• Artem Plakhotnyi & Inna Berlizyeva Artem Plakhotnyi & Inna Berlizyeva
• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
• Stefano DiBrino & Bianka Zubrowska Stefano DiBrino & Bianka Zubrowska
• Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelco Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelco
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As the only US finalist couple in attendance, they easily won all dances losing very few 1st place marks and achieving a perfect 13 first places in foxtrot. The judges marks from there down were much more mixed, but Stefano DiBrino & Bianka Zubrowska managed to place 2nd in all dances and had the majority of “2nd or better” scores in three. Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko were 3rd in all and we must say this was one of the best performances we’ve seen from them. Igor Colac & Roxane Milotti were 4th 4,4,4,6,4; Leonid Burlo & Liana Bakhtiarova were 5th 5,5,5,5,6 and Simeon & Cora Stoynov were 6th 6,6,6,4,5.

• Igor Ustymovich & Briana Santiago Igor Ustymovich & Briana Santiago
• Ivan Dishliev & Marieta Nedyalkova Ivan Dishliev & Marieta Nedyalkova
• Open Pro Rhythm Open Pro Rhythm
• Vard Margaryan & Inga Demetryan Vard Margaryan & Inga Demetryan
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Vard Margaryan & Inga Demetryan won the Open Pro Rhythm. They won all dances and had the majority of 1st places in 3. They have a powerhouse approach that is all energy. For us the only dance this does not work well in is bolero. 2nd in all dances went to Igor Ustymovich & Briana Santiago who improve with every outing and pushed the winners hard in our view in some dances. With 3,3,3,3,4 Ivan Dishliev & Marieta Nedyalkova, the most experienced couple in this final took 3rd. Their style works best in bolero and rumba we feel. Ricardo Papi & Sabrina Moretti were 4th in 4 dances and took that 3rd place in mambo, definitely their best dance in our view. Jeremy Babgay & Carolyn Berreno were 5th 5,6,5,6,5 and Johnny Bryant & Ksenia Stavrica were 6th 6,5,6,5,6.

• Open Amateur Latin Open Amateur Latin
• Mike Monokandilos & Sophia Brodsky Mike Monokandilos & Sophia Brodsky
• Nikolai Tarasov & Amanda Herrschaft Nikolai Tarasov & Amanda Herrschaft
• Roman Drobotov & Natella Devitskaya Roman Drobotov & Natella Devitskaya
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The Open Amateur Latin gave us a good final of up and coming young talent. The results were very interesting in that it showed the “Skating System” of scrutineering – based on majorities at work. The individual judges’ scores were very mixed and in fact there was only a majority of 1st places for 1 couple in 1 dance. However, the winners tonight were Roman Drobotov & Natella Devitskaya who placed 1,1,2,2,1. However, as an example, they received only 1 first place mark in CC yet still won that dance with a majority of “2nd or better” scores. The runners-up in that dance, Nikolai Tarasov & Amanda Herrschaft received 6 first place marks – just 1 short of the majority. Roman & Natella are fast and slick and Natella’s ability to spin and stop are breathtaking. Roman reminded us somewhat of a young Eugene Katsevman. Nikolai & Amanda were 2nd overall with 2,2,1,1,2 and they were the only couple to receive a majority of 1st places and that was in the paso doble. Mike Monokandilos & Sophia Brodsky were 3rd in all dances and were certainly in the mix as they received a lot of 1st places from the judges. Karlis Trejis & Anastasia Krivosheeva were 4th in all dances. Danya Rubashevsky & Anastasiya Vysotska were 5th 6,6,5,5,5 and Tyler Adler & Makayla Bezzant were 6th 5,5,6,6,6.

Today is dedicated to junior dancers and as always here at Desert Classic it’s a full room and a full dance floor! Congratulations to Igor & Irina Suvorov!

Nail Biter at Desert Classic!

The American Smooth is certainly producing the most exciting competitions lately and last night at Desert Classic was no exception!

• Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova
• Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
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The result certainly could not have been closer – a Rule 11 tiebreak for 1st place! Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija 1,2,2,1 / Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Selivertsova 2,1,1,2. And the win went to …………. Max & Tatiana. They appeared delighted with this result. Each couple won their respective dances with slim majorities of 1st places. They took the majority of 1st and 2nd places between them but both had a judge or two scoring them low. For Nick & Viktorija the worst came from David Elkin who placed them 7,7,5,7 and for Max & Tatiana it was Lorna Lea with 5,5,5,4. The whole final was superb and this was just one more in a long line of great Smooth competitions.

• Open Pro Smooth Open Pro Smooth
• Kyle & Allie Spinder Kyle & Allie Spinder
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But the nail-biting didn’t stop here, there was also a Rule 11 Tiebreak for 3rd place – Kyle & Allie Spinder 4,4,3,3 / Yegor Novikov & Alexandra Smirnova 3,3,4,4. This time it was Kyle & Allie who came out on top, a very good result for them. Evgeny Malko & Anna Shabazyan also looked strong to us and ended up with 5th in all dances. 6th in all went to Kris Suakjian & Briana Haft and 7th in all Mariusz Zakrzewski & Lynnsay Ray. We must also say that there were many couples in the semifinal who also could have scored a spot in this final.

• Justinas Duknauskas & Anna Kovalova Justinas Duknauskas & Anna Kovalova
• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
• Andrey Tarasov & Yulia Kuznetsova Andrey Tarasov & Yulia Kuznetsova
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The Latin was the other Open Professional event of the night and it was also very exciting if not quite the nail-biter that was the Smooth. Here we had easy winners with 1st in all dances, Justinas Duknauskas & Anna Kovalova. They took the vast majority of 1st places in all dances and a handful of 2nd places. Only judge, Shirley Ballas demurred, scoring them 2,4,4,4,4. 2nd and 3rd was between Andrey Tarasov & Yulia Kuznetsova and Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina but Andrey & Yulia took it fairly easily placing 2nd in all dances with the majority of “2nd or better” scores in all. Mykhalio & Anastasiia were 3rd in all. Jean Philippe Milot & Laurence Bolduc took 4th 4,4,4,4,5. Delighted to be in the final and then placing well were Tykhon Zhyvkov & Anastasia Kurieva, 5th place with 5,5,5,7,7. Roman Italyankin & Alexandra Bokova were 6th in all dances and Sasha Althukov & Cheyenne Murillo were 7th 7,7,7,5,4.

• Lorna Lee Lorna Lee
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Judge, Lorna Lee from UK celebrated her birthday last night and she will also have the report on this division later in Dance Beat.

• Open Amateur Ballroom Open Amateur Ballroom
• Andres & Veronica End Andres & Veronica End
• Oskar Wojciechowski & Karolina Holody Oskar Wojciechowski & Karolina Holody
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The Open Amateur Ballroom was another match of the giants as Andres & Veronica End took on Oskar Wojciechowski & Karolina Holody. This one was closer than some recent duels between these two 6’+ couples. Andres & Veronica took the event 1,2,1,1,1 to Oskar & Karolina’s 2,1,2,2,2. All the dances were a fairly even split on the 1st places with the decision usually a small majority. Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli were secure with 3rd in all dances. With 4,6,4,4,4 Misha Vorobiev & Sonya Tsekanovsky were 4th; 5th Florin Vlad & Natalia Linda O’Connor 5,5,6,5,5; 6th Karlis Trijs & Anastasia Krivosheeva 6,4,5,6,6.

We saw some strong ballroom style from the pro-ams during the day that concluded with the Open Scholarships.

Open A: 1st Regina Paregis w/ Andrea Feraci 2,2,1,1,1; 2nd Natalie Rezai w/ Sergey Kiselev 1,1,2,2,2; 3rd Andreas Mantius w/ Olga Tsikalyuk 3,4,3,3,3.

Open B: Julie Zhao w/ Denis Kutepov 1,1,1,1,1; 2nd Ling Ma w/ Edgars Gasjuns 3,2,2,2,2; 3rd Monica Sun w/ Leonid Burlo 2,4,3,4,3.

Open C: 1st Marina Sanchez-Torres w/ Andrea Feraci 2,3,1,2,2; 2nd Jenny Fong w/ Victor Veyrasset 1,4,4,5,1; 3rd Annie Chan w/ Cristina Radvan 3,2,3,4,3.

• Tango Show Tango Show
• Tango Show Tango Show
• Tango Show Tango Show
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During the evening session there was a very dramatic show featuring an Argentine Tango couple plus what to us stole the show, a rhythmic-style South American dancer with a drum and bollas.

"Sunning & Funning" in the Desert!

Desert Classic Dancesport, organized by Igor & Irina Suvorov, got under way yesterday in the spectacular JW Marriott resort in Palm Desert, CA.

• Hotel Lobby Hotel Lobby
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This is an amazing resort with a soaring atrium lobby overlooking a lake and pool and served by boats that actually pick up passengers inside this lobby. World class golf resorts are all around and as you can imagine many of the officials are eager to try out their swing on something other than the foxtrot! Better start early, however, temperatures reach 110 during midday!

• Sasha Althukov & Cheyenne Murillo Sasha Althukov & Cheyenne Murillo
• Pro RS Latin Pro RS Latin
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The climax of yesterday’s competitions were 4 strong professional rising star divisions, the best of which in our opinion was the Latin and that was also the largest, starting with a semifinal. The winners in all dances were Sasha Althukov & Cheyenne Murillo. They received the majority of 1st places in 3 of their dances. For us there were 3 couples vying for the win here and they were the top three. 2nd spot went to Andre Voloslo & Kateryna Kyrylenko 2,3,2,3,2 and 3rd went to Richard Lifshitz & Laura Robinson 3,2,3,2,3 – as you can see very close between the last 2. All three of these couples were really on form. 4th and 5th places were decided between 2 of the USA’s strongest 10-Dance couples and tonight went to Igor Colac & Roxanne Milotti 4,4,4,5,4 over Simeon Stoynov & Cora Stoynova 5,5,5,4,5. A new couple to us, Alexandr Koschukhar & Oleksandra Kharchecnko took all the 6’s in this very strong RS final.

• Marcin Tomaszewski & Krista Derington Marcin Tomaszewski & Krista Derington
• Pro RS Smooth Pro RS Smooth
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All the other divisions were straight finals, but strong nonetheless. The Smooth was won handily by a new partnership – Marcin Tomaszewski & Krista Derington who won all dances with the majority of 1st places. Another new partnership, Dahveed Estrada & Maria Joukovskaya were 2nd in all and these two couples were well clear in our opinion although the judges were overall a little more circumspect and Dahveed & Maria had to rely on “3rd or better” scores in two dances. With 4,3,3,3, Jason Rivers & Elisa Seja were 3rd. 4th went to Johnny Bryant & Ksenia Stavrica 3,4,4,4. This latter couple are strong 9-dancers. 5th Justin Kaiser & Kristie Almeida 5,6,5,5; 6th Jean Dobre & Daisy Ramirez 6,5,6,6.

• Leonid Burlo & Liana Bakhtiarova Leonid Burlo & Liana Bakhtiarova
• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
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In the Ballroom the fast-rising new team of Leonid Burlo & Liana Bakhtiarova scored a good win in all 5 dances over a strong challenge from runners-up Evgeniy Mayorov & Olga Lisovskaya who were 2nd in all 5. The winners did have the majority of 1st places in all dances. 3rd place went to the attractive sibling team of Slava Kostaniyets & Valeriia Kostaniyets 3,3,3,3,3. 4th Sergey Izyumov & Tatiana Ratush 4,4,4,4,4; 5th Jason Rivers & Elisa Seja 5,5,5,5,5.

• Riccardo Papi & Sabina Moretti Riccardo Papi & Sabina Moretti
• Pro RS Rhythm Pro RS Rhythm
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The easiest win of the night from the judges’ perspective came in the Rhythm where Ricarrdo Papi & Sabrina Moretti won all dances with clear majorities that included a perfect 11 first places in mambo. 2nd spot was decided by a Rule 11 tiebreak and went to Daniele Cavallo & Leela Fazuolli 3,2T,2,2,4 over Johnny Bryant & Ksenia Stavrica 2,2T,3,3,3. Jeremy Babagay & Carolyn Berreno were 4th in all; Piero della Santini & Allesandra Gonzalez 5th in all and Germiane Lewis & Bailey Carillo 6th in all.

The pro-ams started off with a busy day, competing in two styles – Smooth & Latin. The Open Scholarships of both were danced in the evening session, beginning with the Latin.

• Open A PA Latin Open A PA Latin
• Open B PA Latin Open B PA Latin
• Open C PA Latin Open C PA Latin
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The Open A Latin was a strong contest between two very talented young ladies. The result by 3 dances to 2 went to Tanya Durbin w/ Roman Kutskyy 1,2,1,1,2 over Bobbi Knight w/ Oleksii Lytvyn 2,1,2,2,1. 3rd was Katherine Kuan w/ Jakub Zeglin 3,3,3,3,3.

Teacher Oleksii Lytvyn moved up to the winners’ position in the Open B with his student Colette Marotto who placed 1,1,1,2,2. The winner of the last 2 dances placed 2nd overall Ghada Boulos w/ Radomir Pashev 3,3,2,1,1 and 3rd was Oeggy Liwen Fang w/ Daniele Gozzi 2,2,3,3,3.

Rhonda Lynch w/ Stephen McCann won all dances in the Open C and had the majority of 1st places in three of them. 2nd went to Tasha Romero w/ Mihalio Bilopukhov 2,2,3,3,2 and 3rd to Debbie Wright w/ Mark Baker 3,3,2,2,3.

• Open A PA Smooth Open A PA Smooth
• Open B PA Smooth Open B PA Smooth
• Open C PA Smooth Open C PA Smooth
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Irene Lee w/ Nick Cheremukhin won the Open A Smooth with a very strong showing. In fact Irene lost only 1 first place mark over the whole competition. 2nd was Sophia Yanez w/ Christopher Hughes 2,2,2,2 and 3rd Renee Gibbons w/ Robert Porch 3,3,3,3.

In the Open B Smooth Sirinda Sincharoen w/ Max Sinitsa won all dances with the majority of 1st places. Irene Lee w/ Nick Cheremukhin placed 2nd this time 2,2,2,2. 3rd was Freidland w/ Lenny Pro 3,3,3,3.

There was a Rule 11 tiebreak to decide the winner of the Open C and it went in favor of Michiko Cantor w/ Evgeny Malko 2,3,1,1 over Sherry Dong w/ Dmitry Illusenov 1,1,3,2. 3rd was Karence Chan w/ Paul Cloud 3,3,3,3.