The most interesting competitions were the Open Amateur in the Ballroom and in the Latin, there were also quite a few other events in the Junior and preteen levels but open amateur were the highlight of the competition and I will go over them after I mention another excellent competition that caught my attention, the Youth Championship Latin. Only four couples entered this event but it was high caliber dancing and high excitement. Allexander Mitron & Olivia Agranovich were brilliant, their movements were so easy and pleasant to see without the overly exaggerated, clichéd facial musical interpretation we have become accustomed to, and by the way they won all dances. Second went to another very accomplished couple, Ariel Milshteyn & Anna Turner 2,3,2,3,2, and third were Max Firestein & Nicole Mtchedlidze 3,2,3,2,3.  Lastly, in fourth place were Levy Agaronnik & Simona Vigodner.

The Open Amateur Latin was the main feature and it started with a healthy quarter. The winners of this event for us and the majority of the judges were Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman and they won every dance, and we must point out that for us they were the best from the start. Second went to another excellent couple and one that we are not surprised to see in this position, Alexey & Vlada Karaulov and they took second in every dance and this was the one couple that did manage to take a way a few first place marks from the strong but small minority. Nikolai Tarasov & Amanda Herrschaft placed third and they were perhaps one of our favorites to watch, however, we found their work a little inconsistent but we think in the future this couple can easily be knocking on the two top couples’ doors.

• Tal Livshitz & Ilana Kesselman Tal Livshitz & Ilana Kesselman
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 Fourth place went to Germany’s Rami Schehimi & Susan Alice Fichte 4,4,4,4,4.  Speaking of inconsistency, here this couple was the master at this!  At one moment you could not stop looking at then but then the next some major basic problems would appear, floorcraft etc. We appreciate the fact that Rami & Susan have some interesting moves but when it comes to a competition those moves and the rest of the work has to stay in control and well-executed. Fifth place went to Samuel Hacke & Kateirna Hermanova 5,6,7,5,5, as you can see here things got a little murkier in this seven couple final and I was happy to see this couple made this final although for our eyes they are still a little green for this open category. Sixth went to Marco Tremblay Brosseau & Alica Muraru 6,5,5,6,6 from Canada.  Lots of talent but still too green to be placed higher and in seventh place were Malachi Osai & Annabella Waszkiewicz who placed seventh in every dance but the rumba. At the end of the competition there were people asking me why they had a seven couple final.  I said that sometimes it all depends on the chairman.  Perhaps the last two couples were in a dead tie or maybe too close to not let them in.  Whatever the chairman’s decision, we had a seven couple final.

• Amateur Latin Amateur Latin
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 The Open Ballroom was a total easy win for Patryk Ploszaj & Anna Caszmarski who won all dances and from where we stood had the best quality of work of this small but fierce final. Second went to Samuel Hacke & Katerina Hermanova and they too were very solid in this second position. Third were Stanislav Pavlov & Sandra Spernacka 3,3,3,3,3. Fourth were William Turcotte-Miao & Stephanie Bourov who placed 4th in all dances. Fifth place in all dances went to Chad Faessler & Anna–Julie Albert Chounard. 

• Amateur Ballroom Amateur Ballroom
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 Overall the Ballroom Dancesport Cup was a major success and we want to congratulate Emil Ioukhnikov who made every effort to have such a varied panel of judges and also was able accomplish so much with so little time, including having some excellent pro-am events.