Arunas Bizokas and Edita Daniute
from Lithuania
We met Arunas and Edita in Blackpool in
May 2005, on the day of their competition. It was so busy and noisy but eventually we found a quiet place. Because of all the troubles we forgot to take their pictures eventually!
Who are they?
Edita Daniute (from Lithuania)
I started dancing when I was 8 - ballroom, and I did some ballet.
Arunas Bizokas (from Lithuania) I started dancing when I was 7 years old. In Lithuania, when you go to secondary school, there are all kinds of sports clubs; so you can do basketball, football, and one of the choices was dancing. When I went to school, I started dancing - thought it was not my idea as much as it was my mother's. She wanted me to dance
Amateur Ballroom dancers. Represent Lithuania - see their
results page
How did they get together?
Arunas: We started dancing together at a summer training camp in Lithuania. I think it was 1991. We'd seen each other before, but we'd been with different partners. We were just kids then, 13 or 14, and she asked her teacher for a new partner, but she liked me. So, our coaches put us together, and I was very happy, because I liked Edita very much, and it's proved to be a successful partnership
Opinions, views....
What do you think about the popularity of dancing?
Arunas: It's definitely different in different countries I guess
Edita: It's very popular in Lithuania.
Do you think the popularity of dancing is declining, growing, or
staying the same?
Arunas:It's less popular than it used to be. I remember when we were still juniors, the world championship was a very full competition, while now it's just straight finals or semi-finals. The amount of couples is decreasing, in Lithuania. On the other hand, more people are dancing socially
Edita: Especially in London, because of programmes such as "Strictly Come Dancing".
Arunas: I heard that social dance studios have benefited from it, some stating a 40% increase in income
Edita: It's very good for social.
Arunas: Maybe it will develop, because people will start to get to know it better, and children will start dancing in competitions.
Do you believe that Amateur dancers can really be called amateurs
Edita: I think it's become more of an age group. You go from Junior to Youth to Amateur to Professional. It's good for dancing, but it's not really for amateurs
Arunas: Most of us teach now, we do demonstrations and we go to comps with prize money, so we're not really amateurs, you can't say we're not earning anything. I mean everything we earn we put back in our dancing, but we still earn it.
Do you do believe that amateurs should be allowed to teach
Edita: Yeah!
Arunas: In most cases they are now. Not in England, though it has been relaxed recently. I don't think it's good to forbid it, but then again the professionals do have to protect their business. But I don't want to get too political
Edita: We can teach in Lithuania, so we don't really care [laughs].
Arunas: But it does seem that the countries which do allow it have the better amateur couples � Russia and Italy for example. England does have good professionals though.
How does your personal relationship influence your dancing?
Arunas: Well, in any work you do, in our case a creative and artistic and also a very demanding activity, two people have to get on very well to achieve some sort of success, so we try to work together as a team, and it's not easy sometimes, but we try to do our best
What is in your opinion the best place or country to dance in?
Edita: I would say that Blackpool, because it's so important for every dancer. Also, in your own country, when you get your home's support, it's also very nice to dance. Like the World Championship was amazing � we were in the 24 and the whole place was shouting our names. It was really amazing, it's hard to describe. There's something inside you that makes you feel like you can do anything.
Arunas: It's a really uplifting experience. It's pressure in a way, but it's uplifting.
Edita: It was more pressure before, like it was going to be people asking us, "Are you gonna win?" and, "How have you prepared?", because the expectations are high, but when we got there it was really amazing.
Do you think that your dancing yesterday was the best it could have been? Or do you think you could have done better?
Arunas: You can always do better.
Edita: If you think that you've done all you can, then you should stop dancing.
Arunas: When we danced, we were giving everything we could, but after that there were of course things that we could have done better, and of course we'll be working on that and will be improving our dancing, so that we can give better performances in the future. As long as you compete I think you have to do that, otherwise it becomes pointless
Whenever people tell you that you had danced well, do you also usually feel that you had danced well?
Edita: Generally, I've noticed that when people tell us that we danced well, I feel that we had danced well. I never get in a situation where someone tells us it didn't look good when we thought it did. This is my personal experience, I don't know about Arunas...
Arunas: Sometimes, I feel that everything is going more or less the way I wanted it to go, but I'm still not satisfied, and even though people compliment us or we win, I feel that we had not done our best
What would you like to do if you were not dancing?
Edita: Well, many things, there's many opportunities in life. What I wanted to do is I wanted to be a lawyer, but when I got to university everyone told me it would be too hard, because you have to dedicate your whole life to it. So if I were not dancing, I'd like to do that instead
Arunas: When I was in secondary school, in the last class, I had to choose what university to go to. I was actually preparing to enter a course in Architectural Studies, and I was doing some courses to help in that, drawing and all that. But then, dancing was going really well � we'd been Third in the Youth World Championship and Second in the Blackpool Under 21, so after that I thought that I should concentrate even more on dancing, so I entered a physical education academy, and there I could have an education, but also study dance. But if we had not been so successful, I probably would have studied architecture.
Edita: Of course, when I was a child, I wanted to be a ballet dancer. But, when I saw a ballet school, I realised that the education there was pretty low level, and everything was focused on the ballet. Since I was getting pretty good marks at school, I didn't want to lose that, and I wanted to go on to a good university. Also, the teacher was really strict � she would really shout at us, and it was a really strict ballet school in general. Dancing was more fun [laughs]. It was an important thing for a child. So I started dancing instead of ballet because it was strict and because of the low education level.
Personality....
What is your favourite dance?
Edita : Waltz probably
Arunas: It changes � sometimes Waltz, sometimes Foxtrot, sometimes Quickstep. Tango was for a very short time, for both of us
Edita: We were getting good marks in it [laughs].
Arunas: Yes, but I like them all, and though sometimes one becomes preferred over the others, we don't have dances that we hate.
Edita: Mine is the Waltz because it's emotional, and if I had to do a one-dance show, then I'd do the Waltz.
What is your favourite latin dance?
Edita: Rumba is my most favourite to watch
Arunas: I like all of them. They're very different, in their character and tempo, but I like them all
What is your biggest dream?
Edita: Well, naturally to become world champion � even better if it's a professional world championship, but that's the goal for the future. Right now we have the closer goal of becoming the Amateur world champion.
What is your biggest nightmare?
Edita: I used to have these two awful nightmares before a competition. One was that I was not ready in time � my hair and my makeup, and the other is that when I'm dancing on the floor, it's like stairs � it's not even, and I remember those two really clearly
What are you afraid of?
Arunas: I'm a bit afraid of heights actually. When I'm somewhere high, like the Eiffel tower, even the Blackpool tower, I want to get down because I don't feel safe, I'd rather there was some glass or something, not an open space
Edita: I'm a little bit claustrophobic. When we have to get somewhere, and I'm stuck in a little car, I can get a little claustrophobic. It's not very strong, like not being able to get into an elevator or something, but I do have a slight fear like that
Arunas: Yeah, I get a little claustrophobic too!
Your favourite food?
Arunas: I like to try many different types of food � there are some things I do like especially, like sushi... [we also like sushi very much!! - Ed.]
Edita: Yes, sushi's good. We're not like some people, who go to Asia and then look for an European restaurant, but we like to try. Not too spicy though, neither of us likes it too spicy
Any food you hate?
Arunas: I don't like Indian food too much, because they put in too much curry and the flavour isn't for me.
Edita: Also, the spices.
Arunas: I definitely don't like Indian spices!
What is your favourite pet?
Edita: It's a dog - my dream dog would be a Scottish Terrier. I want to get it very much but it would mean that I'd have to take it everywhere, and that's just not possible. That's why I don't have a dog
Arunas: Mine is also a dog, but it's impossible to have one
What is your favourite hobby, apart from dancing of course?
Edita: I like reading books very much, when I have time � like on the plane; it's the one hobby I can have on the plane.
Arunas: I don't have a hobby like collecting stamps or anything � I like to spend my free time just reading, watching movies, relaxing in general
Edita: I used to play the piano, which I learned at school, when I lived with my parents, but the piano stayed at theirs and I don't have a piano anymore. It's a shame really.
Your nicest memory?
Edita: Mine would probably be when we won the UK Rising Stars � thinking about dancing that is.
Arunas: Mine would be when we first got into the final in Blackpool, and we were second in Europe, because we didn't expect it. We worked hard, but we had already achieved our goals, so we weren't expecting it making it all the better. All our other successes we were pleased and satisfied with, but this one was special.
What is your partner's biggest virtue and biggest flaw?
Arunas: Well, she's...
Edita: think we can leave that!! [laughs]
Arunas: [laughs] I mean, her biggest virtue is that she is so good at everything she does!
Edita: Thank you! [laughs]
Arunas: But sometimes she wants to be too good, and she can create some problems
Edita: I think he has the most beautiful, god-given hold, with the head and shoulders, but his biggest fault would be that sometimes he can be too cold, in dancing.
What is your biggest virtue and biggest flaw?
Arunas: I think my biggest virtue is that I don't give up what things get difficult, and when some people would stop, I continue. My biggest flaw would be that, though I don't give up, I get bored, and then it's difficult to get joy from what I do. That's what stops me from enjoying some things. So even if I continue doing some things, I sometimes don't get as much from them as I maybe should.
Edita: My biggest problem is that I'm too emotional, and I react to things too much � I have to be calm. Also, when something goes wrong, I react too much, like if we get bad results or something, my world collapses because I'm too emotional. But, my biggest virtue would be the same things, because I'm emotional and so very expressive when on the floor.
Passion....
Do you fight often?
Edita: Yes, though not more than other dancers do!
Friendship....
What is most important for you in friendship?
Edita : Generally? I'd say honesty. Even if it hurts them, being able to say the true to somebody, and you always expect the truth from a friend.
Are your best friends dancers as well?
Edita: I have very good friends both in the dancing world and outside it, like form the university.
Arunas: Some of my friends are dancers, and some were dancers but stopped. But most of my close friends are one of the two.
Your dancers friends � are they Ballroom or Latin dancers? And if they're Ballroom dancers, do you find it disturbs your friendship when you compete against them?
Edita: It doesn't disturb me, and I wouldn't say that I have more Latin dancer friends.
Arunas: I've never actually thought about it.
Have you got time for friends and activities other than dancing?
Arunas: We don't have much time for that, and it takes time to keep relationships, especially if they're not dancers. We travel a lot, and we don't stay much in one place, so it takes much time and effort to keep those friendships
Edita: For me, the easiest thing to use is the Messenger service, because all my friends have it and use it. Sometimes, when I'm in London, I wake up an hour early to talk to them, because of the time difference.
Fun, holidays, relaxation....
What do you like to do for fun?
Edita: Go rent a nice movie, lie down on my bed, and do nothing [laughs].
So you wouldn't consider going to the disco as fun?
Edita: It's another kind of fun, but it's a different kind of fun, and I sometimes don't have the strength or energy to go.
Arunas: It is fun as well, yeah.
What is your favourite book or film?
Arunas : One film, which I liked the second time I watched it, was "What Women Want" [comedy with Mel Gibson - Ed.]
Edita: My favourite film is "Autumn Falls" with Brad Pitt. As for a book, I read "The Da Vinci Code" recently, and I know it's popular and all that, but I liked it. I read "Angels and Demons" as well, but it wasn't as good. Maybe that's because I read "The Da Vinci Code" first, and "Angels and Demons" was similar to it but worse.
Did you try to solve Dan Brown's puzzle on the Internet?
Edita: No, did you?.
Yeah, I went through it. You go to some place originally and it points you to different things...
Edita: Wow, so cool. I didn't do that!
I don't understand people who complain that it's against their religion, it's just a fantasy...
Edita: You get so excited when you're reading that book, you can't wait till you get somewhere and solve the puzzle, you're like "Really, I understand that!" � maybe because I was also interested in mathematics in school. In the Da Vinci Code, it had the Fibonacci sequence, and I was thinking "Wow, I'm getting this, this is so cool". The difference between a good book and a bad book is that I can finish a good book in two days, but if I try to read a bad book, then I fall asleep!
Arunas: For the past few years, I haven't had time to read much. Most of what I read is on psychology, because that was what I studied, and now I read popular psychology. It's very interesting, for example one called "How to make friends". It was more based on observation � you read it and you thought to yourself "Wow, yeah, I knew that".
Edita: I like to take books to competitions � it helps to take your mind off them, and to pass the time during long breaks.
So you don't practise before dancing?
Edita: No, we don't practise at all before a competition
Arunas: You need to warm up, but it's a waste of energy if you get too tired and then can't actually perform as well on the competition. We warm up a bit, do a bit of stretching, and we're ready then.
Could you describe your dream holidays?
Edita: I would love to go to somewhere like in the movie "The Beach", in Thailand or somewhere like that. Except just like it was in the beginning, the beginning was wonderful
Arunas: I think I would like to go on a cruise, for quite a long time, visiting places like Egypt, Greece, Africa, Spain, the Atlantic Ocean, visiting the Americas, maybe even Australia. Although we travel a lot, we don't travel like tourists � we don't go to museums or do sightseeing, we just go for a competition and we don't have time for anything else.
How much do you train/learn/practice a week - or even a day?
Arunas: It really depends � like when we're in London, we spend nearly all day on lessons and practice. I'd say at least five hours practice every day. In Lithuania we usually do about two a day
Edita: It's not like normal work, where you say you're going to work from say 8-10. It's creative work. Of course, you still do have to come in, but it really depends.
Have you got time for holidays?
Edita: In summer we have about two weeks. Just once a year
Arunas: Well, Christmas time we take Sundays off, and maybe a week at most.
Edita: We don't go anywhere, we don't have the time. We just take time off practice.
Future...
What do you think of computers and their use for dancers?
Edita: Wonderful!
Arunas: They make things much easier � you can get information about events whatever country you're from, all the results, like your site has results straight after a competition. Having competitions advertised is very convenient. Keeping in touch with people is good as well, over email
Edita: Making music for shows...
Arunas: They changed our life tremendously!
Thank you very much and good luck for the future!