Dantes revealed which activities he chose as a child instead of karate
Vladimir Dantes, a rising Ukrainian entertainer and singer, took ballroom dance and vocal lessons as a child. At the same time, he admitted that for a very long time he was embarrassed by his hobbies.
Singer and TV host Volodymyr Dantes recalled the unexpected hobbies of his childhood. While many of his peers were practicing karate, judo, and sambo, the future star of the Ukrainian stage was mastering vocals and ballroom dancing. As the artist revealed during the filming of the show “Who’s on Top?” on Novy Channel, his mother was largely the one who encouraged him to take up these activities. Dantes himself had no idea at the time that the skills he was embarrassed by as a child would later prove useful in his career.
“I don’t know what life and my mom were preparing me for”: Volodymyr Dantes on his childhood
Dantes said that as a child, he differed from many of the boys around him in his choice of extracurricular activities. Instead of martial arts, he took voice lessons and learned to dance. The future artist felt particularly self-conscious about the prospect of competing in a real dance competition. However, his mother, Maria Oleksiyivna, insisted that her son not quit his lessons prematurely.
“Back when everyone else was taking karate, judo, and sambo, I was taking vocal and ballroom dance lessons. I don’t know what life and my mom were preparing me for. Although, it seems like it was for all of this that’s happening to me now! But back then, as a kid, I was shy for a very long time. Especially when she said, ‘Vova, you have to keep practicing until you’re ready to compete,’” Dantes recalled.
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In the end, Dantes’s mom (whose real last name is Gudkov) got her way—at age 11, Volodymyr finally took to the dance floor at a ballroom dance competition in his hometown of Kharkiv.
However, that performance did not mark the beginning of a great dancing career. Dantes didn’t place and never returned to competitions.
“When I was 11, I competed in a ballroom dance competition in Kharkiv. I took to the dance floor once, didn’t place, and that was it,” the artist said with a smile.
With singing, the story unfolded quite differently. His childhood passion eventually turned into a career, and today Dantes combines his music career with work as a TV host. Currently, he is, among other things, the captain of the men’s team on the show “Who’s on Top?” and the host of the new season of “Star Factory.”
Facts about Volodymyr Dantes
Dantes has a musical education—he studied at the Kharkiv Music College and earned a degree in vocal performance. At the same time, the artist also received what his parents considered a more “serious” education—he studied financial management. And before he became famous, he worked in jobs far from the stage—including as a bartender and a video editor.
He gained widespread popularity in 2008 after “Star Factory 2.” Together with Vadym Oliinyk, he won the show, after which the artists formed a duo that later became known as “DiO.Films.” Later, Dantes embarked on a solo career, worked as a TV host, and, after a hiatus, returned actively to his musical career.
Dantes’s personal life has often been in the spotlight. He was married to singer Nadezhda Dorofeeva for nearly seven years, and the couple announced their divorce in 2022. Subsequently, the artist began a relationship with Dasha Katsurina—a businesswoman and the ex-wife of restaurateur Mikhail Katsurin, who, after his divorce, went on to marry Dorofeeva.
This was reported by the publication BLIK.
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