Sante Mandolini and Victoria Martin
from England
Sante and Victoria looked very surprised when they were announced winners of the
UK Open 2004 Amateur Rising Star Latin... surprised, but happy. We talked to them
the next day when there was a break in their competiton schedule, when they could
relax and spare some free time for this interview.
Who are they?
Victoria Martin (from Ireland) started dancing when she was five years
old in Belfast. Her dad used to dance and introduced Victoria to ballroom and latin.
Now she is twenty three.
Sante Mandolini (from Italy) started dancing in Rome when he was fourteen.
His uncle was dancing and one day, when Sante was looking at their lesson,
their teacher asked him to try it with a girl. He was hooked then! Now Sante
is twenty seven.
Amateur Latin dancers. Represent England - see their
results page
How did they get together?
Sante and Victoria started dancing together two years ago, shortly before the UK
Open 2002. Victoria was without the partner for a year then and Sante was also
looking for a partner. Lyn Marriner, Sante's girlfriend knew about Victoria and
she gave him her number. They had just one tryout in Rome, and they knew they were
a perfect match for each other! Victoria has British passport and they decided to
represent England.
Opinions, views....
What do you think about the popularity of dancing?
Victoria: "I think that it is on a decline in England. But not in Italy.
In Italy, in competitive dancing, you have five categories for each age group which
depend on your dancing level. There are national championships organised for each
level, everyone has a chance to win. In England it's the same couples winning all
the time, others can get discouraged. All my friends, who I started with in Juniors,
already quit. I am the only one, me and Lisa Bellinger - it's two out of forty."
Sante: "I think it would help if there was more dancing on TV"
Victoria: "Maybe English people don't care about it anymore. Boys don't
want to do it because it isn't seen as mens' sport. They get teased at school sometimes.
Also, Amateurs are not allowed to teach here, but they can in Italy. What happens
is that these Amateurs bring more couples to the dance clubs to the Professionals
- there is one big group and everyone is helping each other. Kids and small children get
better with the younger teachers and it costs half the price for them. For
Amateurs, it helps them with their dancing"
How does your personal relationship relate to dancing?
Both : "We are really good friends and go out often. Our friends are the
same people. But if one of us wants to go out with their boyfriend or girlfriend
and needs some privacy we just leave each other alone! We dance together, we are
friends but we respect each other's relationships"
What is in your opinion the best country to dance in?
Sante: "England - it's usually the best couples who take part. It gives you
a chance to dance agaist the top"
Victoria : "There are really good competitions in Holland; I like the audience
there"
What would you like to do if you were not dancing?
Victoria: "Be a fashion designer. I went to a college, but missed my A-level
by one month because I came to London to dance. I thought my mum and my dad would
kill me!"
Sante: "I would like to go to the moon [both laugh]. I would probably
do writing for living"
Personality....
What is your favourite dance?
Sante : "Samba"
Victoria : "Samba, but I like all of them. Except for Jive"
So what is your favourite ballroom dance?
Sante: "Foxtrot"
Victoria : "Tango"
What is your biggest dream?
Victoria : "To be a successful dance teacher"
Sante : "To be able to dance the best I can. I have an idea how I should
dance and I would like to be able to reach it!"
What is your biggest nightmare?
Victoria : "I don't know, really!"
Sante : "Not being able to dance anymore"
What are you afraid of?
Victoria: "Bones [what!!?? - Ed.] when they crunch! I hate when
people crack their joints. I can't even swim, in case the divers smack my head "
Sante: "Nothing!"
Victoria: "He is afraid of grasshoppers!"
Sante: "I am not!! [Victoria says you are! - Ed.] I am afraid
when Victoria doesn't eat and is hungry or she is sleepy!"
Your favourite food?
Victoria: "My favourite food is Italian of course! [laughs]"
Sante: "I love Chinese"
Any food you hate?
Victoria: "Nothing"
Sante: "I like everything, that's the problem [both laugh]"
What is your favourite pet?
Victoria: "Dogs, particularily Dachshunds"
Sante : "Also dogs"
What is your favourite hobby?
Victoria: "Reading"
Sante: "Writing"
Victoria: "He is really good at it. He writes books, but it's in Italian.
I speak a little Italian because we live in Rome"
Your nicest memory?
Victoria: "A long time ago I did very well in Juniors. My dad told me he's
gone to the airport. Then the results came up, we won, and he suddenly appeared
and gave me a big hug! And then he said he really had to go to catch his plane."
Sante: "Yesterday! [winning the UK Open 2004 Amateur Rising Star Latin -
Ed. ]"
Partnership....
What is your partner's biggest virtue and biggest flaw?
Victoria : "He is very calm but forgetful"
Sante: "Victoria is honest. I mean that she is honest about good things and
also bad things. But she is so impatient sometimes, she just cannot wait"
What is your biggest virtue and biggest flaw?
Victoria : "I think I can get on well with a lot of people. But I am impatient"
Sante: "I think I am a really balanced person, I get on well with everyone.
Sometimes I am not careful enough, I tend to forget about things"
Passion....
What was your biggest argument about?
Victoria: "I guess it was about me not fitting into Italy in the beggining.
It was difficult, I was from a different culture, different country and I started
to feel like I wasn't meant to be there. So we had some arguments about it, little
ones, not big. We don't really argue, come on!!"
Sante: "No, just about dancing"
Do you often fight?
Sante: "Once a week [laughs ]"
Victoria: "No, not really! Come on! We are not that bad"
Sante: "OK, sometimes"
Victoria: "Not a lot. Depends on how we had danced"
Friendship....
What is most important for you in friendship?
Victoria : "Trust"
Sante : "Yeah, trust and honesty"
Are your best friends dancers as well?
Victoria : "We have mixture of dancer and non-dancer friends."
Sante: "Sometimes there can be a problem when we are competing
against each other, but it really depends on the person. We don't have a problem
with that."
Have you got time for friends and activities other than dancing?
Victoria: "Yes, we make time for friends. But no time for other activities"
Sante : "Yes"
Fun, holidays, relaxation....
What do you like to do for fun?
Victoria : "Going to the beach"
Sante: "I like writing books and I like cinema. I am writing my second book
(in Italian), but the first one is not published yet. I would like to do it one
day, but for now it is just for myself. And it's nothing about dancing, it's fiction
but about life, everyday problems. I could write a book one day about
dancing, about my experiences etc"
What is your favourite book or film?
Victoria: "I like 'Bad Boys', for Sante it is something more cultural [laughs
]"
Sante: "I like watching 'Schindlers List' and 'Forrest Gump'"
Victoria: "I like reading Patricia Cornwell [American crime writer, she is
the author of the best-selling series of crime novels featuring the tenacious but
compassionate Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner - Ed.]"
Sante: "My favourite author is Charles Bukowski [born in Germany but raised
in USA, he was a writer and a poet - Ed. ]"
Could you describe your dream holidays?
Victoria : "If time and money was no problem then I would like to go to Australia.
Backpacking, camping, that sort of thing."
Sante : "Jamaica. I would relax, go scuba diving and fishing underwater!"
Have you got time for holidays?
Both: "Once a year "
You compete abroad a lot � do you also try to make a holiday out of it?
Both : "No. You see an airport, you see a hotel and you see a dance floor."
Are you happy to try foreign, exotic food
?
Both : "Yes, we love it"
Sante: "The strangest food I tried was a snake in Hong Kong. I didin't know
what it was when I tried, it was some meat in some sauce, quite tasty"
Victoria: "I had eaten some tiny, baby birds. Maybe doves. Something like
that."
Future...
What about computers in dancing, Internet and dance webpages?
Victoria : "Internet is the best place to look at the competitions, results,
for entry forms. Everything really! I cannot imagine it without the Internet now
but it's Sante who knows where to look"
Sante: "We always look on the Internet for information about everything really.
Newspapers are not quick enough with information anymore. You expect it immediately"
Plans for the future?
Victoria : "Get married and have two children. Be happy"
Sante : "Became a good teacher. I want to have a family one day but not in
the immediate future."
Thank you very much and good luck for the future!