Volunteer State launches TV World Network!

The Volunteer State Championship, organized by David Medeiros, was the location for the launch of the Dance Network. The Dance Network is going to be a television cable channel dedicated to dance and what we all love the most, ballroom dancing, this network will feature ballroom competitions as well as dance movies from Fred Astaire to Dirty Dancing, etc. and even their own programing will be featured there.

With a television studio the size of a football field, the Dance Network will be able to create their own programing, featuring all the different styles of dancing, tap, jazz, flamenco you name it. This multi-million dollar investment is the creation of David Medeiros, the organizer, and Julie Stadler who is a Pro/Am Ballroom fan and competitor. From their presentation we can see that this venture will be competing with networks such as the History Channel, Animal Planet and the Food Network. Finally we will have a Network that will cater to all dancing, and especially to ballroom Dancing.  This is an incredible undertaking and one that we as a group should be proud.  We should all stand behind it. As in everything viewership is everything and it is important that when it airs we watch and we stay tuned in.

Talking of viewership, the Professional “Star Rhythm Tour” was also a major success here at the Volunteer State. This was the third stop for the rhythm couples to accumulate points and win dollars to the tune of over $50,000.00.  Each leg has been a little different and as the tour moves on the tension on all front mounts with anticipation as to who will take the $25,000.00 purse for first place. When it came to internet viewership this tour had the most so far with hundreds of devices being used and tracked. Viewership as I mentioned is the name of the game and on this leg of this tour we had a huge increase of people viewing the competition at home on their computers.

The winner of the tour will be determined by a combination of 3 different scores - or points given for the 3 different challenges.  Firstly the group competition, secondly the solo exhibition and lastly the audience participation vote. On this leg the overall competition went to Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryshova who earned a total of 138.64 points. In the group competition they were second best overall.  The judges’ scores on each dance were 2,3,2,2,2.  This earned them a total of 24 points for their group effort. In their solo presentation they received the third best score of the evening from the judges, a 94.14 total. What put this couple above the rest in this third leg of the tour was the audience.  They were the audience’s favorite when it came to the solo with 41% of their vote they managed to accumulate a total of 20.5 points towards their final tally, giving them an overall score of 138.64 points and so they won the Volunteer State leg.

Second on this leg was awarded to Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine & Liana Churilova.  They of course were the favorite to win the group competition and this they certainly did, first in every dance from the group judging panel. This was a great push towards the finish line and the most you can earn on the group dances, 30 points or a perfect score. In the solo section of the competition they also shone with the best score of the night 95.43.  However, their weakest this time was motivating their fans to vote. In the scheme of things they were third best with the audience but a sad finish that was only 5% of the popular vote, this was not good enough to push them to the top at this leg with only 2.5 points added for this effort. Overall they received 127.93 points total towards the tour, a difference of 8.71 between them and the leading couple on this leg. Most effort needs to be applied in awakening the interest of their fans to vote. We must also point out that the Star Tours are not a walk in the park.  The different variables make it very interesting for us the viewers, something that we need in this industry (more fans and people watching) but this makes it a challenge for the couples that are new to this and do not always end in the position they are accustomed to.  Emanuel & Liana are the perfect example, they placed last on the first leg in Colorado due to a time rule penalty, first in Twins Cities and now second on this third leg.   

Third in this leg of the tour went to Andre & Natalie Paramonov.  They placed third in four of the five dances of the group competition and second in the rumba, this effort gave them 21 points towards their tally. Andre & Natalie were the second best after Emanuel & Liana in their solo performance with 94.57 points awarded to them by the judges. In the popular vote they were fourth in this effort with only 3% of the vote, giving them 1.5 extra points. In the end their overall score for this leg of the tour came to 117.07.

We acknowledge a glitch that occurred immediately following the solo presentation.  About 8 minutes following the solo Star Tour Challenge it was brought to our attention that on the TV screen in the ballroom the couple that was number 108, Andre & Natalie, appear as number 103. This was confirmed and changed right away. Although the error was on the screen, there were cards on the tables with their correct names and numbers. Also, the announcer read the correct name and number for each couple. For viewers voting on a computer device everything was correct.

To insure the integrity of the vote, every vote had to be looked at closely as to who voted, how it was voted and at what time.  As we looked into this matter, we realized that at this competition the majority of the votes for all couples came from people at a computer looking at the show and not from texting on cellular phones. We were then able to look at a spreadsheet as to who got the text votes. In comparison with the other events the numbers were all very consistent. After looking over every vote for the past two days, we find that this glitch did not have any impact or consequence for the couples involved and is not significant to the final tally.

Fourth was awarded to Aaron & Irina Desoto.  They placed fourth in all their group dances obtaining 15 points towards their final score. They were the fourth best solo with a score 90.29, their audience score was higher than Emanuel & Liana’s and Andre & Natalie with an 8% of the vote picking up 4 extra points for this, giving them the final tally of 109.29.

The second favorite couple of the audience was Daniel Lee Tran & Taylor Kinney, they came into the solo as the audience wildcard, getting only 3 points for this before the solos began. Daniel & Taylor have always been the favorite of the audience at every stop where they have competed and this time they almost did it again.  They lost the audience favorite position to Nazar & Irina by 1 point with 40% of the audience vote. They might have lost the popularity contest by one vote but they still were awarded 20 points for this towards their final score. The judges were also not thrilled with Daniel & Taylor’s “Lion King” performance.  Their routine was scored only 65.00 points awarded by the judges. Their overall score was of 88.00 putting them in fifth position on this the 3rd leg of the Star Rhythm Tour.

Christopher Wayne & Juanita Simanekova placed sixth overall on this leg of the tour. They made the final and placed 6th in every dance.  They got a point per dance and so 5 points were awarded for their effort in the group final. Their solo was not marked in the nineties, but their score was not the lowest they got 81.14 towards the run. When it came to the audience their popularity was not as strong.  They picked up 3% of the vote and got 1.5 extra points as did the Paramonovs. In the end adding these points up, their overall score was of 87.64. This score was good enough to keep them in play but not to go further than 6th position at this third leg of the tour.

Seventh position overall on the tour was awarded to Jonathan Green & Rachel Neilson.  They placed fifth in every dance in the group competition.  This effort gained them 10 points towards the final tally. Their solo performance was the lowest marked, perhaps due to the fact that they did not have a prepared routine.  The judges awarded them 63.86.  Their popularity with the audience totally fell with 0% awarded to them by the audience and so no points were awarded to them by the audience. Their final tally was the lowest of this leg of the Star Ballroom Tour a 73.86 total, putting them in seventh position.

Overall this leg of the City Lights Star Rhythm Tour was a fantastic success the amount of people watching on their computer monitors at home and away from the competition was amazing. We tabulated that close to 1,000 people or devices, 98% being computers, were in use, with I’m sure the majority or all watching the Star Rhythm Tour. With every stop the tour continues to engage more fans and more people.  This is great for the industry since this will be what will get more sponsorship money for professional dancing in America for future endeavors. The City Lights Star Tours want to once again thank all the couples that are supporting this venture. And finally we want to remind the couples that you most attend and compete at the City Lights Ball in order to collect what is owed to you. Congratulations to all, and you can see the final tallies and where you stand after this leg at www.dancebeat.com.   

Youth Open Ballroom at the 2015 American Star Ball Championships

Report y Dasha Sushko
Photos by Lisa Dubinsky

The American Star Ball Championships 2015 was held in the beautiful Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. For the third year in a row Amanda & Ilya Reyzin did a superb job at organizing another successful competition.

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Yankee Classic Professional American Rhythm                              
Report by Jennifer Foster
Photos by Ryan Kenner Photography

We began with a quarterfinal and narrowed it down to this top 6.

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Sunday A Good Finish For IGB

Sunday night was a good finish for the IGB.  2 good open pro divisions and some interesting U/21 divisions, one of which produced a different result to the Youth division.

Of the two open pro divisions the Smooth was larger and began with a semifinal.  Basically two couples were far ahead of the field and these were the eventual winners, Yegor Novikov & Alexandria Smirnova and the runners-up, Evgeny Malko & Anna Shabazyan.  Yegor & Alexandria won all dances with the majority of 1st places.  They produce wonderful, elongated lines and seem to get more settled each time we see them.  Evgeny & Anna have a more dramatic style and this was the best performance we have seen from them so far.  They were 2nd in all dances.  3rd went to Peter Hahn & Jude Coraldi, 4,3,3,3.  This duo also continues to improve.  It was good to see Eric Koptke & Chelsea Farrah back on the floor after an extended layoff.  They were 4th with 3,4,4,4.  Kyle & Christina Campbell were 5th in all and Jonathan Atkinson & Lrena Bravo were 6th in all.

The Open Latin finished as a straight final after a couple of cancelations.  The winners in all dances were Andrey Tarasov & Yulia Kuznetsova.  They put in a strong showing and were the audience favorites, but they had to give up some 1st places in all dances to the Rising Star Winners, Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina.  The closest fought dance was the cha cha that Andrey & Yulia won by 7 first places to 4.  Comfortably 3rd in all dances were Maxim Kapitanikov & Natalia Fridmanovich.  4th Artjom Shmigeljuk & Oxana Kashkina 5,5,4,4,4;  5th Vasily Anokhin & Kristina Androshenko 4,4,5,5,5;  6th Kiril Nikitin & Jenya Kanchukova 6,6,6,6,6.

The U/21 Ballroom was interesting because the 1st and 2nd places were reversed from the same style of the Youth.  Tonight Justin Lin & Sasha Dubinsky were the winners 1,2,1,1,2 over Kinsley Lin & Michelle Yiu 2,1,2,2,1.  Both couples are great additions to this style and we did think that Justin & Sasha danced the best and most consistently that we have ever seen from them.  3rd were Jacob Tsai & Cara Loo.

The U/21 Latin was an 8-couple final and the winners were Giulio Ferrante & Lidia Martinez Espinosa 1,1,3,3,1.  All couples were at a high level in the final and the results were anything but clear.  2nd were Bumchin Tegshjargal & Michelle Klets 2,2,1,2,2 and 3rd, Mike Monokandilos & Sophia Brodsky 3,3,2,1,3.  These 3 couples are all from the Bay Area.  4th, from MA were Steven Varshavsky & Karolina Loutnikov 4,4,4,4,5 and also from MA Murat Medzhidor & Valerie Dubinsky were 5th 6,5,5,5,4.  Lance Yasinsky & Annabelle Vinckur were 6th 5,7,7,6,6;  Zika Trajovic & Scarlett Liafer were 7th 8,6,6,7,7 and Adrian Grobeiny & Tanya Smith were 8th 7,8,8,8,8.

There was also a fun youth and junior team match that the audience seemed to very much enjoy.

At the end of the evening we celebrated the 84th birthday of the incredible Mr. Ken Sloan.

Avdeev/Blinova Take 2nd leg of Star Ballroom Tour

Last night marked leg 2 of the Star Ballroom Tour sponsored by City Lights here at IGB.  It resulted in a win for Mikhail Avdeev & Olga Blinova.  They swept the board tonight winning the Freestyle, the Showdance and the Audience Vote.  Following the first leg at Yankee Classic they were in 4th place and this win moves them up to 2nd.  The overall leaders after 2 legs are Alexander Voscalchuk & Veronica Egorova who were the runners-up here tonight, again in all 3 categories.  Andrey Begunov & Anna Demidova remain in 3rd place overall.  The full results from the Star Tours will soon be available here.  Check the rankings.  Look out also for an analysis by Keith Todd and video commentary by Stephen Cullip on the Freestyle section and Michael Mead & Toni Redpath on the Showdances.  All coming soon!

Michael Towslizew & Tiffany Fung were the 7th couple to dance a solo as they were the audience's "wildcard" selection from the semifinalists.

The 5-Dace Open Pro Ballroom was extremely tight tonight.  Mikhail & Olga won the division but it was a Rule 11 tie between them and Alexander & Veronika.  Mikhail & Olga placed 1,2,2,1,1T and Alex & Veronica 2,1,1,2,1T.  There is very little light between these two couples and we are all looking forward to more exciting duels.  Things were also tight between 3rd and 4th but by two points Andre Begunov & Anna Demidova took it, placing 4,3,3,4,3 and in their first competition back on the floor, Denis Kutepov & Lesya Sinitsa were 4th, 3,4,4,3,5.  And in the 3rd of the tight races Igor Colac & Roxane Milotti were the winners taking 5th spot with 6,5,5,6,4 over Ronen Zinshtein & Mariam Izmaylova 5,6,6,5,6.

The other Open Pro event of the night was Rhythm and this was comfortably won by Danus Jaksevicious & Yuki Haraguchi 1,1,1,1,1.  2nd with 2,2,2,2,3 were Riccardo Papi & Sabrina Moretti.  3rd were Ryan Lockhart & Danelle Newman 3,3,3,4,4 and with the widest range of scores, 5,4,4,5,2, Jeremy Babgay & Carolyn Barreno took 4th.  5th fell to David Moon & Sydney Petersen 4,5,5,3,5 and 6th to Richard & Marianne Myers.

The Open Amateur Latin was a very strong event with competitors from both coasts.  Taking all dances and giving a totally “in command” performance were Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabriella Sabler who easily won all dances.  Nikolai Tarasov & Amanda Herrschaft were the runners-up scoring 2,2,2,2,3.  The second of the East Coast couples in the final, Allen Rudman & Svetlana Lisnaya were 3rd 3,4,3,3,2.  Giulio Ferrante & Lidia Maria Espinosa were 4th 6,3,4,4,4.  Two youth couples closed the final, Bumchin Tegshjargal & Michelle Kletts in 5th 4,5,5,5,6 and Mike Monokandilios & Sophia Brodsky 6th 5,6,6,6,5.

Ilya Rezin will have a report on this division.

It was a great night for Junior II competitors Eric Linder & Rickie Taylor who won both the Ballroom and Latin divisions taking all dances in both divisions.  Tyler Li & Angelica Lowe were the runners-up in both and also were 2nd in all dances.  Continuing the tradition, Jared Alley & Sabrina Bezzant were 3rd in both.  These were scholarship divisions sponsored by the CBZ Foundation.

The Youth Latin was an excellent 8-couple final that was a nightmare for the judges.  We thought it was a great race for 1st between the top two couples.  Winning by 3 dances to 2 tonight were Bumchin Tegshjargal & Michelle Kletts 1,1,2,2,1 over fellow Bay Area competitors, Mike Monokandilios & Sophia Brodsky 2,2,1,1,2.  We thought thesetwo couples were well clear, but the rest of this excellent final was up for grabs.  Erik & Rickie moved up from the J2 division to take 3rd 3,3,3,4,4.  Lance Yasinsky & Annabelle Vinckur were 4th 6,5,4,3,6;  Murat Medzhidor & Valerie Dubinsky 5th 4,6,7,6,3;  Tyler Adler & Makayla Bezzant 6th 7,7,5,5,5;  Daniel Bernecker & Charity Anderson 7th 5,4,6,7,7;  Zika Trajkovic & Scarlett Liaifer 8th 8,8,8,8,8.

Youth & Amateur Ballroom Headline at IGB

For us the flavor of the night was Ballroom and that means the Open Amateur and Youth divisions.  Both semifinals and both filled with quality dancing.

The Youth was first on and we saw the great dancing in this division that the Bay area has, plus a few good “outsiders.”  The winners were Kinsley Lin & Michelle Yiu 1,1,1,2,1.  This is Mr. & Ms. Perfect – rarely do we see them out of position or sometimes it seems even breaking a sweat.  This is their strength and their weakness we believe.  Winning foxtrot and placing 2nd in the other dances were Justin Lin & Sasha Dubinsky from MA.  These are rather the antithesis of the winners.  They dance with much passion but sometimes get stuck in some awkward positions.  We loved their waltz & foxtrot.  3rd in all dances were Mike Monokandilos & Sophia Brodsky.  Another great SF team, they sometimes seem a little tight to us, but move beautifully.  MA took the next position also Murat Medzhidor & Valerie Dubinsky 5,4,4,4,5.  A new partnership that exhibits great, free flowing movement and should be strong contenders soon.  Jacob Tsai & Cara Loo were 5th with 6,6,5,5,4.  They too show great promise once some positional problems are addressed.  We were also impressed with the clean performance of 6th placed Daniel Bernecker & Charity Anderson from UT 4,5,6,6,6.  Perhaps they need to let go a bit more.

Comfortable winners of the Open Amateur were Marek Klepadlo & Liana Bakhtierova who won all dances deservedly in our view.  From our perspective it was a little closer for 2nd but the Runners-up Ferando Lareu & Nicole Palagashvili were 2nd in all dances and 3rd placed Florin Vlad & Natalia Linda O’Connor were 3rd in all.  These are two couples with very different appearances and styles.  Mike & Sophia also danced in this division and were 4th 5,4,4,4,5.  5th went to Daniel Rubahevsky & Anastasiya Vysotska 4,5,6,5,4 and 6th to Christian Solares & Whittney Myers 6,6,5,6,6.

All 4 styles in the Pro Rising Star were also held – all straight finals.  The best we thought was the Latin.  This was a showcase for Mykhalio Bilopukhov & Anastasia Shchypilina who have made such an impression recently.  They won all dances.  2nd in all went to Maksim Kapitanikov & Natalia Shchypilina and 3rd in all were Artjom Shmigeljuk & Oxana Kashkina.

Kyle & Christina Campbell won the RS Smooth – all dances, Jonathan Atkinson & Loreno Bravo were 2nd in all and Kelton & Jessica Johnson were 3rd in all.

Jeremy Babagay & Carolyn Barreno won the RS Rhythm 1,2,2,1,1.  David Moon & Sydney Petersen were 2nd 2,1,1,2,2 and Alejandro & Lucelia Falcon were 3rd in all dances.

Stay tuned for tonight’s results that include the 2nd leg of the Star Rhyhtm Tour.

Getting (a mile) High in Denver!
Colorado Star Ball 2015

Report by Keith Todd
Photos by Decadance Photography

With perhaps the loosest marijuana laws in the nation, “getting high in Denver” has been much in the news of late, but here at the Colorado Star Ball dancers and audience had the opportunity to “get high” on some great dancing here in the mile-high city.

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