• Francesco & Jessa with the Powers/Gorchakova Trophy Francesco & Jessa with the Powers/Gorchakova Trophy
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This year’s new legends are Francesco Arietta & Jessa Mae Briones who became the first recipients of the Bob Powers & Julia Gorchakova perpetual trophy for Professional Rhythm. This is a new trophy for the DBDC and was donated by Bob & Julia. It joins the Peter Eggleton Cup for Pro Ballroom, the Bob Medeiros Medal for Pro Latin and the Ken & Sheila Sloan Trophy for Pro Smooth.

• Open Pro Rhythm Open Pro Rhythm
• Dmytro Gurkov & Celeste Bailey Dmytro Gurkov & Celeste Bailey
• Jake Davies & Alyona Kalinina Jake Davies & Alyona Kalinina
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Francesco & Jessa were the easy winners of the trophy losing only 7 of the possible 65 first places and are definitely the heirs apparent for the vacant US Title coming this September as they have an unbeaten record this year. The runners-up, who received the 7 first places not given to Francesco & Jessa, were Dmytro Gurkov & Celeste Bailey from Canada who are a very strong 9-Dance couple. They were also secure in this position taking 2nd in all dances. Equally secure, 3rd in all dances went to Jake Davies & Alyona Kalinina. 4th Jani Bogre & Tjasa Novak 4,4,4,4,4; 5th Alexey Smirnov & Daria Smirnova 6,6,5,5,5; 6th Donovan Kirrane & Olga Goncharov 5,5,6,7,6; 7th Joseph & Madalina Lettig 7,7,7,6,7.

• Wendy Johnson Wendy Johnson
• Hanna Karttunen Hanna Karttunen
• Wendy and grandson Wendy and grandson
• Wendy Johnson Wendy Johnson
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On Saturday evening The DBDC honors the legends of the ballroom world in a “Legendary” banquet gala dinner. This year Wendy Johnson was the nominee and many of her family and friends flew in to attend the dinner and give their tribute to the legendary Kiwi dancer. The award was presented by Wendy’s grandson, Theo, assisted by Hanna Karttunen and Wendy's son and daughter Marcus & Misty.

• Jim & Jan Blakesley Jim & Jan Blakesley
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We also wished a happy 50th Anniversary to Jim & Jan Blakesly earlier that evening.

• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
• Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maiduk Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maiduk
• Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman
• Andriy & Amanda Besyedin Andriy & Amanda Besyedin
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The Pro Rhythm was danced on Friday night, the other 3 open professional divisions were held on Saturday night. Winning the Bob Medeiros Medal for the first time this year were Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maidiuk. They won all dances taking 11 firsts of the 13 in cha cha and 9 firsts in the remaining 4 dances. Most of the first places no awarded to Manuel & Natalia went to Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman who were 2nd in all dances. Andriy & Amanda Besyedin were 3rd in all dances and Ron Garber & Klaudia Petriti were 4th in all. 5th Kostiantyn Samarskyi & Margarita Golubeva 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Dmitry Barov & Sarina Wright 6,6,6,6,6.

• Open Pro Smooth Open Pro Smooth
• Yegor Novikov & Tatiana Voilokova Yegor Novikov & Tatiana Voilokova
• Tykhon Zhyvkov & Yana Zhyvkov Tykhon Zhyvkov & Yana Zhyvkov
• Dmytro Gurkov & Celeste Bailey Dmytro Gurkov & Celeste Bailey
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This was the second year The DBDC has offered the Ken & Sheila Sloan Smooth Trophy and the new winners this year were Yegor Novikov & Tatiana Voilokova but it was quite a tight race. They placed 1,1,1,2. The only dance won with a majority of first places was the waltz where Yegor & Tatiana took 7 of the 13. All other dances were won using “2nd or better” scores. The winners of the VW were Tykhon & Yana Zhyvkov and they were the runners-up in all other dances and the competition. The Canadian 9-dancers, Dmytro & Celeste were 3rd 3,3,3,4 and the new partnership of Leonid Burlo & Mariia Usan were 4th 4,4,4,3. 5th Vlayslav & Brianna Nalyvaychuk 5,5,5,5; 6th Stefan Badea & Whitney Myers 6,6,7,6; 7th Radek Wiatrowski & Denise Sobiewsky 7,7,6,7.

• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
• Dan Malov & Anna Bohachova Dan Malov & Anna Bohachova
• Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantley Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantley
• Serhiy Averkov & Olena Barna Serhiy Averkov & Olena Barna
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This year’s names inscribed on the Peter Eggelton Cup, the longest running of the DBDC’s legendary trophies, were Dan Malov & Anna Bohachova who won in a 3 dance to 2 contest with Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantley. The scores were 2,2,1,1,1 and 1,1,2,2,2. None of the dances were won with a majority of first places – so it was a very close contest. Serhiy Averkov & Olena Barna took 3rd 3,4,3,3,3. With 4,3,4,4,4, Ricardo Conte & Eleonora Filippi took the 4th spot. 5th went to Alieksandr & Vilelmina Lavrov in what we believe was their first competition as professionals, 5,5,5,6,5. 6th Christian Radvan & Anna Zotova 6,6,6,5,6; 7th Florin Vlad & Natalia O’Connor 7,7,7,7,7.

Both of the Open Amateur divisions were well supported and gave us some exciting dancing. The current US Champions, Alexander Chernositov & Arina Grishanina won the Latin and current Canadian Champions Nikita Druzhynin & Virginie Primeau won the Ballroom.

• Open Amateur Latin Open Amateur Latin
• Alexander Chernositov & Arina Grishanina Alexander Chernositov & Arina Grishanina
• Mykyta & Lyndsey Vasylenko Mykyta & Lyndsey Vasylenko
• Idan Daich & Anastasia Sinyauskaya Idan Daich & Anastasia Sinyauskaya
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Alexander & Arina received the only “perfect” result of the competition taking all 11 first place marks in all dances – congratulations to them! 2nd in all dances fell to Mykyta & Lyndsey Vasylenko and 3rd in all to the Canadian team of Idan Daich & Anastasia Simyavskaya. All the 4’s went to Maksym Rodionov & Alexandra Miller; 5th Emil Maritrosyan & Eva Tulchinsky 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Oskar Krimus & Shayna McDonald 6,6,6,6,6.

• Open Amateur Ballroom Open Amateur Ballroom
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Nikita & Virginie had to work a little harder for their win, placing 1,1,2,1,1. They had the majority of first places in waltz and tango. 2nd place was also a very tight race – between Andrii Cutashevskii & Anna Vasina and Samuel Hacke & Katerina Hermanova. It went to Andrii & Anna 2,3,1,3,2. Samuel & Katarina were 1 point behind with 3,2,3,2,3. 4th Nathan Zaytsev & Alisa Bankova 5,4,4,4,4; 5th Roman Shchocka & Marta Tyutunnyk 4,5,5,5,5; 6th Bohdan Aleksiriev & Kateryna Vutatenko 6,6,6,6,6.

Another real highlight of this year’s DBDC was the grand finale of the Ballroom Spirit Foundation U/21 Ballroom Tour. You may remember that last year the U/21 Latin was the feature – this year it was the Ballroom kids’ turn. 5 couples arrived who had already qualified at events around the country, but then we needed to run one more qualifying round Saturday afternoon. The lucky couple to qualify here was Matthew Holyoak & Olivia Cowan. In the grand finale $9500 was available in prize money plus each couple received $800 in expenses.

The format of the finale is a 5-dance competition and a solo presentation. The solo is judged by 9 randomly selected judges and the audience in the ballroom and watching online also had a vote. Here was the final result:

• U/21 Ballroom Spirit Tour Finale U/21 Ballroom Spirit Tour Finale
• Andrei Cutashevskii & Anna Vasina Andrei Cutashevskii & Anna Vasina
• Parley Ford & Natalie Jolley Parley Ford & Natalie Jolley
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1. Andre Cutashevskii & Anna Vasina – 1st in 5-Dance, 1st in Solo, 2nd Audience
2. Parley Ford & Natalie Jolley – 4th in 5-Dance, 2nd in Solo, 1st Audience
3. Nathan Zaytsev & Alisa Bankova – 3rd in 5-Dance, 3rd in Solo, 4th Audience
4. Roman Shchochka & Marta Tyutyunnyk – 2nd in 5-Dance, 4th in Solo, 6th Audience
5. Mykola Hudz & Stanislava Klishch – 5th in 5-Dance, 5th in Solo, 5th Audience
6. Matthew Holyoak & Olivia Cowan – 6th in 5-Dance, 6th in Solo, 3rd Audience

Vinie Miller and Karlis Treijs of the Ballroom Spirit Foundation were there to present the awards.

The Open Scholarships in the Pro-Am divisions also featured some high-quality dancing. Here are some selected results.

A Rhythm
1. Mila Pavlichenko w/ Dymytro Gurkov 1,1,1,1,1
2. Paige Horner w/ Theo Martinez 2,2,2,2,2

B Rhythm
1. Mila Pavlichenko w/ Dymytro Gurkov 1,1,1,1,1
2. Amber Haider w/ Mark Baker 2,2,2,2,2
3. Colleen Herskovits w/ James Williard 2,2,2,2,2

• Open B Rhythm Open B Rhythm
• Open C Rhythm Open C Rhythm
•  

C Rhythm
1. Giovanni Fortezza w/ Jolanta Mosteika 1,1,1,1,1
2. Michelle Loeb w/ Aleko Khutsidze 3,2,2,2,3
3. Adriana Salinas w/ Roberto Fernandez 2,3,3,3,2
4. Ana Capo w/ Luis Lopez 4,4,4,4,4
5. Martina Di Pasqua w/ Roman Chagay 5,5,5,5,5

C1 Rhythm
1. Joan Goddard w/ Andrew Escolme 1,1,1,1,1
2. Anna Capo w/ Luis Lopez 2,2,2,2,2
3. Mike Hudson w/ Yuki Haraguchi 3,3,3,3,3

• Open C1 Rhythm Open C1 Rhythm
• Open C2 Rhythm Open C2 Rhythm
•  

C2 Rhythm
1. Susan Sordoni w/ Franccesco Arietta 1,1,1,1
2. Zamel w/ Marcio DeSouza 2,2,2,2

A Latin
1. Sophia Sabaten w/ Donovan Kirrane 1,1,1,1,1
2. Jacqueline Kane w/ Allen Rudman 2,2,2,2,2
3. Caroline Mao w/ Yegor Novikov 3,3,3,3,3
4. Molly Pinto Madigan w/ Aleko Odikadze 5,4,4,4,5
5. Michael Satchell w/ Olga Goncharova 4,5,5,5,4
6. Valerie Abelis w/ Thomas Shiloshvili 6,6,6,6,6

• Open B Latin Open B Latin
•  

B Latin
1. Casey Skoglund w/ Stas Engelgardt 1,1,2,1,1
2. Caroline Mao w/ Yegor Novikov 2,2,1,2,2
3. Alisa Subbotina w/ Aleko Odikadze 3,3,3,3,3

C Latin
1. Carla Villacorta w/ Vladimir Karpov 1,1,1,1,1
2. Lorraine Peoples w/ Genya Bartasevich 2,2,2,2,2

• Open C1 Latin Open C1 Latin
•  

C1 Latin
1. Joan Goddard w/ Andrew Escolme 1,1,1,1,1
2. Beth Kaplan w/ Genya Bartashevich 2,3,3,2,2
3. Sherry Tucker w/ Vlad Astafiev 3,2,2,3,3
4. Diana Knight w/ Nikolay Shpakov 4,4,4,4,4

C2 Latin
1. Susan Sordoni w/ Francesco Arietta 1,1,1,1
2. Diana Knight w/ Nikolay Shpakov 2,2,2,2

A Smooth
1. Mila Pavlichenk w/ Dymitro Gurkov 1,1,1,1
2. Amelia Wills w/ Ronen Zinshtein 2,2,2,2
3. Melissa Jensik w/ Dave Hannigan 3,3,3,3
4. Molly Pinto Madigan w/ Micael Odikadze 4,4,4,4

B Smooth
1. Pavlichenko w/ Dymytro Gurkov 1,1,1,1
2. Patricia Schneider w/ Slawek Sochaki 2,2,2,2
3. Camesano w/ Erik Pali 3,3,3,3
4. Colleen Herskovits w/ James Williard 4,4,4T,4
5. Giardini w/ Blokhina 5,5,4T,5

• Open A smooth Open A smooth
• Open B Smooth Open B Smooth
• Open C Smooth Open C Smooth
•  

C Smooth
1. Patricia Schneider w/ Slawek Sochaki 1,1,1,1
2. Deborah Morrison w/ Evgeniy Dyachenko 2,2,2,2
3. Gail Komar w/ Nikolai Pilipenchuk 3,3,3,3
4. Anna Capo w/ Luis Lopez 5,4,4,4
5. Audrey Paek w/ Donovan Kirrane 4,5,5,5
6. Martina DiPasqua w/ Roman Chagay 6,6,6,6

C1 Smooth
1. Irene Fong w/ Slawek Sochaki 1,1,2,1
2. Ana Capo w/ Luis Lopez 2,2,3,2
3. Diane Wooters w/ Anton Bilazorov 3T,3,1,3
4. Linda Covino w/ Sergey Vasilyev 3T, 4,4,5
5. Robin Kencel w/ Dmytro Pankov 5,5,5,4
6. Marty Riley w/ Raymond Huard 6,6,6,6

• Open C1 Smooth Open C1 Smooth
• Open C2 Smooth Open C2 Smooth
•  

C2 Smooth
1. Charlotte Browne w/ Evgueni Cahoulski 1,1,1,1
2. Don Jaffe w/ Irina Gorovelici 2,3,2,2
3. Nancy Brittingham w/ Kurt Lemmer 3,2,3,3

A Ballroom
1. Arun Garg w/ Madalina Varlam Lettig 2,1,1,1,1
2. Emily Shoov w/ Michael Odikadze 1,2,2,2,2

B Ballroom
1. Theresa Vallese w/ Ronen Zinshtein 1T,2,1,1,1
2. Bo Chang w/ Valerio Colantoni 1T,1,2,2,2
3. Kristine Riemer w/ Erik Pali 3,3,3,3,3

• Open A Ballroom Open A Ballroom
• Open B Ballroom Open B Ballroom
• Open C Ballroom Open C Ballroom
•  

C Ballroom
1. Antonia Frost w/ Riccardo Conte 3,1,1,1,1
2. Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano 1,2,2,3,2
3. Patricia Schneider w/ Sergey Bondarenko 2,3,3,2,3
4. Rita Rudyak w/ Ronen Zinshtein 4,6,4,6,4
5. Coral Chen w/ Serghei Pogonet 5,4,6,4,6
6. Annie Chan w/ Cristian Radvan 6,5,5,5,5

C1 Ballroom
1. Shawn Kenner w/ Ronen Zinshtein 1,1,1,1,1
2. Mary Jane McCarron w/ Basil Issaev 2,2,2,2,3
3. Carolyn Homoly w/ Dmitry Solomakha 3,3,3,3,2
4. Maureen Andrews w/ Andrea Stefano 4,4,4,4,4
5. Susana Sarangaya w/ Pavel Kuzmin 5,5,5,5,5

• Open C1 Ballroom Open C1 Ballroom
• Open C2 Ballroom Open C2 Ballroom
•  

C2 Ballroom
1. Helen Nicoll w/ Rudy Homm 1,1,1,3
2. Vicki Sato w/ Nazar Batih 2,2,2,1
3. Clare Rabinow w/ Ronen Zinshtein 3,3,3,2
4. Nordis Glasoe w/ Anatoli Gorolevici 4,4,4,4
5. Yee Kwan Lam w/ Seghei Pogonet 5,5,5,5
6. Don Jaffe w/ Irina Gorolevici 6,6,6,6

• Nightclub Nightclub
• Nightclub Nightclub
• Nightclub Nightclub
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For their Nightclub theme this year the DBDC chose Chicago, and several studios participated in the customary half-time show.

• Moxy Hotel Moxy Hotel
• Moxy Hotel Moxy Hotel
• Beacon Hill Tea Shop Beacon Hill Tea Shop
• Beacon Hill Tea Shop Beacon Hill Tea Shop
• Beacon Hill Tea Shop Beacon Hill Tea Shop
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For those who want more of a vacation experience, THE DBDC offers extended La Vida Loca packages. This year included rooftop dinner and dancing at the brand new Moxy Hotel as well as lunch at the Beacon Hill Bookstore & Tea Shop – the hippest place for lunch in Boston.