However, from were we stood as we looked at this fantastic, historical ballroom where people hang over the balconies to see and scream their favorite couples’ names and numbers, we could not help but notice that the absence of this caliber of Ballroom here in the USA has made some of the dancers not dance to the house, but to the closer audience that surround them on the ground floor and we will explain later in this blog today what we mean by this, but first let’s talk about the competition.

• Joel Lopez & Kristina Bespechnova Joel Lopez & Kristina Bespechnova
• Open Amateur Latin Open Amateur Latin
•  

We will begin with the Amateur Latin, this competition started with a quarter-final round with an incredible amount of talent, and the final as we just mentioned was out of this world. Winning all dances were Joel Lopez & Kristina Bespechnova from Spain, they won the cha cha with perfect scores from all judges, but picked up a few seconds in the other four dances, 3 in the paso, 2 in the samba, and 1 in the rumba and jive. We have to totally agree with the judges on this one, when it came to dancing for the house, they totally were there and for us, their cha cha, samba, rumba were above the rest, fantastic speed (a forgotten art) and quality of movement.

• Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabriella Sabler Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabriella Sabler
• Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman
•  

Second in this excellent final went to Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman, here their marks were a little more varied even though they did manage to steal a couple of firsts from the winners and collect a huge majority of seconds to put them safely in second position. We agree with the judges’ decision overall on this, we still think that perhaps Tal & Ilana, could have easily won the Paso and the Jive. In the paso Tal could be seen from a plane, his shapes as a bull fighter were the best by far and Tal & Ilana’s energy in basic Jive action was contagious. Tal might not have won this evening, but he for sure stole the show when he was introduced after the paso, where he popped, break-dance and we spotted even a possible twerk, making the crowd go wild once again with enthusiasm. It was a good choice for the other four couples to not compete with him, they were all outshone on this introduction. Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabrielle Sabler took third in all dances and were also cheered greatly when introduced, however, we found their performance very correct, but unfortunately on this night you had to go for “broke,” a correct performance only delivers a correct result and these was a very correct result.

Fourth in this parade of stars went to Adelmo Mandia & Leah Rolfe from England with these marks - 4,5,4,4,5. We have to agree with the lower marks for this couple, we think the fifth and sixth placed couples had stronger dynamics, something that as we just mentioned was very important in this final. Fifth place was Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan with these marks 5,4,6,6,4, this for us was our fourth place couple, their performance was correct but unlike the last couple mentioned they too had great energy as the first, second and third place couples. And finally in sixth place was Ewound Fidom & Melanie Weiler and their marks were 6,6,5,5,6.

• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
• Iaroslav & Lilia Bieliei Iaroslav & Lilia Bieliei
• 
• 
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The Professional Ballroom was run back to back with the Amateur Latin and it was an excellent competition as well. Here Iaroslav & Liliia Biellei won every dance and the foxtrot with perfect scores from all the judges. Like the winners in the Amateur Latin they too got a small number of second places on the other four dances but not enough to spoil their run, they won all dances with a majority of firsts. Second overall went to Igor Mikushov & Ekaterina Romanshkina, with these marks 2,3,2,2,2, and third place was awarded to Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova 3,2,3,3,3. We have to agree that the tango is a strong dance for Oscar & Lenka, but we must mention that the “Autumn Leaves” song the DJ, Mr. Keith Todd, played by the Starlight Orchestra was beautifully interpreted by this one couple and they should have perhaps taken second in this other dance as well.

Fourth in this excellent Professional Ballroom competition went to Cristian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko, and they took fourth in every dance, fifth in all dances went to Marek Klepadlo & Nina Zhiting Yang. Sixth got a little more questionable and this position went to Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantley, but as you can see, not in every dance 6,6,7,6,6. Seventh place chain was also broken with these scores 7,7,6,7,7, and this went to Artem Belmeha & Anna Shevchenko.

• Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova
• Open Pro Rhythm Open Pro Rhythm
•  

The evening started with the Professional Rhythm Championship and this went easily to Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova, by winning all dances with a majority of first places. Second in all dances went to Andre & Natalie Paramonov, and third in all were Dimitry & Olena Nikishkin. Fourth and fifth was a little more varied, here Aaron & Iryna DeSoto took fourth with these marks 4,4,4,5,4; Alberto Cortes & Jessa Mae Briones were fifth with these marks 5,5,5,4,5. Sixth place in all dances went to Ilya Abdullin & Tara.

• High-cielinged ballroom High-cielinged ballroom
•  

In many of the heats throughout the competition including some of the amateur Latin couples, but it hit us and we noticed it the most in this excellent Rhythm heat because we experienced watching this heat from various parts of this beautiful ballroom. Here we noticed that with the exception of Nazar & Irina, we found the majority of couples lacking the ability to project to this very high ceilinged ballroom. When next to the floor we could almost feel the couples, they reached us and made us feel their energy, but on the balcony it tended to fade away some. I think this perhaps is the lack of high ceilinged ballrooms in the USA and so the couples dance to the surrounding crowds many times ignoring the balcony or should we say the cheap seats up in the upper deck. I did notice that Nazar & Irina perhaps because of their stature had to magnify their persona three times more than the others and this is a great thing, they got my attention from the balcony and from floor level. If most couples in all competitions practiced thinking of high ceilings perhaps they too would be seen and their performance could look strong no matter where any of the judges are standing, in other words “dance to the house you’re in” not to the studio where you practice.

• L. Yusif/Naomi, R. Erik/Shelly L. Yusif/Naomi, R. Erik/Shelly
•  

The Youth Ballroom Championship was excellent. It started with a strong semifinal round, but in the end overall the Championship went to Yusif Amsatr & Naomi Spektor, 2,1,1,2,1. Second overall were Erik Linder & Shelly Meshkausk, 1,2,2,1,2 and third in all dances was awarded to Danylo Yanchyshyn & Dascha Wright.

• J2 Ballroom J2 Ballroom
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In the Junior II Ballroom, also beginning with a semifinal, the win went to Gylfi-Mar Hrafnsson & Maria-Tinna Hauksdottir (Iceland) 1,1,1,1,1; 2nd Kiril Kurbatov & Alexandra Revel-Muroz (Russia) 2,3,2,2,2; 3rd Wiktor Puruzynski & Alicja StasKiewicz (Poland) 3,2,3,3,3.

The last day of the NYDF was all about the Latin, all pro/am Latin competitions took place during the afternoon and they were terrific.

• Open PA Latin A Open PA Latin A
• Angelina Evseeva w/ Aleksandr Skarlato Angelina Evseeva w/ Aleksandr Skarlato
•  

The “A” division was won by Angelina Evseeva w/ Aleksandr Skarlato, and they won all dances, second was Dorotov w/Allen Genkin all seconds, third went to Yulan Lin w/ Pasha Pashkov 3,4,3,3,4, Fourth was Deborah Tipley w/Paul Richardson 5,3,5,5,3, Jackson Bayhi w/ Agne Malinauskaite were fifth and sixth was Liang Ying w/ Yegor Novikov 6,6,6,4,6.

• Open PA Latin B Open PA Latin B
•  

In the “B” division Christine Stanko w/ Jean Paul took first 2,2,1,1,1, Deborah Wright w/ Nikolay Voronovich were second 1,1,2,2,2, Maria Seragou w/Dimitrios Damalas were third in all dances, Jacqueline Soccodato w/Delyan Terziev placed fourth 4,5,4,5,5, Casey Skoglund w/Stas Engelgardt were fifth 5,6,5,4,4, and Maria Rigopoulos w/Artur Tarnavsyy were sixth 6,4,6,6,6.

• Lorraine Peoples w/ Genya Bartashevich Lorraine Peoples w/ Genya Bartashevich
• Open PA Latin C Open PA Latin C
•  

The “C” was a seven couple final and the winners were Lorraine Peoples w/ Genya Bartashevich 1,2,1,1,2, Tasha Romero w/ Mykhailo Bilopuknov were second 2,1,2,2,1, Sophia D’Angelo w/Nikolai Pilipenchuk took third in all dances. Joan Goddard w/Andrew Escolme placed fourth 4,7,4,4,5, Andrea Bennington w/Ivan Mulyavka were fifth 5,4,7,5,4, Tomoko Fujiwara w/Rangel Spirov were sixth 6,5,5,6,6, and Robyn Sheriber w/ Italo Elgueta placed seventh 7,6,6,7,7.

• Open PA Latin Sen1 Open PA Latin Sen1
• Nora Fox w/ Plamen Danailov Nora Fox w/ Plamen Danailov
•  

The Senior I was also an excellent heat in this final day of competition and here Fox w/ Plamen Danilov won the event taking all five dances, second was awarded to Bette Chamberlin w/ Ivan Kudashev in all dances, third went to Geargean Nicol w/Nikolay Voronovich. Astrid Rush w/Ivan Mulyaka were fourth with this scores 7,6,4,4,4, Michelle Wang w/Delyan Terziev were fifth 5,4,5,7,5, sixth went to Philippa Zemelman w/ Marcus Johnson, and seventh place was Ibis Wu w/ Mykhailo Bilopuknov 6,5,7,6,6.

• Tony Dovolani Tony Dovolani
• Rufus Dustin Rufus Dustin
• Jonathan Roberts Jonathan Roberts
•  

Sunday also saw the return of the American Style Congress that was a part of NYDF for many years, but not for the past 2 years.  The congress is hosted by Edward Simon & Sam Sodano.  It ran during Sunday daytime in a separate ballroom.  Lecturers in Smooth were Jonathan Roberts, Slawek Souchaki, Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija and Rufus Dustin.  In Rhythm, Jose & Joanna DeCamps, Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine, Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova and Tony Dovolani.

The NYDF concluded with the usual after party, where people ate, danced, drank and celebrated. We want to congratulate Eugene Kasevman and Maria Manusova, for a very successful event. The entries alone would not have made this event, the hotel, the ballroom and the atmosphere, makes it such that you can not miss it year after year.

Latin, Latin – and Smooth!

Last night was definitely a Latin extravaganza here at NYDF. But let’s not forget the Smooth!

• Junior & Youth Events Junior & Youth Events
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There were 4 Latin events last night – all beginning with a quarter-final – J1, J2, Youth and of course, professional. In the Smooth department we saw an excellent Open Professional.

• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
• Andrei Kazlouski & Asta Sigvaldadottir Andrei Kazlouski & Asta Sigvaldadottir
• Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina
•  

We will begin at the end with the Open Professional Latin. This brought together many of the USA’s top couples and we were all wondering how the results would pan out. The atmosphere in the ballroom was electric and all the couples gave it their best shot. As it turned out the judges had a relatively clear winner in their heads and it was Andrei Kazlouski & Asta Sigvaldadottir who are the current US National Champions. They won all dances, all but the rumba with sizable majorities of 1st places. Only rumba was close. In this dance they received 7 first places while the runners-up, Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina, received 6. Mykhailo & Anaastasiia were 2nd in all dances – comfortably so from the judges’ perspective.

• Ilya Maletin & Polina Maier Ilya Maletin & Polina Maier
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The next 3 positions were split between 2 Canadian couples and 1 American and were somewhat close. Ilya Maletin & Polina Maier (Canada) took the 3rd position in overall 3,3,3,3,4. Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova were 4th 4,4,5,4,3. Alexey & Vlada Karaulov (Canada) took 5th 5,5,4,5,5. Nikita Malakov & Nadezda Vlasova took all the 6’s in this final that was a dream to be in.

In truth as we watched this exhilarating final, the level of all the couples’ dancing was so high that at any one time we could enjoy the performance of any one couple – 1st to 6th. The difference in performance level is so slight, that often it is a matter of personal preference.

• Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
• Open Pro Smooth Open Pro Smooth
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If you are a “smoothie” the Open Smooth was also a great treat with some of the nation’s greatest talent on display. US Champs, Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija won all 4 dances and to us this was certainly one of their best performances of late. There was a diversity to their expression that has sometimes been missing. 2nd in all 4 dances were Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova. We found their performance a little quieter than normal, perhaps they are experimenting with new ideas in light of some disappointing results recently. The judges seemed to approve, they took a significant number of 1st places from the winners. In tango they had 7, and that was 1 more than Nick & Viktorija, but not a majority to win them the dance. Also picking up some 1st places in all dances were Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina. We feel that this couple has not reached their full potential yet – but we are waiting eagerly! They were 3rd in all dances.

Sergey Samchynskyy & Yulia Besarab were 4th in all and they are another couple that we think have a lot more to give in this style. With 5,6,5T,5 Jang & Adele Don took 5th. This duo has made significant improvement in this style just since late last year. They were in a close battle with Oleksiy Pigotsky & Natlaie Crandall 6,5,5T,6. This result was a reverse from the RS. Enzo Zappia & Stephanie Betts completed this 7-couple final placing 7th in all dances.

• Open Amateur Ballroom Open Amateur Ballroom
• Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon
•  

Perhaps our favorite "competition" of the night was the Open Amateur Latin. We say "competition" because nobody really knew who would win. There were many of the USA's best young amateur couples, some new partnerships, vying for the top positions. The winners, and they were very obviously delighted, were Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon a pretty new partnership. They placed 1,1,1,2,2.

• Oleksandr Kalenyuk & Olena Ablitsova in crowns Oleksandr Kalenyuk & Olena Ablitsova in crowns
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With 2,2,2,1,1, Olekssandr Kalenyuk & Olen Ablitsova were 2nd. They were the only couple to receive a majority of 1st places, they had 8 in the quickstep. We loved both couples, and were glad we did not have to choose. WE also loved 3rd placed Patryk Ploszaz & Anna Kaczmarski, who are back together again. They placed 3,3,3,3,3. Continuing the superlatives, we were very impressed with Mikhail Vorobiev & Natalia Kozhevnikova who were 4th 5,4,4,5,5. Samuel Hacke & Katerina Hermanova were 5th 6,5,6,4,4. Interestingly, Sam & Katerina had won the Eastern Championship last week, beating both Dan & Stephanie and Patrick & Anna. Tony Cooperman & Rickie Taylor were 6th 4,7,5,6,6 and Fedor Voronov & Alexandra Dubinsky were 7th 7,6,7,7,7. This was a very special final!

The nighttime session began with 3 back to back quarter-finals in J1, J2 and Youth Latin and what atmosphere there was!!!! The kids and their adoring parents were on fire and the slam packed ballroom rocked! The results were:

• Kirill Kurbatov & Alexandra Revel-Muroz Kirill Kurbatov & Alexandra Revel-Muroz
• Junior 2 Latin Junior 2 Latin
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J2
Kirill Kurbatov & Alexandra Revel-Muroz 1,1,1,1,1, Joshua Ginzburg & Sophia Elkin 2,2,2,2,2, Jacob Young & Polina Berisheva 3,3,4,4,4, Matthew Bezzant & Abigail Werner 4,6,3,3,3, Gylfi-Mar Hrafnsson & Maria-Tinna Hauksdottir 5,5,5,5,6, Tyler Li & Angelica Lowe 6,4,6,6,5.

• Junior 1 Latin Junior 1 Latin
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J1
Kirill Kurbatov & Alexandra Revel-Muroz 1,1,1,1,1, Alexander Sarkisian & Emmanuelle Gray 2,2,2,2,2, Kirill Vassilenko & Ksenia Chekulova 3,3,3,3,3, Zorik Moldavsky & Alice Bankova 4,4,5,6,4, David Maimon & Jhailyn Farcon 6,5,4,4,8, Ethan Hayutt & Anastasia Lepin 7,8,7,5,5, Brandon Parkansky & Leah Kundel 5,6,8,7,7, Sasha Zhukov & Ani Martirossian 8,7,6,8,6.

• Youth Latin Youth Latin
•  

Youth

For the pro-am dancers it was Ballroom day and here are the Open Scholarship results.

Open Sen - Viki Sato w/ Nazar Batih, Barbara Roberts w/ Aliaksei Peihanovich, Rong Chen w/ Oscar Pedrinelli, Linda Gill w/ Artem Sharov, Barbara Seiz w/ Darius Mosteika, Maria Fila w/ Kamil Urbaniak.

Open B - Amy Lu w/ Igor Mikushov, Bo Chang w/ Oscar Pedrinelli, Joanne Kay Smith w/ Anton Lebedev, Monica Sun w/ Iaroslav Bieliei, Patricia Chai w/ Sergey Bolotnikov, James Coltharp w/ Olga Chekhova.

Open A - Joanne Kay Smith w/ Anton Lebedev, Miwa Rifu w/ Peter Walker, Disen Huang w/ Yuriy Nartov.

Open C - Annie Chan w/ Critstian Radvan, Leila DeNotarisefani w/ Igor Mikushov, Connie Carusa w/ Kamil Urbaniak, Audria Mitchel w/ Peter Perzhu, Patriia Koyce w/ Greg Fidurski, Monique Migneault w/ Yury Stefanskiy

Something for Everyone!

There was something for everyone here at NYDF yesterday.

In a packed schedule that began at 7:00 AM and ended shortly before the NDCA mandated 1:00 AM we saw all 4 styles. For pro-ams it was a day of Smooth and for RS Pros, all styles and some amateur events, again in all 4 styles.

• Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker
• Pro RS Rhythm Pro RS Rhythm
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Taking the Pro RS events in order, the first to be decided was the Rhythm and this went to Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker – 1,1,1,1,1. This was a good night for this couple who secured a majority of 1st places in all dances. Swing was their best-scored with 12 out of 15 firsts. 2nd in all went to Matt Hauer & Anastasia. They had 1st places in all dances, but never enough to threaten the winners. Cristian Sese & Mae Lozado were 3rd in all dances. They also had some 1st places in all dances. We felt these three couples were clearly the top 3 in this final. 5,4,4,5,4 gave Tony Nunez & Ksenia Kashkina the 4th spot and they are certainly improving at each outing. We felt their mambo could have been scored higher. Myhailo Azerov & Tetyana Makarenko were 5th 6,5,5,4,5 and Christopher Wayne & Mallory Evan were 6th 4,6,6,6,6.

• Marek Klepadlo & Nina Zhitang Yang Marek Klepadlo & Nina Zhitang Yang
• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
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Next up was the Ballroom and this went to Marek Klepadlo & Yang who had the strongest win of the night. They won all dances with the majority of first places including perfect 15 in the waltz and 14 in the foxtrot. 2nd went to Artem Belmeha & Anna Shevchenko 2,2,3,3,2. This is an attractive couple who seem new to the scene. 3rd with the widely ranging scores of 3,6,2,2,3 were Segey Izyumov & Oksana Zaver. 4th Ivan Levin & Anna Sivakova 5,3,4,4,4; 5th Daniel Vesnovski & Emily Thorpe 4,5,6,6,5; 6th Dmitri Solomakha & Gabriella Sevillano 6,4,5,5,6. 5th and 6th places were decided by a Rule 11.

• Ivan Kudashev & Ksusha Ivan Kudashev & Ksusha
• Pro RS Latin Pro RS Latin
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The Latin was the largest event of the RS, beginning with a quarter-final. The winners once again took all dances and this time it was Ivan Kudashev & Ksusha. They did have the majority of 1st places in all dances and received very few scores lower than 2nd. Second place went to Ummario Diallo & Tessa Marie 2,2,2,2,2. This was a good placement for this relatively new partnership who have received some rather low placements in recent events we felt. 3rd and 4th spots were separated by a Rule 10. Liang Xiyue Liu & Wang (China) got the nod scoring 3,4,3,5,3 over Andrew Ecolme & Amy Baker 4,3,4,3,4. Bozhidar Elkin & Elena Dumanova were 5th 5,5,5,4,5 and Felipe Edmiston & Darinka Divljak were 6th in all dances.

• Pro RS Smooth Pro RS Smooth
• Oleksiy Pigotsky & Natalie Crandall Oleksiy Pigotsky & Natalie Crandall
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With 1,1,1,2, Oleksiy Pigotsky & Natalie Crandall won the RS Smooth. They have not lost a RS division since they began dancing together, but today they were pushed quite hard by the runners-up, Jang & Adele Don 2,2,2,1. Oleksiy & Natlalie had the majority of 1st places in foxtrot and tango and Jang & Adele had the majority in VW. The waltz was a split of 7 first places to each couple. 3rd in all dances went to Stephen & Elisa McCann; 4th in all went to Igor Afonkin & Meghan Anderson; 5th in all to Slawek Roszak & Denisa Sobiewski; 6th in all to Roberts.

• Tony Cooperman & Rickie Taylor Tony Cooperman & Rickie Taylor
• U/21 Latin U/21 Latin
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It was a great night for Tony Cooperman & Rickie Taylor as they won both the U/21 Ballroom and U/21 Latin. The Latin was the largest event of the night. Tony & Rickie won 4 dances and had the majority of first places in those. They were 2nd in samba. The winners of the Samba, Bumchin Tegshjargal & Michelle Klets were 2d overall, but with scores of 3,1,3,2,3. Zhiguo Liu & Shanlin He (China) were close, but a disappointing finish in paso doble let them down 2,3,2,5,2. Vladislav Krupskii & Valorie Dubinsky were 4th 4,4,4,3,4; 5th Andrei Boldyrev & Daniela Rose Kuttischev 5,5,5,4,5; 6th Erik Linder & Shelly Meshkausk 6,6,6,6,6.

• U/21 Ballroom U/21 Ballroom
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In the U/21 Ballroom, Tony & Rickie again won 4 of the dances (3 with a majority of 1st places) and this time placed 2nd in tango. The winners of the tango did place 2nd in all other dances for second overall and that was Fedor Voronov & Alexandra Dubinsky. Erik Linder & Shelly Meshkausk moved up to 3rd in the ballroom, 3,3,3,3,3. Brandon Klavansky & Maria Volski were 4th in all; 5th Tanner Cole & Serena Keck 5,5,5,5,5T; 6th Sawyer Stolle & Savana Francia 6,6,6,6,5T.

• Open Amateur Smooth Open Amateur Smooth
•  

A large quote of BYU students meant that there was a strong Amateur Smooth event, as the Utah University has a large program in this style. 5 of the finalists were from Utah. Brandon Keck & Kaylee Christensen won all 4 dances. 2nd were Sawyer & Savana 2,3,2,2 and 3rd were Joseph Nugent & Kyla Zenger 3,2,3,3. 4th Tanner & Serena 4,4,5,5 in a Rule 11 over Steve Torres & Nicole Barron 5,5,4,4. They were the only non-Utah couple in the final. 6th were Adam Coker & Laney Beatty.

• Open PA Smooth A Open PA Smooth A
• Brittany Falconer w/ Peter Walker Brittany Falconer w/ Peter Walker
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As we said at the start, it was Smooth day for the Pro-Ams and as expected there were some strong Open Scholarships to end the day. The Open A was the smallest, but still very strong. The winner was Brittany Falconer w/ Peter Walker. Brittany won all dances, the tango and VW with the majority of 1st places. 2nd in all was Kailee Donavan w/ Gunner Sverrisson. The closest scored dance was foxtrot where both Brittany & Kailee received 5 first places each. 3rd in all dances went to Irene Lee w/ Egor Bezukladnikov. 4th and 5th was a Rule 11 tiebreak. 4th went to Cassie Rudolph w/ Atanas Malamov 5,5,4,4 and 5th to Stephanie Cicatiello w/ Evgeny Rozenfield 4,4,5,5. Aleigha Sardinia w/ Anton Grigoryev was 6th.

• Open PA Smooth B Open PA Smooth B
• Celia Chou w/ Erminio Stefano Celia Chou w/ Erminio Stefano
•  

Celia Chou w/ Erminio Stefano scored the only perfect play of the day taking all 11 first place marks in all dances in the Open B Scholarship. Mariana Lvoff w/ Vladimir Kosarev was the runner-up with 2,3,2,2. Irene Lee w/ Egor Bezukladnikov scored a second 3rd place 3,2,4,4. Dony Burch w/ Kosta Trifunovic was 4th 4,4,3,3; 5th Susanna Sci w/ Thomas Mielnicki 5,5,5,5; 6th James Coltharp w/ Olga Chekhova 6,6,6,6.

• Open PA Smooth C Open PA Smooth C
• Sophia D'Angelo w/ Max Sinitsa Sophia D'Angelo w/ Max Sinitsa
•  

Sophia D’Angelo w/ Max Sinitsa won the Open C, winning all dances with a majority of 1st places. Gail Komar w/ Serhey Komar was 2nd 3,2,2,2 and Lemmer w/ Thomas Mielnicki was 3rd 2,3,3,3. Charlene Proctor w/ Mikhail Zarinov was 4th in all dances. 5th and 6th places required a Rule 11 tiebrak. Deborah Hoag w/ Rudy Homm was the victor with 5,6,5,6 and Tatiana Ignatieva w/ Sergey Barsukov was 6th 6,5,6,5.

• Diana Best w/ Aloysha Anatoliy Diana Best w/ Aloysha Anatoliy
• Open PA Sen1 Smooth Open PA Sen1 Smooth
•  

In the tightest race of this series, Diana Best w/ Alosha Anatoliy won the S1. Diana won all 4 dances but did not have the majority of 1st places in any. 2nd went to Linda Gill w/ Atem Sharov 4,2,2,2. 3rd was Annette Van Ommeren w/ Charles Roberts 2,3,3,3. 4th Barbara Keiser w/ Gunner Sverrisson 3,5,4,4; 5th Felicia Porges w/ Adam Katona 6,4,5,5; 6th Chuck Lindsay w/ Yulia Besarab.

• Jake Mazhar w/ Yuliya Besarab Jake Mazhar w/ Yuliya Besarab
•  

During the evening there was a special pro-am exhibition by Jake Mazhar w/ Yulia Besarab – it was their Terminator piece that they have been invited to perform at the Arnold Sports event in front of Arnold Schwatzeneger himself!

A Festival in New York!

It’s that New York time of year again and we’re all in Midtown, Manhattan at the venerable Roosevelt Hotel for Eugene Katsevman & Maria Manusova’s New York Dancesport Festival.

Events kicked off yesterday in the beautiful old ballroom with the pro-am Rhythm divisions and these culminated with 3 strong open scholarships.

• Open PA Rhythm B Open PA Rhythm B
• Giovanni Fortezza w/ Jolanta Mosteika Giovanni Fortezza w/ Jolanta Mosteika
•  

The B began with a semifinal and was won comfortably by Giovanni Fortezza w/ Jolanta Mosteika. Giovanni won all dances with a strong majority of 1st places from the judges. With 3,3,2,2,2, Lana Lusher w/ Jose DeCamps took 2nd and not too far behind, Vita Vygovska w/ Evgeny Dyachenko was 3rd 2,2,3,3,4. 4th and 5th positions were separated by a Rule 10 tiebreak. Mariana Lvoff w/ Vlad Kosarev took the higher place 4,4,5,4,5 over Tina Musico w/ Marcio DeSouza 5,5,4,5,3. Jennifer Stockton w/ Ranko Bugosavac was 6th.

• Open PA Rhythm C Open PA Rhythm C
• Joan Goddard w/ Aaron Talbert Joan Goddard w/ Aaron Talbert
•  

The Open C also began with a semifinal and the winner was Joan Goddard w/ Aaron Talbert 1,1,1,1,2. The runner-up was Gail Komar w/ Serhiy Komar who scored 2,3,2,2,3. Janice Gonzalez w/ Vlad Kosarev was 3rd but did win the mambo 3,2,4,3,1. 4th and 5th were decided by another Rule 10 tiebreak. 4th went to Gabriella Pannunzio w/ Grzegorz Kasprzak 5,4,5,4,4 and 5th to Lois Fein w/ Aleksandr Vukosavljevic 4,5,3,5,5. 6th in all dances was Adele Morrisette w/ Yury Stefanskiy.

• Leslie McLeode w/ Melbin Dela Cruz Leslie McLeode w/ Melbin Dela Cruz
• Open PA Rhythm Senior Open PA Rhythm Senior
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The Open Senior once again began with a semifinal and there was a close race for the win that ultimately went to Leslie McLeod w/ Melbin De La Cruz, 1,2,1,2,1. Winning the other 2 dances and placing 2nd overall was Shary Oxman w/ Hayk Balasanyan 2,1,2,1,2. Lois Fein moved up to 3rd in this event scoring 3,3,3,4,3. Diana Best w/ Alosha Anatoliy was 4th 4,4,4,3,4. Ibis Wu w/ Riccardo Papi took 5th in all dances, Chuck Lindsay w/ Yulia Besarab was 6th in all and Preston Reynolds w/ Dimitri Dolgopolov was 7th in all.

• Show Show
• Show Show
• Show Show
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As has become a tradition here at NYDF, in the evening all competition came to a halt and the ballroom was set up for a wonderful banquet dinner complete with a live salsa band for general dancing and a great show provided by the organizers themselves, Eugene & Maria, joined by Marat Gimaev & Alina Basyuk.

• Salsa class Salsa class
• Salsa class Salsa class
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Eddie Torres, the legend of salsa, also danced and taught a class for anyone interested in some authentic New York Salsa.

Today we move back to competition mode with pro-am Smooth divisions during the day and professional and amateur divisions at night.