By Catherine Brill, Fred Astaire Corporate Copywriter
Twelve years ago, Sasha and Olga Bylim came to the United States in search of a better life, both personally and professionally. Their move was a huge leap of faith. Although they had traveled around the world as professional dance competitors, they’d never been to America before, and their two-year-old daughter, Olesya, had to stay in the Ukraine with grandparents for a few months while they got settled. When they first arrived, they had an offer to work at an independent studio in Indianapolis. "Thank God," Olga recalls, "that didn’t work out. It went bankrupt within a year."
Twelve years ago, Sasha and Olga Bylim came to the United States in search of a better life, both personally and professionally. Their move was a huge leap of faith. Although they had traveled around the world as professional dance competitors, they’d never been to America before, and their two-year-old daughter, Olesya, had to stay in the Ukraine with grandparents for a few months while they got settled. When they first arrived, they had an offer to work at an independent studio in Indianapolis. "Thank God," Olga recalls, "that didn’t work out. It went bankrupt within a year."
With the encouragement of Marina and Taliat Tarsinov and Darius and Jolanta Mosteika, the Bylims joined the Fred Astaire New York East Side studio. Now they are owners of two Fred Astaire franchises and honored members of our National Dance Board. "We are living the American dream," Sasha says.
Sasha and Olga first met in a dance studio in their hometown in the Ukraine. They competed for 23 years with remarkable success: they were finalists in the 1990 Soviet Union 10-Dance, 3 Time Ukrainian Professional Standard Champions, 1996 Fred Astaire National Champions, 2000 U.S. National Rising Star International Standard Champions, 2000 U.S. National International Standard finalists, and finalists in many more major international championships. They also owned a dance studio in the Ukraine for 10 years.
When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, the Bylims were hopeful and excited that conditions might improve in their country. But as time went by and their hopes began to fade, they knew they had to leave their homeland. Meeting up with the Tarsinovs at a Blackpool Festival one year, they heard great stories about the Fred Astaire organization. "It sounded as if life could be so much different and better in the U.S."
They taught at the NY East Side studio for three years before opening a new studio in Tarrytown, New York, 18 miles from New York City. The Tarrytown studio has been very successful throughout the years and will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. Two months ago, Sasha and Olga branched out once again, and opened a franchise in Huntington Station, New York, along with Oleg Skrypnyk and Lena Tolochiy. This area in Long Island has great potential for additional studio locations and they plan on opening five studios there in the next 10 years.
The Bylims are very proud of the wonderful staff members in their studios – all former students of theirs from the Ukraine. "They are wonderful dancers. We know for sure because we’ve watched them grow," Sasha says. They want their staff members to have the same kind of opportunities that they’ve enjoyed, and would like to help them move forward professionally. "You can’t keep employees happy just by paying them well. Everyone needs incentives to grow in their career."
In January of this year, the Bylims became U.S. citizens, completing full-circle the journey they started twelve years ago. "As immigrants to this country," Olga explains, "it’s always been important to us to feel like we belong." We are fortunate that they found a new family with us at Fred Astaire.
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