St. Louis Star Ball

Report by Amy Anderson
Photos by Decadance Photography

The St. Louis Star Ball brought together some of the best and brightest Pro/Am dancing for this great Midwest event!  Organizers David & Suzy Nyemchek and Steve Brockman always put together a very friendly and welcoming competition for all of the dancers who came from all over the country.  The newly renovated Renaissance Marriott is perfectly located close to the airport and very easy to get to.

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Spreading the Love! Philadelphia Dancesport Championships has outdone itself this year in spreading the “Brotherly Love,” something of which William Penn, founder of the city, would have been proud. Corky Ballas, at the direction of Mr. Chuck Danza, organizer, managed to maintain an energy-filled room throughout the entire weekend. His unstoppable energy and charisma kept the room in stiches, clapping or cheering through the entire weekend. Anyone that knows any history of Philadelphia knows that William Penn had a dislike for what he called the “Horrors of European Urban Lifestyle” and Mr. Ballas brought a casual atmosphere that can only be found in USA.

"I don't want life to imitate art. I want to be art." Last night in the beautifully and tastefully decorated ballroom in the Sheraton Philadelphia Society Hill, the competition was excellent with very interesting happenings.  The first and possibly the best competition for us was the Professional Latin that started with a semifinal. The final of this excellent event was difficult to judge. Our favorite and the judges’ favorite at the end was Ivan Mulyavka & Loreta Kriksciukaityte from FL who took first in all dances with the majority of firsts in every dance. From there, it was an uphill battle for most of the judges trying to make up their mind which couple was their next favorite. The couple that got the most seconds or better marks was Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets who placed second overall (2,3,3,2,2).  Here we were not as kind as the other judges. To us, with the exception of tremendous speed and power, this couple brought very little substance to the table and we will explain in the future article. Third was awarded to Genya Bartashevich & Yana Maznikova (3,2,2,3,3).  For us this couple was possibly the least consistent of all couples.  There were some incredible moments but just as you thought they would put you there, they got cold and pulled away from, as Mr. Corky would say, “The Love.”

Our favorite couple in this exciting Latin final placed sixth and that was Hayk Balasanyan & Emilia Poghosyan (5,5,6,6,6).  For us they had a little bit of every thing - speed, consistency and most important a very unique approach to the style, we will explain also in the coming event. Fourth in this final went to the new partnership of Roman Italyankin & Alexandra Bokova (4,4,4,4,4), fifth was awarded to Jean Paul & Lana Rossi (6,6,5,5,5).

"Dance isn't something that can be explained with words. It has to be danced."

The love was spread quite thick on Travis & Jaimee Tuft who were by far the best couple in the Professional Smooth final.  Travis & Jaimee got perfect scores from all judges in every dance and won the Smooth competition easily. Travis & Jaimee continue to receive their love and cash when it came to the Showdance competition where they placed first overall with majority of firsts.  However, here we personally held some of the love back.  We felt that Jungie Zamora & Sheena Damir presented a routine with a level of difficulty that was much greater than that of Travis & Jaimee. But we were in the minority, the judges awarded Jungie & Sheena second and Jaimee & Travis first.  And in a super whammy of “Love” the judges also awarded first and second places to Travis & Jaimee in the Challenge of Champions at the conclusion of all the events. In this Challenge of Champions Ivan & Loretta the Latin Champions earlier mentioned took third. Continuing on the Professional Smooth, second place went to Matthias Kruschel & Christina Schlegel and third in all dances was awarded to Roman Manolachi & Elena Rabinovici. We were a little surprised on Leo Mora & Christina Garced who placed fifth overall.  We felt they have improved tremendously and were hoping to see at least in a few dances, higher placements for this couple.

"Technical perfection is insufficient. It is an orpha without the true soul of a dancer." 

The Professional Rhythm is also an event worth the mention. Here Vard Margaryan & Sofya Fil won every dance with the majority of first in every dance, but our favorite in this heat was Matthew Hauer & Lauren Schelfhaudt who continue to make progress with what we consider to be a great element of this style and that is some authentic Latin soul. Third wen to Standor Shtefil & Aleksandra Barsukov, fourth was awarded to Srahija Lackovic & Irina Fedsova (4,5,5,4,4), fifth went to Matthias Kruschel & Christina Schlegel (5,4,4,5,5) and finally sixth in every dance was awarded to Tim Polaschek & Katherine Hutchinson.

A lot of love was spread for the Professional Ballroom but the couples had, in our opinion, a hard time spreading themselves on this narrow floor.  We saw more confusion and bumpy work than in a open field. Here the judges’ favorites were Andrey Begunov & Anna Demidova who won all dances with a huge majority of first. We had a hard time seeing what the other judges saw.  Frankly, if we saw them make one good run it was rare, they were part of that bump and grind I just talked about. For us the better performances came from Emanuele & Francesca Pappacena who placed second in every dance and Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Xovalcikova who took third overall.

"I'm dancing to the music of the madness inside me."

In a footnote** We were floored in the Professional Latin when a couple went to a VIP guest, comfortable on their front row table and asked if they could take their drink after the paso! At first I was shocked, the unsuspecting audience member had no choice but to oblige.  Then I saw the couple not drink anything but go to the side spill it on the floor and rub their shoe soles in the carpet! Couples!!! If you find the need to put @#%^ on the soles of your feet to stay balanced, the least you can do is put it where you can get to it! I found it very rude of the performers to take the VIP guest’s drink to use it for dabbing your feet so you can stay balanced in your Jive!        

Zharinovs Romp to Victory at SFO In what was the best professional event of the weekend, Mikhail & Galina Zharinov easily won the Professional Smooth as SFO last night, winning all dances with the clear majority of 1st places. 

Only 2 judges placed them lower than first with one other judge tieing them for first.  From the sidelines we thought it could be a little closer, but the runners-up, Nick Cheremukhim & Victorija, although clearly 2nd in all dances, took few 1st places.  Kris Suakjian & Briana Haft had a good night and were rewarded with 3rd (3,4,3,4), one of their best results of late.  We were impressed with Sergey Shapoval & Ania Tarnowska who were 4th and seemed to have added some interesting new choreography to their programs.  They placed 6,3,5,3.  As you can see from these scores, this final was contested all the way through.  David & Natalie Shulz finished 5th, ahead of Kyle & Allie Spinder, who were 6th.  David & Natalie scored 4,5,4,5 to Kyle & Allie’s 5,6,6,6.  This was a 7-couple final and the classy duo of Alexander Aillon & Jessi Reynolds took 7th.

The Professional Latin ran against this event and it too was very exciting, although none of the nation’s leading teams were present.  Comfortable winners were the dynamic and energetic Andrey Tarasov & Yulia Kuznetsova who comfortably won all dances.  Evgeniy Likachev & Mariya Levina, who won the RS in this style were also a clear second in all dances.  Pavel Balykin & Meagan Mendoza were 3rd in all dances.  We felt they were a little off in the semifinal round, but really poured it on in the final.  Their best-scored dance was jive.  Although all the remaining finalists had also been finalists in the RS, the results were not the same.  Benefiting the most from this shake up were Simeon & Kora Stoynov who took 4th tonight (5,4,5,4,5).  Finishing 5th today, although runners-up in the RS, were Illie Bardahan & Katya Gorokhovsky.  We also agreed that they did not perform as well today as they did in the RS, appearing to lose their way.  Closing this final were Maksym Kapitanchuk & Elena Krifuks (6,6,6,5,4).  We did not feel that their form declined between the two competitions, but such are the vagaries of competition dancing.  Watch out for Daniele Gozzi’s report on this division in Dance Beat soon.

The U/21 Latin also showed the inconsistencies in results and performances with many of the couples we had been watching over the weekend switching positions.  Today’s winners were Bumchin Tegshjargal & Rian Baldwin (1,1,1,1,2).  As is often the case in Youth events, the judges’ scores were very mixed.  Bumchin & Rian ad the majority of 1st place marks in only rumba and won the paso and cha cha with only 1 first place score in each.  2nd tonight, although they had more individual 1st place marks than the winners were Dmytry Dmytrenko & Cheyenne Murillo (2,2,2,2,1).  3rd were Umar Diallo & Natasha Zrazhevskaya (3,3,4,3,4). The Open Pro-Am B Ballroom Scholarship was perhaps the best pro-am event of the weekend, beginning with a semifinal.  The winner was Lily Chang w/ Sergey Kiselev (1,1,3,1,2).  2nd went to Michelle Peng w/ Mikhail Avdeev (3,3,1,2,1) and 3rd to Beverly Moore w/ Alain Doucet (2,2,2,3,3).  As you can see it was a close finish.

Julie Zhao w/ Denis Kutepov won the Open A Ballroom, winning all dances.  Jenica Kalish w/ Raffaelo Sabato took 2nd in all and Yingying Chen w/ Simeon Stoynov was 3rd (3,4,3,3,3).  Etsuko Amagassa w/ Dariusz Michalski won the Senior Scholarship.

2 of California’s Best Shine at SFO Although it was the smaller of the pro heats last night, the Ballroom thrilled the sell-out audience with the appearance of two of California’s and the nation’s best partnerships – Mikhail Avdeev & Olga Blinova and Denis Kutepov & Lesya Sinitsa.

Although both were on form, Mikhail & Olga won all dances with the majority of 1st places, although the VW was close (5 to 4).  We loved the superb slow leg timing of Denis & Lesya in the QS, but obviously the judges did not agree, because Mikhail & Olga received all 9 first places in that dance.  10-dancers, Igor Colac & Roxanne Milotti took all the 3rd’s and did take a handful of 2nd places from Denis & Lesya.  (we were a little surprised by the 5th placement of Igor & Roxanne the day before in the RS Latin, we had them pegged higher).  4th in today’s ballroom went to Simeon & Kora Stoynov (4,4,4,4,4); 5th to Evgeniy Mayotrov & Olga Lisovskaya (5,5,5,5,5);  6th to Slava & Lara Kostiansets (6,6,6,6,6) and 7th, Sarosh Ahmad & Zoe Wydroug.  Watch out for a full report from Tomas Atkesovicious in a future edition of Dance Beat.

"If I can not dance, I shall die!" By contrast, the Rhythm, although beginning with a semifinal did not have a lot of punch.  For us the winner was clear – Ivan Dishliev & Marieta Nedyalkova and they did win all dances with only 1 judge dissenting. 2nd today went to Renzo Zegarra & Chante Platt 2,3,3,2,2.  They were certainly the cleanest and most consistent of the remaining couples and Renzo had what many of the other gentlemen did not – body rhythm!  3rd today were the RS Winners, Jim Clark & Tania Chegini (3,2,2,4,3);  4th Michael Foncannon & Meghan McNash 4,4,4,3,5;  5th Jessie Dickson & Lannie Sullivan 5,5,5,5,4 and 6th Jeremy Babagay & Carolyn Barreno who won the crowd tonight, if not the judges.

4 couples contested the Showdance and the winners were Sergiy Shapoval & Annia Tarnowska who are developing quite a following for their evocative showdance pieces.  But today they were challenged strongly by Kyle & Allie Spinder with the result actually 5 to 4 in favor of Sergei & Annia.  3rd were Michael Koptke & Chelsea Farrah and 4th Adam Hernandez & Stacy Breedon.

"Great dancers are not great because of their technique. They are great because of their passion." As reported in yesterday’s blog, the amateur Championships here mark the US debut of new Canadian team, Alon Gillin & Anna-Nina Kus.  Yesterday they had a fairly comfortable win in the Ballroom and I’m sure they were hoping for a repeat tonight in the Latin – usually Alon’s stronger style.  But it was not to be.  In a very tight final they placed 2nd to Phillip Kudryatsov & Ashley Goldman.  Phillip & Ashley won all dances but it was very close in each one.  Only in jive did they have the majority of 1st places.  In fact it was closely fought all the way down the list.  Alon & Anna-Nina were 2nd in all dances but in all dances other couples took some 1st places from the top 2.  In fact in paso doble 3rd placed overall, Teleric Ianakiev & Natella Devitskaya had 3 1st places, the same as Phillip & Ashley and Alon & Anna-Nina.  Teleric & Natella are a small package of dynamite.  They took 3rd in all dances.  4th in all dances tonight, but also picking up some 1st placements were Dmytry Dmytrenko & Cheyenne Murillo.  We thought they also had a great night.  5th, from Canada, were Gary Vaiman-Askarov & Estie Spivakov (5,6,5,6,5) and 6th, Rhett Grant & Anastasia Kurakina (6,5,6,5,6).

“That was a great kids’ comp!”  Those were the words of judge, Eugene Katsevman when he came off the floor following the semifinal of the Junior II Latin – and he was right.  All the couples were beautifully prepared and presented.  The winners were Kinsley Lin & Michelle Yiu.  They won all dances but lost some 1st placements in each dance to the relatively new partnership of Mike Monokandilos & Michelle Klets.  3rd were Jacob Murillo & Sydney Tormey.  Erik Linder & Richelle Taylor won the Junior I Latin a little earlier and were also in the final of the Junior II.

"No artist  is ahead of his time. He is time; the others are just behind the times." There was a slight turnabout in form in the Senior I Ballroom.  The winners today were Dan Manea & Mia Hu who overtook Angus Sinclair & Dara Campbell.  3rd went to Turtle Brennen & Regina Pareigis. For the pro-ams it was a busy day with dancing over 2 styles – Smooth and Latin.  Beverly Moore w/ Alain Doucet (Canada) was the winner in both the Open B Latin and the Open C Smooth.  She was pushed hard in the Latin by Connie Buckley w/ Leonid Proskurov who took 3 of the 7 first places in 4 dances.  In the Smooth Cynthia Wolfsohn w/ Alex Zagrean was the runner up.  Winner of the B Smooth was Patricia Schneider w/ Slawek Souchaki (1,1,2,1).  But this was a close fought competition.  2nd went to Janice Smith w/ David Weise (4,2,4,2) and 3rd to Paige Riffle w/ Alex Zagrean (2,3,3,4).  The Open A Latin was won by Vera Xu w/ Jakub Zeglin.  The runner-up was from Canada, Faye Diamantoudi w/ Stephane Champagne.

New Canadian Partnership Takes Amateur Ballroom A new pairing of two top-ranked Canadian Amateurs cruised to victory in the Amateur Ballroom last night at the San Fransisco Open.  Alon Gillin & Anna-Nina Kus, both from Toronto, won all dances in their first foray into the USA.

"Love is a lot like dancing; you just surrender to the music."  

They received perfect scores in the waltz and tango, lost 1 first in the VW and 3 each in the foxtrot and quickstep.  It is an interesting partnership and that will have to negotiate a height difference in this style, but these are two talented and experienced dancers.  We look forward to seeing the Latin tonight. Easily 2nd were Alex & Grace Wang (CA) who scored those 1st places not given to Alon & Anna-Nina and were 2nd in all dances.  They seem to improve every time we see them.  The next 3 places were taken by couples we normally see in the Senior I division.  Andreas & Jody-Frease Meijer were 3rd in all, Angus Sinclair & Dara Campbell were 4th (5,4,5,5,5) and Dan Manea & Mia Hu took 5th, (6,5,6,4,4).  Closing the final were Christian Solares & Whitney Myers (4,6,4,6,6).

All 4 Pro Rising Star divisions were held last night.  We thought the best o them was the Smooth that began with a semifinal.  This went to Kyle & Allie Spinder who received all 36 first places.  Placements for the other finalists were mixed.  Coming in 2nd were Slava & Lora Kostianets with 2,3,2,4.  3rd were Alexander Aillon & Jessie Reynolds (4,2,4,2).  Of interest and placing 4th was the new partnership of Radek Wiatrowski & Sonia Ragan (FL).  We believe this was their first competition together.  They placed 3,4,3,3.  Only 2 points separated 2nd, 3rd and 4th places.

Evgeniy Likachev & Mariya Levina had a comfortable win in the Latin with the majority of 1st places in all dances.  Another new partnership, Illie Bardahan & Katya Gorokhovsky took 2nd, 2,2,3,2,4.  They seem to be taking advantage of their natural physiques to promote a “stillness” in their dancing.  Could be interesting!  3rd spot fell to Maksym Kapitanchuk & Elena Krifucs (3,3,2,4,2).  We thought jive was definitely their strongest dance.  This event also began with a semifinal.

"I don't want dancers who want to dance. I want dancers who have to dance."
The Ballroom was a straight final.  The winners in all dances were Evgeniy Mayorov & Olga Lisovskaya (NV).  We thought they were clear winners tonight.  Runners up again were Slava & Lora Kostianets  - 2nd in all dances and 3rd were Sarosh Ahmad & Zoe Wydroug (3,3,3,3,3). The Rhythm really seemed to have the judges guessing with scores falling all over the board.  Placing 1,2,1,1,1, the win went to Jim Clark & Tania Cegini.  They had the majority of 1st paces in only cha cha.  2nd place with 2,1,2,2,2, went to Michael Foncannon & Meghan McNash.  Theu had the majority of 1st places in their rumba.  3rd were Jessie Dickson & Lannie Sullivan (4,3,3,3,3). Fresh from their finalist position in the WDSF World Junior II Championship in Moscow, Kinsley Lin & Michelle Yiu won all dances in the Youth Latin, taking the majority of 1st places in the last 3.  Their dancing has certainly matured since we last saw them.  Runners-up were Bumchin Tegshjargal & Rian Baldwin (3,2,2,2,2) and 3rd were Eric Rosenberg & Yelena Vayn (2,3,3,3,3). In the Senior II Ballroom, Hans & Ans Stork once again came out on top.  David Getchell & Allison Gonzalez were 2nd and Winston & Lilly Chow were 3rd. For the pro-ams it was a long day of Rhythm, beginning at 7:00 AM.  SFO has over 5,300 entries this year.  Winners in the open scholarships, held in the evening, were:  Alison Allan w/ David Alvarez (Senior);  Monica Broch w/ Kris Suakjian (B) and Kia Malone w/ Eddie Rivera (A).

The Sarasota Challenge

Report by Mayo Alanen
Photos by Alex Rowan

Before the Sarasota Challenge officially kicked off, we were already friends.

The market is currently saturated with ballroom competitions that are predictable copies of each other.  It is refreshing when an organizer takes risks to make their competition unique while delivering quality essentials such as great entertainment and notable prize money.

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The Cuban Experience # 1 – and what a great experience it was!

By Brigitt Mayer

I did not know what to expect, the format was unusual, I did not know who would be there besides the experts that were announced in the publications; I just trusted my friend and colleague Barbara Nagode Ambroz! She has been going to Cuba now for more than 20 years asking me many times to come along and it never panned out. Well this time it did and I was rewarded with a truly fun and exciting experience.

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