• Choclates Choclates
• "Live" lampshades "Live" lampshades
• Table candy Table candy
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In every way, from great quality dancing to even your palette at the table the Tristate kept your appetite going. Last night we had a “chocolate factory” of fun from the life-size (and alive) lampshades, the fantastic dancing on the floor and even the after party, it was all an indulgence of sweet treats.

No, kidding aside, it was a chocolate delight! All winners of all scholarships and Championships Amateur, Pro/Am and Professional received a beautiful box. We are sure everyone is wondering what was in it? Well, after we were caught with hands in the cookie jar, we found out that inside the beautiful boxes there was a life size “chocolate” purse, you can eat, actually your entire family could feast on it. This was all complimented with the “live” decorations that were stationed on the stage and roaming around the ballroom. This was all fun but it would not have been as appetizing had we not seen such wonderful dance competitions. Three terrific professional events were featured along with an amazing Amateur Latin Championship.

• Tagir Mansurov & Alexandra Kondrashova Tagir Mansurov & Alexandra Kondrashova
• Tagir Zhychuk & Klaudia Petriti Tagir Zhychuk & Klaudia Petriti
• Open Amateur Latin Open Amateur Latin
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The Amateur Latin Championship opened the evening performances with a full quarter-final round. It was a complete treat considering the standard of dancing was so high, rivaling some of the best events in the country. Six finalists were called back and all six had something to offer leaving many to wonder where the judges were going to rule on this. It was a majority of judges who finally crowned Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabrielle Sabler first in every dance, with a very small percentage of the judges dissenting. One judge that did not agree with this placement was former WDC World Professional Latin Champion, Carmen, who felt that Pasha & Gabrielle were to external or as she put it “Crowd Pleasers.” She felt that perhaps this was the right thing for this competition, considering that “Americans” tend to wear their emotions on their sleeves and enjoy a loud performance. Carmen’s favorite and the one couple she marked to win in every dance was Tagir Mansurov & Alexandra Kondrashova who placed second in every dance. (You can see our interview with Carmen soon at our website by clicking here in our newest video called “Approach the Bar.” Or you can read a detailed article by Aigars Stolcers also on the web in our members’ section)

Tagir Zhychuk & Klaudia Petriti took third overall 4,3,3,3,3. Here we also had a very striking couple that we are sure kept the judges a little puzzled not knowing what place to award. Carmen felt the same way as they did, she felt their work was not consistent and that they had a lot of up and downs. Fourth in this excellent heat was awarded to Vladishlav Kvartin & Yulia Koshkina 3,5,4,4,4, fifth went to Yevgenii Orlov & Maryna Yerina 6,6,5,5,5, and sixth were Alexandr Nabiullin & Valeriya Ryabova 5,4,6,6,6.

• Ilya Abdulin & Tara Barakov Ilya Abdulin & Tara Barakov
• Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin
• Open Pro Rhythm Open Pro Rhythm
• Andre & Natalie Paramonov Andre & Natalie Paramonov
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Another interesting final was that of the Professional Rhythm. Here there was no obvious change of the guard. As expected Andre & Natalie Paramonov won all dances. In looking at the marks you can see that they won with a majority of firsts with only 2 or 3 judges dissenting and it is important to mention that they won the rumba with perfect scores from all judges. Ilya Abdullin & Tara Barkov took second overall but not in all dances 4,2,2,2,4. New in this field Dmitry & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin were third but it was interesting to look at the marks 2,3,3,3,3, not won fourth place was awarded to this couple, however, they did not get the extra second needed for them to have taken over this placement.

A disappointing finish in this Rhythm Championship for Aaron & Iryna DeSoto they took fourth overall 3,4,4,5,2. Ee said disappointing because in the not long past, they always placed higher than Ilya & Tara. Fifth place was awarded to Alberto Cortes & Jessa Mae Briones and sixth went to Kristian Sese & Mae Lozada taking sixth in all dances. We interviewed Inna Ivanenko also immediately following the competition and she too had an interesting take on the event, you can also see this on video.

• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
• Marat Gimaev & Alina Basyuk Marat Gimaev & Alina Basyuk
• Christian Radvan & Christina Kudelko Christian Radvan & Christina Kudelko
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The Professional Ballroom was a seven-couple final and here the obvious winner was Marat Gimaev & Alina Basyuk who placed first in all dances. Second overall but not in all dances went to Andrey Begunov & Anna Demidova 2,2,3,2,2, and third position was awarded to Igor Mikushov & Ekaterina Romanskina 4,4,2,3,3. Fourth were Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova 3,3,4,4,4. Anna Mikhed spoke to us about this heat on camera also an exclusive for Dance Beat and she was very exited about the couple that placed fifth, Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko 5,5,5,5,5. Anna felt that this couple had tremendous potential and that their basic work was significantly sound and with a little more effort could be challenging the very top of the style. Another couple in the professional Ballroom that impressed the audience and brought the house down when doing their solo dance-on, was Nazar Batih & Marico Cantly who placed sixth 6,6,6,7,6. As Anna put it in our interview, what this couple lack in technical merit they make in innovation, their opening solo was totally their own and so cleverly done that it made the full house roar. Last but not least in seventh position were Yuriy Nartov & Sarika Hudson 7,7,7,6,7.

• Open Pro Smooth Open Pro Smooth
• Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
• Travis & Jaimee Tuft Travis & Jaimee Tuft
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The Professional Smooth was consistent in marks and in performances. As expected US Champions Nick Cheremikhim & Viktorija won all dances. It was also an easy second for Travis & Jaimee Tuft and third in all dances went to Ilya Abdullin & Tara Barakov. Morten Jensen & Ashley Mokris were foruth in all dances and fifth in all wen to Aaron Talbert & Maggie Toth, leaving sixth to Charles & Emily Roberts. For a full take on this go to our members’ area where you will see Steven Dougherty give his thoughts on this final.

There was a Best of the Best between all the professional champions and this went to Marat & Alina.

• Youth Latin Youth Latin
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The Youth Latin was also a great event.  The winners were Aleksandr Mitronin & Olivia Agranovich 2,1,1,1,1; 2nd Yusif Amsatr & Naomi Spektor 1,2,2,2,3; 3rd Gregory Rybakov & Eva Tulchinsky 3,3,3,3,2

As you can see the goodies were not just on the tables for us to satiate our palettes, they were also on the floor for our eyes and ears, a delight for all senses.

Congratulations to the Tristate team for putting on such a terrific event!

Be sure to watch the new Dance Beat videos click here

Latin was a Candy Store!

Last night’s Latin at the Tristate Dancesport Championships was like a candy store with so many couples and so much variety of styles to chose from and look at.

The event started with a packed quarter-final round with couples from all over including Canada, Russia and a couple of other countries. In the end this competition brought some interesting results.

• Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova
• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
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The clear winners in all dances were Artur Tarnavskyy & Anastasia Danilova, who seemed very pleased to win this evening. In our “approach the bar” with Hans Galke immediately after the competition he thought they were excellent but they were perhaps not his favorite couple of the night (stay tuned to our video page for this interview). Second in this heat went to Canadians, Ilya Maletin & Polina Maier who placed second in the C,R,P and third in the other two dances. Third position was awarded to Dmitry & Olena Nikishkin, they were obviously not happy with the result but very gracious during the prize presentation 4,3,4,3,3. This was not the only surprise for us and the couples. Ivan Mulyavka & Karin Rooba were also in a little bit of a shock when called for fourth place position, but once again they were very gracious during the prize presentation as well 3,4,3,4,5. We must say that we don’t blame the couples in both instances we have seen these two couples beat their opponents a number of times. However, we think it’s a great thing when results change, makes every one less complacent with the work. Nikita Malkhov & Nadezna Vlasov placed fifth overall 5,5,5,5,4, and Vlad Astafiev & Annie He Xiao were sixth in all dances.

• Travis & Jaimee Tuft Travis & Jaimee Tuft
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The Professional Showdance was also danced last night and this event went to Travis & Jaimee Tuft, who brought the house down and got a standing ovation. Second was awarded to Andre & Natalie paramonov, who also got the hearts of the audience and third was Ivan Kudashlev & Ksenia Sokolocova. Fourth place went to a very well composed routine to “The Sound of Music” by Mechyslav Pavlyuk & Gemma Arnold, unfortunately it seemed a little long to many in the audience.

• Pro RS Rhythm Pro RS Rhythm
• Alberto Cortes & Jessa Mae Briones Alberto Cortes & Jessa Mae Briones
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We concluded the Professional Rising Stars this evening and here Alberto Cortes & Jessa Mae Briones won all dances in the Rhythm. Second were Kristian Sese & Mae Lozada and third position was awarded to Jean Michell Erole & Sasha Nissengolts.

• Ilya Abdulin & Tara Barakov Ilya Abdulin & Tara Barakov
• Pro RS Smooth Pro RS Smooth
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In the professional Rising Star Smooth, the honors went to Ilya Abdullin & Tara Barakov they won all dances. In second place were Morten Jensen & Ashley Mokris and they took second in all dances and third was awarded to Slawek Roszak & Denise Sobiewski 3,5,3,6.

Be sure to watch the new Dance Beat videos click here

Tristate features Rising Stars

Last night at the Tristate Dancesport Championships nearly all professional rising stars competitions were featured.

Both the Rising Star Latin and Ballroom were fully attended both with complete semifinals. It was a terrific evening finishing with a good solid rising Star Finish.

• RS Pro Latin RS Pro Latin
• Vlad Astafiev & Annie He Xiao Vlad Astafiev & Annie He Xiao
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The Professional Rising Star Latin competition was won by Vlad Astafiev & Annie He Xiao and they won by placing first in four dances and placing second in the paso doble. For us it looked like a very hotly-challenged competition with at least three excellent finalists fighting for top spot. However, the choices were made and we could not be more approving of all spots in this final. Second position wen to Ivan Kudashev & Ksenia Kosolova who won the paso and placed second in all the other dances. Third was awarded to Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker who placed third in four dances and fourth in the Rumba. Aleksandar Vukosavljevic & Jess Li were fourth 4,4,3,4,4, Jason Dai & Hanna Sverdlov were fifth 7,5,5,7,6, Jang & Adele Don were sixth 5,7,7,6,5, and seventh place went to Artur Shvetson & Carolina Avila 6,6,6,5,7.

• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
• Youriy Nartov & Sarika Hudson Youriy Nartov & Sarika Hudson
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In the RS Professional Ballroom it was a clear win of all dances to Yuriy Nartov & Sarika Hudson. Second place overall was awarded to Alexey Minaev & Elena Minaeva but not in all dances 4,4,2,2,2. Third place went to Anatolii Repliuk & Rusland Mamaysur with these marks 2,3,3,3,4. Luca & Krizia Balestra took fourth place 3,2,4,4,3, and Jang & Adele Don were fifth in all dances, leaving Pavel Bic & Ersi Nie holding sixth in all dances. Seventh in all dances was awarded to Ashan Samarasinghe & Eleanor Van Der Zwan.

• Pro-Am Open A Smooth Pro-Am Open A Smooth
• Sara Sharpe w/ Gunnar Sverrisson Sara Sharpe w/ Gunnar Sverrisson
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The Pro-Am Smooth competitions were the highlight in Thursday’s daytime competition and it concluded last night with the scholarships. The Open “B” event was excellent and this went to Celia Cho w/ Erminio Stefano who won three dances and placed second in the tango. Aiyesha Dey w/Mayo Alanen won the tango and placed second overall 2,1,2,2. Third in all dances went to Suki Kramer w/Gunnar Sverrison. Fourth place was awarded to Antonia Frost w/Sergey Izyumo 4,5,4,4, fifth position went to Jennifer Coltharp w/Dave Hannigan 5,4,5,5, and sixth position went to James Coltharp w/Olga Chekhova in all dances.

The Open “A” Pro-Am Smooth Scholarship was awarded to Sara Sharpe w/Gunnar Sverrisson wining all dances, second went to Samanta Rico w/Morten Jensen in all dances and third position was Melissa Jensik w/Dave Hanningan taking third in all dances. The Senior Smooth Scholarship was also well attended and this went to Annette Van Ommeren w/Charles Roberts 1,2,1. Second was awarded to Paul Duhaime w/Daryll Sverrisson 2,1,2, leaving third to Felicia Porges w/Adam Katona and she placed third in all dances.

Wednesday night we had the Open pro/am Rhythm Scholarships and the “B” also had great attendance and first place went to Gwen Bourque w/Aaron Talbert, second went to Kelly Wain w/Vlad Astafiev, and third was awarded to Donie Burch w/Kosta Trifunovich she also took the “A” division. The “C” Rhythm Scholarship was won by Gabriella Pannunzio w/Grzegorz Kasprzak, second was awarded to Paul Duhaime w/Daryll Sverson and third went to Shari Chinitzi w/John Nyemchek.

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