participants for their teams. Then the final decision was up to Miguel, and he preferred Alexey Korolev. However, Vitaly did not despair. A year later, he tried his hand again, but, unfortunately, he never passed the test of choreography. In the fourth season, he returned solely for the victory. It is not surprising that perseverance coupled with talent helped him achieve what he wanted.
While still on the project, Vitaly began an affair with his partner in “DANCE” Sasha Goroshko. After the project, the lovers began to live together. They are still happy in their relationship.
Alexey Letuchy (Season 5)
Alexey Letuchy received the title of winner of the fifth season of the project only at the end of last year, but already in the few months that he was not in “DANCE”, the guy’s life has changed quite seriously. Letuchy took part in the filming of several more programs on TNT and appeared on Belarusian television.
“The main thing that the show “DANCES” gave me was a lot of stage experience,” says Letuchy. “I’m unlikely to ever have the chance to prepare a new program every week and perform in different dance styles,” Alexey noted in an interview after victories.
Anton Panufnik (“Battle of the Seasons”)
Anton Panufnik was one of the brightest participants in the first season of the project, but he failed to win then. And he decided to return to “DANCING” and take his own. In a serious competition with the winner of the second season, Max Nesterovich, at the “Battle of the Seasons,” Anton managed to snatch victory.
After filming was completed, Panufnik continued to do what he liked. Now he appears in videos, performs as a backup dancer for popular artists and gives master classes.
Photo: Instagram
Text Cosmo.ru
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Show "Dancing on TNT"
Despite obvious professional growth, perseverance and determination, television shows until a certain point remained an unapproachable peak for Lesha. In 2020, he became a participant in the fourth season of “Dancing on TNT” and clearly announced himself in the casting and initial qualifying rounds. But during the project, the young man sharply “slowed down” and was even called by Miguel “the main disappointment of the season.”
A year later, Alexey again appeared at the casting for the next season of “Dancing on TNT”, successfully passed the initial qualifying round and ended up in Tatyana Denisova’s team. This time it immediately became clear that Letuchy had done a lot of work over the year and was most serious about winning. With each performance, Alexey revealed himself more and more as a well-prepared, versatile dancer who is capable of a wide variety of dance genres.
Spectators and jury members highly appreciated his street dance number with Mark Kuklin, a romantic duet with Sasha Smirnova, a retro dance in tandem with Igor Kotov, and, of course, an enchanting performance with choreographer Garik Rudnik to the popular track “Gimme The Loot” " by Big Baby Type. Well, the dance “Forget-Me-Nots” performed by Letuchy, Lera Babayan and Alexander Pertsev became one of the most original numbers of the season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrzwqMBBLHe
It is worth noting that Alexey had very strong competitors, many of whom, like himself, had already taken part in previous seasons. Mark Kuklin and Ulyana Pylaeva, already familiar to TV viewers, fought for the right to be called the best dancers in the country, as well as the very technical and charming dancer from Kazakhstan Sasha Lee and the talented, spectacular Israeli Yuvi. But this time fate took pity on the stubborn, persistent Alyoshenka, and according to the results of the audience vote, Letuchy became the winner and owner of the coveted prize of three million rubles.
"Dancing. Battle of the Seasons: Anton Panufnik
One of the sex symbols of the project did not reach the podium at the start of the show, but returned for 3 million rubles and the status of “the best dancer in the country” in the unusual season of the show “Dancing”. What gave Anton this title? Quite a lot: the opportunity to move to Moscow, recognition and popularity, demand for concerts and master classes, with which Panufnik still travels around the country.
And also an opportunity to earn money. It doesn’t matter that the episodes with the artist’s participation ended 3 and 5 years ago - Anton’s face still flashes on TV. An attractive young man is willingly invited to appear in advertising - and now Panufnik is already smiling in videos about perfume and a mobile phone.
Anton Panufnik
Alexey Karpenko: biography
Choreographer Alexey Karpenko was born on January 15, 1982 in Belgorod. He decided on his profession as a child. Alexey’s parents are choreographers; they still teach modern and folk dance at the Belgorod Institute of Culture and Arts.
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Choreographer Alexey Karpenko
From the age of 4, Alexey was dancing in an amateur group led by his parents. And at the age of 13, his mother found a choreographic school for him in Voronezh. In one of his interviews, Alexey Karpenko said that this city has always been famous for its school of folk choreography, and it was located nearby. As a teenager, he, like his peers, was drawn to discos and wanted to spend time with girls. But my mother said that the parties would not go away, and that I needed to get a profession.
Alexey Karpenko as a child with his parents
One trip to the school was enough for Alexey to understand that he had made the right choice. In Voronezh, teachers drilled him like a soldier on the parade ground. Unfortunately, the training covered only folk dance. Subsequently, the experience gained helped him master modern trends. In 2000, Alexey graduated from college and moved to Moscow. He got a job at the ballet of the famous Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.
Alexey Karpenko
And today the choreographer fondly recalls the open and warm atmosphere that reigned in the team. He left the circus when he realized that he needed to develop further. First he worked in Anita Tsoi’s show “Asteroid Dances”, then in the musical “Metro”. In 2002, Alexey Karpenko came to the casting of the musical “Notre Dame de Paris” - he was approved.
His further creative biography included collaboration with the Russian ballet “Renaissance”, preparation of the opening ceremony of the games in Astana and the 2013 World Universiade, the large-scale dance show “Maidans” and choreographic productions of the musicals “Cabaret”, “I am Edmond Dantes” and “Once Upon a Time in Odessa."
Dancing
While still at school, Alexey reached such a level of skill that he began to travel to Moscow, where he worked as a backup dancer for such stars as Elena Temnikova, Slava, Glyukoza, and artists of the Black Star label. For some time, Alexey worked in the Zapashny brothers circus; with this group the dancer participated in the opening and closing of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
Alexey Letuchy in the show “Dancing on TNT”
In parallel with this, Letuchy began to storm television dance projects. In the spring of 2013, the young man participated in the TV show “Big Dances” on the Russia 1 channel. In the same year, he participated in the casting of the Ukrainian project “Everybody Dance - 6”, but did not make it into the main cast. Luck smiled on the guy in his homeland, Russia: 17-year-old Lesha became a participant in the TV show “Dance” on Channel One.
I found out about the casting 2 days before the start and quickly came up with a performance that was appreciated by two jury members - Alla Dukhova and Radu Poklitaru. Star dancers gave a chance to participate in the project. The “Dance” show became a good school for Alexey, who, although he did not reach the finals, met other participants - already seasoned choreographers, and learned many modern trends in dancing.
Alexey Letuchy and Igor Kotov dance to the song “Something About Yout”
In 2020, Alexey took second place at the “Best Solo” Volga Champ 2017 VII and became the winner of the dance tournament “Best Dance Solo” Profi Fame Your Choreo 2020. After that, in August, he became a participant in the 4th season of “Dancing on TNT”. The guy passed the qualifying rounds from dozens of candidates, but none of the mentors included him in the final team composition of 20 participants.
However, this not only upset, but also provoked the guy. He came to project number five already thoroughly prepared. Lesha’s performance at the casting won over almost all the mentors, and this time there were three of them for the first time. Alexey became a member of Tatyana Denisova’s team.
Alexey Letuchy and Mark Kuklin dance to the song “Wet Crosses”
The show on the TNT channel started in August 2020. And from the very first releases, the dance numbers of Letuchy - Lesha took this pseudonym for himself in the previous season - began to tear up the hall. The dancer's duet performances were among the highest rated.
In the 16th episode, Alexey Letuchy and Mark Kuklin (also from Denisova’s team) presented to the audience a lyrical number based on Tima Belorusskikh’s song “Wet Crosses”. The duo performed in a fashionable street dance style. The guys demonstrated incredible plasticity and perfect body control.
Alexey Letuchy and Garik Rudnik dance to the song “Gimme The Loot”
Lesha presented another enchanting number in collaboration with Garik Rudnik. This time the guys moved to the beat of “Gimme The Loot” by Big Baby Type. The performance, created with a good dose of humor, did not leave any spectator indifferent.
Alexey presented a bright, stylized performance in retro style to the composition “Something About You” by Hayden James in a duet with Igor Kotov. It received not only a standing ovation, but also impressive scores from the jury.
Alexey Letuchy and Sasha Smirnova dance to the song “How are you there?”
The only duet with a girl for the entire project was a gentle romantic dance with Sasha Smirnova from Miguel’s team on the song “How are you there?”, in which both dancers showed 100% talent.
Closer to the finale, there are fewer participants, passions heat up, and the performances become brighter and more perfect. In the 20th episode, mentor Tatyana Denisova choreographed the dance “Forget-Me-Not” to the composition of the same name by Tima Belorusskikh for three dancers of her team - Lesha, Lera Babayan and Sasha Pertsev. The number became one of the most original in the history of the project.
Alexey Letuchy, Lera Babayan and Sasha Pertsev dance to the song “Forget-Me-Not”
During the time he spent on the show, Lesha repeatedly made it to the top of the participants and more than once became the leader of the audience vote. As a result, the jury members gave the guy a ticket to the finals and allowed him to participate in the audience voting, which determined the winner.
“I had an intense stage experience! This is the most important thing that such a project can provide. The dancing itself is not so important as the time spent on stage,” Letuchy said in a pre-final interview.
“Dancing”, season 5: Alexey Letuchy
If only Miguel knew that the boy Lesha, whom he called his main disappointment at the selections for the fourth season, would return a year later and snatch victory from his competitors! True, not under his mentorship, but under the leadership of Tatyana Denisova.
“The “DANCE” project gave me great popularity on Instagram and made me a little richer, in our time this is very important. I spent all the money on a Dior bag from the latest collection,” the young artist laughed on the eve of the sixth season of the “Dancing” show. We are sure that he is joking, and the money went towards the promised professional development: Letuchy disappears into dance camps, performing both as a guest and as a teacher.
Alexey Letuchy
Personal life
Alexey is divorced and has a son, Nikita. Despite the fact that Karpenko broke up with his first wife a long time ago, he devotes his free time to the boy. The choreographer often takes teenagers on trips around the world. The artist posts the photo on his personal page on Instagram. The director says that he does not like to sit in one place for a long time. He goes to Europe for aesthetics, to Israel to satisfy his creative hunger, and to Asia to disconnect from the outside world.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Alexey Karpenko (@alkarpen) on Sep 12, 2014 at 2:03am PDT
Alexey Karpenko and his wife Natalya Terekhova
Karpenko also has a beloved woman - his colleague, choreographer Natalya Terekhova. By the way, it was she who helped him choreograph the passionate dance with Alisa Dotsenko - this is not the first joint work of the loving-creative tandem. They worked together on the choreography of the musicals “Cabaret” and “I Am Edmond Dantes”: there, sympathy grew into a deep adult feeling.
In March 2020, at one of the episodes of the dance show, Karpenko’s friend and colleague Miguel announced a change in Alexey’s marital status, as well as a desired event in his personal life - the birth of his daughter. The girl was given to the choreographer by his wife Natalya. As soon as the opportunity arose, Alexey went traveling with his daughter and wife. In 2020, the creative family visited Africa, on the island of Zanzibar.
Biography
Alexey Karpenko is a Russian dancer, choreographer, who gained fame as the director of the TV show “Dancing”. Initially he won the attention of the public in Ukraine while working on the “Maidans” project. Since 2014, Alexey has been collaborating with the TNT channel as a choreographer for Miguel’s team in the “Dancing” show. He helps the wards to reveal themselves as brightly as possible at the competition, and also appears on the stage of the program as a partner of the contestants.
