Aliona Vilani
| Aliona Vilani | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Aliona Valeriya Vilani 1 May 1984 Kazakhstan |
| Residence | Florida, United States |
| Occupation | Professional Dancer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| Spouse(s) | Vincent Kavanagh (m. 2014) |
Aliona Valeriya Kavanagh (née Vilani on 1 May 1984, Russian: Алёна Валерия Вилани) is a Russian-Kazakh professional dancer.
Vilani started learning ballet when she was five years old. She moved to Russia with her parents at age 9 and started ballroom dancing at age 11, continuing ballet.
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.
Vilani turned professional at the age of 17, making her the youngest dancer in the US to have done so. Since 2006, she has lived in Los Angeles where she competed, performed and coached. Her speciality is 10 Dance, she is also skilled in Salsa, Hip Hop and Jazz.
In 2008–2009 she starred in Dancing with the Stars Arena Tour in the U.S.
In 2009 she appeared three times as a guest professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars in Hollywood.
In 2014 Vilani was featured in theatre show Licence to Thrill as the lead female dancer.
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 Darren Bennett.
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 tour.
...
Wikipedia