• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
• Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagrouychenko Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagrouychenko
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Without doubt the Professional Latin was the headline event of the last night at Embassy Ball. US and World Professional Latin Champions, Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko were in attendance and guess what! They received every 1st place from every judge in every dance! What more is there to say!

Almost as strongly in 2nd place were Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova who were 2nd in all dances and lost very few 2nd place marks. Only judge, Shirley Ballas, seriously dissented on their placement, scoring them 2,4,3,4,5. The remaining 4 couples in the final were much more divided on their scores. 3rd overall went to Nikolai Voronovich & Maria Nikolishina and while we’re sure they were happy to remain in a strong 3rd position their scores of 3,4,5,3,4 were probably not that welcome. It was a good night for Mikhalio Bilopukhov & Anastasia Shchypilina who were 4th overall with 4,3,6,5,3. In a somewhat lighthearted moment, they almost went out to collect a 6th place award, just pulling back at the last minute. 5th spot went to Kamil Studenny & Anna Pelypenko from Canada with 6,5,3,4,5 and 6th spot went to Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maidiuk 5,6,4,6,6. We would also like to give a shout out to our Miami peeps Ivan Mulyavka & Karin Rooba and Aleksandr Skarlato & Iveta Kriksukaite – both new partnerships – who were 7th and 8th respectively.

• Senior 1 Ballroom Senior 1 Ballroom
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Xingmin & Katerina Lu won the Senior I Ballroom and they won all dances with the majority of 1st places. 2nd in all dances went to Dan Manea & Mia Hu. They were closest to the winners in VW that they lost to the winners by 5 first places to 6. 3rd were Song Chen & Ling Ma 3,3,4,3,4.

• Roman Malkhasyan & Kat Wagner Roman Malkhasyan & Kat Wagner
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Clear winners in the Pro RS Smooth were Roman Malkasyan & Kat Wagner who won all dances with large majorities of 1st places. Also with a strong showing and placing 2nd in all dances were Slava & Valeriia Kostianets. Marcin Tomacewski & Derington were 3rd 3,3,4,4; Matt Rivers & Maliwan Diemer were 4th 5,4,3,3; Slava & Jessica Stefanov were 5th 4,6,5,5; Enzo Zappia & Stephanie Betts were 6th 6,5,6,6.

• Nazariy Blagy & Marketa Vlckova Nazariy Blagy & Marketa Vlckova
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In the U/21 Latin no couple received a majority of 1st places in any dance but the overall winners were Nazariy Blagy & Marketa Vlckova and they placed 1,1,1,2,2. Mike Monokandilos & Sophia Brodsky were 2nd 2,2,2,1,1 and Petur Gunnarson & Polina Oddr were 3rd 3,3,3,4,4.

• Jonathan Wilkins with Brian McDonald Jonathan Wilkins with Brian McDonald
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Annually the Embassy Ball presents the Marguerite Hanlon & John Ford award for outstanding accomplishments in our field and this year the award went to Jonathan Wilkins.

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New World Professional Rhythm Champions Crowned!

Last night at the Embassy Ball new Professional Rhythm World Champions were crowned.

• Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova
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Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova won all dances with nearly perfect scores in all dances. The swing and bolero they won with perfect scores from all judges. Their worst marks came in the rumba and bolero. In the rumba they received two second places, one from Boriana Deltcheva, and one from Leisa Howard. In the bolero they also got two second place marks and one came from Cecilia Giovacchini and one from Marzena Stachura.

• Pro World Rhythm Championship Pro World Rhythm Championship
•  

All 5 first place marks that Nazar & Irina lost went to Andre & Natalie Parmonov who placed second overall. However, they were not as lucky as Nazar & Irina when it came to getting second place marks, they had fourteen 3rd place marks in all dances, and even four 6th place marks from Paul Killick who also awarded them their only 4th place mark and that was in the mambo. Third overall went to Vard Margaryan with new partner Inga Demetryan and they placed 4,3,4,3,3, Vard is a terrific energetic dancer that we have followed for years, however, on this outing we found him trying quite hard with this new partner, we are sure that this is just a part of allowing a little time for their new partnership to gel a little more, but we wonder what the outcome will be in the upcoming US Championships just a few days from now? Will that group find them as appealing as this group did or will they be more hesitant.

Fourth went to Danas Jaksevicious & Yuki Haragouchi 3,4,3,4,4. Perhaps a disappointing result for this finalist couple. We have found their work in transition at some recent events. Tonight we saw a little more direction and determination, change is good but sometimes takes time to set properly.

Fifth overall was awarded to Andre Svirydzenka & Yuliya Zubova 6,5,5,5,6, this we think was a good result for them, we are a fan of this couple but in the past they have found it quite hard to make it into this quality final. Last night’s consistency of work was excellent but it made us wonder if we were missing some couples that might not have come to this competition. We do hope the judges are now beginning to see the very interesting work this couple has to offer and are truly excited as we are for them to be in this masterful final. Sixth overall went to Riccardo Papi & Sabrina Moretti 5,6,6,6,5, this is another couple that is rising to the top of this field very fast and are now finalists at the World Championships. This coming United States Championship is setting up to be a very memorable event with so many contested competitions and so many different interesting couples in the mix.

• Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova
• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
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The Professional Ballroom was another feature event last night here at the Embassy Ball and this was a first class ballroom dancing at its best. As usual Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova won all dances with a huge majority of firsts in every dance. Their weakest dance seems to be their tango, where Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva the runners up took five 1st places away from them, however in the other four dances they seemed almost unbeatable. Arunas & Katusha got one second place in the waltz from David Hamilton who also thought they should be second in the tango, foxtrot, and quickstep. In the tango and VW, Stuart Cole also thought that Arunas & Katusha should be second. Other then that only three other judges as I mentioned before shared this opinion in their tango and they were, Paul Huston, Anna Mikhead, Lilia Padriezas, we nearly forgot that Anna also thought they should have been second in the quickstep a dance that in our opinion Victor and Anna (as his previous partner) used to do quite well and we enjoyed very much.

• Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva
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The few second marks that Arunas & Katusha received makes this a fantastic competition where a group of judges all invited for their qualification and skill can mark as they feel and mark in the moment of the performance and not by previous results or titles owned. This is impression judging at its best, regardless as how any of us see this competition or who should win. For a panel of 15 judges to come to a majority in all the decisions is a wonderful thing and something that should be celebrated by all organizers and competitors alike. Congratulations to these two incredible couples who makes us all proud to be Americans with all our diversities and ethnicities.

Third in this parade of stars was awarded to Marat Gimaev & Alina Basyuk placing third in all dances and they also received the majority of third placed needed, however, here too there were a few judges that awarded them less than third, the most prominent in this side of the aisle was Stuart Cole who awarded them 6,5,6,6,6. Fourth went to Azerbaijan’s Eldar Dzhaforov & Anna Sazhina 4,4,4,4,4, and we must celebrate their quickstep, they did not waste any time in any of the rounds. The moment they started the quickstep they went into the center of the floor and did some intricate fun combinations right at the beginning down to business and run around later. We loved it, good for you!

Fifth place was awarded to Alexander Voskalchuk & Veronika Egorova placing fifth in all dances, and sixth place was awarded to Iaroslav Bieliei & Liliia Gladiuk and they took sixth in all dances.

• Open Amateur Latin Open Amateur Latin
• Morten Lowe & Rosalina Doneva Morten Lowe & Rosalina Doneva
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The Open Amateur Latin was possibly the largest event and here 6 couples made this exceptional final. The winners in all dances were Morten Lowe & Roselina Doneva from Denmark who won all dances with a majority of firsts in all dances. There was only one judge who did not agree in all dances and that was Sveta Daly who awarded them very low marks 5,5,6,5,4, and in many ways we have to agree with her. Last night’s performance in the final we found it to be more of the same with very little substance. Yes perhaps their beautiful legs and hip action might be better than the rest but the way we look at this is this way. “If you are in this final and you’re lacking this basic skill, you should not be in it.” Strangely, we found their first round performance much more alive.

There was more going on and a better competition between the couples that placed second down to fourth place. They might not yet be world renowned, but they were brilliant. The marks reflect what I just said. Those three couples’ marks were as you would say all over the place, making this competition for us and for many of the attendees a terrific event to see.

• Austin Joson & Nino Dzednaladze Austin Joson & Nino Dzednaladze
• Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman
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Second overall was awarded to Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman with the scores of 3,2,3,2,2, and we feel that perhaps they had the most consistency of all couples really moving and trying and perhaps this is why they secured this position. Third went to Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze 2,4,2,4,4. Nino is our favorite lady in Latin dancing today, and we must say that their partnership is finally reaching us as it should be, work still has to be done to use their best assets in harmony but we are beginning to see the light in this young couple.

Fourth overall were Denys Drozdyuk & Antonina Skobina 4,3,4,3,5. We have to say that we have not been the best fans for this couple in the past, and when everyone was going gaga over them we asked ourselves why? However, nowadays they seem to be a little more out of the box and seem to be playing with the different attitudes, rhythms, and characterization that Latin dance has within its soul. Perhaps Denys’s hair might have been a little to wild for this group but I though it showed a freedom within that I have never seen in this young man. Their dancing now has more soul than it ever did and if there is any Latin traces within Latin dancing that might still be out there, it is truly coming out of them now. We were very surprised not to see them be placed a little higher at least in some of their dances, but since we can see very little of Latin culture and roots within the four dances today, perhaps we might be the only ones looking for this element that most have forgotten with their focus now only on impact an lines.

Fifth overall went to Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabrielle Sabler 6,6,6,5,3, and in sixth position was Alexander Chernositov & Aliana Grishanina 5,5,5,6,6.

The Amateur smooth was a six couple final and the overall winner was Brandon Keck & Kaylee Christensen 2,1,1,1, second was awarded to Joseph Nugent & Kyla Zenger 1,2,3,2, and third position went to Sawyer Stolle & Janica Liu 3,3,2,4.

• Open A PA Latin World Championship Open A PA Latin World Championship
• Sabrine Strasser w/ Stanislav Kochergin Sabrine Strasser w/ Stanislav Kochergin
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For the pro-ams we had the World Latin Championships today and in the Open divisions Canada won their first gold medal and this went to Sabrine Strasser w/ Stanislav Cochergin in the Open A - 2,1,2,1,1. As we have come to expect, Sabrine gave a very tight and controlled performance and looked immaculate. 2nd was another very strong lady, Tanya Durbin w/ Roman Kustkyy 1,2,1,2,2. All the 3’s went to Vera Xu w/ Jakub Zeglin. Russia took the 4th spot, Marina Maksimova w/ Kirill Belorukov again in all dances. Breanna Arriola & Kristjian Burazer was 5th 5,5,6,6,5 and Zoe Antinou w/ Andre Strinadko was 6th 6,6,5,5,6.

• Open B PA Latin World Championship Open B PA Latin World Championship
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The Open B was the closest and we almost got to play the national anthem of Monaco – a first for us, but it was not to be. Carolyn Howard w/ Sasha Althukov was the eventual winner 2,2,2,1,1 and a good result in our opinion. 2nd went to Marina Dzasokhova w/ Ivan Statsenko from Monaco 1,1,1,3,5. Russia took the 3rd spot, Svetlana Mukhametshina w/ Alexander Chesnokov 3,3,3,2,3. This lady has placed higher in the past. Natalie Belanger w/ Genya Bartashevich was 4th 5,4,4,4,2; Rhonda Lee w/ Daniele Gozzi took 5th 4,5,5,5,4 and Svetlana Van Tassel w/ Kiril Nitkin was 6th in all dances.

• Open C PA Latin World Championship Open C PA Latin World Championship
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Lynn Magnesen made her 3rd World final this weekend and won her 2nd gold medal in the Open C. She placed 1,2,1,1,1 dancing with Tykhon Zhykov to end a very successful week. Lisa Lowery w/ Roman Malkhasyan added a silver medal to the gold she won in the Smooth today placing 2,1,2,2,3. Rhonda Lynch w/ Stephen McCann was 3rd 3,4,3,3,2; Tasha Romero w/ Evgeny Likachev was 4th 4,3,4,4,4; Kim Luu w/ Andrey Tarasov took 5th 5,5,5,6,5 and Debbie Wright w/ Mark Baker was 6th 6,6,6,5,6.

• US PA World Latin Champions US PA World Latin Champions
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Iris Chiang w/ Evgeny Nazarov won the Open S1 and Rita Lonergan w/ Pavlo Barsuk won the S2.

We look forward to tonight for the conclusion of one of the best competitions in North America today. My congratulations to Brian, Jason, Gary and Kristi McDonald for putting such a terrific event together and giving the US Couples a chance to shine before the world.

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Change at the Top!

Nick & Viktorija become new World Pro Smooth Champions!

• Pro World Smooth Championship Pro World Smooth Championship
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With placements of 2,1,1,1, Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija became the new World Smooth Champions, filling the place won by Peter & Alexandra Perzhu who are no longer competing. This was not totally the expected result as Mazen Hamza & Izabella, the runners-up last night, have not lost an event this year. They scored 1,3,2,2. The third couple in this mix were Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova and they placed 3rd with 3,2,3,3. It has been close between these 3 couples all year, but this is the first time Nick & Viktorija have beaten Mazen & Izabella outright. As it has been lately, the scores were extremely close. No couple received a majority of 1st places in any dance and in fact the judges shared their winning placements among 5 of the couples in the final. This win come at a good time for Nick & Viktorija as the US Championships are less than a week away.

• Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova
• Mazen Hamza & Izabella Jundzill Mazen Hamza & Izabella Jundzill
• Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
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The remaining 3 couples in this final also had fans on the judging panel and picked up some high marks. Travis & Jaimee Tuft places 4th 4,5,4,4; Yegor Novikov & Aleksandra Smirnova were 5th 5,4,5,5 and Kyle & Allie Spinder completed this wonderful final with 6,6,6,6. We can’t wait for the rematch next week – what an exciting division this is right now!

• Open Amateur Ballroom Open Amateur Ballroom
• Andres & Veronica End Andres & Veronica End
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The Open Amateur Ballroom was also an exciting event that began with over 30 couples and this too was close fought. Andres & Veronica End remained in the preeminent position, however, placing 1st with 2,1,1,1,1. They had the majority of 1st places only in the foxtrot. Oscar Wojciechowski & Karolina Holody were second once again placing 1,2,2,2,2. Taking a significant amount of 1st places from the two US couples were 3rd placed Kyle Taylor & Izabela Skierska from England 3,3,3,3,3 who appeared a little disappointed with this result. The winners of the U/21, Aleksandr Kalenyuk & Olena Ablitsova (Italy), took 4th in all dances and we thought danced much better than they had in the U/21. 5th went to James Cutler & Virginie Primeau (Canada) 5,6,5,5,6 and 6th were Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli 6,5,6,5,6.

• Ilya Maletin & Polina Maier Ilya Maletin & Polina Maier
• Pro RS Latin Pro RS Latin
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Another close one was the Pro Rising Star Latin and this was the only event to go out of the USA last night. Ilya Maletin & Polina Maier of Canada won the division scoring 1,2,2,1,2. This couple are ambassadors of consistency and this paid off for them last night. 2nd spot went to Francesco Bertini & Sabina Manzi who scored 2,1,3,2,1 but had the only majority of 1st places in the competition – this in the samba. Alexey & Vlada Karaulov were 3rd 3,3,1,3,4; 4th were Sasha Althukov & Cheyenne Murillo 4,4,4,4,3; 5th Tykhon Zhyvkov & Anastasiia Kuzieva 5,5,5,5,6; 6th Andrey Voloshko & Kateryna Krylyenko 6,6,6,6,5.

• Vivian Chen w/ Mirko Selli Vivian Chen w/ Mirko Selli
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For the pro-ams we saw the World Ballroom Championships and the USA’s stranglehold on the Open Titles was finally broken when Vivian Chen w/ Mirko Selli representing Hong Kong won the Open S2 Championship.

• Open A PA World Championship Open A PA World Championship
• Natalie Rezai w/ Sergey Kiselev Natalie Rezai w/ Sergey Kiselev
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The other 4 open divisions were also very strong. The Open A was won by Natalie Rezai w/ Sergey Kiselev. Natalie won all dances and had the majority of 1st places in all but the tango. 2nd went to Nadezhda Solzhenitsyna w/ Valery Zakharov from Russia 2,2,2,3,3. Close behind was Vinnie Miller w/ Denis Kutepov 3,3,3,2,2. 4th Rebecca Kuhn w/ Andrea Feraci 4,4,4,4,5; 5th Irene Lee w/ Iaroslav Bieliel 5,6,5,5,4; 6th Angela He w/ Mikhail Avdeev 6,5,6,6,6 and 7th Simon Li w/ Liana Bakhtiarova 7,7,7,7,7.

• Open B PA Ballroom World Championship Open B PA Ballroom World Championship
• Grace Wang w/Sergey Kiselev Grace Wang w/Sergey Kiselev
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The Open B Ballroom was another very close fought event with no competitor receiving the majority of 1st places in any dance, but once again it was teacher Sergey Kiselev who came out on top, this time with Grace Wang. The scores were 2,1,1,1,1. Winning waltz and placing 2nd in the other dances for an overall 2nd place was Julie Zhao w/ Denis Kutepov. 3rd was Brynda Insely w/ Martin Reinbold 5,3,3,3,3; 4th Yvonne Co w/ Iaroslav Bieliel 4,5,4,4,4; 5th Lily Chang w/ Andrea Zaramella 3,4,5,5,6; 6th Laura Shooks w/ Alexander Voskalchuk 6,6,6,6,5.

• Open C PA Ballroom World Championship Open C PA Ballroom World Championship
• Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano
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The Open C was once again the largest of the open divisions and was won by Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano. Jill won all dances and had the majority of 1st places in all but tango. 2nd place went to Ans Stork w/ Oleksiy Pigotskyy 2,3,2,2,3. It was great to see this lady dancing pro-am as well as her normal amateur divisions. 3rd went to Jenny Du w/ Dariusz Michalski 3,2,3,3,2; 4th Hye-Kyong Park w/ Linas Korieva 5,5,4,4,4; 5th Lynn Murrell w/ Alexander Voskalchuk 4,4,5,5,6; 6th Donna Wecker w/ Gianni Caliandro 6,6,6,6,5.

• Rosy Tsai w/ Karlis Trejis Rosy Tsai w/ Karlis Trejis
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The Open S1 Championship was won by Rosy Tsai w/ Karlis Trejis

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Pro-Am Smooth Showcase at Embassy Worlds’

Last night was a real showcase of pro-am smooth dancing here at the Embassy Ball for the World Pro-Am Championships.

The Open Pro-Am World Championships were certainly some of the best we’ve seen all year, however, once again USA won all divisions.

• World Open A Smooth World Open A Smooth
• Whitney Myers w/ Evgeny Malko Whitney Myers w/ Evgeny Malko
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The Open A was the smallest of the open categories but the dancing was great. Tonight’s winner was new to us, Whitney Myers w/ Evgeny Malko but what a new talent! Whitney placed 2,1,1,1 and certainly waltz was a little shaky. 2nd was Madison Stribling w/ Mayo Alanen 1,2,2,2. Madison gave a very strong performance, in fact some of the best dancing we’ve seen from her all year. 3rd in all dances was Irene Lee w/ Nick Cheremukhin and 4th in all was Alicia Hawryluk w/ Dmytry Gurkov (Canada).

• Aiyesha Dey w/ Mayo Alanen Aiyesha Dey w/ Mayo Alanen
• World Open B Smooth World Open B Smooth
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Teacher Mayo Alanen moved up to the top of the roster for the Open B. His student Aiyesha Dey won the event 1,2,1,1. We also felt Aiyesha had a great night with more powerful movement than we’ve seen from her in the past. She had the majority of 1st places in the 3 dances she won and split the tango 5 to 5 with the runner-up. That runner-up was Celia Chou w/ Erminio Stefano 2,1,2,2 who continues to develop in this new style for her. 3rd and 4th places were decided by a Rule 10 tiebreak. Elizabeth Rocco w/ Eric Hudson took the top place 3,3,4,5 over Joanne Tatum w/ Mariusz Zakrewski, the winner of the Rhythm, 4,4,3,4. 5th spot went to Selene Steelman w/ Travis Tuft 5,5,5,3 and Irene Lee w/ Nick Chermukhin, in her 2nd final placed 6th in all dances.

• World Open C Smooth World Open C Smooth
• Lisa Lowery w/ Roman Malkhasyan Lisa Lowery w/ Roman Malkhasyan
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The Open C was the largest of the divisions beginning with a quarter-final. The winner was Lisa Lowery w/ Roman Malkhasyan 1,1,1,2. This was a very closely fought final with most competitors receiving 1st place marks at some point. Lisa had the majority of 1st places only in tango. 2nd tonight went to Sophia D’Angelo w/ Ilya Reyzin 2,2,2,1 and Sophia also had the majority of 1st places in VW. 3rd in all dances went to Sue Eldred w/ Oleksiy Pigotskyy. This is anew pro-am pairing and looks extremely promising. With 4,4,5,5, Lynn Magnesen w/ Tykhon Zhyvkov, the winner of the Rhythm, was 4th. 5th went to Michiko Cantor w/ Evgeny Malko 5,6,4,4 and 6th went to Olga Krasnyanskaya w/ Eldor Dzhafarov (Azerbaijan) 6,5,6,6.

• Barbara Selby w/ Danas Jaksevicious Barbara Selby w/ Danas Jaksevicious
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A very excited lady, Barbara Selby, dancing with Danas Jaksevicious, won both the S1 and S2 Open World Championships.

• Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelco Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelco
• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
•  

We also saw the first of the professional divisions here at Embassy Ball last night and these were the Rising Star categories in Ballroom and Rhythm. The Ballroom was slightly larger and began with a 13-couple quarter-final, reduced to a semifinal of 10 and a final of 6. It was a closely scored final and no couple received a majority of 1st places in any dance. With a slight change in recent form, the winners tonight were Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko and they placed 2,2,1,1,1 in a 3 to 2 decision over Stefano & Bianka DiBrino 1,1,2,2,2. 3rd and 4th places were also very tight, but the result went to Leonid Burlo & Liana Bakhtiarova 5,4,3,3,3 over Yuriy Nartov & Sarika Hudson 3,3,4T,4,4. Evgeny Mayarov & Olga Lisovskaya were 5th 4,5,4T,6,5 and Slava & Valeriia Kostaniets were 6th 6,6,6,5,6.

• Pro RS Rhythm Pro RS Rhythm
• Riccardo Papi & Sabina Moretti Riccardo Papi & Sabina Moretti
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The RS Rhythm began with a semifinal of 12, reduced to 6. Riccardo Papi & Sabrina Moretti were the winners 1,1,1,2,1. They won 3 dances with the majority of 1st places. The winners of the bolero were 2nd overall, Max Lototskyy & Sarah Hawroth 2,2,2,1,2. 3rd and 4th spots were the most highly contested and came out with Ryan Lockhart & Danelle Newman taking 3rd 3,4,3,4,3 and Daniele Cavallo & Leela Fazzuoli taking 4th 4,3,4,3,4. Romney & Brooke Reyes were 5th in all dances and Jeremy Babguy & Carolyn Barreno were 6th in all.

• U/21 Ballroom U/21 Ballroom
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There was also a nice U/21 Ballroom won by Kalenyuk & Ablitsova from Italy and they own all dances. 2nd in all were Erik Linder & Rickie Taylor and 3rd in all Kevin Lin & Michelle Yiu.

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Good night for Old Glory at Embassy

Last night we saw the first of the World Championships here at the 2016 Embassy Ball in Irvine, CA.

These came in the Pro-Am Rhythm division and the Open Championships concluded a full day of pro-am Rhythm dancing. Although there were a few contestants from other countries, it was no surprise that USA won all of the Open Championships.

• Isabela Libertore w/ Charles Cunningham Isabela Libertore w/ Charles Cunningham
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The Open A was a straight 6-couple final but had some very accomplished dancers contesting the title. The winner was Isablela Libatore w/ Charles Cunnighma (FL) who placed 1,1,2,1,2. Isabela had the majority of 1st place marks from the 11-member panel in cha and bolero. 2nd spot went to Matthew Shimizu w/ Jessica Nicole and he scored 2,3,1,2,1 and had the majority of 1st places in swing. 3rd tonight went to Marinda James-Heskett w/ Jeremy Pilling 3,2,3,3,3. 4th and 5th placements were determined by a Rule 10 tiebreak that resulted in 4th going to Sophia Montanez w/ Daniel Vasco 4,4,6,5,4 and 5th to Alicia Hawryluk w/ Smytro Gurkov (Canada) 5,5,4,4,5. 6th spot went to Ann Shaw w/ Dan Lee Tran 6,6,5,6,6.

• Joanne Tatum w/ Mariusz Zakrewski Joanne Tatum w/ Mariusz Zakrewski
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The Open B began with a semifinal and resulted in a comfortable win for Joanne Tatum w/ Mariusz Zakrewski who won all dances with comfortable majorities of 1st places. After this the scores were a little more spread around. Akiko Birch w/ Jonathan Green was 2nd in 4 dances but placed 4th in cha cha. Heidy Kellison w/ Sean Tamshiro was 3rd overall with scores of 2,3,3,3,4. Getting that missing 2nd place in mambo and placing 3,4,4,4 in the other dances for an overall 4th place was Sharon Powers w/ Jason Daly. 5th in all dances went to Lisa Lacroix w/ Jeremy Babaguy and 6th in all was Bernadette Straastma w/ Felipe Telona.

• Lynn Magnesen w/ Vard Margaryan Lynn Magnesen w/ Vard Margaryan
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The Open C also began with a semifinal and was particularly strong we thought. Nobody received a majority of 1st places in any dance, however, placing 1st tonight was Lynn Magnesen w/ Vard Margaryan 2,1,2,1,1. Taking the other 2 dances was the runner-up, Sophia D’Angelo w/ Ilya Reyzin 1,2,1,2,2. Obviously this was a very tight contest between these 2 strong competitors and each had her fans on the judging panel. 3rd in all dances, but also picking up 1st places in all dances was Quin Bomalje w/ Mikhail Vlasov. 4th in all dances, but also picking up some 1st places from the judges was Joan Goddard w/ Chris Johnston. With 5,5,5,6,5T, Yuriko Shimamoto w/ Steve Vasco took 5th and Diane Best w/ Alosha Anatoliy was 6th 6,6,6,5,5T.

• Ginny Davies w/ Felipe Telona Ginny Davies w/ Felipe Telona
• Quin Bomelje w/ Mikhail Vlasov Quin Bomelje w/ Mikhail Vlasov
• Flag ceremony for winners Flag ceremony for winners
•  

There were also open championships in the Senior I and Senior II divisions. Quin w/ Misha moved up to win the Snr. I and Ginny Davies w/ Felipe Telona won the Snr. II.

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