On April 18–19, something exceptional will take place at Kalev Sports Hall in Tallinn. At the opening of the Estonian DanceSport Open 2026 gala evening, Evelin Ainomäe will take the stage with five-time world champion ballroom dancer Marius Andrei Balan from Germany as her partner. For Evelin, this is not just another performance, but part of a much bigger personal dream and a new path she has been quietly working toward for some time. At the same time, she will introduce the Estonian audience to the PRO-AM category, a format that is extremely popular around the world but has not yet been seen in Estonian competitions.
Ballroom dance, or dancesport, captivated Evelin from a very young age. For her, it was never simply social dancing or a casual hobby, but something far greater.
“I remember myself as a little girl watching ballroom dance competitions. They completely glued me to the television. I was mesmerized. For me, there was so much emotion and feeling there, and at the same time such physical endurance. Beauty and athletic ability together.”
In addition to the dancers and the movement, she was also captivated by the music. Pasodoble in particular left a deep impression on her.
“The character of pasodoble is so incredible and emotional. For me, it is like an expression of life itself, where there are challenges and struggles that require courage and belief in yourself, but with commitment comes success. When I watched pasodoble, I was always spellbound because I did not understand a single step. I could not comprehend how it was even possible to dance it.”
Evelin also recalls how the rhythms of samba always pulled her in, yet at the time she did not have the opportunity to truly pursue the sport. She studied piano at Tallinn Music High School and later at Tallinn English College, and ballroom dance remained something she admired from afar.
“We usually believe that to dance at that level, you have to start young. Social dancing or ballroom dance courses never appealed to me. In some ways, my wishes are unrealistic, it is all or nothing. If I dance, then I want to do it at the highest possible level for myself.”
One unexpected promise changed everything
The turning point came completely unexpectedly. Evelin was in the middle of one of her own BABOR events, where she had invited competitive dancers from Golden Dance, trained by Martin Parmas, to perform. Television was also there, and during the interview, the conversation turned to one question: what does Evelin herself dream of?
“The theme of the evening was encouraging people to dream and to bring their dreams to life. Suddenly, the host asked me what my personal dream is.
And my immediate, completely unfiltered answer was this: I dream of dancing pasodoble.”
From that moment on, everything moved quickly. The host held out a hand and took a promise from her that one year later, at the same event, she would dance pasodoble in front of the cameras.
“I could not refuse. My promises are always meant to be kept. When I promise something, not doing it is simply not an option. I cannot break it. And that is how I found myself in this world, without even knowing how I would actually make it happen.”
The first performance and the feeling that there was no turning back
Evelin had only 11 training sessions to prepare under Martin Parmas’s guidance for the pasodoble performance.
At first, it felt completely impossible to her.
“It felt like mission impossible. Of course I can do it much better now, but considering that I started from zero, had such a short time to prepare, and was also dancing in front of cameras, which naturally creates stage nerves, I am happy with how it turned out.”
Her partner was Frederik Roostfeldt. Although they only had the chance to dance together a few times, the performance went well.
At one point, Evelin even forgot one of the elements, but Frederik’s professionalism saved the situation.
“Fortunately, he brought me back into the right rhythm. If I had gone into the bridge too early, our dance would no longer have matched the music and the final accent would have come at the wrong moment. Luckily, I did not realize my own mistake at the time, otherwise I probably would have collapsed from fear halfway through the dance.”
After that, it was clear that dance would never leave her life again.
“After that performance, I felt that I could no longer live without dance. Dance affects me like therapy or medicine. When I dance,
it is as if I am somewhere in another world, inside my dream, and after dancing I continue to feel so good for quite some time that very good thoughts come to me and I feel an enormous drive to act and create.”
According to her, every person should find something that raises their energy and fills them with optimism.
“If you find something that truly nourishes you, it becomes much
easier to handle challenges.”
A new chapter began in the autumn: cha-cha-cha
After pasodoble, Evelin’s desire to dance only grew stronger. In the autumn, she began training cha-cha-cha under Martin Parmas.
“It is actually so funny, because when I went to training, I thought I more or less knew how to do all the dances besides pasodoble. The basic steps of the other dances seem familiar, after all. At some point in life, you feel like you have danced samba somewhere. But I was truly surprised when I realized in the very first training session that once again, I knew absolutely nothing. I could not even do a proper hip action.”
Everything she had thought she knew turned out to be wrong. Martin Parmas told her that the body has to move like a Rubik’s Cube, with the upper body and lower body moving in completely different ways.
“It may be that the hips and legs are doing a very energetic movement, while the shoulders and arms remain completely calm and almost still. Instead of just trying to move my hips, I had to learn how to rotate the sides of my torso forward. In the first training sessions, I could not even hear the music. Just from practicing how to stand correctly, with my feet turned outward, almost like in ballet, and learning to rotate the sides forward, my hair was soaking wet by the end of training, as if I had just come out of the shower.”
For Evelin, ballroom dance is a masterclass in body control.
“Your brain is working at full power. When you start from zero and have not even been to any other dance classes, you truly do not understand how to step, turn, or even stand correctly. At first, it felt like mission impossible all over again. But I did not let it intimidate me. I know it is not impossible. I simply have a long road ahead of me. I feel that I have to be able to make my body obey me and my soul. One day, it will all come out beautifully. So with small breaks in between, I have been training since autumn.”
A new role, a new challenge
The fact that Evelin is now stepping deeper and deeper into this world means many things to her at once.
“It means a great and slightly frightening challenge to me. At the same time, it is the fulfillment of my dream. I dream of dancing ballroom dance as well as it is within my power to do. And through what I do, I also want to give others the message that dreams are meant to be fulfilled and that nothing is impossible.”
She believes that age should never be the thing that holds people back.
“Life is a constant process of growth. We must not let ourselves be disturbed by age. I want to bring my dream to life and experience victories in this life. The next one is not guaranteed. It is also worth using what has been given to you. If you have even a few prerequisites for fulfilling your dream, then it is worth being grateful for those prerequisites and making use of them.”
A new defining moment
Estonian DanceSport Open 2026 is the largest international ballroom dance event in Estonia. On April 18–19, Kalev Sports Hall will host a DanceSport World Cup stage, bringing the world’s finest dancers to compete in Tallinn.
At the beginning of the Saturday gala program, at 5:00 p.m., Evelin Ainomäe will also take the stage.
“This is a World Cup stage in dancesport, which means that the best dancers in the world are coming to Tallinn to compete. Participants will arrive from all over the world, and naturally Estonia’s own top dancers will also be there. As part of this event, I will perform my own number, dancing cha-cha-cha with five-time world champion Marius Andrei Balan.”
For Evelin, this is the second major test in ballroom dance and in performing before an audience. If pasodoble was the first attempt, then cha-cha-cha has, in her own words, become an even greater challenge.
“At the moment, I am a little worried about whether I can develop enough within this one remaining month for the performance to come out beautifully. The technique of this dance is so complex that your brain has to think at the same time about the feet, the body, the shoulders, the arms, and the step combinations. Considering stage nerves and my beginner level, it really is a huge challenge. So come and see how it goes.”
Marius Andrei Balan — a world champion as her partner
The opportunity to step onto the stage with a dancer of this level also came about quite unexpectedly.
“One day at the end of training, Martin had this idea. I had already been thinking for quite some time that I needed an initial goal, for example in the form of a competition or some kind of specific bigger target. But I could not have even dreamed of an opportunity like this. And of course, at first we did not know whether Marius would agree. But he did.”
Preparing together with a world-class dancer brings Evelin both excitement and a strong sense of responsibility.
“It is frightening, because the responsibility is so great.”
Introducing the PRO-AM category to the Estonian audience for the first time
This performance is not important only because of Evelin’s personal journey. It is equally important because she will be introducing the PRO-AM category to the Estonian audience, something that has not yet existed in Estonian competitions.
PRO-AM is a format in which a professional dancer partners with an amateur. Around the world, it is already very popular, and this format makes it possible to compete internationally.
“My performance is meant to introduce the audience to a category in dancesport called PRO-AM, where an amateur trains through individual lessons with a professional dancer. Across the world, it has become very popular by now, and it is possible to compete in this format all over the globe.”
Evelin says that this is exactly what makes the World Cup stage taking place at Kalev Sports Hall on April 18–19 especially meaningful.
“It is exciting to introduce people to something that is still relatively unfamiliar to a wider audience.”
She believes this field has a future in Estonia.
“There will definitely be people who begin to pursue it.”
Next year, the PRO-AM category will also be added to the Estonian DanceSport Open program, which means that Evelin may already be seen competing there next year as well.
“One of my dreams is certainly to compete at the Blackpool Dance Festival, which is one of the most legendary and prestigious dance events in the world. But next year, people will already be able to see me competing here as well in the PRO-AM category.”
Training, recovery, nutrition, and an enormous amount of work
There is a great deal of invisible work behind the performance taking place in April. In the coming weeks, Evelin plans to share this journey more publicly.
“In the weeks leading up to the competition, I will be sharing my journey on Instagram. I have regular training sessions with my coach Martin. This week I met Marius Balan, and we will train together twice. In addition, I practice dance on my own several times a week.”
Once a week, she also trains with her fitness coach Margus Silbaum.
“With him, we work on everything that helps my body cope with the techniques and movements required in
ballroom dance. We train specific muscles and build endurance. We also discuss nutrition. On top of that, I do certain toning
exercises for specific muscle groups in the gym on my own, as well as a few fat-burning runs. Altogether, it adds up.”
According to Evelin, training, recovery, and nutrition are equally important in this process.
“All three are extremely important and support one another. It is not an easy balance at all. I have to train quite a lot in order to achieve the form and the skills I need, but at the same time I must not put the body under too much stress or overtrain. I also have to give it
time to recover.”
Losing weight is also part of the preparation, but in a very conscious way.
“At the moment, I have a goal of losing 2.5 to 3 kilos of fat for the performance. That is a major challenge. People often lose weight through water loss or muscle loss, but losing muscle, especially as you get older, is a catastrophe. So how do you lose weight only from fat? That requires precise nutrition and training at the right heart rate.”
She admits honestly that not everything has fully fallen into place yet.
“In recent weeks, as I have increased my training load, I have struggled with terrible headaches several times a week. All of that still has to be brought into balance. It is absolutely necessary to eat enough, and starving yourself is completely the wrong direction. Then you also do not have the strength to dance.”
Evelin also notes that vitamins and minerals, which she has added to her routine, should not be underestimated. More about all of this can already be read in the upcoming stories.
The hardest part is not giving up
When asked what the hardest part of this journey has been, Evelin answers without hesitation: not giving up, and giving herself time to grow.
“At the beginning, I was very disappointed that I danced like a wooden horse. Sometimes it has even felt embarrassing. But that does not help. Fortunately, I have gotten over that embarrassment to some extent, and Martin has been very supportive. In my opinion, he has incredible patience. I think I would have told someone like me a long time ago, ‘Are you really sure about this?’”
But giving up is not something she plans to do.
“No matter how difficult it may feel for me, I will not give up on my dream. I have to bring my body under my control and learn to direct it so that it moves the way ballroom dance requires.”
Why come to Kalev Sports Hall on April 18?
It is definitely worth coming to Kalev Sports Hall on April 18–19, because the world’s top dancers will be there, and the event will be judged by international judges. The gala program, which begins on Saturday at 5:00 p.m., will be an elegant evening of entertainment, with beauty for both the eyes and the ears.
Those who wish can also purchase a seat at a VIP table, with the best view and a set table included. Why not enjoy a spring Saturday evening while watching world-class dance? A global sporting event is being brought right to us.
Evelin hopes that the audience will take away a great deal of positive emotion and more joy for life from that evening, and that people will feel more strength to do what truly inspires and develops them.
Her invitation to the audience is simple:
“Come, watch, and enjoy. The best in the world will be performing for you, and behind their performance and preparation lies enormous dedication and willpower. The costumes and dresses also represent an incredible number of working hours and, at times, someone’s last savings. All of that is worth seeing.”
We will continue following Evelin’s journey, and already next week there will be more to read about the making of the dress, the training process, and nutrition.
Tickets are available at Piletilevi.
