It was great to catch up with our sponsored dancers Vilhelmina and Alieksandr Lavrov while they are in the UK ready to compete at the UK Open..
How do you feel about competing at the Uk Open taking place next week?
V: Excited! A lot of practice has gone into it and I'm so excited to wear my new dress!
You danced at the Star Ball 100 year anniversary this week how was that for you?
V: It was really good, and always amazing to dance to a live orchestra with Len Philips. The dress felt great we always like dancing on that dance floor with good judges and a great atmosphere!
A: the lights are amazing at this event and when we are dancing to a live orchestra it gives us a great feeling and so much energy!
V: Yes, Len Philips is our favourite orchestra!
A: Plus, I like it in the final that they change from Latin to Ballroom which means the dancers have the time to recover and give their best performance and they don’t look tired lol
Vilhelmina in her hot red feather shaded dress at the UK Open 2024
Is the UK Open one of your favourite competitions?
A: The Internationals at the Albert Hall is my favourite
V: The Internationals is n1, UK Open n2, and Blackpool Dance Festival n3. These are the top 3 competitions in the world and they are all in the UK and they are our favourite The world championships is always changing places so we can’t really make that a favourite as it is different every year.
A: But the next world championships taking place this year will be in Tokyo, so we are really looking forward to going there! For me it will be my first time in Japan, Vilhelmina has been several times – we will try and stay for a few more days either before or after the competition to explore!
How different does it feel now you have turned professional compared to what it was like when you were in amateur?
A: I feel it was the right time and the right moment. When I look at amateurs dancing now they are so much younger!
V: I feel when we first turned professional it was scary, a scary decision and scary on the floor, but once we were on the floor as professional, the other competitors were so much more respectful.
A: Yes, I like the floor craft of the professionals, they don’t dance dirty – no pushing or blocking…
V: yes much more respectful and mature
A: This is what I felt we were doing in amateur but when on the floor it was like ‘run forest run’ lol keep your frame and go go go haha
V: In professional it really feels more about the dancing and much more gentle.
A: Pro’s are more skilled, with more technique and experience so they know what to do in stressful situations
Vilhelmina's shaded sugar pink ombre feather Ballroom dress at the Blackpool Dance Festival 2022
How long have you lived in America now?
V: 2.5 years
And how are you finding it living in America?
V: at the beginning it was so hard, for the first 6 months it was really bad!
A: We were seriously thinking of moving back lol
V: I think we had made the decision to move back …
A: Vilhelmina made the decision to move back, I said lets wait a few more months and then if we feel the same way we move back
V: And then you said we should move back and I said no lets stay lol!
Oh no so what changed your minds?!
V: It was a complete culture shock! But with the dancing everything was great!
A: We had a great place to practice, we have great teachers,nice competitions, the students also appreciate you a lot. But it’s a chain of documents! We couldn’t get this document without this document – we needed to practice so we rented a car and all our savings from Sweden went into renting this car! For foreigners it is so difficult!
Vilhelmina in her hot magenta shaded Ballroom dress at the Blackpool Dance Festival 2024
But everything has worked out and you are settled?
V: Yes we are settled now and we are going to extend our visa’s lol
A: During our dance career we will 100% be in the USA, when we retire and think about a having kids/family we will see about that … because Sweden is number 2 in the world for raising children, however USA is the top 3 in the world for the dancing industry
What makes USA so great for the dancing industry?
A: Pro-AM
V: I think that they have so many competitions and they are super well organized, every competition is well organized!
A: Sometimes just the local competitions here in New Jersey are on par with some of the world championships! The lights and music are just as amazing almost every competition here is 5 days long, they have rhythm and smooth also here so it has a completely different feel, and each day covers each area of competition – Ballroom, Latin, Rhythm and Smooth.
V: They respect the dance so much and the students really admire the dancing and want to learn so much, and for us as professionals – we have access to the best teachers! Like just 15 minutes from our house we have Katusha Demidova!
A: The location where we are in New York - everyone from Europe comes to this area to teach lessons and everyone from the US comes to New York to give lessons – its like the epicentre of dance!
Vilhelmina wearing the Cressida Ballroom Skirt and Charlotte Top from the NEW 2025 dancewear collection
You have just tried on the our NEW Chrisanne Clover Dancewear 2025 collection – what pieces stood out to you the most and why?
V: The pants definitely! The Emanuela Trousers I really like those, I love the style with the pintuck pleat and the ties at the ankles because it makes them so comfortable to practice in. And the Cressida Ballroom Skirt! The style is so in fashion on the dancefloor right now – it feels light and I love the feel of the stretch crepe. Every single item in the Chrisanne Clover dancewear collections has the perfect material! It is light, but soft, not sweaty lol they are really good!
A:I have a shirt in the Chrisanne Clover stretch crepe material I like to wear it a lot – it is so breathable – everyone always asks where I got it from lol
Vilhelmina wearing the Emanuela Trousers and Eternity top from the new 2025 dancewear collection
You have a certain style- look trending at the moment with the 3 dimensional petal shapes - how do you explain your style and why you like it …
V: It is very important that your Ballroom dress accentuates your best features, and also to look stylish and elegant, I like to look very feminine, and love that these 3d flowers gives me some shape – being very tall and thin I can look very flat, but by adding these 3 dimensional features helps give me some shape and it makes the dress look really luxurious and expensive!
A: I feel no matter what shape you have these flowers will create a 3 dimensional picture to your look
V: I like to have floats and feathers to accentuate our shape, like at the moment I have some hanging from the right shoulder, and I like it when the skirt is tighter on the hips as it makes the skirt look a lot lighter.
A: You were the queen of shades now you are the queen of flowers lol
V: I love the shading too because it is not just a column of colour, but now we have the 3 dimensional style … maybe we need to combine them both for the next dress lol
A: I remember when Vilhelmina first had the shading ombre feather boa floats, people though it was crazy …
V: Now everybody does it! Although I don’t think they as good a job at doing it as Chrisanne Clover! Sometimes it can look like 2 colours just stitched together
Vilhelmina in her fire ombre feather shaded Ballroom dress at the Internationals 2022
What would you say are your favourite colour/s at the moment?
V: Always red, red is my favourite colour! I also love hot magenta. Apple green is super beautiful! Aleks likes the tropic lime…
A: I do, I also I love the animal print
What would your future colours be? As all of your favourite colours you have had made into dresses?
A: oh no that’s a secret! Just say black lol
V: We are looking at blues – maybe blue/green. Or yellow – as yellow looks good in Blackpool. Definitely more the blue green style …
A: You had a dress in cobalt before and that looked really good
V: I got my cobalt dress right before the pandemic, so it was hanging in my wardrobe – pride of place - waiting to be worn throughout the pandemic
A: I think maybe one day we could do blueberry as it kind’ve sits between blue and purple depending on the lights and the crystals
Vilhelmina's cobalt Ballroom Dress worn in 2020
What are plans after the UK Open?
V: After the UK Open, actually the day after we come back we have a competition in America, we have the Eastern United States Dance Championships, and we will be representing New Jersey as the best Professional couple on the team match. Then after that in February and March it is a super busy intense time for competitions in America, so we have the New York Dance Festival, Eastern United States Championships, Tri State Championship and many more. Then we are thinking of coming back to England sometime in April for lessons, and then it is the big Blackpool Dance Festival!
A: I loved that we saw Ronnie and Jamie in the US before Christmas! Come back again we cant wait to see you!
Vilhelmina's most recent white Ballroom dress worn in Las Vegas 2024
Everyone at Chrisanne Clover wishes the best of luck to Vilhelmina and Alex at the UK Open!
You can watch Alex and Vilhelmina dance here >