• Professional Exhibition Professional Exhibition
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So, put down your knitting, your book and your broom because it certainly was the greatest “exhibition” championship we have seen in many, many years! Every couple that made this final was perfection and not just perspiration, and the artistry of this style was at its best for the world to see and enjoy.

• Denis Tagintsev & Ekaterina Crysanova Denis Tagintsev & Ekaterina Crysanova
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The Exhibition Championship started Thursday night and it went over two days of competition. In the last blog we mentioned some of the couples that stud out and some that nearly crumbled, and last night from the “crumble” to the top and from the well-rehearsed to the disappointing finish we had it all. The winners were Denis Tagintsev & Ekaterina Crysanova from Russia. In our opinion, just the night before, they nearly did not qualify, due to a missed lift at the end of their program where he nearly missed catching her all together and getting a dramatic “ahhhhhh” from the audience. But this all turned around Friday night, the lift was perfect and the same audience exploded when he caught her with precise agility with a fantastic cheer. And as almost expected, they won the British Open Exhibition Championship using the music “Hallelujah.”

USA’s leading couple, Shane & Shannon Jensen, gave what we can describe as a perfect performance, every lift was just perfect and to the music, perfect intros and perfect exits, but it was not to be their night they took second overall. We think that perhaps some of the dramatics of Denis & Ekaterina might have distracted away from their perfect performance, but we think that not one person in the room unlike most of the Championships of this festival, where we knew who would be first or who would be second or even third to be fair, knew who would win tonight. But continuing with Shane & Shannon’s performance, some of the people around us that we spoke to, before and after the result felt that perhaps Denis & Ekaterina had a more simple approach starting with even their costumes, making them easier on the eye, and with Denis’ slightly exposed torso the audience were able to relate to them and humanize them slightly more than Shane & Shannon and as MC and Chairman of Judges, Marcus Hilton MBE, said just before he announced the placements, it was very close, almost like “splitting hairs.” Shane & Shannon danced to “Footprints in the Sand.”

• Shane & Shannon Jensen Shane & Shannon Jensen
• Uriel Garcia & Vera Rowe Uriel Garcia & Vera Rowe
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A wonderful surprise was the third place finish of Uriel Garcia & Vera Rowe from the USA. We have seen this couple nearly from the beginning of their Exhibition and Cabaret career, before this they were World “Salsa” Champions. They have been dancing now for a little while now, but this was the best performance we have witnessed from start to finish. “The Hunt” was a complete hit. Their lift work was superrb and in our opinion could have also easily challenged for top position had it not been for some of their basic posture and isolation movements that were not strong enough to support their beautiful lift work, the work here was “timing & precision.”

A great soothing relief for the attendees on this nail-biting Exhibition Championship was Mykhailo Azervov & Tetyana Makarenko from the USA, who placed fourth overall. The music they used was “Kalinka” a Russian folk tune that seemed to want to make you clap and stomp your feet. Almost immediately, as anywhere we have seen this couple perform this piece, the audience participation is expected with everyone clapping to the music, singing and all cheering them on. In our opinion, their work most of the time, gets lost among all these well-wishing cheers. We think it is better now that the costumes are less regional and folkloric like, now they are more sleek with better lines to make us focus on their dancing. It is almost a shame because we think this couple does some unbelievable lift work but we feel it gets lost some in “translation.” On a personal note this is not their “Dali” routine that used to “stop the time.”

• Alyenendrov Tsorokean & Maria Wheeler Alyenendrov Tsorokean & Maria Wheeler
• Mykhalio Azerov & Tetyana Makarenko Mykhalio Azerov & Tetyana Makarenko
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It is so unfortunate that one of our very favorite couples and of the of the Blackpool audience the night before, Alyenendrov Tsorokean & Maria Wheeler did not have the same affect with the judges or with the crowd as it did Thursday night. On this outing they took fifth. But in fairness to the audience and the judges they did not have as good a night. We spotted at least 4 mishaps, during the program and at some point they were fumbling a little with a lift where he changes hands behind her back while on a lift going into his own “Arabesque.” We don’t like to talk about what could have been, but in this case they missed the target and they could have easily won, worst of all from the night before’s performance, the audience wanted them to win.

Sixth was awarded to Craig Smith & Andrea Harvey. This was a well-rehearsed routine and the lady for us is a perfect incarnation of “Exhibition” with great use of arms, legs and feet. However, although we thought the routine was great it did not have the ingredients in order to challenge any higher. Their program required a little more of a surprise and be a little more should we say “unpredictable.”

• Clifton Sepulveda & Mar Martinez Clifton Sepulveda & Mar Martinez
• Craig Smith & Andrea Harvey Craig Smith & Andrea Harvey
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Seventh position and we are sure a very disappointing ending for Christian Sepulveda & Mar Martinez. Here almost like the couple before, their lift work was excellent but so little of a surprise, with perhaps a song that for us, here worked against them. We are nearly sure that “Kiss Today Goodbye” song was use a few times in the Empress Ballroom and perhaps a little too much of a reminder of “what if you have to never dance again?” to this crowd of ex-dancers many of whom do not dance now. Additionally, Christian & Mar have used this routine many times in the past so perhaps there was the lack of excitement in compare to the other routines. This is a very talented couple, I’m sure we’ll see more from them in the future.

With that, we should go to what we can only describe as a rather lackluster finish to the British Open, The Open Professional Ballroom Championship. First the fact that one of the presumed nominees for the British title, Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva from the USA was absent. This took a lot the air out of this competition. We noted many empty seats after the cabaret result was announced and this did not help the situation.

• Andrea Ghigiarelli & Sara Andracchio Andrea Ghigiarelli & Sara Andracchio
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We congratulate Andrea Ghigiarelli & Sara Andracchio from England who won all dances. They were a virtual shoe in with Victor & Anastasia out of the way. A fan of our blogs messaged us “please congratulate Blackpool for finally finding a British Ballroom champions that speaks Italian” to which we replied that this was not that unusual in today’s dance world and that nowadays, unlike Victor Fung many of us are born and live in different countries.

Domen Krapez & Natasha Karabey – Germany, took 2nd spot 2232. A tall and elegant couple who were also fairly certain of their position.

Our favorite couple of the night and perhaps the only couple to attract our desire for Ballroom placed third overall, Valerio Colantoni & Monica Nigro - Italy 3323. Here was a couple that did not just had a show upper body and over extended top. Here we had some great musicality as they danced and “feather stepped” to an orchestra that finally possibly and possibly for the first time will have us “downloading” their entire album - the “Empress Orchestra” ladies and gentleman.

Fourth in this Ballroom final were Aleksandr Zhiratkov & Irina Novozhilova - Russia 4556. Here is a second couple we totally enjoyed in this Championship. Fifth place went also to Russia, Stanislav Zelianin & Irina Cherepanova 6465. Sixth place was awarded to Sergiu Rusu & Dorota Rusu, Poland - 564 and seventh position went to Stas Portanenko & Nataliya Kolyada - Ukraine ----4.

For the USA the results were not so good, with none of our couples progressing to the semifinal. All our hopes ended in the quarter-finals where we had several couples. Iaroslav & Llia Bieliei w/f/t/q; Rudy Homm & Katya Kanevskaya w/f/t/q; Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko w/t/q; Vladislav Shakhov & Ekaterina Popova w/f/q; Oskar Wojciechowsky & Karolina Holody w/f/t/q; Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova q; Alexander & Veronica Voskalchuk q.

• Ballroom early round Ballroom early round
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To be fair the event concluded with a standing ovation that left us wondering if people were getting up to leave, but no! It was a standing ovation their feet also started stomping showing the pleasure at the conclusion of this Open British Ballroom Championship and the conclusion of the Blackpool Dance festival.

An Unusual Call!

Last night in the Empress Ballroom, Blackpool, England, for the Open British Professional Latin, the same six couples were called for all dances a rarity for this competition where all dances are scored separately.

The second almost as unusual thing was that three US couples took first, second and third places overall, US strength in dance was shown by this perfect placement run.

• Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko
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The night was electrifying with the audience very exited from the word go. Current World, US and Open British Champions, Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko, won the Open British again and their performance was as always clear, clean and crystal, in all dances. But there were two couples that stole the audience’s heart and soul, Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova also from the USA and Kirill Belorukov & Polina Teleshova from Russia. Everywhere they went you could here the audience going crazy for these two dynamic couples, and they reciprocated by giving excellent performances in all dances, performances worth the roar of the multitude of people watching.

Second in all dances was awarded to Stefano Di Filippo & Daria Chesnokova the expats who are always abroad but never seen in the USA. Nevertheless when push comes to shove representing their country, they always come through. And now for what was the shining stars of the floor third place Troels Bager & Inna Ivanova who live and work mainly in the USA, they placed third in every dance but if you asked many of the people around us foreign or not, they would say that Troels & Ina could have been second, their performance can only be described as brilliance in motion.

The other couple to steal the hearts of the people was Kirill Belorukov & Polina Teleshova from Russia who like Troels & Ina had the fans going up and down and stomping all around. Unlike Troels & Inna, Kirill & Polina’s performance had the judges playing them like a “YOYO.” Kirill & Polina were fourth in samba and jive and fifth in cha cha, rumba and paso doble, but if we have to add our two cents opinion, we think their performance could have been worth all fourths or even a third. We are of the opinion that unless we are talking surgery, when it comes to an art form the “audience” is nearly always right and on this night they were more than right on Kirill & Polina and Troels & Inna. Just to be clear Kirill & Polina were fifth overall.

• Pro Latin Final Pro Latin Final
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Fourth place overall went to Moldova’s Dorin Frecautanu & Marina Sergeeva, fourth in the cha cha, rumba, paso and fifth in the other two dances, and our question here is “what were they doing in the final?” We know this couple have given a lot of years and hard work to earn this place in this final, but on last night’s performance we can easily say “if they had not been there, we would not have missed them.” Their performance was mediocre to say the least and needs that spark back that put them there in the first place in years past. We're that this is a temporary setback for this talented couple.

The sad call by the judges was the sixth place call in every dance to Nino Langella & Andra Vaidilaite (Italy). We say sad not because it was not deserving but because we had better and much higher expectations for this lovely couple. We have been fans of Nino since he was basically a teenager with endless talent and we thought him to be the best thing, as they say in America, since “bubble gum,” and fans of Andra since she danced for Canada, and accomplished tremendous placements with different partners. Unfortunately, their performance for us was mediocre and correct, something that we never expected from these two brilliant dancers. I think perhaps in dance years this partnership might be still a little “green” and it needs a little more time to mature and give us the unexpected.

• Standing ovation for Pro Latin final Standing ovation for Pro Latin final
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Other North Americans that fared well were, notably, Andrei Kaslouski & Asta Sigvaldadottir who made the semifinal in R/P/J and the quarter-final in the other 2 dances. In the Quarter-Final also were: Manuel Favila & Natalia Maiduk (c/s/r/p/j); Alexey & Vlada Karaulov (c/r/p); Kamil Studenny & AnnaKapliy (c/s/r/p/j); Artur Tarnavskiy & Anastasiya Danilov (c/s/p/j); Valentin Voronov & Anna Pelipenko (c/s/r/p/j).

We are happy to report that the full Professional Exhibition division is now “Open” to anyone around the world that wants to enter, a great decision and a great addition to the Open British Championships. There was a couple “ohhhs” and “ahhhs” from the crowd for many of the performances and a couple of “Yikes” for some of them especially the couple from Russia who nearly lost the girl and we mean literally but he caught her and with a slight “oops” rescued his entire performance, this was a performance that up to that point was one of the best we have seen. But they were not the only ones with some “Yikes” some of our own US couples made us take a deep breath a few times but we are glad to report that most of them were returned to tonight’s final which will consist of 5 US couples and one Russian.

Sadly Travis & Jaimee Tuft had to withdraw from the Exhibition due to injury. Nothing too serious as Travis reported to us – “Fortunately, we didn’t have a serious injury. However, during the morning rehearsal my right leg started cramping and seizing up pretty bad. We went back to our hotel to rest hoping everything would be fine for the evening. I drank plenty of water, massage, bananas, the works. When we went to the winter gardens to warm up, the cramping continued to worsen. This has never happened to us before. To avoid more serious problems both health and our performance, we decided it was better to withdraw."

In the Ballroom Formations, as the night before, the competition was tough and we are proud to report that “BYU” took the silver medal home on this one. The winners of this formation came from China and they were the Beijing Dance Academy. Team Scarlet BRNO from the Czech Republic were 3rd.

BYU #1 Again!

Last night the BYU Latin Team were victorious once again in the Open British Latin Formation Championship.

• BYU Latin Formation Team BYU Latin Formation Team
• Chinese Latin Formation Team Chinese Latin Formation Team
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This year’s team, trained by Curt & Sharon Holman and Andre & Natalie Paramonov, held off a strong challenge from China and won the championship from a field of 7 teams. The BYU teams have an exemplary record at the Open British Championships. All teams were very good this year.

• Fedor Isaev & Anna Zudilina Fedor Isaev & Anna Zudilina
• Open British Amateur Ballroom Open British Amateur Ballroom
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The main event of the night was the Open British Amateur Ballroom. It was a great event that produced an incredibly strong semifinal and final. The winners were defending champions, Fedor Isaev & Anna Zudilina from Russia who placed first in all dances. The runner-up spot went to England, Kyle Taylor & Izabele Skierska 2,2,2,3. Dance Beat’s personal favorites were 3rd placed Igor Reznik & Mariya Polischuk from Ukraine 3,3,3,2. Other great favorites from the observers we spoke to were the team from Poland, Michal Le & Sandra Jablonska who were 4th 5,6,4,4. As you can see from these scores the results from 4th to 6th were very tight. 5th went to Si Cheng & Liis End (China) 4,5,5,6 and 6th went to Artem Kuklin & Alika Dikaya, Ukraine, 6,4,6,5.

USA had 2 couples in the semifinal, who incidentally were the top two couples last month at the US Championship, Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli and Oleksandr Kalenyuk & Olena Ablitosova. In the quarter-final we saw Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon (USA) and Nikita Druzhinin & Virginie Primeau (Canada).

• O/50 Latin O/50 Latin
• Khong Pham & Arlene Yu Khong Pham & Arlene Yu
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The USA also had a finalist couple in the O/50 Latin, Khong Pham & Arlene Yu placed 5th. The winners were Eric Wong & Kit Yu Shum from Hong Kong. Also from USA, Valeriy & Rita Lynn Ort placed in the semifinal.

The Youth, the Latin and hold your partner firmly by her……

Yesterday’s competitions in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, were full of youth, talent a good quality.

The Youth Ballroom was terrific with the obvious winners to us being Dmytro Moros & Kristina Kuzenko from the Ukraine 2111, as Marcus Hilton MBE (Chairman of Judges and MC) mentioned, they all moved with ease and tremendous floor craft, a welcome and beautiful sight in this very difficult style of dancing. Dmytro & Kristina had great appeal but their usage of feet and legs made it all look so easy and fun as this style should be.

We are slightly saddened to report that there were no US couples in this final or the semifinal, something that perhaps the country should look into, or are we just a “smooth craving” country? The absence of US ballroom youth makes us wonder about this, especially with the US being at such a high standard in the professional in both the Ballroom and Latin.

• Open British Amateur Latin Open British Amateur Latin
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However, what we did not have in the “Ballroom Youth” we made it up in the Open Amateur Latin with two US Couples in the final - Ferdinando Iannaccone & Yulia Musikhina and Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze. And in the semifinal we had two more couples - Alexander Chernositov & Arina Grihanina and Tagyr Mansurov & Alexandra Kondrashova. And making the quarter-final were Denys Drozdyuk & Antonina Skobina and Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman.

• Ferdinando Iannaccone & Yulia Musikhina Ferdinando Iannaccone & Yulia Musikhina
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As you can see the US was well represented in this heat and we are happy to report that we won the Open Amateur Latin Championship, and that Ferdinando & Yulia are British Open Amateur Latin Champions for the third consecutive time, something unheard of previously at the British Open. This was also mentioned by the MC and chairman of judges, Mr. Marcus Hilton MBE.

As far as our performance went we had some excellent dancing by Ferdinando & Yulia, from earlier rounds you could tell that they were going to take the title home quite easily and they did. Second was awarded to Slovenia’s Klement Prasnikar & Alexandra Averkieva who for us gave a faultless performance and had great communication between them, their issue was selling it to us and making us feel their performance in this Ferdinando & Yulia were way ahead of the game and so there was no chance for Klement & Alexandra to get ahead.

Third in this excellent heat went to Petar Daskalov & Zia James from England. This was for us perhaps the best guy in the house on this night and she complimented him to the fullest. Their partnership had a few ups and down not as faultless and Kelment & Alexandras but had they just pushed a little more they could have taken second place. This is a very talented couple, we have not seen an English couple with this much potential in a long time, we are sure they will be challenging the very top soon.

Fourth went to another Slovenian couple Damir Haluzan & Anna Mashchyts, but this time we are not sure what the judges were looking at, for us this couple should have been left out in quarter, their work was messy and they did not coordinate with each other, we were a little disappointed because there were a number of couples US and non-US that could have easily made this final. Salvatore Sinardi & Viktoriya Kharchenko from Italy were fifth, another very correct couple that in our opinion could have easily been fourth, their work was not very catchy to the eye but it was very correct with lots of energy.

• Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze
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The disappointment for the USA was the sixth place finish of Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze, who were perhaps one of the couples our US hopes were hanging on. Unfortunately, they basically, and we should say perhaps this time it was “Nino” more than Austin, just walked through the entire final. We have to point out that from where we were standing some of the front row were cheering but was it to try to get them to do more or did they really like that uninspiring basic performance? Especially because in this front row the ex-champions sit. We have to say we are complete fans of Nino’s perfect, beautiful legs and back, but you must use them, it is like a perfectly tuned instrument - it is there to be played not just sit or walk around with it. Remember guys – we have tremendous hopes for you! You could soon go all the way to the top! But we want it now!!

As we mentioned earlier in the semifinal we had two other excellent couples, that could have perhaps taken a position in the final the best for us of these two were Alexander Chermositov & Irina Grishina who danced beautifully and who we almost expected to make it into the final, in musicality alone they were fantastic, what a terrific performance. Secondly and I am sure this may be a surprise to some when they read it was, Tagyr Mansurov & Alexandra Kondrashova. Boy! Those two were also “on” this evening and although it might come as a surprise to many, it was not to us. They too could have taken a spot in that final. Wen we say could have taken a spot on this final we mean it there were at least 2 spots possibly available.

We must mention that when we got home some bystanders were talking about the guy that jumps over his partner in the highlight of the paso. We figured they must be talking about Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman, they were all quite impressed so congratulations to them.

• U/21 Ballroom U/21 Ballroom
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Before we continue into other happening in the ballroom the couples in this Open British Youth Ballroom were totally worth a mention and so here we go - second place went to Aleksandr Bezkrovnyy & Mariya Savchuk, from the Ukraine 1224, another very capable couple although for us they were perhaps not as eye-catching as some of the others. Third place was awarded to Denis Savitskiy & Mariya Zaytseva also from the Ukraine 3343. From here down the couples made a little more of an impression to us and they were not just quality correct dancing as we mentioned just before. Fourth went to Dmitro Lishchuk & Anna Alekseeve, Ukraine, this couple were not of great stature meaning “very tall” but they certainly moved with great charisma, especially in the tango where they really showed some of that “charisma” we are talking about. Fifth place was awarded to perhaps the youngest and smallest of all couple, Glenn-Richard Boyce & Caroly Janes (England), but let’s not confuse their stature with their talent, this couple could move and be right out there with the others, especially in the quickstep where for us they were nearly above all but the winner. And 6th were Oliver Hand & Anastasiya Lisitsina from England.

And now for the hair part! When we arrived in Blackpool, we immediately figured we should get our tickets and get that out of the way. As we are buying our tickets someone is talking and it telling us all about a “brawl” that happened near or in the ballroom. Apparently this is the first time in history for an occurrence of this kind. The person narrating said that apparently a young lady did not want to dance or come back to the next dance or round. When she refused the partner grabbed her by the hair and pulled her, this cause da stir among all the other competitors who came to her defense and a scuffle occurred! There you have it and please “Don’t hold your partner firmly by the hair,” it’s barbaric and unsportsmanlike to say the least!

But on a brighter note, and also for the first time that we can remember - there was a marriage proposal in the middle of the Amateur Latin final!!

All Blackpool photos by Tony Eng of Decadance Photography.

USA 4 out of 6!

In a great result for USA, we had 4 of the 6 finalists in the Pro RS Ballroom.

• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
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Last night in the Winter Gardens 4 couples from the USA made the Pro Rising Star Ballroom final. Andrii Mykhailov & Anna Bohachova placed 2nd, Cristian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko were 3rd, Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova were 4th and Stefano Di Brino & Bianka Zubrowska were 6th. No other North American couples made the top 12. The winners were Chong He & Jing Shan from China.

• Senior Latin Senior Latin
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In the Senior Latin, no North American couples made the top 12, the winners were Sergio Machon & Lina Machon from the Philippines.

All Blackpool photos by Tony Eng of Decadance Photography.

Sunday – no longer a day of rest!

Sunday is not a day of rest in Blackpool as it once was!

In the days of the “shorter” Blackpool Dance Festival, Sunday was the day for the Mayor’s reception and well ……… not much more! Nowadays there is much fervent activity in the Empress Ballroom as the Rising Star Amateur Ballroom and Latin events conclude.

• Amateur RS Latin Amateur RS Latin
• Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan
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This year for USA the main story was in the Latin where Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan of the USA took the runners-up position. Aleksandr Zevelev & Alina Agarkova of Russia were the winners. Daniil Tymoshenko & Vladyslava Vursalova, also of USA, placed in the top 12.

In the RS Amateur Ballroom, no North Americans made the top 12. The winners were Andrew Yefremchenkov & Anastasia Siabro from Ukraine.

Blackpool 2019 – The end of the Road for Arunas & Katusha

The biggest story to come out of Blackpool so far this year is the Saturday night announcement by Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova.

• Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova
• Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova
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Multiple US and World Pro Ballroom Champions, Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova, announced their retirement from competitive dancing last night in the Empress Ballroom, Blackpool. The announcement came, as is often the case at Blackpool, after they danced for the final time in the Team Match. Dance Beat wishes this iconic duo every success in the new phase of their dance careers!

• Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
• Andre & Natalie Paramonov Andre & Natalie Paramonov
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In other news, USA has had a good start to the 2019 Open British Championships. The recently added Pro American Style Championships have both already been decided and both returning champions were successful in retaining their titles – Andre & Natalie Paramonov in Rhythm and Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija in Smooth.

• Open British Pro Rhythm Open British Pro Rhythm
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The Rhythm, danced Thursday, produced an all North American final. Runners-up were Dmitry & Olena Nikishkin. 3rd place went to Canada – Dmytro Gurkov & Celeste Bailey; 4th Jean Michel Erole & Jackie Brockman; 5th Riccardo Papi & Sabrina Moretti; 6th Tomas Vasicek & Vitalija Tyrnova.

• Open British Pro Smooth Open British Pro Smooth
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In the Smooth Travis & Jaimee Tuft were the runners-up. In a reversal of the typical form in N. America, Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Siliverstova were 3rd. 4th Yegor Novikov & Alexandra Smirnova; 5th Slava & Valeriia Kostianets; 6th Craig & Evgeniya Shaw (England).

• Pro RS Latin Pro RS Latin
• Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova
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USA also had a win in the Professional Rising Star Latin competition. Artur Tarnavskyy & Anastasia Danilova were the winners. USA had a second couple in the final – Pasha Stepanchuk & Gariella Sabler placed 6th. We believe this was their first competition as professionals! No other North American couple placed in the top 12.

• O/50 Ballroom O/50 Ballroom
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In the amateur ranks, USA is also enjoying some early success. In the O/50 Ballroom Xingmin & Katerina Lu were the runners-up. The winners were Eric & Charlotte Voom from the Netherlands.

• U/21 Latin U/21 Latin
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On the other end of the age spectrum, USA also scored the runner-up position in the U/21 Latin - Daniil Tymoshenko & Vladyslava Vursalova. The winners here were Alessandro Roman & Natalia Arci from Italy. Mykyta Vasylenko & Olivia Agranovich of the USA placed in the top 12.

Stay tuned to Dance Beat for more updates of the Blackpool week. All Blackpool photos by Tony Eng of Decadance Photography.