• Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova
• Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva
•  

Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova were the winners once again of the Open British Pro Ballroom Championship regaining the title that they did not contest last year. They won all 4 dances. USA also took the 2nd place, last year’s champions, Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva. They were 2nd in all dances.

No US couples made the semifinal, but there were several in the quarterfinal. Special mention to Oskar Wojciechowski & Karolina Holody who placed 16th in their first Blackpool as professionals. Full results of this division will be in Dance Beat soon, plus a detailed report.

• Luka Milacic-Perusina & Jenalyn Saraza-Pacheco Luka Milacic-Perusina & Jenalyn Saraza-Pacheco
• Pro Exhibition Pro Exhibition
• Shane & Shannon Jensen Shane & Shannon Jensen
• Mykhalio Azerov & Tetyana Makarenko Mykhalio Azerov & Tetyana Makarenko
•  

The other success story last night was Shane & Shannon Jensen’s 2nd consecutive win in the Blackpool Exhibition Competition. The rest of the top 6 were as follows - Luka Milacic-Perusina & Jenalyn Saraza-Pacheco (Canada), Mykhailo Azarov & Tetyana Makarenko (USA), Craig Smith & Andrea Harvey (USA), Travis & Jaimee Tuft (USA), Igor Alferov & Anastasia Kozhevnicov (Russia).

So Blackpool wrapped up for 2018 – keep checking Dance Beat for full reports from John Kimmins, Eugene Katsevman, Giampiero Giannico and Philip Nicholas.

Lucky 3’s For USA in Pro Latin!

Good luck came in 3’s for the USA last night in Blackpool!

• Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko
•  

It was the 3rd win for Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko and the USA had 3 couples in every final – remember dances are judged separately for the Open Pro events in Blackpool.

• Stefano DiFillipo & Daria Chesnokova Stefano DiFillipo & Daria Chesnokova
• Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova
•  

Riccardo & Yulia won all 5 dances. Taking 2nd in all 5 were Stefano DiFillipo & Daria Chesnokova also from the USA. Our 3rd couple in the final were Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova and they placed 4,4,4,3,3.

There were also US and Canadian couples in the quarter-final rounds, but none made the semifinals. Look for a full report and pictures in Dance Beat soon.

What a Week for Dan & Stephanie!

Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon place 8th in Open British Amateur Ballroom.

• Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli
• Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon
•  

Following their 5th place finish in the Amateur Rising Star Ballroom, Dan & Stephanie, a relatively new US partnership reached the semifinal of the Amateur Ballroom last night and placed 8th. Also making the semifinal and for 2nd consecutive year were Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli who finished 13th.

Other high placements for North Americans were Aleksandr Kalenyuk & Olena Ablitsova 17th and James Cutler & Virginie Primeau (Can) 19th.

• Khong Pham & Arlene Yu Khong Pham & Arlene Yu
•  

USA also had finalists in the O/50 Latin. Khong Pham & Arlene Lu placed 6th. Denis Renaud & Ginette Beaulieu from Canada were in the semifinal.

2nd Time a Charm for Ferdinando & Yulia

Ferdinando Iannaccone & Yulia Musikhina won the Open British Amateur Latin last night for the 2nd consecutive year.

• Open British Amateur Latin Open British Amateur Latin
• Austin Joson & Nino Dzednaladze Austin Joson & Nino Dzednaladze
• Ferdinando Iannoccone & Yulia Musikhina Ferdinando Iannoccone & Yulia Musikhina
•  

Although injury prevented them from competing in the US Championships in March, Ferdinando & Yulia were fit for this event and retained their title. Also in the final for the 2nd year in a row were Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze.

There were a further 2 US couples in the semifinal – Alexander Chernossitov & Arina Grishanina and Denys Drozdyuk & Antonina Skobina. Congrats to all of them!

Also on our apologies missing the U/21 Latin from May 26th where the best North American finish came from Canada. Alex Maslanka & Christine Budniak placed in the semifinal.

Was Blackpool Memorable on Memorial Weekend?

As in the USA, last weekend was a holiday weekend here in England.

• Team USA Team USA
•  

Did he USA fare memorably in the last 3 days? Beginning on Saturday night, the new new tradition of victory continued for the USA in the Team Match when Team USa cruised to victory once more. This year’s team consisted of Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova and Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva in Ballroom and Riccard Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko and Stefano DiFillipo & Daria Chesnokova in Latin. Team Captain this year was Collin Hillary.

• Xingmin & Katerina Lu Xingmin & Katerina Lu
•  

Also on Saturday and continuing a personal tradition, Xingmin & Katerina Lu won their 3rd consecutive Over 50 Ballroom title.

• Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon
•  

Sunday is no longer a day of rest at Blackpool as it once was, nowadays the concluding rounds of the Amateur RS divisions are held. The best finish of this day came from Dan Malov & Stephanie Noon who were 5th in the RS Ballroom. No US couple placed in the top 12 of the RS Latin.

• The 2 US finalists The 2 US finalists
• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
•  

The last day of the long weekend was Monday and here the USA had some finalists in the Professional RS Ballroom. Runners up were new professionals and current US Amateur Champions, Oskar Wojciechowski & Karolina Holody, while in 4th place were Andriy Mykhailov & Anna Bohachova. Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova had a strong result, finishing in the semifinal of this event.

Stay tuned for more North American stories from Blackpool 2018.

What Do We know?

Or perhaps the question should be, what do they know?

• Open British Pro Smooth Open British Pro Smooth
•  

Last night the second Professional British Open American Smooth Championship was held in Blackpool, England. The majority of the 28 couples participating were form the USA, but surprisingly enough we also had at least one couple from Hong Kong, Poland, Russia, England, Italy, Japan and Canada. All couples were very proficient at this American Style dancing, but can we say the same for the judges?

This year as we reported we had two days of Pro/Am competition that included both the American Style Rhythm and Smooth. As we mentioned we were totally impressed by the variety of judges from many different nations Lithuania, Russia, Austria, Netherland, three British judges as well as 4 American judges. A huge majority of the competitors were from the USA and did American Style of dancing and so we totally understand why these four judges, experts in adjudicating the American style of dancing, would be judging these competitions. In fact two World and US Professional Smooth Champions were included, Ms. Toni Redpath and Mr. Jonathan Roberts.

As we reported only 10 couples attended the Professional Rhythm Thursday night and so perhaps from the organizers’ perspective were not as important as the Professional Smooth where more couples flocked and everyone was fully formally dressed for the occasion. But once the popular Smooth came and Friday arrived the big guns were brought out to judge and the well-sorted earlier panel of judges dismantled and now it was up to the British panel and a judge from Japan, Mr. Hide Tanaka and one from Germany Mr. Bryan Watson to take over and deliver the sentence.

We were quite proud of all our US couples, who all looked quite prepared and capable for this grand occasion and who nearly all made it to the semifinal round with the one exception - Craig & Evgeniya Shaw from England who were the only foreign couple to be called back for this round. As expected Craig & Evgeniya from England, were also called back for the elite final round by the majority of British judges and they unsurprisingly also were joined by 5 US Couples. We were surprised but not surprised that two of USA’s best were left out of the final, US finalist Galina Detkina who with former partner were the US and world’s runner up and who now continues to make every US final with Roman Malkhasyan who some consider one of the best men on the floor today. The other unfortunate couple not to make this final was Sergiy Samchynskyy & Yuliya Besarab who many consider the couple to watch for in future US or World Championship.

• Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
•  

As you can all see this fresh panel of majority British judges made it all even more exiting than expected for all of us to enjoy. We have always been of the opinion that the audience’s judging is nearly always more accurate than people think, and here with this panel we proved ourselves right, we know that many of them are quite capable and proficient in the International style of ballroom dancing, but we wonder when was the last time they were even in the audience at a world class professional Smooth championship? Having said that, we most congratulate number 1, US and World Professional Champions and last year’s Open Smooth British Champions, Nick Cheremukhin & Vicktoria Barashina from the USA, who won the honors for the second time this year (their number on nicks back was number 1, by the way in this Professional Smooth no lady had to wear a number over their beautiful dresses as the pro/Am ladies did earlier in the week). Second last year and runners up for the second time in this prestigious championship were Travis & Jaimee Tuft from the USA, and holding third for the second year in a row were another US favorite Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliverstova.

From third down things got really more exciting with one of our US favorites taking fourth place, the brother and sister team of Slava & Valeriia Kostianets. Fifth was a complete surprise for us and I am sure for them who have only been doing this style for a month or two, Aleksandar Vokosavljevic & Nevena Urosevic. Sixth was also a total amazement for us, Craig & Evgeniya Shaw, since from the panel makeup we figured they would be at least third or higher but to our surprise they were sixth overall. We want to congratulate the couples that traveled so far to represent and showcase what is perhaps one of our favorite styles today, the American Smooth.

• Oleksandr Althukov & Cheyenne Murillo Oleksandr Althukov & Cheyenne Murillo
•  

The other main event of the night was the Professional Rising Star Latin. The best result for the USA came from Oleksandr Althukov & Cheyenne Murillo who placed 6th – the only North Americans in the final.

• Pro RS Latin Pro RS Latin
•  

Artur Tarnavskyy & Anastasia Danilova placed in the semifinal and we also noted that Dmytro Vlokh & Violetta Kitaeva formerly of the Ukraine were listed from the USA and they were also in the semifinal.

A Night of Cabaret where even the Orchestra was Beautiful!

Last night after a short night of competition, the Competitors’ Commission under the direction of Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova, WDC World Professional Ballroom Champions, put together a terrific show, featuring some of the best couples in the world.

And in the Empress Ballroom the orchestra played during the Professional Rhythm Championship the best round of American Style Rhythm music we heard so far here in Blackpool where even their crazy samba they usually play as an excuse for a mambo, started to sound like a mambo.

It was a short night In the Empress Ballroom and the Competitors commission took advantage of this early finish to showcase their wears. In our opinion there were perhaps too many shows but they were all good enough where we did not have to shift too many times in our seats. We saw some wonderful performances from the couples, many of them with very interesting themes and music.

• Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova
• Pasha Pashkov & Daniella Karagach Pasha Pashkov & Daniella Karagach
• Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova
•  

The beautiful small, but long room was packed with people and with many of the VIP’s on the front row, they of course got all blown out of their seats nearly after every performance. An early favorite of ours was the showdance by Pash Pashkov & Daniela Karagach. But the biggest standing ovation from nearly everyone present that was seated came for Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova who did a terrific cha cha with wonderful musical changes and excellent choreography. The second biggest ovation came for Arunas & Katusha who, after laboring for most of the day and night putting this “baby” together, got out there for a waltz. We are not sure if people stood for their dancing or just the merit of the work and stamina, that went into creating this excellent show together. All we know is that, there were few people seated when they finished their number at the conclusion of the night.

• Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
• Shinsuke Kanemitsu & Anna Kovalova Shinsuke Kanemitsu & Anna Kovalova
• Travis & Jaimee Tuft Travis & Jaimee Tuft
•  

The evening was a fundraiser for the Competitors' Commission and the funds collected from donations, entry tickets and the raffles will be used to help young dancers with scholarships and the like.

• Ferdinando Iannoccone & Yulia Musikhina Ferdinando Iannoccone & Yulia Musikhina
• Pavel Cherdantsau & Svetlana Rudkovskaya Pavel Cherdantsau & Svetlana Rudkovskaya
• Stefano DiFillipo & Daria Chesnokova Stefano DiFillipo & Daria Chesnokova
•  

The MC Mr. Dokman said that many of these couples have worked very hard to finally “find their voice” on the dance floor and you absolutely saw this last night with the many different approaches shown to many of the old dances we have known for many years. However, after the show there was small talk of some of the grievances they have with the different organizations and even with the World Council. We are not sure what’s what or who’s who, but we are so pleased to see that the competitors have not only found a voice on the floor but off the floor as well. We, the old establishment, cannot forget that without the dedicated work of the new fresh “Competitors”, we would not exist and our world of ballroom dancing as we know it would collapse.

It is always great to see people discussing problems as well as ideas because without these heated and sometimes emotional conversations, there would be no progress. So we are glad that dancers want to get involved in the industry that is so dear to many of us. So we look at these growing pains like we look at the “awful” mambos the orchestra played for the American Rhythm competition this week – they are all part of the process of doing something new and progressive, and we are sure at some point everything will clear for the best and great things will come from this new knowledge.

Our congratulations to the Competitors’ Commission for putting together such a wonderful package of excellent performances, we were glad to be there and we hope to see greater and bigger things accomplished by all these young and determined individuals. The future of our ballroom dancing is in their hands and we are sure it will prosper for many, many years to come.

• Andre & Natalie Paramonov Andre & Natalie Paramonov
•  

The Professional Rhythm Championship was a little bit of a disappointment last night with only 10 couples appearing on the dance floor. All rounds were still called and in the end the winners were crowned and they were, returning champions, Andre & Natalie Paramonov from the USA. It was unfortunate that at least four or five more of the world’s best Rhythm couples were not present. Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova, current World and US Champions, were not entered in the program so we did not expect them to appear but some of the others were quite a surprise to us. We were concerned to the point that we contacted them all. When contacted the majority of them seemed to have some kind of “visa” problems and so it was hard for them to leave the States without putting their home and residence in Jeopardy. Apparently some needed visas into the UK as well and we presume as most dancers usually do, they waited to the last minute to apply. Others are in the process of consolidating their residences in the USA and it was not a good idea for them to leave in the middle of the process.

• Open British Pro Rhythm Open British Pro Rhythm
•  

So here is how the couples that made it to this final fared. Riccardo Papi & Sabrina Moretti took second overall, Matthew Hauer & Anastasija Jerjomina took third, Jan & Adele Don were fourth, Andrei Svirydzenka & Yuliya Zubaba were fifth and Jean Michel Erole & Jackie Brockman placed sixth.

The rest of the evening was filled with rounds of some of the competitions that we will see on Sunday – the RS Amateur events

It was an early evening for most unless you went out to celebrate of catch up with your friends. We will bring you tonight’s report tomorrow as Blackpool 2018 continues on its way.

Slow Night Serenade!

It was day 2 of the Pro/Am Championships at the British Open in Blackpool, England and this began to slow down.

• The full pro-am judging panel The full pro-am judging panel
•  

During the daytime session the Pro/Am Latin and Rhythm single dance events were held and it was quite lively but by the evening session many of these couples were gone and the Pro/Am Championships began to slow down, it felt like a “Slow Night Serenade.”

• Diana Kuan w/ Mirko Gozzoli Diana Kuan w/ Mirko Gozzoli
•  

With perhaps half the people gone with the Rhythm and Latin out of the way, the last night at the Empress ballroom and the Ballroom and Smooth Championships were a little more subdued or should we say “slow.” The biggest excitement of the night perhaps happened when former WDC & current WDSF Professional Ballroom Champion and multi times British Open Professional Ballroom Champion, Mirko Gozzoli took to the floor with an amateur lady on his arm. It was great to see this giant of the world of Ballroom and Dancesport back on the floor, and as expected looking terrific. The very capable lady, Diana Kuan from China, managed to keep up with this “Icon” bringing them to a win and a successful night for them at the Empress Ballroom winning their A3 Female Ballroom Championship.

• A3 Female Ballroom A3 Female Ballroom
•  

This heat was very proficient in their skill and even though it started with over 35 ladies, only 5 ladies were called back for the final and they were all very proficient and skillful totally worth the mention. Second in this heat was awarded to the USA’s Chen Ye w/ Mikhail Avdeev. Third was 196 also from the USA but due to the “enigma” problem in the program mentioned yesterday where nothing matches what they are calling, and not a single score from the competition will be posted anywhere, also the fact that now the MC, Chairman of judges did not properly call the heat out, we do not really know who this was.  We think it is Irene Lee w/ Egor Bezukladnikov. Fourth ? is a question mark since they did not call the number and we do not know the couple. But closing this excellent heat was Sofya Svetlosanova w/ Denis Donskoi from Russia.

• B2 Female Ballroom B2 Female Ballroom
• Beverly Moore w/ Alain Doucet Beverly Moore w/ Alain Doucet
•  

A North American couple totally worth the mention was Beverly Moore w/Alain Doucet from Canada who won both the B2 Female Ballroom and Smooth divisions. In the Ballroom Fang Ping Cahisumdet w/Michael Glikman from Australia placed second, Sulena Han w/Gianni Caliandro from the USA were third, also from the US Joan Giampaolo w/ Andrea Faraci placed fourth, Judy Wong w/ Nikita Novikov form Hong Kong placed fifth, and Palema Melton from the USA with Stefano Placidi took sixth.

• B3 Female Smooth B3 Female Smooth
•  

As we mentioned, Beverly Moore won the B2 Female Smooth Championships as well, and here Elizabeth Cramer w/ Yuriy Kravets placed second, third was awarded to 144 as called but the “enigma” program at work there is no 144 in the program, please look at overall lineup, we think them to be from Australia. Fourth went to Cinthya Wolfsohn w/ Alex Zagrean from the USA, fifth was also from the USA Annette Van Ommeren w/ Charles Roberts, leaving sixth to Michaela Puno w/ Slava Sergiev another USA couple.

• Olga Krasnyanskaya w/ Eldar Dzafarov Olga Krasnyanskaya w/ Eldar Dzafarov
•  

Also a special mention to Olga Krasnyanskaya w/ Eldar Dzafarov of Russia who won the B1 Smooth. They have been instrumental in promoting American Smooth in Russia.

Here are more North American results:

• A1 Female Ballroom A1 Female Ballroom
• A1 Male Ballroom A1 Male Ballroom
•  

Male A1 Ballroom
1. Michael Shu w/ Katya Kanevskaya – USA
2. Kai Petersen w/ Neli Petrova – USA

Female A1 Ballroom
1. Brenda Dalzell w/ Evgeny Mayarov – USA

• A2 Male Ballroom A2 Male Ballroom
•  

Male A2 Ballroom

1. Michael Shu w/ Katya Kanevskaya - USA

3. Mark Nesky w/ Kristie Simmons - USA

• A2 Female Ballroom A2 Female Ballroom
• A3 Male Ballroom A3 Male Ballroom
•  

A2 Female Ballroom
3. #196 – USA

A3 Male Ballroom
1. Fred Schwartz w/ Iulia Ceccolini – USA
2. Mark Nesky w/ Kristie Simmonds – USA

• B1 Female Ballroom B1 Female Ballroom
• B1 Male Ballroom B1 Male Ballroom
•  

B1 Male Ballroom
1. Claude Guimond w/ Anik Jolicoeur – Can

B1 Female Ballroom
1. Donna Wecker w/ Gianni Caliandro – USA
3. Annie Chan w/ Christian Radvan – USA
4. Careen Friedland w/ Slava Kostianets - USA

B2 Male Ballroom
4. Ram Viswanthan w/ Sarika Hudson - USA
6. Jules Borne w/ Ariana Esposito – USA

C Male Ballroom
2. Ram Viswanthan w/ Sarika Hudson – USA

• C Female Ballroom C Female Ballroom
•  

C Female Ballroom
4. Esah Yip w/ Gianni Caliandro – USA
5. Pauline Mak w/ Gherman Mustuc - USA

Male A1 Smooth
1. TJ Kyle w/ Jamiee Tuft – USA

• A1 Female Smooth A1 Female Smooth
•  

Female A1 Smooth
1. Plamena Gradinarova w/ Slava Kostianets – USA
2. Ollivia Zettergren w/ Gunnar Sverrisson – USA
3. Nathalie Vuong w/ Edouard Volvick – Can

Female A2 Smooth
1. Plamena Gradinarova w/ Slava Kostianets – USA
2. #196 - USA (we think Irene Lee w/ Egor Bezukladnikov)

• A3 Female Smooth A3 Female Smooth
• A3 Male Smooth A3 Male Smooth
•  

A3 Male Smooth
1. Fred Schwartz w/ Iulia Ceccolini – USA
2. Jason Mihevic w/ Leisa Howard – USA
3. Derek Mauzy w/ Brittany Gill – USA

A3 Female Smooth
1. #196 – USA (we think Irene Lee w/ Egor Bezukladnikov)
2. Careen Freidland w/ Slava Kostianets – USA
4. Annette Monks w/ Ben Seifert – USA
5. Christine Lee w/ Marek Gabor – USA
6. Pushpa Shenoy w/ Jhondarr Lopez – USA

B1 Male Smooth
1. Fred Schwartz w/ Iulia Ceccolini – USA
2. Derek Mauzy w/ Brittany Gill – USA

• B1 Female Smooth B1 Female Smooth
•  

B1 Female Smooth
2. Careen Friedland w/ Slava Kostianets – USA
3. Monica Broch w/ Kris Suakjian – USA
4. Debra Hoag w/ Rudy Homm – USA
5. Annette Monks w/ Ben Seifert - USA
6. Annette van Ommeren w/ Charles Roberts – USA

• B2 Male Smooth B2 Male Smooth
•  

B2 Male Smooth
1. Ram Viswanthan w/ Sarika Hudson – USA
2. Ran Holladay w/ Iraida Volodnina – USA
3. Thomas Yearin w/ Alina Spencer – USA

C Male Smooth
1. Ram Viswanthan w/ Sarika Hudson – USA
2. Thomas Yearin w/ Alina Spencer – USA
3. Stu Harrell w/ Carolyn Dominguez - USA

• C Female Smooth C Female Smooth
•  

C Female Smooth
1. Feminia Mac w/ Vladimir Popov - USA
4. Barbara Sanford w/ Leon Flores - USA
5. Raquel Perez w/ Timofey Shalnev - USA
6. Julie Kim w/ Tim Emmett - USA

Empress 2.0

After over 100 years the Empress Ballroom, in the Winter Gardens has finally had a makeover.

• The ceiling showing recent repairs The ceiling showing recent repairs
• 
•  

With the scaffolding gone you can see where the engineers patched and at some points even replaced some of the paneling of the beautiful gilded ceilings and walls. It is wonderful to see that this 1800’s era historical beauty will endure to be enjoyed perhaps for another 100 years and will continue to be the venue for one of the world’s more iconic ballroom dance competitions, the “Blackpool Dance Festival.” This festival has also moved to a “2.0 mode” and now for two years in a row, has hosted what’s becoming the trend around the world the “American Style” of dancing, in both the Professional and the Pro/Am divisions and in both categories the Rhythm and the Smooth as well as both international styles the Latin and the Ballroom.

Yesterday during the morning and afternoon sessions we saw the single dances for the Pro/Am Ballroom and Smooth divisions and in the late afternoon and evening we concluded with the Open Multi Dance Championships in the Rhythm and Latin divisions. In fact there were so many divisions that as one very prominent guest said to us “You have to be really good at word puzzles in order to find your way in this program.” He then continued, “I thought I was good at these, but this has been a challenge for me.” For one it seemed to us that what they were calling on the mic did not match what was in the book? For example - when the heats were called on to the floor they were given a code “letter” but when they announced the results these heats had a code “number.” Neither the letter nor the number were listed in the program with the contestants’ names!!

• Allan Turing decoding Enigma Allan Turing decoding Enigma
•  

Basically we had to know the people in order to be able to bring the results to you today with their names, so if we are slightly off this morning we will blame it on the program! Let’s call the program an “Enigma” but where was Allan Turing when you needed him?

We also encountered a frustrated school manger that had paid for their student and teacher’s entries and was just trying to figure out when they were dancing. Well let me warn you don’t ever ask the people selling you the ticket, they don’t know!! (I have known VIP people that have missed their judging because they asked the ticket person) We suggested to him that the best is to buy a program and since we were a little more used to the puzzle, we found when his teacher and student were dancing. Other than those small details the competition went on as they had scheduled without a hitch.

The Empress Orchestra played for most of the evening events and it was great, especially when they realized that a minute and a half for some of the less crowded heats was unnecessary. But the one thing the band got totally wrong was the bloody “mambos”- you cannot play samba for mambo! Good point of reference is to listen to some Edmundo Ross, or Perez Prado, a more 2.0 would be Ray Barreto, Celia Cruz and our very favorite Tito Puente. To our inexperienced ears it sounded as if they were playing the mambos in a 2/4 time signature instead of 4/4. The conductor even counted them in on this timing 1,2,2,2!! But this was no issue for the majority of the dancers who manged to stay on the 2 beat and they found a 4/4 time no matter what. We are sure this to be just part of the growing pains of American Style and Pro/Am dancing here in Blackpool, England.

• Some of the adjudicating panel Some of the adjudicating panel
•  

This year the panel included several US Judges - Jonathan Wilkins, Gary Edwards, Toni Redpath, Jonathan Roberts and it was great to see Sue Puttock also on this panel.

Last night the standard of dance in the Open Championships was overall quite strong. As expected, the Latin divisions were more populated than the Rhythm.

Notable results for the USA & Canada from last night’s Rhythm & Latin multidance championships.

• A1 Female Rhythm A1 Female Rhythm
•  

A1 Female Rhythm
1. Marinda James-Heskett w/ Jeremy Pilling (USA)
2. Nathalie Vuong w/ Edouard Volvick (Can)

A2 Female Rhythm
2. Lauren Lapointe w/ Louis Bar

• A3 Male Rhythm A3 Male Rhythm
•  

A3 Male Rhythm
1. Jason Mihevic w/ Leisa Howard (USA)
2. Derek Mauzy w/ Brittany Gill (USA)

• A3 Female Rhythm A3 Female Rhythm
•  

A3 Female Rhythm
2. Annette Monks w/ Ben Seifert (USA)
3. Lauren Lapointe w/ Louis Bar (USA)
4. Debra Hoag w/ Gherman Mustuc (USA)
6. Pushpa Shenoy w/ Jhondarr Lopez (USA)

B1 Rhythm Male
1. Derek Mauzy w/ Brittany Gill (USA)

• B1 Female Rhythm B1 Female Rhythm
•  

B1 Female Rhythm
1. Monica Broch w/ Kris Suakjian (USA)
2. Sherry Tucker w/ Vlad Astafiev (USA)
3. Kelly Akol w/ Jeremy Pilling (USA)
4. Annette Monks w/ Ben Seifert (USA)
5. Sally Vetter w/ Mihaly Meszaros (USA)
6. Debra Hoag w/ Gherman Mustuc (USA)

• B2 Male Rhythm B2 Male Rhythm
•  

B2 Male Rhythm
1. Ran Holloday w/ Iraida Volodnina (USA)
2. Ram Viswanthan w/ Sarika Hudson (USA)
4. Ron Morton w/ Amy Suber (USA)

• B2 Female Rhythm on floor B2 Female Rhythm on floor
• B2 Female Rhythm B2 Female Rhythm
•  

B2 Female Rhythm
1. Sherry Tucker w/ Vlad Astafiev (USA)
3. Maria Matulaniac w/ Gunnar Sverrisson (USA)
4. Lynn Hayes w/ Tim Pennenga (USA)
5. Susan Curling w/ Alex Armaos (USA)

• Ram Viswanathan w/ Sarika Hudson Ram Viswanathan w/ Sarika Hudson
•  

C Male Rhythm
1. 1. Ram Viswanthan w/ Sarika Hudson (USA)
2. Stu Harrell w/ Carolyn Dominguez (USA)

• C Female Rhythm C Female Rhythm
• Lois Fein w/ Aleksandr Vuskolvejic Lois Fein w/ Aleksandr Vuskolvejic
•  

C Female Rhythm
1. Lois Fein w/ Aleksandar Vukosalvejic (USA)
2. Raquel Perez w/ Tomofey Shalnev (USA)
3. Barbara Sanford w/ Leon Flores (USA)
5. Nanette Glasser w/ Matthew Hauer (USA)

• A1 Female Latin A1 Female Latin
• Angelina Evseeva w/ Aleksandr Skarlato Angelina Evseeva w/ Aleksandr Skarlato
• Arielle Nates w/ Stefan Golubovic Arielle Nates w/ Stefan Golubovic
•  

A1 Female Latin
1. Angelina Evseeva w/ Aleksandr Skarlato (USA)
2. Arielle Nates w/ Stefan Golubovic (USA)

• A2 Female Latin A2 Female Latin
•  

A2 Latin Female
3. Liang Ling w/ Yegor Novikov (USA)

• A3 Female Latin A3 Female Latin
•  

A3 Latin Female (largest event of the night)
5. Missy White w/ Genya Bartashevich (USA)

• B1 Female Latin B1 Female Latin
•  

B1 Latin Female
1. Marina Svyatets w/ Aleksandar Vukosalvejic (USA)
2. Rhonda Lynch w/ Stephan McCann (USA)
3. Lorraine Peoples w/ Genya Bartashevich (USA)
4. Rebecca Wong w/ Kamil Studenny (Can)

• B2 Male Latin B2 Male Latin
•  

B2 Male Latin
1. Ram Viswanthan w/ Sarika Hudson (USA)
2. Ran Holloday w/ Iraida Volodnina (USA)

• B2 Female Latin B2 Female Latin
• Nora Fox w/ Plamen Danailov Nora Fox w/ Plamen Danailov
•  

B2 Latin Female
2. Rebecca Wong w/ Kamil Studenny (Can)
3. Nora Fox w/ Plamen Danailov (USA)
4. Zonie Fang w/ Yiri Kosydar (USA)
5. Philippa Zemelma w/ Marcus Johnson (USA)

C Male Latin
1. Ram Viswanthan w/ Sarika Hudson (USA)

• C Female Latin C Female Latin
•  

C Female Latin
1. Rica Zamora w/ Sinisa Vasic (USA)
2. Sola Wong w/ Andrei Kazlouski (USA)

• Sorting out who's who Sorting out who's who
•  

In conclusion we think the Blackpool Dance Festival, has done quite well for the first few years of working this out. At some point they might develop a program so that the men can compete with multi-partners and that way the ladies would not have to wear their number and cover their Swarovsky filled dresses. Plus perhaps they might be able to add and subtract couples at random as we do in the States. At one point the scrutineer was on the floor trying to figure out who was who in a heat. But as we just said, these are the growing pains that you have to go through when you start a new venture. However, with so many connections to the Arthur Murray, Fred Astaire organizations and others, it would have been quit OK for them to ask, we would all, I am sure, have been pleased to help.

Today we are seeing the single dances on Rhythm and Latin and at the end of the afternoon and evening we will see the Ballroom and Smooth championships. We will keep you posted as to what is going on