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Kiril Pandov and his partner Sandra Gavala in 2008 became champions of Greece in Latin dances for the sixth time. Besides being world class competitors they also have their own dancing school “Vivadance Studio”. In an interview for Marina Nikolova Kirl says he is in love with his profession. He is only 25 years old and his star sign is Capricorn.

You became the champions of Greece for the sixth time. Which one of them holds the best memory for you?

Yes we are already six times champions of Greece in Latin-American and ten dance. I was most excited the first time we won. The competition was in Thessaloniki and there were a lot of pairs competing. At that time I had just arrived in Greece and I was competing here for the first time. Before this I had come here as a child on vacation or for various show programs, however I had never come for a professional competition. I was a little nervous and I was thinking whether I would win the first place. There were a lot of couples, but we beat them all. I did not expect at all that they would choose us, as I was new here. And there is a policy of the couples here – which one is older as a couple, which one is more capable etc. Before I came in Athens in Sofia I was seven times national champion in the juvenile group. That is why I had the confidence of a professional, however it was very interesting for me if here as well they will put me in the first place. It was very nice and very difficult.

How did you become a fan of the Latin dances?

I was very young – about five years old. At home my parents were listening to a lot of music and I was raising my hands and jumping. They decided that I am interested in music and dances. When they took me to the neighborhood Latin dances club I didn’t like it at all and I didn’t want to stay. It was full with girls and very little boys. At the beginning I was wondering what exactly I would do there and my parents made me stay. However after the first month it became better. Now my parents had to make me come out of the dance hall. This is my life, it is the only thing I can do. Well, if it is necessary I might start something else, but… (he laughs)

What qualities does a good dancer have to have?

First he has to be a human – to be good and gentle to his partner, to listen, to always be in the position to understand and help the other person because as a couple the two of you have to get along very well. You should never be selfish because otherwise everyone will only look for his own part. However in this sport everyone is selfish. The sport makes us have a certain style – of dress code, of behavior and this makes us look around all the time. Sometimes this stands in the way of many of the couples and becomes the reason for scandals during dances and during practices. We fight a lot. Who pushed who or who made a mistake… However other couples go much more into extremes. At the second place you should have the looks. He should have a nice body, with muscles, should keep a diet in order to be able to dance easily on the floor. For the women it is particularly important because they usually wear short dresses and they really have to have a nice body. And afterwards come all the other details – you have to have money as this sport if very expensive. This is a rather expensive hobby.

Do you have sponsors?

Here in Greece nobody finances the ballroom dances. It is very complicated. Whatever we earn we put it in dancing. Few months ago a Portuguese company “Rumos” started sponsoring us with shoes.

How expensive is your sport?

In order for you to understand what exactly we are talking about – one practice of 45 minutes costs 150 euro. We pay this from our own pocket. Now we will go to England. You cannot go there for 2 – 3 hours because it is ridiculous. We make there at least 10 hours. We have now decided to have 15 hours in order to change some techniques. You add on top of this the airplane tickets, hotel and pocket money. That is why I say this is an expensive sport. However if somebody has it as a hobby, it is different. We just want to grow in the hierarchy. Now in Greece we are first and in the world we are in the top 24.

Do you have a coach in Greece?

No. We have coaches in Germany and England. On Saturday again we are going for practices for four days. However here we are the ones coaching the rest.

How did you and Sandra Gavala meet, how did you like each other and how did you decide that you will dance together?