It was a packed weekend of dance with much larger pro-am entries in all styles than in previous years for organizers, Igor & Polina Pilipenchuk.
The professional divisions were also quite strong with a semifinal in the Open Rhythm and finals in the other styles.
In the Rhythm Andre & Natalie Paramonov were the easy winners. They won all dances and had perfect scores (11 first places) in the C,R,S,B. In the mambo they lost 4 firsts to the runners-up, Kevin Ubilus & Milagro Lareto, who are the reigning US Mambo Champions. Kevin & Milargros placed 3,2,3,2,2. Third went to Aleksei Shipilov & Julia Mitina 2,3,2,3,3. With the exception of the mambo, the dances were very close between 2nd and 3rd. 4th went to Senzho Makhaye & Agnieszka Strojek and they were 4th in all dances. With 5,5,5,5,6 Igor & Anastasia Puzhevich were 5th and Israel Borger & Natalie Cardenas were 6th 6,6,6,6,5.
Rudy Homm & Katya Kanevskaya won all 5 dances in the Open Ballroom and while they had the majority of 1st places in all dances, they did not receive the perfect 11 firsts in any dance. Emanuele & Francesca Psappacena were 2nd in all dances and received the majority of “2nd or better” in all dances. Artem Belmeha & Anna Shevchenko were 3rd in all dances and Aleksandr & Aida Skriptsov were 4th in all. 5th, 6th and 7th places were a little closer. 5th went to Aleksei Alekseev & Ekaterina Dereleva 5,6,5,5,6; 6th Pawel Wlodzimirz & Justyna Koltuniuk (Poland) 7,5,6,6,5; 7th Oleg Teleha & Michelle Brecker 6,7,7,7,7.
Local favorites, Ivan Mulyavka & Karin Rooba won the Open Latin. They won all dances with the majority of 1st places, jive was their best scored dance (9 firsts). Clearly in 2nd spot were Ivan Kudashev & Ksusha, 2,2,2,2,2. They were also the winners of the Pro Cabaret. Aleksei Shipilov & Julia Mitina took their 2nd third place of the night taking 3rd in all dances. Aleksei Alekseev & Ekaterina Derevleva were 4th this time, again in all dances. 5th Ivan Khudoliy & Alisa Seleznova 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Zolt Katona & Timea Potys 6,6,6,6,6; 7th Adriano Caradese & Lauren Hardy.
The Open Pro Smooth was actually the smallest of the divisions tonight. Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina had no trouble winning the event with perfect scores (11 firsts in all dances). 2nd and 3rd, however, were very close between two new partnerships. A Rule 11 gave the final result; 2nd Michael Choi & Viktoriya Kleyman 2,2,3,3 and 3rd Volodymyr Barabash & Yulia Rudenco 3,3,2,2. 4th in all dances went to Leo Mora & Christina Garced. Shandor Shtefil & Aleksandra Barsukov are back together again and they placed 5th in all dances and Aaron Stowell & Brie Hofreiter were 6th in all.
Platinum is one of the few competitions that still offers a banquet dinner in the ballroom. This was augmented by a full hour flamenco dance and music show featuring 2 dancers and a live band.
Showtime was provided by the incomparable Slavik Kryklyvyy & Karina Smirnoff who treated the audience to 5 numbers dispersed throughout the evening. Alexander & Veronica Voskalchuk, who have won the Platinum Pro Ballroom 7 times, also danced a solo foxtrot show.
Tonight, Sunday, there is a Superbowl Party in the spectacular host suite that has panoramic views of the Miami skyline and Biscayne Bay.
