| Aliona Vilani | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 May 1984 [1] Kazakhstan |
| Residence | Los Angeles, United States |
| Occupation | Ballroom dancer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Height | 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) |
Aliona Vilani (Russian: Алёна Вилани; born 1 May 1984) is a Russian-Kazakhstani professional dancer. She describes herself as the "pussycat" of the dancing world.[2]
Vilani started learning ballet when she was five years old, and moved to Russia to learn ballroom dancing at age 11.
In 1997, aged 13, she moved to the United States and joined the Kaiser Dance Academy in Brooklyn, New York. In 2001 she was part of the US Ballroom team for the National Dance Congress that won the Amateur Ballroom category.
After the competition ended, she turned professional, and remains the youngest dancer in the US to have done so. Since 2006, she has lived in Los Angeles where she competes, performs and teaches. Her speciality is 10 Dance, although she is specially skilled in Salsa, Hip Hop and Jazz. On 14 April 2009 she appeared as a guest dancer on Dancing with the Stars in Hollywood.
Vilani first participated in series 7 in 2009, where she partnered Rav Wilding: they were eliminated in week 3 following a dance-off with actress Lynda Bellingham and her dance partner.[3]
In 2010 she appeared for the first time on the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour where she partnered actor Ricky Groves. They danced the American Smooth and the Paso Doble. She also partnered Matthew Cutler in the professional dances. In April 2010 rehearsals started for the Strictly Come Dancing Professionals Tour in which she partnered Matthew Cutler & two weeks later the opening night started the 12-week spectacular. The show went to Brighton, Birmingham, Dublin, Cardiff, Leicester, Southampton, Plymouth, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Hammersmith & Bournemouth.
Vilani was runner up in the 2010 series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with Matt Baker.[4] She returned in 2011 for the 9th series of the show, where she and partner Harry Judd of pop-rock band McFly went on to win the competition, beating Chelsee Healey in the public vote, but also in the eyes of the judges.[5]
| Preceded by Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev |
Strictly Come Dancing Champion (with partner Harry Judd) Series 9 (2011) |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe |
Strictly Come Dancing runner up (with partner Matt Baker) Series 8 (2010) |
Succeeded by Chelsee Healey and Pasha Kovalev |
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