"I had too much energy. I couldn't stand in one place for too long so they kicked me out of the school," says the 20-year-old with a laugh.
As the ballet school doors slammed shut behind her, the gymnastics ones beckoned Anna who had not long before turned 8 years old.
"I still like to watch ballet but I can tell you it's a lot harder than gymnastics," says the athlete and coach who will compete in the 10-day Omni Gymnastics Centre-hosted Gymsport nationals starting in Napier from today.
Born in St Petersburg, Gurevich migrated to Hamburg with her mother when she was 3 years old.
A dual passport holder who speaks Russian, German and English fluently, Gurevich studied Latin in school in the hope of becoming a doctor but that dream of a 10-year-old child didn't materialise.
Last November she travelled to New Zealand with another friend from Hamburg, after reading about this country.
Having acquired a working visa, Gurevich didn't anticipate coaching gymnastics after waiting on tables, working at hostels and rolling up her sleeves at dairy farms.
The petite one tried to work in orchards but failed to make the cut.
"I was too small but I was happy they didn't take me because I found out from my friends later how absolutely hard work it is."
When she arrived in Napier early this year Omni centre coach Jane Sheldrake asked Gurevich if she wanted to compete. "At first I thought she was joking because it came out of nowhere."
Gymsport incorporates several codes apart from the traditional gymnastics disciplines of uneven bars, balance beam, floor routine and vaulting.
The nationals will include trampolining, rhythmic men's and women's artistic gymnastics and aerobics.
Gurevich believes the balance beam is about perfection because all it takes is one mistake for a gymnast to lose her perch.
The floor routine combines dance and skills while the vault is about speed and strength.
"The uneven bars is all about technique so the more often you do it the better you will become."
She is partial to the beam when training, a discipline that demands precision so her glitches don't come under public scrutiny.
"For me it's like if I don't move to perfection then I haven't learned.
"Do you know what I'm saying?"
During competitions, Gurevich takes a shine to the floor routine.
"You can show off to a lot of people who come to see some entertainment."
Scoring a perfect 10 in the mould of Romanian Nadia Comaneci, a three-gold medallist in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, is not a given these days.
"They've changed the judging system now so it's quite hard to be perfect." Gurevich, a Hamburg representative who has been "realistic" about her chances of representing Germany, has taken part in four competitions in Hamilton and Hastings and the nationals is her first in New Zealand.
Gymnastics is an intriguing sport, she feels, because one learns new things all the time. "If you perfect one move then there's always something else to master."
She doesn't consider herself too old, considering Russian-born Oksana Chusovitina represented Germany in Olympics at the age of 37, after representing her birth country and Uzbekistan.
However, she accepts Kiwi gymnasts are younger.
While the emphasis here is on fun, in Europe and Eastern Bloc countries coaches tend to be very strict. "My coach in Germany was from Russia so he was old school and strict."
Gymnastics, she reckons, builds confidence and helps one cope with life better. It provides a good grounding for other sports such as athletics and dancing.
"You know how to deal with pain better and you learn how to fight for things.
"When something's not working out you don't give up. You keep going for it until it works out."
Gurevich has succumbed to gravity countless times with dire consequences. She's broken bones in her foot twice, put her nose out of joint and dislocated her shoulder. But her love of the sport never wavered.
"Sometimes I don't like the way I train too, but I don't ever blame the sport. I blame myself," says the woman who is loath to consider herself talented. "I'm good but I'm not extraordinary or anything like that."
Incidentally her mother and friends have suggested she quit but Gurevich just laughs it off.
"Even if the doctors ask me - one day they will - I won't."
Bob Sheldrake, chairman of the Bay organising committee of the nationals, says almost 1200 athletes will compete, including about 100 from Australia.
More than 100 volunteers will ensure the event runs smoothly while 145 judges preside.
Ethan Phillips, of Omni centre, is also expected to do well among other hopefuls from the Bay.
