Jasmine Kerber, who often goes by “Jazzy,” competed as a member of the United States rhythmic gymnastics National Team from 2009-2015, during which time she represented the U.S. at the 2013, 2014, and 2015 World Championships. Jazzy graduated from Stanford University in June 2020 with a B.A. in international relations and a minor in Russian language. She received her M.A. in journalism, also from Stanford, in June 2021. Jazzy coaches at Bravo Rhythmic Gymnastics in Santa Clara, California. She is also a certified Brevet judge and represents rhythmic gymnastics on USA Gymnastics’ Programs Council. Moving forward, she hopes to combine her interests in order to help increase and improve media coverage of rhythmic gymnastics.

Connect with Jazzy: @jazinka

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Elena Sanders is a multidisciplinary circus artist specializing in contortion, hula hoops and straps. She began her circus journey when she was in her twenties, and has been touring with circus companies since 2013. In 2017, she was featured on Season 12 of America's Got Talent, where they developed a one-of-a-kind, dangerous perch act.

Connect with Elena: @elenaxsanders

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Amanda Besyedin is a Professional Latin-American Dancer. She is a Blackpool Dance Festival Vice- Champion and a finalist of numerous prestigious competitions in the USA. Amanda is the face of ‘375 Dance Studio’ which is one of the biggest YouTube Channels for Ballroom Dance tutorials and workouts. Through social media she is trying to educate all dancers any age or level about the physical and mental side of Ballroom Dance.

Connect with Amanda: @herrschiekisses

Lukas and Simona Ališauskas are professional ballroom dancers in the Open Professional Latin dance category. They were born and raised in Kaunas, Lithuania, and moved to the US in 2015. Lukas began competitive dancing at age 4 and set his sights from early on to pursue a professional dance career. Simona had done a little bit of ballroom in childhood, and eventually quit dancing, only to later find her way back to the art form. The two met at the dance studio in Lithuania and developed an immediate connection with each other. Two-and-a-half years after meeting, they began dancing together, and are now going on 9 years in their partnership.

Connect with Lukas and Simona: @lukasandsimona

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Anna Glenn is a former UCLA gymnast and graduated in 2020 with a degree in psychology. She is passionate about mental health, and during her time at UCLA, she worked on addressing mental health challenges in the student-athlete population through various organizations. Anna is excited to begin a three-year occupational therapy doctorate program at USC this fall. 

Connect with Anna: @anna.f.glenn

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Lauren McArdle is a professional ballerina and Soloist with The Sarasota Ballet in Florida. Prior to joining the Sarasota Ballet in 2018, Lauren danced professionally with The National Ballet of Canada, and spent time training in Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, Pennsylvania, and Amsterdam. 

Lauren holds a double major from California Baptist University. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Kinesiology, and a BS in Sport and Performance Psychology. She is also a certified pilates instructor and personal trainer.

Connect with Lauren: @lauren.ostrander

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Katherine “Katie” Alexander is a second year Ph.D student at Utah State University studying Human Development & Family Studies. Her research primarily centers on athlete abuse and maltreatment, with a focus on emotional abuse in the coach-athlete relationship in intercollegiate sport settings. Relying on her own experiences of abuse and maltreatment as a former competitive soccer player, she hopes to better empirically understand this darker side of sport. She has an instagram page, @thedarksideofsport, where she educates others about topics like coaching abuse, eating disorders, hazing in sports settings, and other forms of athlete maltreatment.

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Masha Cherezova is a 23 year-old professional ballerina, choreographer, and cancer survivor. In 2019, she left the United States at the age of 19 to pursue her professional career as ballet dancer in Russia. From 2019 to 2022, Masha performed in the corps de ballet with the Novosibirsk Theatre, as well as the Astrakhan Theatre. In August of 2022, Masha was unexpectedly diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) which forced her to leave her dancing position in Russia and return home to California to endure chemotherapy treatments. The escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 further solidified Masha’s decision to stay in the United States and redirect her life and career.

Connect with Masha: @mashacherezova

Watch Masha's documentary, Dancing Through Fog

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Polina Volchek, also known as Pink Puma, has inhabited the brutal environment of sport and show business industries for over 25 years. She was a competitive rhythmic gymnast for 10 years and made the Russian national team. She switched to circus arts at age 17 and specialized in hula hoops and aerial. At 25, she began competing in Pole Sport and became the 4-time World Pole Sport and Artistic Pole Champion. 

Connect with Polina: @pinkpumainc

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Dr. Carly Anderson, Ph.D, is a licensed psychologist, certified mental performance consultant, and former UCLA gymnast. Her first-hand experience as a competitive athlete, coupled with years of professional training and expertise in sport psychology, provides her with unique, valuable insight into the mental side of training, coaching, competing, and performing. In this interview, Carly shares her views on hot topics in the field of sport psychology, including effective coaching methodology, how to cope with performance anxiety, and the transition out of sport. 

This interview is available as a blog post on our website

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