Yulia Zhukoff - Independent Dance Instructor

Yulia was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia and began her career as a cellist at the age of six, studying at St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music. Over the last 15 years, she has performed extensively as a soloist, a chamber group member, and an orchestra member in Europe and the United States, and has received several awards and recognition as a cellist on both continents. Recently, Yulia graduated from Duquesne University’s Mary Pappert School of Music with a degree in Music Performance. She has held annual solo cello recitals since 2004, and continues her musical career by performing solo chamber recitals and teaching privately.

During her studies at Duquesne, she was introduced to Koichiro Suzuki, a graduate student and dance instructor/performer in Argentine Tango. She fell in love with the music and character of the dance, and for the past three years has studied and performed with Koichiro as his dance partner and assistant. Suzuki’s dance company, Pittsburgh Tango Connection, which he founded to bring Argentine Tango into prominence in Pittsburgh, has steadily grown to become the largest of its kind in the city, with the pair as its foundation and centerpiece for instruction, performance and dance party (milonga) accompaniment. Yulia’s musical talents, passion for tango and her ability to capture the attention of her audience, led by Kiochiro’s experienced and yet vividly improvisational hand, combine on stage to poignantly reveal the essence of Tango--a man and a woman as one, lovers for the length of each dance they perform.

Recently Koichiro and Yulia and their students traveled to Buenos Aires and studied with Nina Tatarowicz, Mariana Dragone, Miguel & Michelle Coppini. The couple has performed at various venues, including Penn State University, Duquesne University, The U.S. Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Conference, Slippery Rock University, George Mason University and others. Currently, Koichiro and Yulia are teaching at the Absolute Ballroom, Pittsburgh, PA, and organize Social Dances weekly at Wightman Community School. Yulia also enjoys DJing traditional and Nuevo Tango music and occasionally performs as a guest artist as a cellist and a dancer for with Cuidado Tango Band.