The dancers' website

japanese

Klaus Kongsdal and Victoria Franova

from Denmark

We met Klaus and Victoria, the World IDSF Amateur Latin vice-champions, at the Celtic Classic in Tralee, Ireland on a rainy February day. They had some spare time, there were due to dance the next day, and were happy to have a cup of coffee and a short conversation.

Who are they?

Victoria Franova (from Slovakia): Ever since I can remember, I'd always been dancing around, but I didn't start to dance until I was 7, and I did ballet for 7 years in a public ballet school. I started ballroom and Latin when I was 12. I always wanted to be a dancer since I was about 10 years old. First, I wanted to be a folk dancer, because in Slovakia we have very professional folk dancer groups; then I wanted to be a ballet dancer, then a ballroom dancer..
Klaus Kongsdal (from Denmark): My grandmother was a dance teacher, but she was already retired. When I was 2 years old, she said to my mom "He has to start dancing in a proper dance school." So I went to learn very simple things, almost like a part of my normal education. If you think about it, everybody went to a dance school at some point. So she was very adamant that I have to go learn to dance. Then, I danced, but I also did lots of other sports, like soccer, tennis, badminton, I swam, I played golf, I did everything. It was only really when I was 15 or 16 that I decided that I wanted to dance more seriously.

Amateur Latin dancers. Represent Denmark - see their results page

How did you get together?

Klaus: We met in London. It's quite a good story, because I remember that I'd seen Victoria dance at practice, and when I lost my partner, I said to my teacher, "There's only one girl I can see myself dancing with." I didn't know her name or anything, but it was Victoria. My teacher said, "If you can't see yourself with anyone else, then just take your time, relax," and after three months the phone rang, and it was Victoria asking if we could have a try out.
Victoria: In the mean time, I had started with a partner, but that wasn't a very stable relationship and we broke up after three months. I also remembered Klaus from practice as this sunny boy, and it stroke me how bright a personality he had. I was about 19 or 20 then.

Opinions, views....

Are you allowed, as Amateurs, to teach in Denmark?

Klaus: Yes, and I do enjoy it a lot. The working close with couples and seeing them continuously work and how they grow, and I do enjoy that. At the same time, when you're just in this business, you can get a little bit one-track in your mind, so I would like to use it for venturing into other areas at the same time. You can always do teaching as well.
Victoria: I guess it's always going to be dancing in one way or another, especially since now we're so focused since we're so high in dancing, but I think that later, there may be other things as well.

If you're allowed to teach in Denmark, then what do you think is the difference between Amateurs and Professionals?

Victoria: Well, I think that it's a different Federation, but I would like to think that we are total professionals in our approach.
Klaus: Amateur means that you do it not to make money, while to be Professional means that it is your profession, which it is.
Victoria: But professional has two meanings - professional as in you get your money and live off it and professional as in your approach to it. So you can be Amateur because you don't make any money, but be totally professional in your approach.
Klaus: But it becomes the same when the Amateurs work as hard as the Professionals.

What do you think about using computers for dancers or by dancers?

Klaus: Well, I think it's a good idea, I keep all my notes on the computer from lessons, and I think that we should use the technology more and more - same with videoing and all these things. In lectures, you have the opportunity to make your presentation using a computer. All of these things are great. As society moves on, we as dancers have to move on. At the same time, we have to be careful. You can do many things with technology, but dancing, real dancing, is about what inside, about human emotions and being able to portray that. So, computers can help you be organised, can help you to present yourself when you do things.
Victoria: Also Klaus, it's your toy!
Klaus: Of course! It's a toy as well!

How does your personal relationship relate to dancing?

Victoria: It's a huge deal of course.

Are you a couple, romantically?

Klaus: No. We were, but somehow, you know, we lived together, we danced together, we did everything together 24 hours every day. I felt like in those 3 and a half years that we were together, we'd had a whole lifetime of marriage. So, when we decided that we should try to separate the private relationship, but keep the dancing, it was very difficult. We had a very hard time with it. But still, we felt that we had to do that, and after all these years Victoria is still my best friend, the person I trust most.

So you think that you can be friends and dance together, but it's difficult to be a couple?

Klaus: I don't think so. I think that what happens on the floor is one part, and what happens off the floor is another. But, I think that it can be very stressful to be involved in everything.
Victoria : There isn't a formula that you should be married because that's the best way, or you shouldn't be together at all. I think that different things work for different people, and I don't think that I could keep it on a separate level, because it's such a huge, emotional thing, and a huge commitment to the other person, so our friendship should be and is what the whole thing stands on.

Okay then, next question. What is the best country to dance in, in your opinion?

Victoria: I love Blackpool!

Blackpool as a competition or Blackpool as a place?

Victoria: [laughs] As a competition.
Klaus: I agree. I think that different countries offer different things. England offers a certain amount of historical grandeur, there's something grand about it, and when you walk into Blackpool, you can almost feel the past generations there. That atmosphere is very special. In other countries, it's very well organised, or you can dance in countries where the place is very small but they have a tremendous atmosphere. I still remember the World Championships in Vienna, where, because of the location, there were a lot of Poles, a lot of Hungarians, a lot of Slovakians, a lot of Czechs, and the atmosphere there was the best I'd ever seen. It was packed, there was hardly room to stand, but the atmosphere was unbelievable.
Victoria: It's not really about the country or the place so much - it's about the people, the atmosphere

So what is the best country to dance for?

Victoria : I think Denmark is brilliant, and I say that not being Danish. It's because the system there and the structure is fabulous - it's there to help the dancers, it's really organised and it really works.
Klaus : What has happened is that in Denmark, dancing is recognised as a sport, so we are supported in the same way as other athletes, like football teams, through an association called Team Denmark, which supports all different sports.
Victoria: It's a government supported organisation.
Klaus: Yes, government with private sponsors. And this means that they help us with dancing, they help us cover some of the tremendous costs involved in dancing on a high level. I think that the whole system means that Denmark is a very good country to represent. But then, all other countries have other things to offer. In Denmark, there are not so many dancers as in Russia, so it means that you really have to travel to do the teaching.
Victoria: But really, for an active dancer, Denmark is very good. Also, the environment where we practise is really good, with the possibility of free physiotherapy, massages, a doctor, almost as often as we need, so it's really good. We can't complain about it.

Denmark is a fairly small country, but it has a lot of fabulous dancers. But, what do you think about the popularity of dancing?

Victoria: Well, I think it's popular: it's on TV, like when we had the European Championships last year, there was a three-hour programme on TV, all the way from the quarterfinal to the final. It's in newspapers quite a lot, programmes are being made about the top couples; it is in the media. But there aren't masses of people dancing, and when you say that there are a lot of good dancers, it's probably that most of the ones you see are almost all the dancers there. We don't have a big base of the less good couples, or the people who come to dance once a week. In that sense it's not very good.

So you haven't got the tens of thousands dancing socially?

Victoria: No, we don't have that.
Klaus: We don't have the classes either. We just have one class, and everybody dances together.
Victoria: Yeah, and this is a little bit boring for the future of the country.
Klaus: I think that worldwide, it seems like things are happening. There's this programme, Strictly Come Dancing, which is a huge success in England, they're starting a similar programme in Denmark and in America. The fact that we actually get to be on TV is quite a good deal for us.

Have you watched it then?

Klaus: We have seen some of it, and we thought it was fantastic. I think they show dancing in a very good light, and that the people on there were very good 'ambassadors' for dancing. It really showed how hard you have to work, and that we work just as hard as people who dance on the stage or anywhere else.

What would you like to do if you were not dancing?

Victoria: It's difficult to imagine, because, like I said, I had wanted to dance since I was very young. I think it must be fabulous for doctors, who are able to heal and help other people; that must be a fabulous feeling, and is probably the most rewarding job I can imagine.
Klaus: It's difficult, because dancing takes over your life and you're so involved with it, you breathe it, and it�s everywhere. It's difficult to think about anything else. Before I moved to London, I started law school, and I did about a year before I had to make a choice, because studying full time wasn't really compatible with dancing. But when I look back on it today, I don't think I could go back to law and become a lawyer. If I wasn't dancing, then I don't know.

You mentioned that you cannot be a dancer if you're not a full human being. There's this discussion, on whether dancing is a sport or not. What are your views?

Victoria: Well yeah, especially where we come from, it's absolutely accepted as a sport, and in the Federation where we dance it is a sport, but there are the different opinions. I would like to think that it is a sport because we compete, and there is a result, and there is definitely a physical requirement not far different from that of a top athlete. But, I would like to think that what Klaus and I do is more artistic than just sport, because I think that art has more aspects to it than just a sport, more value.
Klaus: I think when it's a sport, it's about the winning, and I think the art is really about creating. I think that we are much busier with creating something than with winning. But yet, once you get to it, there has to be a winner. So, I think that the more you can abstract yourself from the winning side of it, the better you can dance and the more chance you have of winning.

Personality....

What is your favourite dance?

Klaus: I would say Rumba, but I have periods where this changes.
Victoria: You discover new things in the dance, and that becomes your favourite one. I also think that if you asked me now, then I'd say Rumba, but when I try other things in other dances, then I get excited about them instead.

So what is your favourite ballroom dance?

Klaus: Ballroom dance? For me, I think the Waltz.
Victoria: [long pause] That's a question I've never been asked before!
Klaus: If I had to dance it, it's the Waltz. But I love watching the Quickstep.
Victoria: I love to watch good ballroom dancing, but I don't really have a favourite.

What is your biggest dream?

Victoria: In my private life, like everybody: to be happy, to have a healthy family, to have a good life where I'd accomplished my professional goal, like results or medals, and a happy family life after that.
Klaus: I dream about these things too, but very often I try to stay with the 'now', and I try to endure what I do right now. Sometimes a dream takes you away, and almost indicates that what you're doing now is not great, and I love what I do now. I love to be so involved with dancing, trying to improve, going to the studio every day, warming up and getting to work. I really do love it together with the travelling. We meet a lot of very interesting, very exciting people in this business - it's a very creative environment which I enjoy very much. Sometimes I feel that the competitive environment is almost the least of my happiness, because I focus so much on what I do that I forget that there's a competition going on, and it's almost annoying that we have to be placed as a result. Let's face it, all the top couples work so hard at becoming their own personal best, to try to judge it is very difficult. So really, my dream is to be happy at every moment in what I do.
Victoria: Even if look back 10 years at what my dreams were then, then I couldn't have imagined what I have now, that we are winning, what we have achieved together, it was far beyond my wildest dreams. I don't think I could have imagined it then. I wasn't one of those 10-year-old kids saying, "I'm going to be the world champion," I just danced. I'm probably living my dream right now. And this is so strange for me to say, because we're always frustrated, we always want more, and to be even better. We are so seldom satisfied with ourselves, but when you ask us this then I realise that we're already there.

What are you afraid of?

Klaus: I'm afraid of losing people that are close to me, and of hurting them. I'm also quite afraid of failure. I work hard at things, so failure is a big thing for me.
Victoria: I think the same. I'm afraid for everybody, and of failure. I hate to make mistakes.
Klaus: She's very hard on herself. If we make a mistake, she has a hard time letting it go!
Victoria: It's because I put in so much effort into what I do, that when that's not enough, I can't stand it

To change the subject - what is your favourite food?

Victoria: My boyfriend's food, it's just great.
Klaus: I have to say, I love food in general. I love food and red wine [laughs], which is not always so good for dancers, but I like it. To be honest, I've never been on a diet in my life. Also, I really love Italian cooking.

Is there any food you hate in particular?

KLaus: I don't like brussel sprouts, but i think that goes for about 80% of the world's population.
Victoria: I don't like liver - oh wait, I like goose liver. I don't know in that case.

What is your favourite pet?

Victoria: A dog, I dream of having a dog, it's been my dream since I was five, but I never could because we lived in a flat, and my parents told me that it was torture for an animal to live in an apartment. So, I never had one as a kid, and I can't have one now because we travel so much, and I can't imagine when I will be able to have one, because I'll always be travelling. Still, it's my big dream to have a dog, I love dogs.

What kind of dog?

Victoria: I love all kinds of dogs, but mostly German Shepherds, I love German Shepherds, and I love Labradors, but any would do, really. I prefer the big dogs, proper dogs, though the little ones are adorable.
Klaus: I have to say dogs also, and quite big dogs.

What is your favourite hobby? Apart from dancing of course.

Klaus: I love to read, and I love to study. Also, I do still play golf, when it's possible, though it doesn't happen very often. But, when I can get out and play, I love that.
Victoria: I don't think I have one at the moment, because when I have free time, I just like to do nothing. It sounds boring, but it's nice to have a rest, do nothing, get a book and read. Dancing is so demanding, physically, mentally, all the travelling, so when I have free time, I enjoy my home and being lazy.

Your nicest memory?

Victoria: For me, my childhood memories, and there are so many. I had a fabulous childhood. My parents were amazing, I'd say the best.
Klaus: I also have a lot of great family childhood memories. I had quite a big family, but we were really close to each other, so I have a lot of memories of meeting with each other, 25-30 people spending weekends together in summer houses. I think that on the dancing side, my best memory is the first time we made the Blackpool final.
Victoria: Yeah, for me too
Klaus: And the following year when we danced, probably the best we'd ever danced.
Victoria: It really is an amazing experience, to walk in that final for the first time, in really feels great.

Partnership....

What is your partner's biggest virtue and biggest flaw?

Victoria: Klaus has many virtues... and not that many faults! Klaus really knows what he wants, where he's going, how he's going to get there. He's really clever, and he has it all worked out. That's fabulous for our partnership. But at the same time, that is what's difficult about him. He's so into what he wants in the dancing, that it's on the border of obsession. Maybe it was necessary to get us where we are, but when Klaus steps onto the dance floor at a practice, you can see almost madness in his eyes, in getting it right, and the way it's supposed to be or the way he wants it to be, including me as well. It can be quite difficult for me sometimes, because all the time it's about improvement, and the next thing.
Klaus: I think that Victoria, as a human being, is so deep that she's almost bottomless. She's the type of person that, when you meet her first, doesn't really let you in, but once you're in, she's extremely warm, extremely caring, and she's really a fantastic human being. She's a typical Slavic character, which means her emotions go up and down a lot, which is probably where it's both a virtue, when she can get really excited about things; but at the same time can be a fault, because if emotions govern everything, logic loses out a bit, and I think that sometimes happens, both in the down and the up feeling.
Victoria: But then I have you to maintain me!

What is your biggest virtue and biggest flaw?

Victoria: A virtue in a dancing sense or in a personal? I think that I'm creative in the dancing sense, while in the personal, I think I care about things and people. As for my fault, I would like it to be easier for me to let go of things, some people are so easygoing that almost nothing can really upset them, or upset them for long, and I'd like to be able to do that.
Klaus: I think that both in life and in dancing I see things very clearly. For me, things fit perfectly into 'boxes'. That is both a virtue and a fault, because when there's a complex situation, I'm quite good at taking that complexity and finding a direction out of that, and that goes both for life and dancing.
Victoria: That's true; Klaus is the only one who can see things clearly in the most difficult situations straight away, while for me it would take two days or something.
Klaus: But at the same time it's also a fault, because when people or things don't fit into these 'boxes', it's difficult for me to accept them, and if people don't see it as clearly as I do, it's difficult for me to accept. It can lead to the fact that I don't listen to other people enough, because the thing is already in its box, I know what I'm doing, and so it doesn't matter. So, I think that I can still learn to listen a bit more.

Passion....

Do you often fight?

Klaus: Yes!.
Victoria: In practice, we get into fights.

So she's not the kind of woman who always listens to you?

Klaus: No, she listens a lot. But, like I say, the Slavic character will never deny itself, and she definitely has that temperament, and we can go from being okey to suddenly being not. There's no doubt about it, we definitely fight. But, it's also got to do with the passion, with that thing of getting it right, and "Christ almighty, can't you see that it's that!" There's a lot of passion in what we do. It's something that we have to keep in mind, because it can take over, and it can become more about the fight than the practice.
Victoria: But outside of practice, hardly ever

Do you remember your biggest argument?

Victoria: You're really asking some personal things! [laughs]
Klaus: I remember our biggest dancing argument, but I don't remember what it was about. It was probably about nothing important.

Friendship....

What is most important for you in friendship?

Victoria: Trust.
Klaus: Loyalty and trust.

Are your best friends dancers as well?

Victoria: I have best friends in dancing and outside
Klaus: Yeah, both.

So generally, you can imagine having a dancer friend as well?

Victoria: Yes, of course.

Also a Latin dancer?

Victoria: Yes!
Klaus: Absolutely.

So competing against them doesn't stop you?

Both: No!

Is that because you win with them?

Klaus: No actually, I think that we have a very good relationship with all our competitors, we're very friendly. Some of our friends are professionals, some are amateur, some have stopped dancing and some have never danced. I don't think that it has to do with it - I think that you can compete easily on the floor, and once that's over, that's it.

So you are able to separate dancing from your personal life?

Both:Absolutely.
Victoria: Even if you're asking about close competitors, some of them I'm really fond of, that I really like, and it feels like it's mutual. It's difficult to talk about friendship, because probably we wouldn't sit here and tell our secrets, because someone may both be a competitor and someone you really like. There are some really good people in dancing, and it'd be a shame to cut yourself out of it completely.

Have you got time for friends and activities outside of dancing?

Klaus: Yes, and you have to have time for it. I don't think you can be a good dancer if you're not a complete human being. Of course, we don't have a lot of time, but I feel that I'm good at making sure that I take the time to see people whenever I can, and to enjoy being where I am now, because in 10 years, I might retire, and think to myself, "All that time I was competing - I never experienced anything".
Victoria: I wouldn't say we have a lot of time to go out on Saturday evenings, because most weekends we travel anyway.

Fun, holidays, relaxation....

What do you like doing for fun?

Klaus: I like to go to the cinema. I like to go to the caf� with friends and have a coffee and a chat.
Victoria: And go out once in a while, to a nightclub.

That's interesting - many other dancers have said that they don't go to nightclubs, because dancing is their profession...

Klaus: No, I like to go out, I like the social element of going out. I must say, when I'm in a nightclub, I'm not the one who dances the most, but I also enjoy it, I like dancing with different people. Dancing is great, it's not just professional dancing, the social dancing in nightclubs is a great thing - it's very life confirming.

What's your favourite book or film?

Victoria: I just read some Paulo Coelho's books, I like all of those.
Klaus: I think 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho is one of my favourite books.
Victoria: I'm going to be really cliche, but I love Dirty Dancing!
Klaus: Oh my god, I can't believe you said that
Victoria: I've seen it like ten times! Oh, and I loved Indiana Jones. I love adventurous, out there movies.
Klaus: I just watched the Godfather trilogy recently, and I think they're brilliant films. I loved the atmosphere
Victoria: I'm into fairy tales big time also. Where I come from we have many beautiful fairy tale films.

Could you describe your dream holiday?

Victoria: For me, somewhere really warm, beautiful and sunny, with a sunny beach, and rest, that's one. And another one would be an adventure, like going to Egypt and seeing the pyramids. Kind of like Indiana Jones! [laughs]
Klaus: I have two actually. I think that particular relaxing holiday, a very pampering holiday, would be one, while the other one be in a big city, exploring new big cities, seeing buildings and restaurants and eating nice food.

Have you got time for holidays?

Victoria: We make time for holidays.
Klaus: We haven't been that good at making the time, but we're getting better.
Victoria: We have a holiday at least once a year.
Klaus: Yeah, we always have a holiday in the summer.

When you compete abroad, which you do a lot, do you try and make a holiday out of it as well?

Victoria: No, I don't like mixing the two. When it's about dancing, I like to stay focused, and just do it. There are exceptions - for example, in a couple of weeks we'll be going to Shanghai, and we'd never been there before, so we're going to stay one day longer, because it's such an exciting place, but that's the exception to the rule. It's usually just fly in on the Friday, compete, and fly out on Sunday.
Klaus: Because when we go to a competition, it's serious, it's dancing, and it's about doing this thing on the floor, and when you mix other things into it, the dancing gets diluted.
Victoria: As does the holiday, because you're still busy with the dancing.
Klaus: For us it's much better to say, "This is a holiday, it has nothing to do with dancing", and when we go to compete, it is about dancing.

Are you happy to try foreign, exotic food?

Victoria: Yeah, I am. I'll try anything.
Klaus: I'm probably less. But I'm getting much better.

Have you ever tried any particular weird food?

Victoria: Yeah, in Africa once I had crocodile. Just the meat, not the eyes or something! The weirdest thing I was supposed to do but didn't, was in Sardinia, where they offered us tiny little birds, their whole body, and they looked exactly like little baby birds that had fallen out of their nest, with no feathers. And they cracked the heads open and sucked their brains out.
Klaus: You had to bite into the head and suck the brain out - and I did that.
Victoria: In Sardinia, this is the biggest speciality. They offered it to us as the best, very expensive food, and I wasn't expecting it to come my way, and then this little bird came along!
Klaus: Yeah, and she screamed.

That really was like in Indiana Jones then!

Klaus: Yeah in the second one, where they eat the brain from the monkey! But in this one you actually had to bite into the head to crack the skull. It didn't taste very nice either, but at least you could say that you'd done it.
Victoria: Yeah, and there's some strange things in China, like chicken feet, and soft bones, and then fish skin. Once, we had chicken, baked in dirt

Future...

Plans for the future?

Klaus: I can see a future in and around this dance business, I do like it - I like to teach!

Thank you very much and good luck for the future!