Wiktoria Wojnarowska and Janek Wasilewski have been a dance pair for three years and are spectacularly successful. They are the champions of the Polish Children and Juniors Federation of Sports Dance 2019, and they they also received scholarships from the mayors of the cities of Gdańsk and Sopot for outstanding talents.
Janek noticed Wictoria at training. Despite the fact that the girl already had a partner, he felt that together they could create magic on the dance floor. He did not have the courage to ask Victoria directly if she would like to start dancing with him, so he enlisted his mother's help. As you can see, his mother talked to her mother and for three years Wiktoria and Janek have been a very well-coordinated dance pair, achieving impressive successes.
'This proposal interested me because at that time I was dancing with a partner four years older,' says Wiktoria Wojnarowska. In practice, this means that if I had stayed with my former partner, today, despite the fact that I am 12 years old, I would have to dance in the age category over 15 years, i.e. I would compete with more experienced dancers.'
In dance competitions, there are classes that are awarded according to the level of advancement of the competitiors. The lowest class, from which all children start, is marked with the letter "H". The highest class in Poland is assigned the letter "A", while the class "S" is the highest, awarded in competitive dance, international class.
Wiktoria was distinguished by her abilities compared to other children, so she originally danced with her older partner. In 2016, when she started training with Janek, she had class "D" and Janek "F", which was two categories above. She took a chance, started dancing with Janek and soon it turned out that she had made the right decision.
The beginnings were not easy. Janek was so shy in front of Victoria that during the training the couple did not talk to each other at all. They danced together but nothing else. It took them four months to make the breakthrough. They trained every other day. Their hard work began to pay off. Currently, Wiktoria and Janek have the "B" dance class, which is the highest possible class they can have in their 12-13 age category.
'Children at the age of Janek and Victoria are usually class E, D or C,' says Anna Wojnarowska, mother of Wictoria. 'There are a few couples like Janek and Wiktoria who have such a high dance class all over Poland.'
The meeting with the young dancers, where they told about their passion and successes, took place at the Wojnarowski's home. In Victoria's small room, 57 trophies can be found. Little by little there is not enough space there for more trophies, and it is more than certain that more will be on the way. Janek's room looks the same. Wiktoria has made 75 tournaments, Janek 55. It's difficult to list all the successes of this extraordinary pair. For example, this year alone they can boast winning third place in the International Baltic Cup Tournament, where as the only Polish pair, among 23 competing pairs, they stood on the winners' podium. In the Northern Poland Championships, which took place in April this year, Wiktoria and Janek won first place in both standard and Latin American dances. In December last year they won the Pomeranian District Championships, also in standard and Latin American dances. They will defend this title soon during the tournament which will take place in Wejherowo. Their last trophies were won at the Polish Championships of Children and Juniors of the Federation of Sports Dance 2019. In the tournament, in which 24 pairs took part, Wiktoria and Janek took third place.
Wiktoria started dancing because her friend inspired her. Janek already had a dancing brother in the family, and at the instigation of his mother, he also decided to check if he would catch a dance bug.
'The first few years were running around the room and putting legs,' says Janek. 'Then the tournaments began, and hard work with them.'
Wiktoria and Janek devote about 7-8 hours a week to their training. Sometimes you have to give up lessons, social gatherings, it is not easy to reconcile dance with the life of a teenager and student. It also happens that they go for a two-hour training to Elbląg or Warsaw. Originally they participated in tournaments that took place in Pomerania. Now, during one weekend they can complete two tournaments, e.g. in Wrocław and Łódź. As they admit, this passion gives them a lot of satisfaction, but also requires a lot of time, money, and commitment, not only theirs but also their parents' commimitment, because without their dedication, there would not be so many successes.
'First of all, it can be said that I became addicted to dance, and secondly, dancing is a great pleasure for me,' says Wiktoria. 'I have many friends from dances, I have Janek, we get along very well. I can't imagine that I would stop dancing, also because tournaments give me a lot of emotions. Stress mixed with adrenaline is what I love.'
'For me, dance is a release of emotions,' explains Janek. 'I became more open thanks to dancing.'
However, not everyone can enjoy the successes of young dancers. When their peers hang out after school, these young dancers rush to pracitice or to the dressmaker. They don't have much time for socializing. When they are praised, or when they are absent from school because they returned in the middle of the night from the next tournament and need regeneration, they do not always find understanding and support among their colleagues. It's hard for them, but they are sure that what they do makes sense. Wiktoria knows that dance is not only her passion, but also a way of life.
'I talked with my parents about our plans to open a dance club that I would run,' says Wiktoria.
Janek is concerned about whether dance is an occupation that will give him financial stability in the future.
'I don't know if it is possible to make a living from dancing, but I know that I would like to continue this passion,' says Janek.
When asked about others ways of making a living, Janek replied that he would like to become an actor or work in special services. If it turns out that it is impossible to open a club, Victoria would like to become a plastic surgeon or orthodontist.
In November this year Wictoria and Janek received some good news. Both were awarded one-off scholarships in the "outstanding talent" category. For Victoria, this scholarship in the amount of 2 thousand PLN was granted by the President of Gdańsk. For Janek a scholarship in the amount of 1.5 thousand PLN was granted by the president of Sopot.
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