Nick Kosovich has done just about everything a ballroom or latin dancer has ever wanted to do.
There was that television show, the dance costume company, and a championship or three. For everything this Arthur Murray consultant has done, you'd think it would be difficult to surprise him.
Until now.
Catching Up With A Creative Champion: Nick Kosovich
AML: What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you while traveling as an Arthur Murray consultant.
NK: Strangest? Well, the most common thing is getting back to the hotel and having to go to the front desk and ask them “what’s my room number?”.
AML: Do you have to do that often?
NK: You basically go to all of these cities around the country, check in early in the morning, leave, teach, get back late at night. All the hotels start to become a blur. Now, forgetting what hotel you’re in, that's another story.
AML: Has that happened to you?
NK: … Oh yeah. You just don’t pay attention. You can tell the driver “take me to the Crowne Plaza” and they take you to the Crowne Plaza in another city!
AML: A completely different city?
NK: Oops! There have certainly been some funny times on the road.
AML: Thinking about all of your achievements, which one are you most proud of?
NK: Definitely, the birth of our baby. Because we tried for 8 years and I’d pretty much given up hope.
AML: How has parenthood changed you?
NK: Nothing will ever be the same! From learning how, why, when, and where to deal with all the elements of parenthood! It's all too much to put into a paragraph! But it is just the greatest experience I have ever had!
AML: What keeps you busier these days: Consulting, Costuming, or Daddy-ing?
NK: I am never not busy doing something ! However parenting has just taken it to the next level of crazy!
AML: Has your crazy life prepared you for parenthood?
NK: Nothing can prepare you for parenthood but everything you thought you new becomes unimportant it's just dealing and being in the moment which is most important! C'est La Vie!
AML: What do you do when you’re not working?
NK: Well right now, it’s all about the baby. But I like playing golf, outdoor sports, some of my hobbies include car restoration. I took three and a half years to build a 1954 Porsche Spider replica which I finished. I’ve also got a 1967 Volkswagen bus, which I’ve restored.
AML: A bus!?
NK: A hippy bus!
AML: What was Australia like when you were growing up?
NK: Growing up in Australia, you get a chance to do a lot. I was brought up in a really eclectic family. My father was a truck driver, and my mother managed a medical supplies company. So, there were computers around and tools and a workshop for my Dad. Nowadays, my wife, Lena, and I have our costume manufacturing company, Lenique. I like to think that whatever the materials are, I like to create something out of them.
AML: Doesn’t sound like you have much time to get all that stuff done.
NK: I don’t sleep much.
AML: Aside from your beautiful baby, what are some dance accomplishments?
NK: Lena and I were two time United States Champions in Showdance. We were the United States Champions twice in American Smooth. We won the World Smooth Championships, and we were two time runner ups in the World Classic Showdance Championships.
AML: That's quite a resume.
NK: At one point we were competing in Ballroom, Latin, Smooth, and Showdance at every competition we’d go to. I was also on Dancing with the Stars, seasons 2 and 3.
AML: I did know that.
NK: I’ve been coaching and performing on the show for 10 seasons, and Lena and I still work with a lot of the couples on the show.
AML: What else is new and exciting in the professional life of the Kosovich family?NK: Wow, exciting events are on the horizon! A new competition, perhaps a tv show, a documentary, a trip to Europe to sort out some property deals! Lots of coaching, judging, emceeing and yoga!
AML: How do you do it?
NK: You know, you just do it! It’s the Arthur Murray way.
AML: What kind of qualifications will someone need to be your daughter's dance partner?
NK: Thus far I don't think any young males between the ages of 2 and 5 meet any of the necessary standards to qualify! Pre requisites: US National Champion, British Open Champion or World Champion pre-teen applicants should submit resumes digitally to ArthurmurrayLive.com . Seriously, She will be dancing with daddy only until age 21! Until she can legally push my wheelchair into the clubs! Where she will then be shotgun chaperoned!
AML: Well, that settles it.
Check out more from Nick and Lena Kosovich on their YouTube Channel: "Life with LeNique"
Final Thought
Professional dance couples are a persistent group. The champions, however, take that trait to another level. There were enough trophies on the wall, enough notoriety, and business activity for Nick and Lena to justify taking it easy. The birth of their daughter is evidence that they may be finished competing, but they aren't done being persistent.
