Daniella Brittany Karagach Pashkova (; born December 26, 1992) is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer and choreographer. She began her career in dancesport and rose to prominence as a contestant on the second season of World of Dance with her husband, Pasha Pashkov.
Karagach continued her competitive dancing career by joining Dancing with the Stars in September 2019. She won her third season with basketball player Iman Shumpert and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography.
Early life Daniella Brittany Karagach was born on December 26, 1992, in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents, Mark Karagach and Regina Yvette Karagach (now Zurinam), are Moldovan immigrants; they divorced one year after her birth. Karagach was primarily raised as an only child by her mother in Forest Hills and Bath Beach; until her mother married her stepfather, Arie Zurinam, and she gained a stepsister, Ariana. She moved to South Beach, Staten Island when she grew older.
Karagach began taking ballet lessons at the age of three, and by age seven was taking Latin dance classes. She had trouble focusing in school and was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when she was six years old. Her mother refused to give her prescribed medication due to her age and instead enrolled her in ballroom dance classes, which helped her focus and improve her academic performance. Despite her ADHD diagnosis, she was enrolled in honors and advanced placement programs, and went on to graduate from Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School. Karagach studied childhood education at the College of Staten Island.
Career
Karagach formed a dance partnership with Leonid Juashkovsky and began her career in dancesport when she was eleven years old. Together, they became three-time USA Dance Junior I and II Latin Champions; represented the U.S. at the IDSF World Championships in Latvia, Russia, and Barcelona; and appeared in the second and third seasons of the competition series America's Ballroom Challenge.
In January 2009, Karagach paired with Pavel "Pasha" Pashkov. They were selected to represent the U.S. at the 2009 World Games in Taiwan and represented the United States in various international competitions and festivals. Karagach and Pashkov are seven-time U.S. 10-Dance Champions and Latin Champions. They also won the Rising Star Professional Championship at the 2017 Blackpool Dance Festival and the 2018 U.S. Latin American Showdance Championship. On television, they competed on the second season of World of Dance (2018) and choreographed for So You Think You Can Dance (2022).
Dancing with the Stars Karagach joined the reality competition series Dancing with the Stars as a troupe dancer for season 28; although she did not have a celebrity partner. For season 29, Karagach was paired with rapper and singer Nelly. They made it to the finals and placed third on November 23, 2020.
On the 30th season of Dancing with the Stars, Karagach was paired with basketball player Iman Shumpert. Despite a shaky beginning, the couple won the competition on November 22, 2021, making Shumpert the first NBA player to both make the finale and win. Karagach and Shumpert's contemporary piece to "I Got 5 on It (Tethered Mix)", for Halloween week, was hailed by critics and viewers as one of the best dances in the series' history. For her work on the season, Karagach received her first nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography.
On the 31st season of Dancing with the Stars, Karagach was paired with actor and bodybuilder Joseph Baena. Karagach was unable to compete for the second and third weeks after testing positive for COVID-19; she was temporarily replaced by troupe member Alexis Warr. Karagach and Baena were eliminated on October 18, 2022, finishing in 11th place; Karagach's lowest placement to date.
For season 32, Karagach was paired with singer-songwriter Jason Mraz. They made it to the finals and finished as the runners-up on December 5, 2023, behind actress Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy.
For season 33, Karagach was paired with basketball player Dwight Howard. They were eliminated during the quarterfinals on November 12, 2024, finishing in 6th place.
For season 34, Karagach partnered with The Traitors winner Dylan Efron. The couple made it to the finals, finishing in 4th place.
Season Partner Place 29 Nelly 3rd 30 Iman Shumpert 1st 31 Joseph Baena 11th 32 Jason Mraz 2nd 33 Dwight Howard 6th 34 Dylan Efron 4th 35 Ezra Frech TBD
Season 29 Celebrity partner: Nelly Average score: 23.5/30
Week Dance Music Judges' scores Total score Result 1 Salsa "Ride wit Me" — Nelly 5 5 6 16 Safe 2 Cha-cha-cha "Let's Groove" — Earth, Wind & Fire 6 6 6 18 Safe 3 Foxtrot "It's All Right" (from Soul) 6 6 6 18 Safe 4 Paso doble "All I Do Is Win" — DJ Khaled, feat. T-Pain, Ludacris, Rick Ross & Snoop Dogg 7 7 7 21 Safe 5 Samba "Rhythm of the Night" — DeBarge 8 8 8 24 Safe 6 Viennese waltz "Humble and Kind" — Tim McGraw 8 8 8 24 Safe 7 Argentine tango "Can't Feel My Face" — The Weeknd 9 9 9 27 Safe 8 Rumba "Nobody Knows" — The Tony Rich Project 7 7 7 21 Safe Cha-cha-cha Relay "Rain on Me" — Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande colspan="3" 2 9 Jazz "California Love" — Tupac, feat. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman 8 8 8 24 Safe Salsa Dance-off "The Cup of Life" — Ricky Martin colspan="3" 0 10(Semifinals) Paso doble "Run Boy Run" — Woodkid 9 8 9 26 Safe Jive Jump, Jive an' Wail — The Brian Setzer Orchestra 10 10 10 30 11(Finals) Samba "Rhythm of the Night" — DeBarge 9 9 9 27 Third place Freestyle "Savage" — Megan Thee Stallion &"Hypnotize" — The Notorious B.I.G. 10 10 10 30
Notes
Season 30 Celebrity partner: Iman Shumpert Average score: 32.6/40 Week Dance Music Judges' scores Total score Result 1 Jive "Hey Ya!" — Outkast 7 4 5 5 21 Safe 2 Rumba "U Know What's Up" — Donell Jones 7 6 6 6 25 Safe 3 Tango "Piece of Me" — Britney Spears 7 6 6 19 Safe 4 Foxtrot "Let It Go" (from Frozen) 8 6 8 8 30 Safe Argentine tango "Arabian Nights" "(from Aladdin)979833 5 Viennese waltz "Hopelessly Devoted to You" — Olivia Newton-John 7 7 7 7 28 Safe 6 Contemporary "I Got 5 on It (Tethered Mix)" (from Us) 10 10 10 10 40 Safe 7 Paso doble "Another One Bites the Dust" — Queen" 9 7 8 8 32 Safe Jive Relay "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" — Queen" colspan="4" 2 8 Cha-cha-cha "Rhythm Nation" — Janet Jackson 9 8 9 9 35 Safe Foxtrot Dance-off "Again" — Janet Jackson colspan="4" 0 9(Semifinals) Tango "Telephone" — Martynas 9 9 10 9 37 Safe Jazz "Dark Fantasy" — Kanye West 10 9 10 9 38 10(Finals) Cha-cha-cha& Foxtrot Fusion "September" — Earth, Wind & Fire 10 10 10 10 40 Winners Freestyle "Lose Control" — Missy Elliott, feat. Ciara & Fat Man Scoop& "Bounce" — DJ Clent 10 10 10 10 40
Notes
Season 31 Celebrity partner: Joseph Baena Average score: 28.3/40 Week Dance Music Judges' scores Total score Result 1 Jive "Pump It" — Black Eyed Peas 6 5 6 6 23 Safe 2 Viennese waltz "If I Can Dream" — Elvis Presley 6 6 6 6 24 Safe 3 Argentine tango "Writing's on the Wall"(from Spectre) 8 7 7 7 29 Safe 4 Charleston "A Star Is Born" (from Hercules) 7 7 7 7 28 Safe 5 Rumba "My Way" — Frank Sinatra 9 8 9 8 34 Safe Cha-cha-cha "Shut Up and Dance" — Walk the Moon 8 8 8 8 32 Eliminated Hustle & Lindy Hop Marathon "Hot Stuff" — Donna Summer &"Jump, Jive an' Wail" — The Brian Setzer Orchestra colspan="4" 4
Notes
Season 32 Celebrity partner: Jason Mraz Average score: 26.6/30 Week Dance Music Judges' scores Total score Result 1 Cha-cha-cha "I Feel Like Dancing" — Jason Mraz 7 7 7 21 Safe 2 Rumba "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" — Andrea Bocelli, feat. Jennifer Lopez 8 8 8 24 Safe 3 Jive "Do You Love Me" — The Contours 9 8 8 34 Safe 4 Foxtrot "A Whole New World" (from Aladdin) 8 8 8 24 Safe 5 Quickstep "On the Road Again" — Willie Nelson 9 9 9 27 Safe 6 Contemporary "Zombie" — The Cranberries 9 9 9 36 Safe Hustle &CharlestonMarathon "Stayin' Alive" — Bee Gees &"Grim Grinning Ghosts" — Kris Bowers colspan="3" 3 7 Jazz "Take On Me" — a-ha 8 8 9 72 Safe Team Freestyle "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" — Backstreet Boys 9 9 9 8 Samba "Higher Love" — Kygo & Whitney Houston 8 9 8 33 Safe Salsa Dance-off "It's Not Right but It's Okay" — Whitney Houston colspan="3" 0 9 Argentine tango "Don't Blame Me" — Taylor Swift 10 10 10 40 Safe Cha-cha-cha Relay "Lavender Haze (Felix Jaehn Remix)" — Taylor Swift colspan="3" 3 10(Semifinals) Viennese waltz "I Won't Give Up" — Jason Mraz 9 9 9 57 Safe Paso doble "Diablo Rojo" — Rodrigo y Gabriela 10 10 10 11(Finals) Foxtrot "Fly Me to the Moon" — Frank Sinatra 10 10 10 60 Runners-up Freestyle "Happy" — C2C, feat. Derek Martin 10 10 10
Notes
Season 33 Celebrity partner: Dwight Howard Average score: 23/30
Week Dance Music Judges' scores Total score Result 1 Salsa "This Is How We Do It" — Montell Jordan 8 7 7 22 Safe 2 Foxtrot "City of Stars" (from La La Land) 8 7 7 22 Safe 3 Cha-cha-cha "Let's Groove" — Earth, Wind & Fire 6 5 6 23 Safe Paso doble "Walk This Way" — Aerosmith 8 7 7 29 4 Rumba "Shoot for the Stars" — Dwight Howard 7 8 7 29 Safe 5 Tango "When Can I See You Again?"(from Wreck-It Ralph) 8 8 8 48 Safe Team Freestyle "I Just Can't Wait to Be King"(from The Lion King) 8 8 8 6 Contemporary "Ring Around the Rosie" — District 78 10 9 9 28 Safe Cha-cha-cha Dance-off "Ghostbusters" — Ray Parker Jr. colspan="3" 3 7(Quarterfinals) Argentine tango "Santa María (del Buen Ayre)" — Gotan Project 8 9 9 48Eliminated Instant Paso doble "Victorious" — Panic! at the Disco 8 7 7
Notes
Season 34 Celebrity partner: Dylan Efron Average score: 25.9/30
Week Dance Music Judges' scores Total score Result 1 Cha-cha-cha "Milkshake" — Kelis 5 5 10 No Elimination 2 Samba "Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)" — Los del Río 7 6 7 20 Safe 3 Foxtrot "Yukon" — Justin Bieber 7 8 8 23 Safe4 Quickstep "Life Is a Highway" — Tom Cochrane 7 8 8 23Safe5Contemporary"Rewrite the Stars" — Zac Efron & Zendaya99936No Elimination6Rumba"I'm Not That Girl" — Cynthia Erivo88832Safe7Viennese waltz"Can't Help Falling in Love (Dark)" — Tommee Profitt & Brooke99935SafeHustle & Lindy Hop Marathon"Murder on the Dancefloor" — Sophie Ellis-Bextor"A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)" — Fergie, Q-Tip, & GoonRock colspan="3" 38Jive"I'm Still Standing" — Elton John89936SafeTeam Freestyle"25 or 6 to 4" — Chicago101010409Argentine tango"Ain't No Sunshine" — Bill Withers10101040SafeViennese waltz Relay"Earned It" — The Weeknd colspan="3" 210Tango"I Would Die 4 U" — Prince99927SafeCha-cha-cha"Kiss" — Prince99102811Paso doble"Stampede" — Alexander Jean, feat. Lindsey Stirling991028 Fourth PlaceFoxtrot"Ordinary" — Alex Warren10101030Freestyle"Something in the Heavens" — Lewis Capaldi10101030 Notes
Season 35 Celebrity partner: Ezra Frech Average score: TBA Week Dance Music Judges' scores Total score Result 1Tango"Since U Been Gone" — Kelly Clarkson76720Safe 2Cha-cha-cha"Low" — Flo Rida77721Safe 3Foxtrot"Just the Two of Us" — Grover Washington Jr.77721Safe Notes
Personal life Karagach was introduced to Russian professional dancer Pasha Pashkov through their respective coaches; she was 16 years old at the time, and he was 22. They began dating amidst their training in 2011. Pashkov proposed on January 1, 2012, and they were married on July 18, 2014. They launched an online dance program in 2020 to prepare engaged couples for their first dance. On July 19, 2025, to commemorate their eleventh wedding anniversary, Karagach and Pashkov renewed their vows in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
After learning that she was pregnant in July 2022, Karagach suffered a miscarriage at five weeks gestation. Four months later, she and Pashkov announced that they were expecting a rainbow baby. Their daughter, Nikita Sofia Pashkova, was born on May 30, 2023.
Accolades AwardYearRecipient(s)CategoryResultPrimetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards2022KaragachOutstanding Choreography
Dancing with the Stars achievements
Notes
References
External links