IVillage Blogs

Hi everyone,

As you will know I am doing my official blogs this year through IVillage again so I will be sharing all of my news on there every week! You can read them all online by following this link: http://www.ivillage.co.uk/kristina-rihanoffs-strictly-come-dancing-diary/84357

I am loving every minute of Strictly so far this season and working with Jason. Thank you so much for all of your continued support, appreciate it so much.

All my love

Kristina xx

A little update

Ladies and Gents!!

I hope everyone has had a good summer, and enjoying the last few weeks of August. I cannot believe how quickly the past few months have gone by. But you know what starts in the Winter......Strictly Come Dancing ofcourse, very excited!

As you will probably know from facebook and twitter since I last blogged I have been to Russia to visit my family. It was so good to head back and see them and my parents (my mom moved back there from LA a little while ago). I had such a good time for the 2 weeks I was away, and I did post a few photos on my facebook account so take a look. I returned to London for only 24 hours before heading out to LA to sort out my VISA. By the time I arrived in LA my body did not know what time it was due to all the different time zones I had travelled through. LA was also a little holiday for me and Joe, so it was good to spend time together and with close friends. I saw my best friend Alex who lives in the US and I was so honoured as she asked me to be the godmother to her new son Max. He is such a gorgeous baby and it feels very special to be asked so I will be taking my godmother duties very seriously :) They are all coming over to London in October hopefully, and Max will be baptised in the Russian church so I cannot wait to see them!! As I mentioned I am having trouble uploading photos on here but please check in on facebook to see the pictures.

Now that my Visa all went to plan I am ready to go for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing! I hope you are as excited as I am. We have already started the rehearsals, and it is really great that all us professionals are together again. I cannot reveal too much but expect some new and amazing dances! I have also been doing some choreography which I love.

I look forward to sharing more news with you over the coming weeks and revealing my new celebrity partner which will be unveiled on the launch show, just like last year.

Keep checking in!

All my love,

Kristina xx

Hi All,

How is everyone? I meant to send this before I left for Russia so thought I would do it now before it becomes old news! I hope you are all enjoying your summer so far :)

I know I have not blogged in a little while, but I thought I would write to keep you all updated. The past few months have kept me busy with various shows, and ofcourse assisting in the choreography for So You Think You Can Dance. It is such a great show, and a perfect opportunity for so many amazing performers to showcase their talent. There were alot of breathtaking performances so it was an honour to witness it and offer some advice and help with the choreography as well as working with the lovely Artem.

Since then I have also moved house. Joe and I have stayed in a similar area, but I have been busy sorting out the furnishings which has been a bit crazy. I am pleased to say we have now fully moved into our new home, which is very exciting!

Robin and I have also been busy with some shows recently. We went up to Edinburgh to perform at a private wedding on the outskirts of the City a few weeks ago. It was a fantastic venue and really good to be a part of someone's special day. We then went back up to Scotland the following weekend to Aberdeen at the Beach Ballroom venue where I have been before, so I really enjoyed going back and seeing some familiar faces! We also went to the Aberdeen Race for Life event on the Sunday morning, to motivate all the runners during the warm up. I did something similar at a London Race for life event a few years ago, so it was great to go back. I was amazed by all the runners and it is so amazing to see people running for such a good cause, which is a charity I have always supported. Our final show to round up that week was at another private party up in Sheffield!

I also did some dance classes at Champneys Henlow a few weeks ago for some hotel guests, which was a really stunning place. Joe and I were able to use the spa and have some relaxation time as well which made it a perfect weekend.

Ofcourse since I last blogged (and I cannot believe I have not mentioned it yet), is that the professional dancers for Strictly 2011 have been announced! I am so happy to be a part of the new series. We have a little while to wait until the celebrities are announced, but I hope you are all as excited as I am.....watch this space for more news.

You may have seen I have been a part of the children's charity ' Kids Task force' who are doing some inspiring work. This has enabled me to go along to a couple of schools with the charity to tell them about my life and dance, in the hope to encourage children to follow their dreams and I taught a few steps while I was there. The pupils have been so interested to learn, I have uploaded some pictures in this album for you to take a look at - http://s1127.photobucket.com/albums/l623/Rihanoff/ ( hopefully the link will work for you).

I will shortly be home in London for only a few days before having to go back to LA to sort out my VISA in time for Strictly. As some of you will know this has resulted in me being unable to perform on the 30th July which I am truly sorry for but It was the only week I could get home to finalise my VISA which I need for Strictly but I hope to see you all again at another show.

Speak to you all soon

All my love

Kristina xxx

Hi everyone,

I am finally back on my blogger! Sorry this has been my first blog since the beginning of the year, but I have had trouble logging in due to security reasons but eventually made it. I wrote on facebook the other week to try and keep you updated with recent news so hopefully you saw that. I read my blog from January and it seems so long ago now since we were getting ready to tour, the last few months have really flown by, I cannot believe May is around the corner....

As you probably already know from my facebook and twitter last week I went away for a short break with Joe. It was so good to get away for a bit and we went to Pisa in Italy, which is so beautiful and I recommend to all of you if you have not been. I love going to places with so much history and cities where there is so much to see, so you can be a real tourist! I took some fun photos which you probably saw on twitter, but just incase here are a few more:-


Holding up the tower of Pisa! It was quite heavy :0)



We also took a day trip to Florence, which is a stunning place:-


Those are a few of my holiday snaps... You also probably saw Joe announce on twitter that he has a part in a new film. I am so happy and excited for him!

I hoped by now that I would also be able to tell you some exciting news about recent projects I have been working on, but you will have to wait a little bit longer. I will tell you about them as soon as I can so watch this space!

I mentioned on facebook just before I went away, that the most recent Aviva advert is now on TV staring Paul Whitehouse. I also did the choreography for this one, here is a picture of Paul and I on set!

I met up with the lovely Robin Windsor yesterday for a catch up. He has been sunning himself and partying in Miami! so it was good to meet up. We went to the cinema as well to see The Source Code. Its a really interesting film, and not my usual type but I really enjoyed it as I have not seen any good films at the cinema recently! Robin and I have some shows coming up. A few people have been asking if we have any in London, but all confirmed shows will be on my website as soon as they are confirmed. I would love to do some in London, but we will keep you updated as much as we can.

Well I hope everyone is enjoying this amazing weather at the moment. I know we have a long Easter weekend ahead so I hope the sun keeps shining. I think I will be in London over the weekend, and Joe is back on Sunday so we will be cooking a big Easter meal for some friends and family. I think I will head to Wales the following weekend for the Royal Wedding, as I imagine London will be very busy. I am really excited to watch it and see a piece of history. I am sure it will be a gorgeous and very memorable wedding! Good luck to William and Kate!

I had better sign off, as I have a few things to do before going out this evening. Have a great Easter everyone and enjoy all the chocolate!
All my love,
Kristina xx

Update

Hi Guys,

For my latest blog which I did a few weeks ago see my facebook page, notes section! But now I am back on here a new blog will be coming really soon......

K xx

Happy 2011!

Ladies and gents!

Happy new year to you all. I hope you had a really great christmas and enjoyed some relaxation over the holidays. It was so good to have some time out as the past few months have been crazy! Strictly came and went really quickly but I think we can all agree it was another great series, and I was so happy to see Kara and Artem win. They had such a wonderful partnership and Kara really is a beautiful person inside and out, as well as being a very talented dancer, so she truly deserved to take home the glitter ball. I thought the standard this past series was so impressive, at times I felt like I was watching a pro routine. I loved every minute of it and there was a wonderful group of people so the atmosphere back stage was buzzing all the time. I am looking forward to spending some more time with everyone during the tour!

So I spent Christmas at Joe's in Wales. It was so amazing to have my mom with us! It was lucky she arrived on time as the snow had been bad all week and alot of flights had been cancelled. Luckily my mom's flight from LA was on schedule, which was a bit of a relief. I felt so sad for all those people that were stranded over Christmas, I can imagine it must have been a nightmare. Thank goodness the snow has gone for now, I felt like I was in Russia at times! Christmas this year was a real family gathering at Joe's as he has a huge family, we managed to fit 20 of us for lunch. There was a lot of laughter so it was very memorable and a good fun, relaxing christmas. All the children made it extra special as I love being round children at christmas time to get in the festive spirit!

Thank you for all your messages about the Christmas special which I won with the amazing John Barrowman. John took to the quick step so well and as you could tell was a real natural. He is a fantastic performer and to win with him was a lovely Christmas present, thank you everyone in the audience who voted and for the judges marks!

New Year saw Joe and I finally go to Paris. We were due to go just before Christmas but because of the bad weather we had to put it off for a few weeks. Paris really is the most beautiful and romantic city. I could walk around for hours just taking in the surroundings and stunning buildings, I definately would love to go back soon!

After the new year celebrations it was not long before we were back to rehearsals to prepare for the tour. I really am looking forward to getting on the road again as we had a great time last year and I am sure this year will be just as fun. So far the rehearsals have been really intense as we work long hours, from the morning through to 6pm most days with little breaks. We also have a really short period to put the shows together which can be quite stressful as we have all the group numbers, celeb dances as well as our solos to practice so it can be alot to take in. I have also loved working with Jimi Mistry who is my partner this time round. It is important to be around someone who you get on well with especially when you are working together alot, and Jimi is a lovely guy and great company to be around. The tour kicks off in Nottingham, so I cannot wait to get going. I hope you all enjoy the show, and let me know what you think! If you want to still try and get tickets check out the website http://www.strictlycomedancinglive.com/tour-dates-2011/

Yesterday was a really special day as it was my mom's birthday. It is the first time in 7 years that we have been together as we have always been in different countries. I wanted to make it a really special birthday for her so I made a few plans. She really did enjoy it and Joe took us out to dinner in the evening, it was lovely to be able to spend it all together.

Alot of you have been asking about shows that I will be doing with my lovely partner Robin Windsor this year! I cannot confirm any with you just yet, but I promise as soon as I know they will be posted on my web, facebook e.t.c So keep a look out. I am also going to be selling some of my dresses from previous dance shows, some which you may recognise but again I will post more on this when I have all the final information.

Well it is time to come to the end, but I will blog again soon with some more news, and by then the tour will have started so I hope to have some backstage gossip!

Love to you all.

Kristina xx

Hi everyone,


Just a quick update to say, I have not been blogging on this personal blog as much, due to my weekly blog with IVillage . As I do one with them each week, it makes sense to save all my news rather than posting on here. I hope you are enjoying the weekly updates on Ivillage, as well as with Best magazine!


Once again, thank you for all the overwhelming support, since Goldie and I finished our journey on Strictly. We were sad to leave early on, but this year is so tough with some amazing dances being produced each weekend, so it is really tough. I am loving watching everyone progress, and there are lots of fun Pro dances coming your way, and ofcourse an exciting solo dance with the lovely Robin Windsor this weekend.....I think Robin and Patsy have an amazing partnership and are getting stronger as a pair each week, good luck to both of them.


While I am writing on here, I will mention the shoot I did with The Sun newspaper the other day, It should be out this Saturday. It is a slightly different shoot, but let me know what you think!


All my love


k xx