I Am All In with Scott PattersonYou’ll never guess what Dancing with the Stars’ Artem Chigvinstev and Gilmore Girls have in common! Hint: The Life and Death Brigade.
Artem and Scott bond over a priceless activity they do with their family.
Plus, find out Artem’s passion when he’s not on the ballroom floor!
I Am all In again, Luke Steiner with Scott Patterson an iHeartRadio podcast.
Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am all In Podcast one eleven productions. iHeartRadio Media. iHeart Podcasts. Luke Steiner. We're going to be talking with Artem chignivs Sev. You know him from Dancing with the Stars. He is a champion ballroom dancer. But beyond the ballroom he has another love cooking. A trained chef, he studied at the culinary school before fully committing to dance, and to this day he still brings the same artistry and dedication into the kitchen as he does onto the dance floor. Welcome Artam to the show.
Hello, thank you so much for in writing me. I'm so honored to be part of it. And I'm going to put a slight correction to my little bio. I didn't really study cooking. My love of cooking came from my grandparents and my parents, and I can go a little bit more into if you like.
So that's even a better training. That's a better culinary school, isn't it.
It's because because it filled was love. That's right, That's.
Right, exactly exactly, So you are a Dancing with the Stars Champion, How did you first get into dancing And did you ever imagine and your wildest dreams that it would take you that far?
Absolutely no, that's that's absolute negative. And I'll tell you a little story how I even got into it. Finding enough, It was my parents. I grew up in the Soviet Union, and back then there was not really a lot of option you can explore as a kid. That was actually option you can explore as a kid. It was gymnastics, it was hockey, and it was ballet. Funny enough, well, actually the three things that back in the day so Vieting was known for. And my mom she decided to first put me in the hockey.
You know, I grew up with my brother, two boys, let's go hockey.
That didn't work out too well because my mom saw the beating you take while you play hockey, and the pub frow to my face and I got like a little.
Market and there was blood.
Everyone was like, okay, no, mo hockey for you. You're going to go to ballet. So next day it was ballet. I was kind of going with the flow. Whatever parents say, that's who we did, and they put me in to ballet. First, and then teacher looked at me, and it's really strict, you know, back in the day when people accept anybody to participate into anything because they need to see if you can be best you can possibly be, you know, and if you have no talent, they rather not waste your time. So it wasn't really much much about a passionate about ability, you know. And they looked at me and they're like okay, and then they placed in different positions and like, you have a certain turnout, how totally going.
To be in all that stuff, all these factors, and my turnout wasn't good enough.
So they said to my mom like, okay, we're going to have to you know, like fracture his hips a little bit by doing certain exercise.
And I'm heard that's like absolutely now.
So the next thing, I was like, well, there's bottom dancing, so why don't you go bottom dance, you know instead of sit at home. And I was like, okay, I guess there's at girls there, so why not I'm going to go to that, and thankfully it actually works out, so here I am.
There you are. If you describe your cooking style in dance terms, would it be more of a fiery tango, an elegant walltz or something else.
God, I feel like a mixture. It's going to be a salad. How about that?
Ah?
Okay, well, not.
Meaning salad like greens and let sell means like there's a whole bunch of ingredients and it can be practicing.
Ye, I think right now, like before.
I used to try to cook this fine you know, fine meals to impress people, especially.
At home gathering.
I think right now, when I became a dad, it was more about challenging to feed my four year old, and I think my cooking skills and my cooking ideas went out of the window where I thought was great and useful. Now it's more about what's actually going to be nutritional, what's going to be fast, and.
What my four year old will like.
I have a four year old boy, his name.
Matero, and he is my my world, so everything revolves around him.
Yeah, I have a ten year old.
So there you go. You know what it is I cook for.
It's it's quite remarkable experience every single day, very much so. So you didn't attend culinary store. You learn from your parents and your grandparents.
Yes, tell us.
About that experience and what that was like in the beginning. Did they start you off with certain easy dishes or was it just through osmosis that being around it so much that when you went out on your own and had your own apartment or whatever, you just started cooking for yourself because you you just learned those lessons, you know.
I think everything is based on survival in my experience, so I believe and I always was speak for families, you know, and it's a family gathering and majority of the time when you participate in cooking as a kid, it's when you know it's a certain holidays or it's just Sundays because like you know, in U kid is a famous Sunday roast.
Me growing up, like Sunday was.
A time where everybody gathered together in the kitchen and had their own share of things to do, you know, participate in as a family.
I didn't grow up and very wealth the family.
We didn't go out for food, and to be fair, it wasn't really part of the culture that I grew up and you know, and it was cooking every day majority of the time.
Like I see my dad cooking. My dad's a.
Great cook, my mom's a great cook. Lots of experience there over seventy years old, so you can imagine what you can do over that time. And yes, we're just gathering it in the kitchen and seeing my grandparents socializing and having.
Fun and baking and cooking, and.
It was just like a social environment that vividly imprinted into my growing up, into my experience what cooking is about. It's not just about being hungry and making a meal. It's about sharing time with the loved ones, and it's about an experience. Everyone participate and there's the result where everyone in the end of the day enjoy having it, you know, over a great conversation. And I think that was it growing up. You know, my parents cook what was available. Like I said, I'm probably gonna mention too many times growing up in Soviet Union.
I went through a time where I.
Was staying in lines for food, you know, and staying in line with my brother. My brother leave and I stayed and come back.
I'll leave.
It was just not a lot.
Of produce you can cook with because there was not a lot of things available, and you just make the most of what I have or what we had. A lot of stews, a lot of starch, a lot of potatoes, a lot of Russian cuisine dumplings.
Not necessarily the most desirable.
Food, especially living in the United States, but again I grew up on it, so for me, it has a special place in my heart and special place in my taste. Butts, you know, most of the time, like if I create something, it would be more like that type of a cuisine for me personally.
Have you started your son cooking with you yet? Oh? Yeah?
What is? What is?
What does he like to make? Is he making the burgers? Is he doing We didn't.
Get into like dirty with meat stuff.
He's kind of been kind of funky. Hasn't had meat when he was growing up till like maybe a year and a half ago. I mean might so he's four, but he's I mean, loves making pancakes, loves making any kind of sweets you can possibly think of, cupcakes. He loves making pizzas, you know, love like did the dough and put in the shippings. Like actually, I think there's only Stagram. I have a couple of videos. It's pretty hilarious watching him do that. But he's he's obsessed with cooking. He loves doing it. If he sees again me doing something in the kitchen. He wants to see it. He wants to flip it. Even if I pen pride, he takes a little spatch on me try to flip. It's like he's very much into it. And you know, sometimes people say, like, well, you get something after your parents.
You know, I truly believe so, because.
He just has it so and I'm very happy that he does, to be fair, because you know, I think dietary nowadays is a huge part of life and a huge part of healthy life, and I really want him to to explore it to the fullest and really understand.
Mm hmmm. So what's his favorite French toast?
French toast, fridge toast.
He's uh price, I mean kids foot he loves like the typical what he can see on the kids menu if you go to the restaurant. He's obsession grilled cheese, good grilled cheese. He's obsessed with He's obsessed with bread stuff like, he just loves bread.
And I can't blame him.
I cannot blame him.
My little guy, he uh, he's not so little anymore. He's getting pretty all. He loves to make the burgers, flip the burgers, amazing. He chops the onion. Uh, he preps the condiment plate. What else does he do? Oh, he loves he loves to do the pasta with me. Like, so we make we make the we make the tomato sauce together, nice and uh and he adds the ingredients and he chops up a lot of the onions and the herbs and all that kind of stuff. He's he's and these are the best times that we have at home, is cooking as a family. And uh, it's it's it's my favorite time of day. Five o'clock rolls around and that's when we prep.
You know, it's amazing, it's beautiful. It's honestly like, we live in such a day and age where those experience now becoming is so rare that you can get a hold of those little things. It's it's so precious that I mean even hearing you saying all these things, like I.
Can wait experience this with.
My son because it would be something that would be with me forever and it's absolutely priceless. And you will only understand if you're a parent and have a kid.
Yeah, no, it's it's it's every day. It's every day we do this. Every once in a while. It's I almost don't even like to go out to restaurants to eat because we don't get to do that experience. I mean, I I do just because, you know, because I cook in the family and I really enjoy but sometimes I'm a little late. Let's go, let's go to a restaurant. But you know it's not we don't. We don't do it a lot because the cooking experience at home is just so so great, so great, and he enjoys it so much. He has his own little recipes that he makes up and he shows them to me on a list, and I said, no, you can't really combine those and those, but you can try it.
Why not explore?
Yeah, I mean, I don't know where he read about it, but he wants to add things. He wants to add herbs and seasonings to the burger before I mash everything up. Oh okay, he wants, he wants to add it. So I'm gonna let him do that. That's probably tonight.
That's awesome.
Tell us about your experience with Gilmore girls. Are you aware of the show? Did you to be?
Actually?
You know what, I was just kind of thinking all of the things that I've done. I actually have done Gilma girlsrom. One of the episodes, I think there was like an Argentine tangu scene and I can probably find on my Instagram what I posted, but it was definitely a few years back and we're filming in the studio and I remember dancing on this on the table with one of the dance partners and girls that I've actually partnered before, and we're doing this Argentine tangusne funny enough, So yes, I have had experience, but it was a while ago, so I cannot to recall exactly what episode it was, but yeah, I was actually I can call myself was a little bit part of it. Is that, right, Yeah, I can probably look and find it if you guys like me to after them a second tent because I do remember posting a picture and the kreographer was Margarite Derek's and yeah, it was like a big tango.
It was like a tango club A year in the life.
It was the reboot a year of the life right in when Yeah, twenty sixteen seventeen.
Probably, yes, that's that sounds more like that was the time. Yes, that's the big tango scene, so you know, which I'm referring to I do.
It's when Logan and Rory go to the Big Tango Club and they're talking about, you know, him getting married to somebody else than her.
But yeah, it was the reboot. It was the revival.
That's great, that's the one.
Adam. What are you working on now?
God? What am I working on? Working my kid? It's it's it's as best job. It's the best job, the most rewarding job. But I do a lot of teaching, you know. I travel around the country and educate kids and dance. What else.
I don't go to a construction to be honest, I kind of try to explore a different.
Side to this life, you know. Finding I'm forty.
Two years old, and you know, being a dancer it's kind of interesting because you go through these waves of success and things and you.
You like and the pick up the career.
But obviously, like everything comes to an end at some point of your life, you know.
And I'm kind.
Of just like thinking, Okay, what else in life I would like to do that actually does interest me and maybe I can make possibly career of it. So a friend of mine, he owns a construction company. He's like, Hey, why don't you come and you know, see what it's all about. Because I was always curious what construction is. And I know this is totally maybe interesting to a lot of your listeners, but it was a big, big change for me because I kind of redirect my because you know, being a dancer, especially net in a desire to choreograph, you have to teach, you have to work with people, you have to there's it's like you have to kind of have a lot of sets of different types of skills that I never thought would be very useful outside of the dance world because I've never done anything outside of the dance world. And now I'm finding myself like, okay, what else, how can I apply that and doing construction?
And I started building kids furniture. I built stuff for my son.
I built like tables and chairs and bookshelves and actually built him an easel where he can write things. And that's what's been going in my life. But besides that, of course, a lot of things as to do with dancing.
I teach him.
The big convention that I travel over the week in different states and teach a.
Lot of kids.
It's probably like seven eight hundred. It's in a classroom and you just educate them. And as far as that, I love doing that because you have the knowledge, you know, and you kind of want to pass to next generation. And bothroom dancing is such a unique type of style of dance that majority time in the United States, it's like tab jazz, hip hop, ballet, like it's more based than that. But when Dancing with the Stars came to this big success, you know, all of a sudden those type of dand schools start to like try to see what that is like. And there's really not a lot of people who can teach bothroom dancing. And yeah, I was invited to in one of the convention. It's been start doing that a lot, beautiful.
Well, yeah, whatever you do, we're glad to have you on. We wish you a ton of luck. It was wonderful getting to know you a little bit. And thanks for sharing your stories about you and your little guy. Thank you. You know, the best thing that ever happened to me and my wife was was.
Our son, and uh it really it.
Just completely transformed our lives And isn't an amazing that. You know, if you ever questioned what life really was all about, that answer comes the day your son is born. So oh that's what it's about.
You know.
I think it's just your priority completely shifts. Like everything that you thought was this life is about completely change. And you know when people what a lot of like before me having Materio, you know, you obviously talk to a lot of parents out and it's like, well, how is it, like what is it like to.
Have a kid?
You know, and it's scary because you kind of understand how other people's lives shifts and changes.
You know, You're like, I don't know if I'm ready for this, Like I.
Still want to you know, explore and still want to do things for myself. But which you don't realize, and I think that's really changed my mind is that it's not that you're forced to change something. You want to change that because your priority shifts and change, and you're doing it because you want it, not because you're having a kit and it's like, oh now I.
Have to do this.
No, no, you do it because of that because I actually want to do it. So I think that was the biggest lesson for me to learn, like being from non parent to become a parent.
Beautiful, Thank you, my friend, Thank you so much for having me with you. I'd love to have you back on here. Thank you so much, and thank you everybody, lets fans on the planet. Where you lead, we will follow.
Stay safe, everyone, all the best, Hey everybody, and
Don't forget Follow us on Instagram at I Am All In podcast and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com.
