Fabulous Saturday!

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Friday was good but Saturday was fabulous at La Classique Du Quebec. This time there were tfour feature events - the Amateur Ballroom and the Professional Smooth, Latin and Showdance. Friday the Amateur Latin ruled but this was not the case Saturday night the Professional Latin and the Showdance for us were the headliners.

The Latin started with a healthy quarter-final and when it came to the final there was a very interesting mix of couples. Kamil Studenny & Anna Pelypenko were by far the best when it came to quality and the judges rewarded them and gave them first in all dances. We were very impressed with them, however, not sure what was wrong with them last night but they constantly were losing their footing and nearly hit the floor a few times. That was a little off-putting considering they are such good dancers, nevertheless you could not have awarded them any less even if they fell on the ground that they managed to escape.

Ilya Maletin & Polina Maier placed second in every dance.  We were not surprised that they placed second, however, we were quite surprised they did in every dance.  We totally enjoyed their dancing but they were not consistent in their work or energy of performance, depending upon when you looked they were either hot or cold. Third was awarded to Maxim Fomin & Alina Litvak in all dances, I could see them being placed second in a number of dances unlike the couple just mentioned they did manage to maintain a consistency on their work.

Fourth went to Francois Pruneau & Justine Rainville 4,4,5,5,4. This was perhaps the most exiting couple to watch in this final.  Their energy was always high and they seemed to enjoy their dancing.  We were very impressed with their first 2 dances in fact we would not have been shocked if they placed second in these two and also in the jive where we thought they were the best, hands down. Yes, they still have some issues to resolve with their programs but I think this couple have all the ingredients to be number one in the field in Canada. Dmytro & Nina Kovalenko placed fifth overall 6,6,4,4,5, and sixth went to Michael Kudriashov & Milla Sekrets 5,5,6,6,6.

The Professional Showdance was small but everyone in it was quite good. Without question Carlos Zapata & Dora Yaneva took the top place with a new number this time is a space fight, a very interesting concept but from their previous performances I think they could tighten it up a bit more. Kamil Studenny & Anna Pelypenko took second with a very dramatic interpretive rumba, but here too I don’t think their stumbles were planned, it really, truly is disturbing being that they are such lovely dancers and it spoils their picture. This is not something that cannot be fixed with just work and settling on your feet. Dmitry Kuzmenko & Andrea Lynn were third and quite deservedly so.  Their lift work was breathtaking, however, they seemed to miss the “why?” There is no purpose to the routine so it tends to look more like an exercise. Last but not least, one of my favorite routines - Andrew & Erin Sniegocki who did a neat routine, with great elements of humor, it is always risky when you do humor because, the appearance is that it is easy and you are hardly working – not as in the face-pulling, constipated, emotional routines.

The Professional Smooth had a strong semifinal round but the quality of dancing was ordinary. Dmitry Ilyushinov & Kateryna Stytsenko took first in all dances, and from where we stood we thought it was an easy win for them.  They were one of the few couples that could show some understanding of the style. Kirill Gorjatsev & Daria Zotova placed second overall 3,2,2,2, here we have a couple with great potential. Kirill is probably one of the best Smooth men in America, however, the partnership still needs to grow, it is in a very green stage right now.  Third went to Dave Hannigan & Magdolna Toth. Basically it is the same here, the physical awareness is there but the transitions and connections with each other are still quite green for this art form.

The Amateur Ballroom was a little disappointing it was a walk in the park for James Cuttler & Virginie Primeau–Poirier who won all dances. Second went to Fernando Lareu & Nicole Palagashvill who in our opinion were very capable but lack subtlety of movement 2,3,2,2,2. In third place were Brenton Mitchell & Alexandra Sevastianova 3,2,3,3,3. Fourth were Marco Barbera & Rosella Saladino who were fourth in every dance.  We were very surprised this couple placed this high, some of their movements and technique looked very green - lots of potential here but we felt it needed to be ripened. We were really surprised when Garpare Romano & Aurora Montalvo placed fifth 6,5,5,5,5.  We though this couple was excellent. In some of the dances we could have easily seen them place second, well as you can see art like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Stefan Badea & Madalina Varlam placed sixth overall 5,6,6,6,6.

It was nice that La Classique Du Quebec awarded Beverly Moore an Achievement Award for her dedication and accomplishments in the world of ballroom dancing. Beverly, as it was announced, has won major events and world championships in all four styles and continues to dance and compete in all major events in North America. We here in Dance Beat want to take our hats off to Beverly Moore as well. Congratulations Beverly, well deserved!

We were a little surprised in how small the Ballroom Pro-Am Scholarships were especially because the couples were of a good level. The “C” had the most entries and this was won by Rosann Bonotto w/Alain Doucet. Second went to Nelly Huang & Vlad Vinogradsky 2,2,2,2,3, third was Vincent Feingold w/Fransiska Yordanova 3,3,3,3,2.

In the “B” division Beverly Moore w/Alain Doucet placed first in all dances. May Lim Chui w/Anton Lebedev were second in all dances and Noriko Keirman w/Erik Pali was third.

The “A” was also a four couple final and here Carol Simmons & Serghei Pogonet were first in all dances. Michelle Yeh & Anton Lebedev were second and third overall was Erica Kwizak w/Pavel Lebedev 4,3,3,3,3. 

Good Friday!

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Friday night at La Classique Du Quebec here in Montreal, Canada was a terrific night filled with excitement and expectations. Three major events were run all with an excellent amount of couples and excellent dancing, the Professional Rhythm and Ballroom and the Amateur Latin.

All three events just mentioned were terrific but the when it came to results the Amateur Latin trumped all. The obvious winners from Denmark, Morten Loewe & Rosalina Doneva.  As expected they took first in all dances, but when it came to second and down the things got a little more shaky. Tall Livshitz & Ilana Keselman from the USA took second in four dances and third in the jive. For us it was all to close to call.  From where we stood all three runners up could have easily taken second place, but in the end third went to possibly our favorite of the night Daniils Kutuzovs & Maria Shalvarova from Canada and they placed third in four dances and second in the jive. Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabrielle Sabler from the USA took fourth overall in all dances, and I mentioned previously they too could have easily been in the mix for second position.

Fifth went to Adam Hathazi & Morgana Lakatos-Hayward from Canada who placed sixth in C, S and fifth in the other three dances. Adam & Morgana were also a very capable couple, however, there was a few criticisms from the judges following the competition as to the young lady’s outfit, and yes it only took two steps for the outfit to be quite revealing.  Perhaps couples should try practicing in their outfits before going out on the floor.  Being over exposed in our opinion is not sexy and detracts form the artistic look they are trying to create. Finally in sixth position was Nikita Malakhov & Nadezda Vlasova from USA.  We went from being over exposed to a very charged outfit.  It had beads, appliques - in our opinion a little to much going and quite distracting once again detracting from the actual art of dancing.

The Professional Rhythm event was nicely attended with a full semifinal round.  In the end for us the top two were very close. It was in our opinion a matter of taste from each judge. Azamat Evgamukov & Kateryna Angelone from the USA, took first overall winning four dances and placing second in the bolero.  We liked the unorthodox and raw way this couple attacks the Rhythm dances.  Perhaps this might be what attracted the majority of the judges to their style. Second went to what we thought was clearly the cleanest couple in this final, their execution of each dance was perfection - Andrei Svirydzenka & Yuliya Zubava from the USA, but as you will see in the marks the judges were not to convinced - 3,2,4,1,2. For us they lacked the thrill of the unexpected and were perhaps a little too clean for some tastes.  In Rhythm, as an old time and revered US Champions and hero “Bobby Medeiros” use to say, “You have to get down deep and dirty.”

Third was awarded to Jean Michel Erole & Larisa Mikryukova from the USA, they placed 2,4,3,3,3. The rest of the placements went to Canada, Dmytro Gurkov & Alexandra Efrenova took fourth 4,3,2,4,4, Simone Zat & Stephany Moujally were fifth in all dances, Dayan Mantecon Roldan & Kyra Kalweit were sixth and Mathieu Casavant & Melanie Martin were seventh.

The Ballroom was perhaps not as exciting for us as the Rhythm was but it was still an excellent semifinal.  US’s Marat Gimaev & Alina Basyuk placed first in all dances. The surprise for us was the second place finish of Gaetano lavarone & Emanuela from Italy who placed second overall 2,2,2,2,3. Gaetano & Emanuela were both very capable but could have easily been overtake by the Canadian Ballroom Champions, Anton Lebedev & Anna Broshch who although a little heavy at times, still had the power and swing to get our attention. But in the end Anton & Anna placed third in four dances but stole the quickstep away from Italy.

Ronen Zishtein & Mariam Izmaylova from USA took fourth overall 4,4,4,5,5.  It most have been a disappointing result for Richard Tonizzo & Clair Hansen from Canada, who were fifth 5,5,5,4,4, and sixth was awarded to former Senior World Champions Volker Schmidt & Ellen Jonas from Germany.

In the Pro/Am it was Rhythm day and in the Rhythm World Dancesport Series the competitions were great especially in the “B” division where Canada’s Rhea Arida w/Volvick Edouard who took first in all dances.  Faye Diamantoudi w/Tony Santana were second 2,2,3,2,2, and third was awarded to Tabuja Tharani w/Adrian Persad form the USA 3,3,4,3,4.

The “C” was only a four couple final but worth a mention. Lily Di Gregorio w/David Rodriguez placed first overall but not in all dances 2,1,2,1,1. Pascale Navarro w/Tony Santana was second 1,2,1,2,2, and third went to Louise Vignoul w/Simone Zat 4,3,3,3,3.

The “A” was only a three couple final and here the scholarship went to Nathalie Vuong w/Volvick Edouard who took first in all dances leaving second to Astrid Pacher w/Christopher Panasuk and they took all seconds and in 3rd Sophie Labelle & Dayan Mantecon Roldan.

It was a lovely evening, the MC’s managed to keep the pace going and upbeat until the end and we cannot wait for tonight when the Professional Latin and Smooth will be presented along with the Amateur Ballroom.      

A Summer Night’s Dream!

With so much white snow blanketing the city of Montreal and with a winter wonderland decorating the ballroom it all seemed like a summer’s night dream here at La Classique Du Quebec! The Hilton Bonaventure continues to be a perfect venue for a ballroom event.  The hotel sits atop an 18-floor structure, but the natural trees, fountains, walkways all surrounded by a small pool where ducks play make you feel as if you are in a winter wonderland.

The competition in the beautiful, natural ballroom one floors below the hotel is perfect and this time as we walked in, we could not help but take a breath as we admired the simple but beautiful decorations that enhanced the ballroom - the white materials, the fresh flowers, the dry white painted willow trees, the new and improved logo that is placed just right allowed the light to reflect a much bigger version on the curtains behind. All this in a very simple manner, yet beautiful with subtle accents and a touch of class, makes for us La Classique Du Quebec 2015 a perfect winter wonderland.

The competition inspired and complimented by the excellent acoustics of this ballroom made all the events interesting in this beautiful ballroom. The Pro/Am Smooth Scholarships were great. The largest entry came in the “C” division, where World Dancesport Series winner Beverly Moore dancing with Alain Doucet continued to take the lead and won all dances, second in this category went to Josee Dubuc w/ Christopher Panasuk and they placed second in all four dances, leaving third to Jan VanDuyn w/ Joe Born and they placed 4,3,3,3.

The “B” division had also a six-couple final but apart form the wining couple it was not very clear as to where everyone placed. Nadia Sicilia w/Christopher Panasuk took first in all four dances, Rhea Arida w/Volvick Edouard took second overall but not in every dance 2,3,2,3, this tie breaker must have been resolved by a rule 10 or rule 11, giving Brina Lewin & Tony Santana an overall third placed 3,2,3,2.

The “A” Division was only a four-couple final but with some good talent.  Nathalie Vuong w/Volvick Edouard won all dances, a clear second place overall went to Astrid Pacher w/Christopher Panasuk, and third was Jessica Vane w/Sharon Levit who tied in the waltz for 3rd place with Martin-Luc Girard w/ Jessie Mineau who were fourth overall. Jessica & Sharon placed third in the other three dances and Martin & Jessie placed fourth in the other three dances.

The Pro/Am Grand-Slam showdance was also a feature this evening and the winning couple was Carlynn Rees dancing with well-known Cabaret dancer Carlos Zapata.  Second was awarded to Jacquie Smith w/Rafael Steyners and third went to Costance Buki w/Dayan Mantenco Roldan.

The Amateur Senior 2 Latin was a five-couple final but one good enough to need a mention. Luc Lavigne & Josee Latulippe took first overall 1,1,2,1,1, Roger Korsiak & Holli Hornline took second 3,2,1,2,3, and third was awarded to Pierre Legault & Lyne Villeneuve 2,3,3,3,2.

The evening concluded with a show by US Professional Latin Champions and WDC World Professional Latin Champions, Riccardo Coccchi and Yulia Zagoruychenko.  It was well received and a good ending to the first day of competitions here at La Classique Du Quebec.  
  

Holiday Classic Open Pro-Am Scholarships

Report by Didio Barrera
Photos by Park West

In the Pro/Am Scholarship there was some excellent dancing starting with the Ballroom. 

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Holiday Dance Classic – Professional Rhythm Review

Report by Margaret Burns
Action Photos by Park West

I thought I would do this review with a different approach. I decided to just watch and write down things as they came to me: Which couples stood out at various times, impressions, pet peeves, audience reactions.

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Holiday Dance Classic Pro Latin

Report by Phillip Nicholas
Action Photos by Park West

Again Las Vegas was a great week of wonderful dancing and lots of fun meeting up with many friends and making many more. It finished with a great after party which I would like to forget about!

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Professionals Rule at Maryland

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This year Maryland Dancesport Championships were adequate when it came to pro/am and amateur dancing but when it came to all the professional heats, Maryland “ruled!” All four professional styles were full, if not by number of couples by quality.

The most interesting professional event for us was the Professional Latin where we had what we consider a very thought provoking result. Going from past performances we expected as usual the favorite to win. For us this favorite was Roman Italyamkin & Alexandra Bokova.  However, this was not the case this time they took second in all dances but the paso doble where they placed first. The overall winners of this championship were Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets who won all dances but the paso where they placed second.

You would have thought from what I just mentioned that the competition would have been close, however, it was not.  Dmitry & Olena won all four dances with a full majority of firsts from the 13 judges present, the only dance where it was a bit closer was in paso. We do have to point out that in our opinion this couple looked quite sharp and very prepared. Let’s say we were not surprised by their win. Roman & Alexandra did a wonderful job as well and in our opinion could have won easily but needed to put a little more distance between them and the wining couple by producing a more creative performance. Dmitry & Olena were way ahead of them when it came to speed and power, so what Roman & Alexandra needed here to maintain their position was to focus on the creative aspect of the dances and the woman/man relationship that both these two couples sometimes lack.

The rest of the final was also excellent third went to Dmytro & Nina Kovalenko, fourth was awarded to Kharyton & Anastasiya Khomenko 5,4,4,4,4, fifth went to Vlad Astafiev & Jenya Didenko 4,5,5,5,5, sixth was Zsolt Katona & Timea Potys and they took sixth in all dances and all sevenths were awarded to Denis & Amanda Satonin.

The Professional Ballroom was also great.  Here we had three couples really fighting for first place but in the end of this excellent final only one could take the prize home and that was Andrei Begunov & Anna Demidova.  At first we were a little concerned for this couple since the last performances we have witnessed left us wanting more, but we must say that on this outing they took the “bull by its horns” and made tamed him. Andrei & Anna were moving, dancing and telling us “we are the best.”  Andrei was very musical and Anna followed and responded to his every move and call, our congratulations to this very talented couple who won all dances with a huge majority of firsts from the judges. Second went to another excellent couple, Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova who took second in four dances and third in the tango. 2nd in tango went to Gianni Caliandro & Arianna Esposito and we totally have to agree with this, their tango was very musical and sharp. We were not surprised that they even took a few firsts from Andrei & Anna.

The second part of this professional Ballroom final is also worth a mention.  Oleksiy Buravenko & Victoria karzukhina placed fourth in all dances, Jan Don & Adele Jang Don took all fifths, leaving all sixths to Dmitriy & Gabriela Solomakhan.

The Professional Rhythm also had a great entry and here Azamat Evgamukov & Katerina Angelone took the lead by winning three dances and placing second in the rumba and bolero. We have to say that at first we were not sure where this competition was going to end up, the other couples too looked great in the semifinal round, however, for us in the final especially after the swing was danced, Azamat & Katerina were in a league of their own. Second was awarded to Shane & Shannon Jensen and they were the winners of the rumba and swing.  They had a very clean performance but needed the heartfelt performance that Azamat & Katerina gave us today in order to win. Third in every dance was Shandor Shtefil & Aleksandra Barsukov, this couple in our eyes has made a great strides in this style and we are happy they are being rewarded.

Fourth were Andrei Svirydzenka & Yuliya Zubava and they took fourth in every dance. We found their performance very clean as well and we were a little taken aback, since we were almost certain they might take a place higher, this goes to show all that just giving a squeaky clean performance is not enough. Fifth in every dance were Stephen Smyth & Viktoriya Kleyman, and finally in sixth place were Tamas Kordos & Mariya-Kristina Shurupova.

The Professional Smooth also was terrific and here it was an easy road for Mazen Hamza & Izabella Jundzill who won all dances with a majority of firsts in all. Travis & Jaimee Tuft placed second overall and the new partnership of Michael Choi & Erin Marie placed third in all dances. We must mention how impressed we were with this new duo, who did not look new at all.  It looked as if they have been working for quite sometime, I wonder what it will be like a year from now?

Fourth overall went to Kirill Gorjatsev & Daria Zotova 4,4,4,5, here we were not to clear at some point you look at them and you think they would be in the top two the next moment everything would fall apart. Simple things like posture and holding form. Stephen Smyth & Viktoriya Kelyman placed fifth overall 5,6,5,4, Sergey Smolin & Anna Tomasini were sixth 6,5,6,6, and seventh went to Shandor Shtefil & Alexandra Barsukov and they took seventh in every dance. We most conclude this category by saying that the standard and quality of this style was very high, in the semifinal round there were at least two couples that could have easily made the final and they did not.

The Open Amateur Latin was a four-couple final but all couples were very capable. Here Stanishlav Engelgardt & Tatiana Vasilyeva placed first overall 1,2,1,1,1, Mircea & Ana-Maria Cernev took second overall 2,1,2,3,3 and Eric Groysman & Shelby Joe Cole took third 3,3,3,2,2, and fourth was Raphael Matlis & Jamie Dorotov.

The show concluded on a high note with a quick but excellent show choreographed by Diana McDonald.  Some of the champions presented some of their numbers and a few of the couples from the Northeast filled in with the group numbers.

The high definition screen in the ballroom was magnificent and very appealing to the audience’s eye.  Congratulations Amanda & Ilya for a terrific Maryland Dancesport, 2015. 

Maryland a Fab Rising Star Night!

Last night the Rising Star competitions were fabulous here at the Maryland Dancesport Championships, all finals were full and the quality of the dancers was quite high.

The evening began with the Professional Showdance and so before we talk about the Rising Stars we’d like to mention this excellent event. 5 couples took to the floor to do their solo and with no surprise Shane & Shannon Jensen took the top prize, quite easily from where we stood. Shane & Shannon looked totally ready and their new number of “I Who Have Nothing” and it went down with perfection. Second in line was Brandon Baker & Chelsea Cherie.  We felt that the level of difficulty was tremendous but they lacked clarity in the execution. We felt that they looked quite strained at times and in one of the nail biting maneuvers they even lost their footing getting a clear wobble in their program. However, the judges must have missed this or were totally taken by the difficulty of the choreography they placed second comfortably with only 3 judges placing them lower than third place.

We were quite taken by the 2 other Showdances that should also be mentioned. Leo Mora & Christina Garced did an interesting “smooth” style routine, and who placed third overall. The other routine we most mention before going into the rising Star events was that of Jonathan Chen & Nadine Messenger who did an energetic mambo.

The largest entry was in the Rising Star Rhythm where a full semifinal was run. Shandor Shtefil & Aleksandra Barsukov won every dance with at least half the panel marking in their favorite.  They did manage to take some low scores, their worst marks came from Paul Holmes who awarded them three 4ths and two 3rds. Stephen Smyth & Viktoriya Kleyman placed second overall but their marks varied from second to fourth place and even a fifth form a number of judges, their worst marks were in the mambo, 3 judges awarded them fifth in this dance.

For us the Rhythm was a little divided with some couples doing what we thought to be Rhythm style and others just some kind of Latin. Tamas Kardos & Mariya-Kristina Shurupova placed third overall and here the Latin training for us was very present, they had excellent skill but could use some old fashioned Rhythm skills to be complete. Fourth overall also went to another very talented couple but they too for us had perhaps a little too much Latin influence, and they placed fourth in four dances and fifth in the rumba.

In our opinion fifth and sixth had more Rhythm ingredients in their dancing, however, perhaps their work is still a little green to place higher.  Jonathan Chen & Nadine Messenger placed fifth 6,6,5,5,4, and Edson Jeune & Nina Guezo took sixth 5,4,6,6,6.

The Professional Rising Star Ballroom was perhaps the smallest heat overall with only five couples entered and here and the clear winner to all was Jang & Adele Don winning all five dances, the VW with a perfect score. In a couple of the other dances they had a few judges awarding them a few seconds, and we can see that although they too were our favorite, sometimes their power and over the top style made them a little wobbly. Second overall wen to Dmitriy & Gabriela Solomakha and they took second in every dance, for us this couple had a very soft casual style but overall did not have enough power to support their well held top lines. Third were Kharyton & Anastasia Khomenko 3,4,3,3,3, fourth was Sergey Izyumov & Ellen Porter and fifth were Corey & Kayla Girard.

The Rising Star Latin had a full six-couple final and here Dymtro & Nina Kovalenko took first in all dances, we felt that all the top four couples were very close in skill but we are not surprised with their win. Kharyton & Anastasia Khomenko placed second overall and they too were quite excellent but when you looked at the marks any of these couples could have shared any of the top placements 2,2,3,3,3. Third was awarded to Jang & Adele Don and they too had a variety of marks but in the end here were their overall marks 3,3,4,4,4. We quite liked Vlad Astafiev & Jenya Didenko, in fact we would not have been surprised had they placed higher or taken a dance or two, however, at the end of the day they took fourth overall 3,3,4,4,4. Fifth were Zsolt Katona & Timea Potys fifth in all dances and sixth was Denis Satonin & Amanda Satonin.

As I said all Rising Star events were great here last night and the Professional Smooth was no different.  Here Sergey Smolin & Anna Tomasini were the overall winners taking all four dances. We were surprised to see that they got quite a potpourri of marks all the way down to sixth place.  For us they could have been second but never less. Second went to Stephen Smyth & Victoriya Kleyman and they took second in every dance. Third in every dance went to Shandor Shtefil & Aleksandra Barsukov, again they too shared in all the marks from sixth to first place but we were quite surprised they placed so high in this style, especially in the waltz where close to the beginning the lady fell to the ground and as we all follow their performance, from our perspective could not recuperate but they even got a couple firsts.

Fourth overall was awarded to Aaron Talbert & Angela Maughan 4,4,4,5, this couple had the most energy of all and could definitely move, however more attention should be paid to detail in order to place higher. Fifth overall was awarded to Leo Mora & Christina Garced 6,5,5,4, we were quite surprised that this couple placed so low, we could see that they could at times look a little heavy on their feet but, their shapes and transitions are in many ways better than some of the couples on top of this list. Sixth were Christopher & Jenny Sochnacki 5,6,6,6.

Tonight are the open events and it promises to be a terrific evening judging from the Risings Stars last night.