Dmitri Timokhin and Anna Bezikova
from Russia
We met Dimitri and Anna when they were preparing for their lesson with Donnie
Burns in the London studio. We watched their lesson with real
pleasure - top teacher teaching the top Professional couple. Dimitri
and Anna were very happy to give us an interview although they were
very tired after several hours on the dance floor.
Who are they?
Anna Bezikova (from Russia) started dancing when she was
eleven, quite late [Laughs ]. She danced for two years
in her hometown, Tiumen, and then she moved to Dimitry's place
when she was 13 years old. They've been dancing together for 13 years now.
Dmitri Timokhin(from Russia) started dancing when he was six, in
his hometown, in Russia. Dmitri started with a little bit of folk dancing,
but it didn't work. His mother liked Latin American, so at that age she
booked him for Latin and Ballroom. He chose to dance only latin
later, when he started dancing with Anna..
Professional Latin dancers. Represent Russia - see their
results page
How did you get together?
Dmitri: At one of the national championships, I danced with another
partner, an ex-partner. We won, and I met Anna. I needed to change partner,
because she was taller than me - though we were still winning. I liked Anna's
personality, the way she moved and the way she acted. I met her again, at some
other championships, and we talked to her teachers, and we talked to my
teachers, and they talked to her parents, and after a lot of talking, we went
to hers...
Anna: Actually, my parents were asked if they would allow me to, at 13
years-old, so it's quite an early age, and of course they refused, they said it
was too early...
Dmitri: But we just ignored that...
Anna: That's right, and they came to my place, Dmitri and his trainers.
I'd just come back from school, and I saw them talking to my parents. It took
two days of conversation for me - well, not me, for my parents, basically it
was decided for me already. They asked me if I wanted to, and of course I said
"yeah, yeah!" I had seen Dmitri on the floor with his ex-partner, and I was so
surprised, because at this time, dancing was not so popular in Russia. I mean,
it was popular; it was just the beginning of what it is now. The guys used to
be not so emotional, not so plastic, they used to be more... not shy, but
restricted, in a way, in their emotions, in their way of dance, and Dmitri
stood out from all of them. He was so emotional, so good to look at. So, we had
a try out, and I moved to his place after two days.
Opinions, views....
What do you think about the popularity of dancing?
Anna: Humans have danced since the beginning of human history, so we've
always danced, and dancing has changed over time. Ballroom dancing is a
combination of art and sport... maybe a sport, it's not really a sport, like
ballet is not a sport - but it takes so much practise an so much hard work that
you can compare it with sports. I think that it will come back in Europe,
because it is like a wave, so I just hope that dancing will take another turn
in Europe. In England for instance, our friends organise some good
competitions, like Crystal Palace [in May - Ed]. They are not British,
but they've lived here for a long time, and they do their best for dancing here
in England. We've been talking to them, and they think that from year to year,
they find more people who want to dance. At first, when people hear about
dancing they think its for older people, they think it's not fashionable, not
interesting at all, but when they see it at a competition, they say, "wow, what
a great thing!", and they start to write about it in newspapers and everything.
So, I think it's getting there.
Dmitri: What you said was completely right. People who were not born
here but live here, try to re-popularise ballroom dancing in England.
Anna: So we're just missing some enthusiasm.
Dmitri: In general, it depends on the people, it depends on us, how we
show, how we develop dancing.
Anna: Is it going to be interesting for the audience to come to watch?
Is it going to be in good taste?
Dmitri: It all depends on the good dancers, if the people like it then
it will improve, they will want to do it too.
So what do you think about shows such as Strictly Come Dancing [BBC TV program]?
Anna : We've heard about it, but we don't know what to think
about it. It doesn't look like it's got the same respect for dancing as we do.
We've been in many Russian TV programs, and they tried to show us like we are
talking now, while Strictly Come Dancing doesn't look like they care about it,
it just looks like they'd found a new thing to make fun of. But maybe it's
good, because sometimes you need to go to a lower level, I don't know where
it's going to go. For the popular viewers, it should look more relaxed, more
fun, easier than showing, for example, our lessons. It could be good. I don't
know how people will react.
Dmitri: It's also very active, so people will come for fun, activity,
and to free themselves up a bit
Anna : And maybe that will be followed by programs in better taste.
What do you use computers for?
Anna : E-mail the most! Computers have become best friends for
travellers like us, because you need to organise so many things, rent a car,
organise the tickets, etc.
How does your personal relationship relate to dancing?
Anna: We're best friends, really close to each other
Dmitri: We care for each other. We talk about dancing, we talk about
anything really, music, costumes, about things that are related to dancing and
those that are not. We care for each other in the things that are outside of
dancing. We're like, the best people on the earth for each other.
Anna: I would say that, for dancing, we are a team.
Dmitri: Not only in dancing, in my life, I don't have a better person.
Are you a couple, romantically?
Anna:No, we're just friends
Dmitri: We aren't romantically, no!
What is in your opinion the best country to dance in?
Anna: I guess the best country for you to dance for is the one you were
born in, because it's your culture, it's your power, you know, your energy. We
love our country, even though we have many difficulties, like any other country
it has its problems; we have problems getting a visa to another place.
Especially, I guess, when you're going to the US?
Anna: No, it's anywhere, because we're very tight with time.
Dmitri: Because we travel a lot, we don't really have a problem in
getting a visa, but we still need the time for it, and when we are away, we
can't get visas for all the countries we need to go to next.
And which country do you like dancing in? And which competitions do
you like most?
Dmitri: I like every country.
Anna : Me too, travelling is the best thing. We're young, we get to
travel a lot, getting to know things, you get to meet people.
Dmitri: I think, that when you like to dance, it doesn't matter where. I
can dance in the studio, I just like doing it. And the performance... when
there are people that want to watch it, you go there, and it doesn't matter
which hall you're in.
Anna: It does matter for me, because I think that each competition has
its own atmosphere, but it's usually nearly the same every year, you get used
to it, so you know for example what to expect from Albert Hall or what to
expect from Blackpool, in a way. It's a different atmosphere for each, and
there are some great competitions in German or Japan. It depends very much
on who organises it.
Dmitri: I agree, it's a different atmosphere with all the music and
lighting, but i like to perform in every atmosphere, so it doesn't change my
desire to perform.
What would you do in life if you weren't dancing?
Dmitri: [Long pause...] Difficult question
Anna: Yeah, difficult question. I would say that we both like different
kinds of sports, but we have to stay away from dangerous sports, like skiing or
something, to stay away from any possible damage, or like horses. I'd like to
play the piano, that's my second love.
Dmitri: I've never thought about it, I've only ever concentrated on
dancing, since childhood. I did some sports, at University...
Anna: Me too, I've never wanted to do anything else but dancing.
Personality....
What is your favourite dance?
Dmitri: All the dances that we do, we love. When you dance you don't
chose your... 'un-lovely' dance, and still do it.
Anna: It's very childish.
Dmitri: Or if you don't like to do something, you find in it things to
make yourself love it
Anna: It comes with the knowledge, when you know where it came from and
the history of it, and the music
So what is your favourite ballroom dance?
Anna: I like very much the tango and quickstep. But it depends on who's
performing it - I love to watch Foxtrot
Dmitri: The only thing I don't like is the Viennese Waltz, it's boring,
it's not really anything special.
Anna: You mean like at a competition? Because I think it looks great in
Vienna
Dmitri: Yes, but not at a competition. It's too sweet for me, it hasn't
got any character. Waltz can be brilliant, deep...
Anna: ..especially if it's slow...
Dmitri: ...Tango is really great, as are Foxtrot, and Quickstep
What is your biggest dream?
Anna : Be happy, as much as possible, each single day
Dmitri: [long pause]. I quite agree. To be more satisfied with
what you do, to enjoy to positives of life, no matter how much stress there is,
or how many or bad things come into your life, there are always good things
about it. Even if you are in bad mood, then get rid of it.
So very optimistic! What is your biggest nightmare?
Dmitri: We think about the Russian saying - don't be afraid, don't ask
and don't trust.
Anna: It's hard to translate. It sort of means: don't expect anyone to
give you things for free.
Dmitri: Don't expect things to come down from heaven.
What are you afraid of?
Anna : I can't think of anything.
Dmitri: Maybe I just never met this animal! [Laughs ]
Anna: Come to think of it, I don't normally watch horror movies; I
don't like that, because I'm too emotional, so it goes to my head. I like to
watch movies to watch them, not to get scared. Some people aren't as sensitive,
so they watch it and they don't care, but I get drawn into it too much.
Your favourite food?
Anna: Chinese, definitely.
Dmitri : Japanese, I love Japanese, and I love fried potatoes, with
mushrooms.
Anna: But Russian style.
Dmitri: Homemade, boiled and then fried.
Anna: It's best when his mom does it. We like some Russian cooking, but
sometimes it's a bit too heavy
Dmitri: I like pancakes
Any food you hate?
Anna: I can't take spicy food. I just don't like it, like Thai food, or
curry.
Any strange food you've tried?
Dmitri: Yes, we did, in Malaysia, we ate some fruit that made me sick.
Anna: It smelt horrible! We were told to try it, because you either love
it or you hate it, and it was disgusting! [they are talking
about durian, the infamous tropical fruit, banned in hotels and
public transportation because of its foul odour - Ed.]
Dmitri: I couldn't chew it, I just spat it out..
What is your favourite pet?
Anna : I can't have one at the moment, because we're travelling all the
time. I'd like one very much though, like a cat or a dog - maybe a cat, because
it's less work! But at the moment, no kids, no pets!
Dmitri: I'd like both a cat and a dog.
Anna: Once, when i lived in Tiumen, we had at home: a cat, a turtle, a
bird and four differemt kinds of fishes. Once, my uncle told me he'd get me a
snake, and he said it would shed its skin, and my mother said, "I'm gonna kick
you up the..."!!
Dmitri: I think that I could have both a cat and a dog, because I think
that they can be balanced.
Anna: If I had a cat, I would like to have one of those British ones,
short haired but still nice, grey-blue fluffy cats with big brown eyes, but
only if they have a nice character. Some cats are beautiful, but they can
be very angry, and I don't like that.
What is your favourite hobby?
Anna : Reading and playing the piano... and tennis
Dmitri: Cars. Driving them. Especially go-karts. I love my bmw 700. I
drove a Ferrari and a Porsche too, and it was great, but I didn't have much
time or experience, or space in the city, and it's not very good to drive a
Ferrari in the city
Your nicest memory?
Anna: A lot...
Dmitri: My nicest memory is winning the International for the first
time, this was our greatest win, because we only got to the 24 before...
Anna: For three years, we couldn't get in the semi final
Dmitri: And the next year [year 2000 - Ed.] we won it.
Anna: That was the greatest feeling ever!
Partnership....
What is your partner's biggest virtue and biggest flaw?
Anna : I admire a lot of things in him. I'm very lucky to have met this
guy, because our purpose and values are the same, and that's very important.
Even if we quarrel or fight we can come to a compromise. I also like how I can
trust him, and I feel that he cares about me, and I really love that, because
when you travel, we have different situations in life, so we have had some
different experiences, of different situations, but he never gave me up. What
sometimes makes me angry is that he thinks slowly! [Laughs] but
that's not always. But once he gets there he stays there. I think quicker, I
think, because my star sign is Libra.
Dmitri: While I'm Taurus
Anna: But because we've danced together for 13 years...
Dmitri: And we've know each other since childhood, and through youth and
adult...
Anna: Nothing really annoys me. Say if we stay in one room or something,
like if you stay in one room with someone then simple things annoy you, but
with Dmitri there's nothing because I've got used to it - but we still use two
rooms, just for comfort.
Dmitri: I just like that she is so beautiful, and has a great character.
She's smart, she's [long pause] a quicker thinker than me, so I
listen to her opinion very much, and it takes me longer to understand
Anna: I wouldn't say it's to understand, I'd say it's to decide for
yourself. But in a way that's good, because sometimes, I make quick decisions,
which are wrong, while he thinks about things for longer.
Dmitri: As for bad things, sometimes she thinks too quickly or too much.
It's both good and bad.
What is your biggest virtue and biggest flaw?
Anna: That's a bit private [Laughs]! I would say that I'm a very
detailed person, which is both good and bad. [long pause]
Dmitri: I can only say bad things about myself.
Anna: I'd be the opposite, I'd say we love ourselves [Laughs]!!
I'm completely satisfied! I'm just joking.
Dmitri: I enjoy what I do, but I'm not satisfied completely with myself,
because I don't like it when it's not perfect, I want to go more and more,
higher and higher in everything that I do, every single thing
Anna: I'm a perfectionist, I want everything the best or not at all.
Dmitri is much more flexible than me, because I'm more emotional, and that's
the biggest difficulty for me.
Passion....
What was your biggest argument about?
Anna: Mostly about dancing
Dmitri: That's it [Laughs]
Do you often fight?
Anna: Yeah, quite often, but it doesn't stop the process.
Dmitri: It's an emotional process, but dancing in the end is
emotion, so if we feel differently, it relates to dancing, and makes us have
different body language.
Friendship....
What is most important for you in friendship?
Dmitri: Respect
Anna: Respect and honesty
Are your best friends dancers as well?
Anna: My best friend is Dmitri, another one is a girl who used to dance.
Through our dancing life we meet different people. Of course, when you spend
time with them, you get to know them better. Our teachers too are our friends,
as we grow up, we find out that it's possible, and very nice.
Dmitri: Teachers that you believe in.
Anna: They're close people to us.
Dmitri: They can't really be friends, because they're teachers, but on
the other hand, I've found that they're even closer than a friend.
Anna: Sometimes they give you a hard time, but they are friends.
You also teach, don't you? Do you try to be friends with your
students?
Anna : It's difficult to find a balance. I would say yeah, but it's only
possible if both sides understand that the floor is separate from their private
lives. I wouldn't say I have many friends in dancing, but we respect all
competitors.
Dmitri: I think almost all relationships based on respect stay, you
don't have to be friends.
Anna: I would say that, even though there have been discussions that
dancers are horrible to each other, I don't agree. We find that in finals, all
the people on the top level of their profession understand that everyone works
just as hard, and everyone has good or bad moments, and sometimes you're more
lucky than other, so we don't have any enemies. Some people think that because
you fight hard on the floor, you're not going to talk to each other off it, but
that's not true at all. We would say 'congratulations', and we get the same. I
can't say that anyone has been rude to us.
Dmitri: If you do make the first step to somebody, they will answer.
Anna: Not always, it depends on the person, but there are a lot of good
people in dancing.
Dmitri: I've never met anyone who wouldn't be friendly if I was
friendly to them, no matter if we win or lose, I say well done, and they do the
same to me.
Have you got time for friends and activities other than dancing?
Anna: Oh yeah [Laughs]! We try our best!
Fun, holidays, relaxation....
What do you like doing for fun?
Anna: Again, sport. We like active rest
Dmitri: Parties are OK
Anna: Discos aren't a major thing though.
Dmitri : It depends on the company. With good company, it doesn't
matter what you do.
What is your favourite book or film?
Anna: I have many books that I really love, from different periods. I
like classic Russian books, like Dostoyevsky, or Tolstoy. And I love this one
small book called "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", by Richard Bach. As for films,
I like lots of films, especially old Russian movies, they're so deep and pure.
Dmitri: For example, "Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears" [A Russian film
from 1999 - Ed.].
Anna: We're lucky to be Russians, because we have so many great people
in our history, such as musicians, dancers, singers, actors, and it inspirers
us to be creative.
Dmitri: Especially when we have such a great teacher as Donnie!
Could you describe your dream holidays?
Anna: I just came back from one! It depends on your mood, sometimes you
just need to relax, sometimes you just need one day out of the city, you go
into nature, in the forest, walking with friends
Dmitri: I'd like to be on the moon once, just for one day, just like
that.
Have you got time for holidays?
Anna: We used to not have time for holidays, but now we are learning how
to organise our life, and make time. It's all about organising your life, you
can put yourself in a situation where you're working, working, working, then
one day your body just says, "No!" [Laughs].
Dmitri: Sometimes you just need a holiday.
Anna: Then you get in a deeper problem, because it will take more time
to recover from the stress and everything, so it's a good idea to find a
balance. It's not always possible, but we try to find time
You compete abroad a lot � do you also try to make a holiday out of
it?
Dmitri: No not really, because it keeps going on and on, for example if
you go to a competition, we try to come back home the next day, because there's
something on the next day; we either practice, or get ready for a
demonstration, or teach, or just have a day off. We don't normally stay after
the competition.
Anna: You know what he does? When we flew from Japan or America, the
first thing Dmitri does is go to the gym, straight from the airport. But we've
found it helps to practice a bit just after flying. It's hard to push yourself,
but it helps...
Dmitri: It helps to get your body in good condition. If you just warm
up, or a little physical exercise, a little practice. It helps with jet lag
too. If you come there and practice a little bit, jet lag will go.
Are you happy to try foreign, exotic food?
Anna : I'm not so happy to try things that I don't know - I like to
keep safe with food, I like to stay with what I like and I know.
But you like Chinese?
Anna : Yeah, but they have a lot of vegetables, they have chicken, they
have fish, they don't have any strange things! I just like simple things.
Future...
Plans for the future?
Anna : That's a secret [Laughs]. Just watch us.
Thank you very much and good luck for the future!