Ending High!

As in the past few years, USA ended on a high note taking the top 2 places in the British Open Professional Ballroom.  Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova won all 4 dance (no VW at Blackpool) and Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva were 2nd in all 4.

One interesting sidenote, while Arunas & Katusha received mostly 1st places, one judge did not see it quite the same as the others.  Joanne Bolton-Hawkins placed them (1W, 4F, 5T, 5T).  This was Arunas & Katusha's 6th consecutive win here in Blackpool.

USA also had many other success stories in this division.  Marat Gimayev & Alina Basyuk were placed in the semifinal in all 4 dances.

In the quarter-final we saw:  Anton Lebedev & Anna Borsh (W,F,T,Q);  Artem Plakhotnyi & Inna Berlizyeva (W,F,T,Q);  Alexander Voskalchuk & Veronica Ergorova (W,F,T,Q);  Iaroslav Bieliel & Liliia Gladiuk (W,F,T);  Mikhail Avdeev & Olga Blinova (W,F,T,Q);  Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova (W,T)

A night of "Smoothness"

The big story for the USA last night (Thursday) at Blackpool was the introduction of the American Smooth style to the Blackpool crowd.

5 US professional Smooth couples were invited to show their stuff on the famous floor of the Empress Ballroom - prime time on Thursday (the couples' expenses were sponsored by AMI, FADS, NDCA & ABC).  The 5 couples perfomed all together to recorded music.  The audience seemed very appreciative.  Congratulations to Peter & Alexandra Perzhu, Mikhail & Galina Zharinov, Mazen Hamza & Izabella Jundzill, Travis & Jaimee Tuft and Kyle & Allie Spinder.  What's next for Smooth dancing in Blackpool?

The main event of Thursday at Blackpool is the Amateur Ballroom.  The title was open because last year's champions have turned professional, but the championship stayed with Poland who still dominate this event right now.  Sergiu Rusu & Dorota Maar are the new chmpions and 1 of 3 Polish couples in the final.

The best finishes for North America came came from Andres & Veronika End and James Cuttler & Virginie Primeau.  Both couples made the quarter-final.

Another feature of Thursday night at Blackpool is the Invitational Exhibition and North America was well represented with 5 of the 8 couples entered.  South Africa took the 1st two spots, but Shane & Shannon Jensen captured the 3rd position.  And then N. America took the next 4 consecutive places.  In order:  Brandon Barker & Chelsea Cherrie, JJ Zamora & Sheena Daminar, Clifton Sepulveda & Mar Martinez, Carlos Zapata & Dora Pashova.

Watch for a report on this division by James Peters in Dance Beat soon.

Half the final quits!

Last night during the Open British Professional Latin Championship, 3 couples from the final 6 announced their retirement.  Reigning champions, Michael Malitowski & Joanna Leunis won their 8th consecutive Blackpool and then announced they were calling it quits.  Also hanging up their shoes are the 2 couples from Slovenia, Andrej Skufca & Melinda and Jurij & Jagoda Batagelj who were 5th and 6th respectively.

And now the interesting part!  The remaining 3 couples, not quitting, are all from North America.  Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko were 2nd overall, but won the cha cha.  Stefano DiFilippo & Dasha Chesnokova were 4th overall.  Then from Canada, Maurizio Vescovo & Andra Vaidilaite were 3rd.

Other North Americans placing highly were:  Nikolai Voronovich & Maria Nikolishina (Semifinal P; Quarter-final C,S,R, J),  Jake Davies & Olena Kalinina (Quarter-final C),  Kamil Studenny & Anna Pelipenko.

Watch for Hanna Karttunen's report on this division in Dance Beat soon.

2 finalists for USA, Tuesday, Blackpool

Photos by Mark Gadsden

USA had finalists in both events held in Blackpool on Tuesday - The Open British Amateur Latin Championship and the Open British U/21 Latin Championship.  Ferdinando Iannconne & Yulia Musikhina were 4th in the Amateur Latin and Patrick Plosaj & Anna Kaczmarkski were 3rd in the U/21 Ballroom

The USA placed strongly in the Amateur Latin overall.  Pasha & Daniella Pashkov retained their postiion in the semifinal.

USA had 4 couples in the Quarter-final:  Alexander Chernositov & Ariana Grishanina, Denys Drozdyuk & Antonina Skobina, Kiril Kulish & Orsolya Horvath, Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman.

Watch out for a full report on this division by Vibeke Toft in Dance Beat soon.

USA has 2 in Pro RS Ballroom

USA had two couples in the final of the Professional Rising Star last night in the Winter Gardens, Blackpool.  Congratulations to Iaroslav Bieliel & Liliia Gladiuk who were 2nd and Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova who were 5th.

We have a good depth in this division.  Placing in the semifinal were Gianni Caliandro & Arianna Esposito and Igor Mikushov & Ekaterina Romashkina.

Quarter-finalists:  Emanuele & Francesca Pappacina, Ruslan & Katusha Wilder.

USA Takes Blackpool Team Match Again!

Eugene Katsevman was a first time cpatain of our team and led them to another victory!  Team members:  Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova, Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva, Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko & Stefano diFillipo & Dasha.

The other featured event of Saturday night at Blackpool is the Under 21 Latin and this year Austin Josen & Nino Dzneladze of USA placed 2nd.  Right behind them were Adam Hathazi & Morgana Lakatos-Hayward.

Another strong finish for the USA was a semifinal place for Vlad Kvartin & Anna Maria Prokopovicova.

Just wrapping up today (Sunday) are the Amateur Rising Star divisions.  In the Ballroom the best finish for the USA came from Nicholas & Rochelle Kharlamov who made the semifinal round.  But Canada scored in the final with a 3rd place from James Cuttler & Virginie Primeau.

In a reversal of the form form the previous day, Austin & Nino were the winners of the Amateur Rising Star Latin in Blackpool, defeating the couple who won the youth the day before.  So what a year for this young couple!

Adam & Morgan placed in the semifinal as did Daniils Kutuzovs & Maria Shalarova, also from Canada.  One other Canadian couple, Nurlan Galymov & Celeste Bailey made the quarter-final.

Blackpool First Day, corrected article

Yesterday's post contained several inaccuracies which came from another website's reporting. Ruslan Avdayev & Valeriya Kozharinova, won the Open British Professional Rising Star Latin, but they no longer represent USA, but now represent Russia. Also incorrectly listed from Italy, Francesco Bertini & Sabrina Manzi, placed 2nd and now become the highest placed US couple.  Congratulations!

The remaining coverage was, we believe, accurate.

Also in the final for the USA were Roman Italyankin & Aleksandra Bokova who placed 6th.  Canada was also represented in the final as Jean Philippe Milot & Laurence Bolduc placed 3rd.  Adding to the confusion, in their first competition as professionals, Francesco Bertini & Sabrina Manzi, who live and work in the USA, but were apparently representing Italy, placed 2nd - probably the best personal result of the night.

Other North American placements in this event were:  Adam Katona & Bella Gubzheva (USA), Ilya Maletin & Polina Mayer (Canada) - semifinal.

Sasha Althukov & Cheyenne Murillo (USA), Hayk Balasanyan & Emilia Pogosyan (USA), Jake Davies & Olena Kalinina (USA), Dmitriy Kikishkin & Olena Shvets (USA) - quarter-final.  Also in this quarter-final were Rangel Spirov & Veronika Chrnyavka listed from Bulgaria but living in Texas. (At this point DB is unsure if this couple represents USA or Bulgaria).

The other event of the first full night of comeptition in Blackpool in the Senior Ballroom.  The top US finish tonight was from Xingmin & Katerina Lu who placed 5th.  Next highest were Turtle Brennen & Regina Pareigis who made the quarter-final.

Promotion! Promotion! Promotion!
USA Dance National Championships

Report by Didio Barrera
Photos by Carson Zullinger

This year the USA Dance National Championships in Baltimore, Maryland celebrated it’s 35th consecutive year and as always it was well attended with many of the competitors hoping to earn a spot on the team that would represent the United States around the world for 2015 and part of 2016 at the World Dance Sport Federation and Olympic associated events.

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35 Years in the Making!
SFO 2015

Report by Keith Todd
Photos by Park West

The San Francisco Open Dancesport Championships turned 35 this year and in a somewhat rare occurrence in today’s dance world, the two original organizers are still at the helm.

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Professional Latin, Windy City Open

Report by Nadia Eftedal
Photos by Alliance Consulting

I’d like to send a big congratulation wish to Kris, Ela, Glenn and Michelle on this 10 year anniversary of the Windy City Open.

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A Night of Rhythm

Click here for video by SuperShag

Rhythm was the feature last night at American Star Ball.  Not only was the Pro Rhythm the biggest event of the night (2 rounds), but it was also the feature of the finale show, entitled the Havana Ballroom and choreographed by Brent Mills.

Emmanuel Pierre Antoine & Liana Churilova, current US Champions, easily won the Open Rhythm winning all dances and losing a total of only 4 first places over all 5 dances.  Equally sure were the runners-up, Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova who picked up those 4 first places and received all the remaining 2nd place scores from all judges.  Perhaps the match between these two couples was a little closer in real life than it appeared on paper.

From there on the scores were a little more mixed, particularly in the lower half of the final.  Shane & Shannon Jensen were relatively secure in their 3rd place.  They were 3rd in all dances and had the majority of 3rd places in 4 of the 5 dances. With 4,4,4,4,5, Andrei Abrashin & Mariia Gavrylova were 4th but had scores ranging from 3rd to 7th in all dances.  Matt Hauer & Lauren Schelfhaudt were 5th 5,6,5,6,4.  For us their best dances are cha and mambo.  Shandor Shtefil & Aleksandra Barsukov were 6th 6,5,6,5,6 and new to the final, Jonathan Green & Rachel Neilson took all the 7’s.

There were 3 live percussionists for this final.  Tom Larson (who had played throughout the weekend), Brent Mills and Eddie Melendez.

Only 4 couples participated in the Open Pro Ballroom and it was easily won by Andrey Begunov & Anna Demidova.  They won all dances.  The only significant challenge came in the Viennese Waltz where the runners-up, Emanuele & Francesca Pappacena took 4 of the 13 first places.  They were 2nd in all dances.  Anatoli Repliuk & Ruslana were 3rd in all and Nenad Pavolic & Anastasia Barhatova were 4th in all.

Both open amateur scholarships also took place tonight and both were straight finals.  Sam Hacke & Katarina Hermanova won the Ballroom, winning all dances 4 with the majority of 1st places.  They certainly had the most energy of all the finalists.  2nd in all dances went to Stanislav Pavlov & Sandra Spernacka.  They had a more traditional approach than the winners.  3rd in all dances were Daniel Vesnovskiy & Emily Thorpe.  6,4,5,4,4 gave Alec Zhiwei Zhang & Ersi Nie a 4th place finish overall, Brandon Buchthai & Natasha Barrera were 5th, 4,5,4,6,6 and Sam Brandt & Sabrina Yakubovish were 6th 5,6,6,5,5.

The Amateur Latin Scholarship was a close fought affair with the first places being mostly spread between 2 couples, Artur Tarnavskyy & Anastasiya Danilova and Nikita Malakov & Nadezda Vlasova.  The overall event went to Artur & Anastasiya by 3 dances to 2 – 2,2,1,1,1.  Nikita & Nadezda won the first 2 dances.  All dances wre won with a majority of first places except the cha cha.  3rd in all dances were Allen Rusman & Svetlana Lisnaya, 4th in all Stanislav Engelhardt & Tatiana Vasilyeva and 5th Raphael Matis & Jamie Dorotov.

The two remaining professional rising star divisions were also held.  The Smooth had a semifinal and was won by Adrian & Hannah Dydynsky 1,1,1,1.  Stanislav Savich & Nicole Prosser won the RS Latin 1,1,1,1,1.

We also saw the scholarship divisions in the pro-am Smooth and Latin.  The winners in the Open Scholarships were Lynn Shanahan w/ Darius Mosteika (C Smooth), Kathy Howell w/ Martin Cawston (B Smooth), Bethanie Picerno w/ Thomas Vasicek (B Latin), Sabrina Strasser w/ Stanislav Kochergin (A Latin) and Lorraine Peoples w/ Andrei Gavriline (C Latin).

Today s filled with Junior and Youth Divisions.

Smooth but Hard!
Last night at the American Star Ball the professional events were quite tough to judge, in particular the Smooth, but all three of the main featured events were fabulous.

Mazen Hamza & Izabella were the easy winners with a huge majority of firsts in all dances, only one, two or three judges awarded them second or less in different dances. Their worst mark a third in the Viennese Waltz came from Marianne Nicole. Second overall went to Travis & Jaimee Tuft and they got the majority of seconds and only a few firsts and thirds.  Their worst marks came from Mireille Veilleux who awarded them 5,6,4,4. Third in every dance went to Michael Choi & Erin Marie and they took the majority of thirds with the exception of some high and low marks, their works marks came from Keith Todd who awarded them 6,5,6,5. Fourth were Vladimir & Vera Kosarev, fifth went to Adrian & Hannah Dydynski and sixth was awarded to Jean Paul & Lana Rossi. The smooth competition was excellent with great talent and quite a number of couples, with some very talented couples being left out of the final.

The Open Professional Latin was also a terrific competition.  Here the easy winners for the majority of the judges were Roman Italyankin & Alexandra Bokova and they placed first in every dance.  Their worst marks came from Joe Howard who awarded them all fourth place marks. Second overall was awarded to Stanishlav Savich & Nicole Prosser 2,2,3,2,2, for us it could have been a toss up between them and the third place couple Hayk Balasanyan & Emilia Poghosyan 3,3,2,3,3.  These two couples stood out from the moment the competition got under way and either of them stood a chance for this position. Fourth was awarded to Dmytro & Nina Kovalenko and they took fourth in every dance, leaving all fifths to Nikita Tsernov & Annie He Xiao. Sixth in all dances went to Jungie Zamora & Sheena Daminar.

The Professional Open Showdance started the evening professional competitions and here there were four excellent couples, all showcasing unique numbers with great lift work and choreography. The winners overall were Shane & Shannon Jensen who won with a huge majority of firsts, only two of the 2 of the nine judges awarded them less, Didio Barrera who placed them third and Mirelle Veillleux who gave them a second. Second overall was Travis & Jaimee Tuft who took Mirelle’s first place mark with the rest of the judges awarding them second.  3rd were Canada’s Carlos Zapata & Dora Yaneva dancing their new “battle” number.  Only Didio Barrera awarded them a 1st.  4th were Jungie Zamora & Sheena Danimar.

There were 2 rounds in the Pro RS Rhythm, a strong division.  Shandor Shtefil & Aleksandra Barsukov won all dances.  Jonathan Green & Rachel Neilson were 2nd in all and Kosta Trifunic & Domante Padleckaite were 3rd, 4,3,3,3,3.

The pro-ams danced 2 styles – Rhythm and Ballroom.  Winners of the open scholarships were: Chastity w/ Eddie Ares (Rhythm A);  Sophia D’Angelo w/ Martin Cawston (Rhythm C);  Gretchen Fenston w/ Michael Choi (Ballroom B);  Elena Lee w/ Emanuele Pappacena (Ballroom C). 

The end of the Thursday night "Nighclub" session turned into a baby shower for organizer, Amanda Reyzin, whose baby is due in just a few weeks.