Alex Novikov – Owner/Dance Director

Alexander Novikov was born and raised in Russia.  In 1991, at the age of 10, he began dancing ballroom with a classmate and, a love affair with dance was born.  He opened his first ballroom dance studio for children in 1995, which proved a very successful venture; therefore, he organized his first ballroom dance competition.  Many of his young dancers became Syberian regional champions.

In 2004 Alex was the recipient of a very prestigious scholarship which allowed him to come study in the United States and he became an MBA graduate student at Cal Poly Pomona.  His dance background allowed him an opportunity to teach social ballroom dance classes which he gladly accepted.

After completing his studies, Alex went back to Russia and married the love of his life, long time colleague, and dance partner Alla Gracheva.  Together they came back to the United States and were invited to teach at Arthur Murray in Upland, California.

In 2007 the newlyweds welcomed the first addition to their family, their baby boy Daniel.  One year later they decided to continue competing together professionally in International Standard winning several titles in Proffesional Rising Star events.

Alex continues to teach and compete Pro/Am with his students, as well as compete professionally with his wife, and  has won many Top Teacher and Top Studio awards at various competitions across the US including California Star Ball, Emerald Ball, Desert Classic Dance Festival, Embassy Dancesport, City Lights Ball, California Open, San Francisco Open, Hollywood Dancesport, and Golden State Challenge.  In 2011 he was recognized as the #1 Top Male Teacher in California and the #8 Top teacher in the world.

Alex is thrilled to be opening Edelweiss Premier Ballroom at it’s new location in San Dimas, California to continue training some of the top amateur women, men and couples in the US.  Most of his students continue to rank 1st in Bronze, Silver and Open levels at some of the biggest competitions across America.