Open Professional Latin at Yankee Classic

Report by Elena Kryuchkova
Photos by Ryan Kenner Photography

Let me start my report by congratulating the organizers John and Cathi Nyemchek for their biggest event this year. My compliments to them: the ballroom, the lighting, the music, the floor… everything looked great.

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The Yankee Classic ~ Professional American Rhythm                                                      

Report by Jennifer Foster
Photos by Ryan Kenner Photography

It was a fine evening of professional competition this year at The Yankee Classic. Our hosts, Cathi and John Nymechek, provided a wonderful venue and atmosphere for all competitors. All the pro events on Saturday night were very exciting, drawing professionals from up and down the Eastern US. Here is my take on the Professional American Rhythm division.

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Yankee Classic Masters Boston

Report by Keith Todd
Action Photos by Ryan Kenner Photography

The Yankee Classic was held June 19 - 22, once again at the Marriott Hotel in Cambridge, MA, right across the Charles River from downtown Boston and once again it incorporated World Masters titles in the Open Amateur and Professional Ballroom and Latin divisions.  The organizers are John & Cathie Nyemchek.

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Last night at the NV!

The last day at the NV Ball was a combination of Ballroom and Latin. The day started promptly at 7AM with the Ballroom categories and without a break carried on to 7PM finishing up with the Latin competitions. The evening session was packed with spectators all coming to see the professional and amateur competitions. Their feature events this night were the Professional Smooth, Latin and Theater Arts/Showdance, along with the Amateur Ballroom. All competitions were solid with semifinals being run in almost all the events.

Out of the three professional events the Professional Smooth had the most punch for us, there were at least four very strong couples with different styles and presentation. The overall winners were Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija who won all dances and who could not be missed from the start. They seem to be getting more confident and more relaxed on the floor showcasing a carefree style. Second was awarded to Mikolay Czarnecki & Victoria Malko and they took second in all dances. Mikolay & Victoria have a very playful look, going from the very dramatic to some very interesting and difficult combinations. Third was Kris Suakjian & Briana Haft who took third in all dances. Here we thought their style was very clean with no missteps, but unfortunately for them, to challenge the top they will have to venture out a little more and like the two on top develop their own signature moves. Fourth in this excellent group of finalists were Kyle & Allie Spinder who took fourth in all dances. This couple is fierce they are super trained and do not miss a beat, it would be hard to leave them out.  However, here again I think they to need to explore other possibilities in the style. Fifth in all were Maksin Leonov & Kristina Kudelko and sixth was awarded to Peter Hahn & Jude Coraldi.

The Latin final had six very strong couples but in the end Italy took the NV home by winning all dances, Emanuele Soldi & Elisa Nasato placed first in all dances and from the start they showed us a star quality that could not be ignored. Second went to Roman Italyankin & Aleksandra Bokova they took second in three dances and third in the paso and fourth in the jive, you can tell that from here down the judges were not too sure of the couples and so the marks were very varied. Third was awarded to Genya Bartashevich & Yana Mazhnikova, they took third in four dances and second in the Paso. Fourth was Evgeny Likhachev & Maria Levina who placed fourth in four dances and fifth in the jive, fifth wen to Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets who must have been pleasantly surprised to place second in the jive but unfortunately fifth in the other four dances.  Sixth place in all dances were Vinsenzo Miniri & Rosaria Vivone.

The Professional Theatre Arts/Showdance was also run this evening and here Vincenzo Minieri & Rosaria Vivone took first, Kyle & Allie Spinder took second and Ivan Berkovic & Dena Anna Weiner placed third. Artemi Okunev & Yulia Dragina were fourth, Guo Xiuhua & Lu Deng from China were fifth and Stas Chelnakoff & Tasiia Babluk from Moldova were sixth.

The Open Amateur Ballroom was also an excellent competition and here as expected Andres & Veronika End took first in all dances. Marek Klepadlo & Liana Bakhtiarova were second and third were James Cutler & Virginie Primeau from Canada. Jonathan Bailey & Hannah Augustine-Bailey were fourth, Casey & Kayci Treu were fifth and Dan Maneau & Mia Hu placed sixth.

The Open Amateur American Rhythm was not as well attended as the Smooth the night before here we only had two couples and Mike & Jeravae Christensen won all dances leaving second place to Mahdi & Lisa Betts-LaCroit.

The evening concluded with a fabulous after party that was a complete feast for a king. There were four food-making stations varied from vegetarian, meat lover, pastas and even a wonderful Peking duck station. It was an open bar and everyone ate and danced to the band to their hearts content. The location was a little different than the other after parties, this time it was on the second floor overlooking the beautiful Encore Hotel and pool with access to the a beautiful veranda where many of the guess stepped out for conversation or just for fresh air.

I want to once again congratulate the organizing team for putting such a lavish competition in the sister hotel to the Wynn, the Encore was superb, the suites were fabulous with great views and a relaxing lounge and work area, the spa was out of this world, and the convention facilities very grand. I was also quite impressed at the care and attention all the organizers paid to their patrons from personally giving out the awards and for their terrific support while everyone danced.  Their enthusiasm could not just be felt it was heard also and it sure is nice when an organizer becomes a part of the event and not just the face and cash register.

I look forward to many NV Balls and I am sure that in the not to distant future they will become the “NV” of a comp and one that we must all attend.   

Great Pro Ballroom at NV

Last night we had a terrific Professional Ballroom competition at the NV Ball in Vegas, Nevada. There was a semifinal round and even then it looked as if it was going to be quite difficult and quite an exciting event.

Victor Fung & Anastasia were present and they of course took first in all dances without a contest or a challenge from any of the other five finalists. The fight was on for second place here between Mikhail Avdeev & Olga Blinova and Denis Kutepov & Lesya Sinitsa. For us siting down it was close but for the judges it was not, the judges awarded Mikhail & Olga second place in all five dances leaving Denis & Lesya holding third.

Fourth in this excellent Professional Ballroom heat went to Iaroslav Bieliei & Olga Tsikalyuk and they were awarded fourth in all dances, leaving Richard Tonizzo & Clare Hansen from Canada holding fifth in all dances and in sixth position were Vladislav Shahov & Ekaterina Popova. They took sixth in every dance. This was certainly a heat worth waiting for especially after the sad professional heat we witnessed prior to the Ballroom. Hilda Lanza one of the three former organizers of the Nevada Star Ball (Now the NV Ball) presented the award, a perpetual throphy in memory of Brian Puttock who just recently passed, Sue Puttock was invited but unable to attend.  

The Professional Rhythm heat was the second to last competition and this too had a semifinal round but it was disappointing to see. Few competitors rose beyond the Rising Star level.  The winners, Sergey Shapoval & Ania Tarnoska, won all dances and you could easily spot them from a plane! So to the runners who were also of a reasonable standing, Jim Clark & Tania Chegini, but who to my surprise placed third in three dances and fifth in 2!

The Amateur events were not huge but had great quality.  We were totally floored by the Amateur Smooth that had a full semifinal and in the final all couples were of an excellent level and quality.  Here the winners were Aaron & Katelyn Holmes who placed fourth in the waltz but won the other three dances. Second went to Alex Taylor & Alayne Wadsworth 1,2,3,3, and third was awarded to Charles Roberts & Emily Kapral 3,3,4,2. From what you can see, past first place, all couples were quite similar in quality and ability and so the judges had a harder time finding a set final.

The Open Amateur Latin was a final but an excellent final as well with at least three finalists at a championship level. Alexey Karaulov & Vlada Semedova won all dances, Nikita Malakhov & Nadezda Vlasova took all seconds and Eric Ascione & Grace Anderson placed third.

The NV Ball is held in the sister hotel to the Wynn Hotel, the Encore, and like the Wynn it too is a five star hotel.  The facilities are amazing including the casino and spa. There are about 10 gourmet restaurants on the property and the ballroom, although a little far to walk to, is grand.  The NV after parties have been the talk of all - a full buffet is served nightly for the guests of the NV ball and the set up is fantastic.

I want to congratulate the Rat Pack of Mr. Sodano, Mr. Watson, Mr. Gallker, Mr. Sinkinson & Carmen for putting such a phenomenal event in the heart of Las Vegas Nevada. Today was a full day of Smooth dancing for the pro-ams but tomorrow is the killer day of Ballroom and Latin starting at 7AM. Till tomorrow good night!

NV Las Vegas!

The inauguration for the NV Ball started with a beautiful welcome gala Wednesday night, it was a white glove affair with live music, shows and entertainment. The hosts pulled no punches to make you feel at home.  Andrew Sinkinson, Bryan Watson, Carmen, and Hans Galker all danced.

Andre partnered by Charlotte Jorgensen did a foxtrot and a passionate tango. Bryan & Carmen showed us a cha cha and a jive and they were joined by Hans in a very intricate but interesting trio rumba.

It was a cocktail party followed by a four-course meal, and in between a full band lead by our own Brent Milles played for your dancing needs. Mr. Sam Sodano, also part of this NV union, was present and he had a few words to say about the event and in his style plugged the Ohio Star Ball making everyone get  a chuckle.

During the gala the majority of the attendees were from outside the United States, down to New Zealand and Australia, Hong Kong had also a huge group, but yesterday on the American style day 90% of the entries were from Nevada, California and a few trickles from around the country.

Today will be a bigger day starting at 8:30AM and that is for the Smooth day, and tonight the pro rising stars and the usual BYU entries. The competition is a good size with way over 5,000 entries. Saturday should be a packed day of Latin and Ballroom - we have not seen any of the dancers that were at the gala perform so I figure it will be then.

The Encore Hotel is superb one of the best on the Vegas strip, the NV after parties have been great with excellent food and friendly atmosphere.

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Malitowski/Leunis Withdraw!

Michael Malitowski & Joanna Leunis, the current Open British Pro Latin Champions, withdrew from the Pro Latin at the Killick Kalssic last night after dancing only 1 round (of 4 rounds total for the event).  Joanna injured her foot and was unable to continue.

Although this was a disappointment, the competition was still one of the best of the year so far and the atmosphere was so highly charged nobody complained about how loud the music was!

Maurizio Vescovo & Andra Vaidilaite (Canada) benefited the most from Michael & Joanna’s withdrawal as they were now clear favorites and won all 5 dances.  They gave an absolutely brilliant display of fast-paced and sometimes lighthearted Latin dancing that the audience adored.  Maurizio led the finalists in an impromptu jive following the end of the final and even organizers, Paul Killick and Shirley Ballas joined in.  Maurizio also led a conga line following his honor dance to close the night!

With 2,2,2,3,2, Mirko Rizzi & Maria Emanchkova (England) took 2nd.  Not long out of the amateur ranks, this couple were also on fire tonight.  We loved Maria’s tough new look.  Taking that 2nd in the paso and 3rd in the other dances were Nikolay Voronovich & Maria Nikolishina who also looked confident tonight.  Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maiuk (Ukraine) were 4th with 4,4,4,4,6 and right behind them and with a stronger result tonight that some recently, Ivan Mulyavka & Loreta Kriksciukaite were 5th 5,6,5,5,6.  Closing this great final were Vitalii Proskurin & Eugenia Shatlilova 6,5,6,6,5.

Sharing the bill with the Latin was the Pro Smooth and this began with a semifinal.  Peter & Alexandra Perzhu won all 4 dances.  Finishing strongly and earning a lo of after event praise at the after-party were Sergey Barsukov & Maria Sidnjova, they took 2nd overall with 2,3,2,2.  3rd tonight went to David & Natalie Shulz 3,2,3,3.  Vladimir & Vera Kosarev took all the 4ths, Andrei & Elena Rudenko all the 5ths and Vladimir Popov & Anastasia Kazmina all the 6ths.

There was a straight final in the Youth u/21 Latin also and this was dominated by Canada who took the top 2 places.  Adam Hathazi & Morgana Lakatos-Hayward won all dances and Nurlan Galyamov & Jessica Swietonowski took 2nd 3,2,2,2,2.  3rd spot went to Dmytry Dmytrnko & Cheyenne Murilli 2,3,3,3,3.

During the day the pro-ams were in Ballroom mode.  The Open Scholarships proved successful for professional Andrea Faraci whose students won 2 divisions and took 2nd in the other. Laura White won the B and Effy Weisfield took the C.  Rebecca Kuhn was the runner-up in the A and the win went to Ashley Kruger w/ Misha Vlasov.

Watch out for a full report on the KK coming soon in Dance Beat with individual reports by Corky Ballas and Barbara McColl.

Dancing With The Stars!

To wildly cheering fans, Derek & Marc danced several upbeat routines – Marc performing to a medley of his own music – “Get My Name” and “Miss Incredible.”  3 Miss Incredibles were selected by Marc  to receive prizes donated by Vesa Designs.  The grand “Miss Incredible” award went to Shiela Davis from Florida.

We were so impressed by the professionalism of these two young men – it was a great interlude that really wowed the audience.  Derek & Marc also judged several of the competitions and were joined by fellow DWTS professional, Tony Dovolani who just happened to be in the area.

The highlights of the night were the Open Pro Ballroom and Rhythm and the Open Amateur Latin

.

The Pro Ballroom was a high quality 8-couple final.  The winners easily were Marat Gimaev & Alina Basyuk who won all dances and received 11 first places out of 13 in all dances except quick step where they received 12.  The only judge to place them not first in all dances was Bob Powers who placed them 3,4,3,3,3.  The scores for the remaining couples were very mixed.  2nd in all dances and receiving the majority of “2nd or better” scores in all dances, were Anton Lebedev & Anna Borshe from Canada.  But they had the full gamut of judges’ scores down to 8th place.  3rd in 4 dances and 4th in QS – and on a US Tour it seems, were Igor Kobiuk & Lillia Galdiuk from the Ukraine (could we soon be seeing a new import to the USA?).    Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova were 4th in 4 dances and took the 3rd in QS.  Igor Colac & Roxanne Milotti were 5th in all: Simeon & Cora Stoynov were 6th 6,7,6,6,6;  Pavel Kuzmin & Marsha Khazanova were 7th 7,6,7,77 and Anton & Irina Belev were 8th.

In the Rhythm it was the battle Royal of the Florida superstars, Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova and Peter & Alexandra Perzhu.  The judges awarded Nazar & Irina their best win too date – giving them all dances with a large majority of 1st places.  Peter & Alexandra were 2nd in all dances. In fact it was an “all Florida” final.  Misha Vlasov & Vanda Polakhova were easily 3rd in all dances.  The judges were quite decisive in this division – all couples finished in the same position in all dances.  4th – Shanor Shtefil & Aleksandra Barsukov;  5th – Tams Kardos & Mariya-Khristina Shurupova;  6th Vicente Martinez & Meagan Murphy.

The Amateur Latin was a highlight for us.  The winners were NDCA US Champions, Ferdinando Ianncone & Yulia Musikhina who won all dances with a large majority of 1st places.  This was the best we’ve seen them dance in some time.  Perhaps they were reacting to the electric atmosphere!  (And the great music – giving ourselves a pat on the back !).  From Italy Manuel Frighetto & Karin Rooba took 2nd.  They placed 2,2,2,3,2.  They had the most 2nd  better places in all dances but the majority in only 4 but some 4th placements in paso doble allowed 3rd placed, Pasha Pashkov & Daniella Karagach to slip ahead in that dance.  They scored 3,3,3,2,3 overall.  The remainder of the final finished in the same position in all dances.  Pasha Stepanchuk & Anastasia Danilova 4th;  Evgeny Raev & Patricya Golak 5th and the final closed with 2 couples from Canada – Adam Hathazi & Morgana Lakatos-Howard 6th; Nurlan Gallyamov & Jessica Swietonowski 7th.

Travis & Jaimee Tuft were very clear winners for us in the Cabaret with their routine, “Return” one of their best we think.  2nd were Clifton Sepulveda & Mar Martinez;  3rd Daniel Erskat & Ahtoy Wonpat-Borja;  4th Paolo & Liene DiLorenzo.

There were also 2 Rising Star divisions, both well-contested, although we felt the Latin was the stronger.  Sergiy Barsukov  & Maria Sidnjov won the Smooth 1,1,1,1.  2nd Stephen Smyth & Viktoriya Kleyman 2,2,2,2 and 3rd Andrei & Elena Rudenko 3,3,3,3.

Vitalii Proskurin & Eugenia Shatilova won all dances in the Latin.  2nd went to Ilya Maletin & Polina Majer from Canada 2,2,2,2,2 and 3rd Ryan Davies & Tessa Marie 6,4,3,3,3.

It was a VERY busy day for the pro-ams who danced 2 full styles – Smooth and Latin.  The Latin, as might be expected here at the KK, was especially strong.  In the Open Scholarships (Latin), danced at night the results were:

Open A:  1st Cheyenne Murillo w/ Sasha Althukov;  2nd Saina Hadden w/ Daniele Gozzi:  3rd Vera Wei Zu w/ Jacub Zeglin.

Open B:  1st Tina Broccole w/ Delyan Terziev;  2nd Christine Ho w/ Stefan Gulubovic;  3rd Natalia Tomal w/ Maxim Kochura (Moscow)

Open C:  1st Janet Colleran w/ Aleks Nashev;  2nd Lisa Wong w/ Roman Italyankin;  3rd Alice Lekht w/ Ihor Derimov.

The Open Smooth Scholarships took place in the afternoon and the results were:

Open B: 1st Shari Oxman w/ Roman Malkhasyan;  2nd Terry Anderson w/ Olga Bogdanov;  3rd Olga Maslakova w/ Nikoaly Fanagin (Moscow)

Open C:  1st Gracelyn Tuoti w/ Andrei Abrashin;  2nd Terry Anderson w/ Olga Bogdanov;  3rd John Hansen w/ Michelle Hafle

The KK is OK!

The Killick Klassic is back after missing a year in 2013 – but there have been some changes.  Joining the founder, Paul Killick, as a co-organizer this year is Shirley Ballas.   Also changed is the venue – this year the event moved to the venerable Boca Raton Hotel, situated on the Intracoastal Waterway in Boca Raton, FL. 

This hotel is one of the society fixtures of Palm Beach County and its history dates back to 1926.  As you might expect, the fixtures of the hotel are period and that includes the décor of the ballroom.  The Killick Klassic has completmented this traditional style with “flowers and feathers.”

Today was really all about Rhythm.  The pro-ams danced rhythm all day and concluded the style with the open scholarships in the evening.  Also in the Rhythm style, the main event of the night was the Rising Star Rhythm, that began with a semifinal.

Clear winners of the RS in an all-Florida final were Shandor Shtefil & Aleksandra Barsukov who won all dances.  Equally clear with all the 2nds were Tamas Kardos & Mariya-Khristina Shurupova and with all 3rds Vicente Martinez & Megan Murphy.

Included on the judging panel was Shirley’s son Mark Ballas and her “adopted” son Derek Hough – stars of TV’s Dancing With The Stars who are also here for two meet and greet sessions.

The largest of the Open Rhythm Pro-Am Scholarships was in the C Division, beginning with a semifinal and this fell to Dianne Caracciolo w/ Nazar Norov 1,1,1,1,2.  Dianne has improved dramtically over the past year and her smile is infectious.  Another very strong lady, Gracelyn Tuoti w/ Andrei Abrashin was 2nd 2,2,2,1.  Taking the 3rd spot, Janet Bruttel w/ Michael Neil 4,4,3,3,3.

The B had 5 entries and the winner in all dances was the energetic and enthusiastic Kia Malone w/ Eddie Rivera.  2nd went to Ana Capo w/ Luis Lopez 3,2,2,2,2 and 3rd to Laura Paoletti w/ Willem DeVries 2,3,3,3,3.

Kia also won the A division over Lauren Watkins w/ Michael Neil and Vera Gold w/ Shandor Shtefil won the Senior.