• Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko
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Riccardo & Yulia’s performance was welcomed by many who awarded them a standing ovation at nearly every dance.

We also saw terrific Professional Rhythm and Ballroom competitions with a packed audience that energized the room. The Professional Rhythm started with a full semifinal round and Dimitry & Olena Nikishkin won by taking first in all dances. We most also point out that they won all dances with a huge majority of firsts as well. Dimitry & Olena would have had almost perfect scores but for a couple of judges who awarded them second or lower, one of these judges was Denice Lazo who awarded them their lowest marks 3,4,2,4,3.

• Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin
• Open Pro Rhythm Open Pro Rhythm
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Second in all dances went to Kevin Ubillus & Milagro Lareto. This couple at the moment for us are the King and Queen of the mambo and they sure know how to use their ethnic material to draw attention. However, on this outing we were very surprised that they did not do as well in the mambo where they usually shine. Last night we have to totally agree with judges Susan Thomson and Andrew Phillips who both awarded them first in this dance. In the rest of the dances Kevin & Milagro took second overall but with a variety of marks from all the judges with the exception of Denise Lazo who gave them first in all dances but the mambo.

Third overall was awarded to Maksym & Sarah Lotoskyy with these marks 4,3,3,3,4 as you can see by the marks things got harder for the judges from here down, Maksym & Sarah also this same night were honored with a nine dance win. Anton Tregunov & Ashley Sanchez placed fourth overall with these marks 3,4,4,4,3, Jang & Adele Don placed fifth in all dances and it was a rough night for Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker who took all sixths.

• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
• Vladislav Shakhov & Ekaterina Popova Vladislav Shakhov & Ekaterina Popova
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The Professional Ballroom was a five-couple final but what it lacked in couples, it made up in talent. This competition was won by Vladislav Shakhov & Ekaterina Popova who won all dances and who looked in great from. Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantley came out with a head start with what some of us think is their strength, choreography and did a tornillo movement where he spins her quite fast in a “develope” in the center of the room sucking up all the attention from the audience who cheered them on until the awards were given, this was a great move for them to be noticed. By the way Nazar & Mariko took second in all dances.

Third in this excellent heat went to Aleksandr Skriptov & Aida Skripsova and they took third in all dances, fourth in all was awarded to Sergey Izyumov & Oksana Zaver, and fifth place went to Aleksei Alekseev & Ekaterina Derevleva.

There was a terrific Cabaret performance by Shane & Shannon Jensen that brought the house down and gave them a standing ovation form the judges.

This was the first time that Mark Nocera and Helle Rusholt Yi have run this event by themselves. It was formally known as the Killik Klassic. We want to congratulation them for a terrific venue and managing to pull it all together even though the venue had to be changed in such a last minute maneuver. Congratulations and we wish you the best for many years to come!

Boca Ballroom Dancesport –The Travelling Show

We are at the 2018 Boca Ballroom Dancesport, under the new management of Mark Nocera & Helle Rusholt-Yi.

However, we’re not exactly in Boca Raton, Florida, but in neighboring Palm Beach. Due to last minute problems with the scheduled venue, the Boca Raton Hotel, the organizers were forced to switch to an alternate location. Luckily they found the PGA National Resort and Spa and this has proved a fine venue for a dance competition. Also if you happen to be a golfer, the world class golf course is right outside your hotel window!

• Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina
• Open Pro Smooth Open Pro Smooth
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So far there have been 2 full days of competition and the pro-ams have completed 3 styles. Last night we saw the first of the professional divisions. Of the open pro categories, the Smooth was the larger with a 7-couple final. The overwhelming winners were Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina who won all dances and lost a total of only 7 first place marks, 4 of them from judge Susie Thompson. 2nd in all dances fell to Jang & Adele Don. They had the majority of 2nd places in the first 3 dances but had to rely on “3rd or better” in the Viennese Waltz. Pushing them quite hard was the new partnership of Morten Jensen & Kat Wagner who were 3rd in all dances and were the recipients of all the 1st placements that did not go to Roman & Galina. With 4,4,4,4 Maksym Lottotsky & Sarah Haworth took 4th; 5th William Proper & Jennifer Elliott 5,5,5,5; 6th Kevin & Michelle Camarata 7,6,6,6,; 7th Dmitriy & Andrea Kuzmenko 6,7,7,7.

• Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova
• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
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Only 3 couples contested the Open Latin and once again we saw a clear winner. Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova won all dances and lost a total of only 4 first place marks. 2nd in all dances went to Aleksei Alekeev & Ekaterina Derevleva and 3rd in all were Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker. The closest dance between 2nd and 3rd was paso doble that Aleksei & Ekaterina took by 8 second places to 7.

• Pro RS Rhythm Pro RS Rhythm
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The largest event of the night was the Rising Star Rhythm and this proved to be very tight at the top. With scores of 1,1,3,1,2, Anton Tregubov & Ashley Sanchez took the night. However, they did not have a majority of 1st places in any dance. The most they received were 4 (from 13 judges total) and that was in mambo, a dance they did not win. 2,3,4,3,1 gave the runner-up spot to Kevin Ubillus & Milagros Lareto. Obviously their best dance was mambo and they received 8 first places in that dance – the most of any couple on this night. Jang & Adele placed 3rd 4,2,2,2,4. Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker took 4th 3,4,1,4,3. Incidentally, Andrew & Amy had 7 first places in the swing – the second highest amount. These top 4 couples were very tightly scored by the judges. 5th went to Eddie Rivera & Marta Lyskowicz 5,5,5,5,5 and 6th to Igor & Anastasia Puzhevich 6,6,6,6,6.

The Rising Star Ballroom had only 3 couples but also gave us a close race at the top. By winning 3 dances to 2, Aleksandr & Aida Skriptsov were the overall winners, 1,2,1,2,1 over Sergey Izyumov & Zaver 2,1,2,1,2. Aleksei & Ekaterina were 3rd in all dances.

• Open Amateur Ballroom Open Amateur Ballroom
• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
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3 couples also contested the Amateur Ballroom and the win went to a couple from Denmark, Nikolai Bouet & Anna Shagalina and they won all dances. 2nd in all and a little unlucky in our view, went to Florin Vlad & Natalia O’Connor. 3rd were Giovanni Ranenella & Helena Zaldova.

Tonight there is a gala dinner, more competition and a show by US and World Champions, Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko.