Beginning with a quarter-final the two cuts were problematic for the judges, as from both the quarter to the semi and the semi to the final, there were too many quality couples for the amount of slots available.

• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
• Iaroslav & Lilia Bieliei Iaroslav & Lilia Bieliei
• Alexander & Veronica Voskalchuk Alexander & Veronica Voskalchuk
• Andres & Veronika End Andres & Veronika End
•  

Once the final 6 was reached, the judges still found little consensus. The winners, however, were clear. This was Iaroslav & Lilia Bieliei who won all dances with a majority of 1st places. Tango was the closest scored of all the dances. Iaroslav & Lilia received 8 of the 15 firsts and the rest were spread around the other finalists. Some judges did place the Bieleis lower in the final, most notable Jennifer Booth who scored them 4,6,5,5,5. The runners-up were 2nd in all dances and this was Alexander & Veronica Voskalchuk. They had the majority of “2nd or better” scores in all dances. They also had some judges dissenting on their high placement, this time the most notable example was Linda Wakefield who gave them 6,6,5,4,6. The third spot went to Andres & Veronika End 3,3,3,4,4. They possibly had the widest spread of all the finalists from the judges, with 1st places and 6th places in every dance. Perhaps this is understandable, because in this final they were the couple with the most adventurous styling. This can appeal to some judges and not to others.

• Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko
• Oskar Wojciechowski & Karolina Holody Oskar Wojciechowski & Karolina Holody
• Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova
•  

If this final was a battle of giants – 4 of the couples were well over 6 feet tall – there were 2 mighty midgets who we thought did a great job. The first of these were Christian Radvan & Kristina Kudelko who were 4th 5,5,5,3,3. Although certainly on the shorter side in this company, they were everywhere on the floor – covering space more than their larger rivals. You couldn’t help but notice them! Oskar Wojciechowski & Karolina Holody were 5th 4,4,4,5,6 – as you can see this was a close decision as they actually were 4th in 3 dances. They are perhaps the tallest of the tall couples, but we found their style a little sedate today. The expectation from us was that would be challenging for a top placement in this final, but the challenge did not materialize. Closing the final 6,6,6,6,5 were Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova, another of the shorter couples who also produce full volume movement. We felt them a little unlucky not to take a higher position in some dances, especially tango.

Every couple in the semifinal received callbacks to the final. Next in were Stefano & Bianka Di Brino who had 32 call back marks (37 was the lowest score recalled).

• Open Pro Rhythm Open Pro Rhythm
• Andre & Natalie Paramonov Andre & Natalie Paramonov
• Danas Jaksevicius & Yuki Haraguchi Danas Jaksevicius & Yuki Haraguchi
• Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin
•  

The Open Pro Rhythm was a smaller event, beginning with a semifinal only. The winners were Andre & Natalie Paramonov, who have not lost a competition in almost a year. Here they won 4 dances and placed 2nd in swing. It was perhaps the closest result for them since Ohio 2019. They had the majority of 1st places in the 4 dances they won and received few scores lower than 2nd. Judge Maria Johnson favored them the least scoring them 3,3,5,3,6. Their challengers, as has been the case at many recent competitions, were Danas Jaksevicius & Yuki Haraguchi, 2,2,1,2,2. This was an encouraging result for them as not only did they take a dance, they also got closer to the winners in some of the others, taking 6 first places in cha and mambo. They did not receive a score lower than 3rd in any dance. 3rd in all dances went to Dmitry & Olena Nikishkin who we thought had a very strong night. Their scores were solidly in the 2nd to 4th range. Alberto Cortes & Jessa Briones were probably also happy with their placement of 4th – 4,4,5,4,5 – as this was a step in the right direction for them. Aaron & Iryna DeSotto took the 5th spot 5,5,4,5,4 and were perhaps not as thrilled. Their dancing has an authentic feel to it, but sometimes can look a little unfinished for some judges’ tastes. Closing the final were the RS Champions, Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker. Their best scored dance was mambo, they lost 5th on a tiebreak to Alberto & Jessa.

• Open Professional Cabaret Open Professional Cabaret
• Travis & Jaimee Tuft Travis & Jaimee Tuft
• Mykhalio Azerov & Tetyana Makarenko Mykhalio Azerov & Tetyana Makarenko
• Arsen Sargsyan & Jessica Jonikai Arsen Sargsyan & Jessica Jonikai
•  

Six excellent and very diverse couples entered the Pro Cabaret. As always in this division, the judges’ personal tastes must play a part. The winners, with 6 of the 9 first places were Travis & Jaimee Tuft. Their style in romantically lyrical. Today they had few if any noticeable errors and enough of the judges favored them. The runners-up, Mykhailo Azarov & Tetyana Makarenko took the other 3 first places. Their style is totally different to the winners’ – much more athletic and with some very high-risk lift work. They also had no noticeable errors. 3rd were Arsen Sargsyan & Jessica Jonikai who leaned heavily on classical ballet for their style. The lady had incredible extension and they both had great leg and body lines. Possibly the routine was a little predictable. Zachary Pohl & Ariel Freilich were 4th; 5th Trevor & Emily Guthrie; 6th Nikita Zhukorskyi & Angelina.

• Open Amateur Latin Open Amateur Latin
• Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman
• Sam Shamseili & Liza Lakovitsky Sam Shamseili & Liza Lakovitsky
• Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan
•  

The Open Amateur Latin began with a quarter-final and although some high-profile names were missing, the final was a great one. The winners were Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman and they won all dances, but they certainly did not have things all their own way. They were pushed hard by the runners-up, Sam Shamseili & Liza Lakovitsky who are now listed from Denmark. They were 2nd in all dances. The samba and rumba were particularly close between these 2 couples. Tal & Ilona won the samba by 7 first places to 5 and the rumba by 7 to 6. Tal & Ilana did not receive any scores lower than 2. Sam & Liza had a few lower marks. Judges Alain Doucet and Forrest Vance gave them some scores in the lower half of the final. Liza has been a well known dancer in this field for several years, but has really come into her own within this partnership.

Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan were 3rd in all dances. We thought they danced well and would not have been surprised to see them closer to the top 2 couples, but this was not reflected in the judges’ scores tonight. They were easily 3rd but did not really challenge above this. Judge Vibeke Toft awarded them 6th in all dances. Max Firestein & Nicole Renee were 4th in all dances. This was a great result for them as on Thursday they placed 2nd in the U/21 Latin. Taras Savitskyy & Yulia Koshkina were 5th 5,5,5,5,7, probably a disappointing finish for them as they were finalists in the National Championship in March. Misha Finkelstein & Yulia Ishchak were 6th 6,6,6,7,5 and Yevgenii Orlov & Maryna Yerina were 7th 7,7,7,6,6.

For the pro-ams it was a day of Latin.

The Open A Scholarship went to Emily Takhtarov w/ Nikita Malakhov 1,1,1,2,2. June Lin w/ Pasha Pashkov was the runner-up 3,3,3,1,1 a very close race as Teresa Li w/ Andrei Kazlouski took 3rd with 2,2,2,3,3. 4th Deborah Tipley w/ Paul Richardson 4,4,4,4,4; 5th Nicole Pierzchalski w/ Vlad Astafiev 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Zoe Antoniou w/ Andre Strinadko 6,6,6,6,6.

The Open B was a very close race at the top. Christine Stanko w/ Jean Paul was the winner, despite only actually winning 2 dances – 2,2,1,2,1. The runner-up, Joanne Kay Smith w/ Richard Lifshitz (Canada), also won 2 dances 1,3,3,1,2 and third placed Marina Dzasokhova w/ Ivan Statsenko (Monaco) also won a dance 3,1,2,3,3. 4th Sabrina Nirchi w/ Danny Arbour (Canada) 4,4,4,4,4; 5th Jacqueline Soccadato w/ Delyan Terziev 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Bethanie Picerno w/ Andrew Escolme 6,6,6,6,6.

The Open C was an 8-couple final. The winner, in all dances, was Sophia D’Angelo w/ Nikolai Pilipenchuk. Runner-up, with 3,2,2,2,2, Rebecca Wong w/ Richard Lifshitz (Canada). In third spot was Andrea Bennington w/ Ivan Mulyavka 2,3,3,3,3. 4th Jelena Sevaljevic w/ Daniils Kutuzova 4,4,4,4,4; 5th Susan Kullman w/ Nikolai Shpakov 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Jennifer Marre w/ Delyan Terziev 6,6,6,6,6; 7th Anna Chiu w/ Troels Bager 7,7,7,7,7; 8th Lisa Juliano w/ Plamen Danailov 8,8,8,8,8.

Rebecca Wong w/ Richard Lifshitz (Canada) won all dances in the Open S1. The runner-up, also from Canada, was Joanne Walford w/ Jean-Philippe Milot, 2,2,2,2,3. 3rd Fifi Wang w/ Delyan Terziev 3,3,3,4,2; 4th Alice Lekht w/ Igor Derimov 4,4,4,3,4; 5th Eva Stelzer w/ Danny Arbor (Canada) 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Diana Knight w/ Nikolai Shparkov 6,6,6,6,6.

• John DePalma John DePalma
• Hunter Hayes Hunter Hayes
•  

During the evening session the organizers gave a very special crystal microphone to as Gary McDonald described him, “the voice of Manhattan Dance Championships,” Mr. John DePalma who has MC’ed every Manhattan Dance Championships since it began as The Garden State Championships 25 years ago.  Also we all enjoyed the now customary rendition of "Ameerica the Beautiful" by Hunter Hayes who also entertained at the after party.

Sunday is a day of Junior competitions.

Bringing out the Stars at Manhattan!

Last night in the two Open Pro events and the Open Amateur, US and worldwide stars were on display!

• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
• Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova
•  

Let us begin with the Open Pro Latin - a truly world class event that began with a quarter-final round. Undisputed winners were Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova who almost received perfect scores, (15 first places in each dance), except for one 3rd from Alain Doucet and two 2nds from Viola Weiss. It was a great showing from the Blackpool finalists who now reside in NYC.

• Andrei Kazlouski & Asta Sigvaldadottir Andrei Kazlouski & Asta Sigvaldadottir
• Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina
•  

Placing 2nd in all dances were Andrei Kazlouski & Asta Sigvaldadottir and they picked up the elusive 2 first places from judge, Viola Weiss. They did receive the majority of “2nd or better” scores in all dances, so this was a validation for their position in the USA in a strong field. 3,3,4,4,3 gave Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina and overall 3rd place finish. While this maintained their ranking in the USA, they might have hoped to be closer to the runners-up, rather that in a tussle for 3rd place. Splitting the 3rd places but placing 4th overall were Canada’s Ilya Maletin & Polina Mayer 4,4,3,3,4. Ilya & Polina actually had a lot more 2nd’s from the judges than Mykhailo & Anastasiia in all dances, but never enough to take that position. Artur Tarnavskyy & Anastasiya Danilova were 5th 5,5,5,6,5 and they were the recipient of judge Alain Doucet’s 1st place in the cha cha. A second Canadian couple, Kamil Studenny & Anna Kaplii took the last spot in the final scoring 6,6,6,5,6. Next into the final from the strong semifinal were Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabriella Sabler, the Rising Star winners.

• Travis & Jaimee Tuft Travis & Jaimee Tuft
• Open Pro Smooth Open Pro Smooth
• Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
• Sergey Samchynsky & Yuliya Besarab Sergey Samchynsky & Yuliya Besarab
•  

Another headline event was the Open Pro Smooth, although we were a little surprised that some leading contenders did not compete on the night. This event also began with a semifinal. A comfortable win went to Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija who lost only a handful of 1st places and had a perfect 15 first places in waltz. Travis & Jaimee Tuft picked up the few 1st places not awarded to the winners and no judge placed them lower than 2nd in any dance. For us both couples were well clear of the field, but neither showed us anything new on this occasion. Sergiy Samchynskyy & Yuliya Besarab placed 3rd in all dances, but failed to attain a majority of “3rd or better” scores in any dance. In fact, the judges’ placements of the couples 3rd through 6th were remarkably close. As an example of this, Aleksandar Vukosavljevic & Nevena Urosevic were 4th overall, but actually placed 5th in 3 of the 4 dances – 5,4,5,5 for a total score of 19. Nikolai Pilipenchuk & Sarika Hudson were 5th with 6,6,4,4 (a total of 20) and Slava Kostianets & Valeriia Kostianets were 6th 4,5,6,6 (a total of 21). So as you can see, 4th through 6th places were very tight and there were actually ties for for 5th place in VW between the Kostianets and Aleksandar & Nevena and in waltz between Nikolai & Sarika and Aleksandar & Nevena. Aleksandar & Nevena prevailed in both dances. Jang & Adele Don were the next couple into the final.

• Open British Amateur Ballroom Open British Amateur Ballroom
• Oleksandr Kalenyuk & Olena Ablitsova Oleksandr Kalenyuk & Olena Ablitsova
• Nikita Druzhynin & Virginie Primeau Nikita Druzhynin & Virginie Primeau
• Samuel Hacke & Katerina Hermanova Samuel Hacke & Katerina Hermanova
•  

The Open Amateur Ballroom was also a stellar heat and as in the Pro Latin, there was a mix of Canadian and US couples in the final 6. The win went to USA as Oleksandr Kalenyuk & Olena Ablitsova and they won all dances. They were the highest placed US couple in Blackpool last month, but they did not have things all their own way here. They had the majority of 1st places in waltz, foxtrot and quickstep but also received some scores in the lower half of the final, most notably 6,5,5,5,6 from Linda Wakefield. The runner-up position fell to Canada in the team of Nikita Druzhynin & Virginie Primeau and they were 2nd in all dances. This is fairly new partnership that shows great promise. Samuel Hacke & Katarina Hermanova were 3rd 4,3,3,3,3. We felt they had a very good night. Also very at home in this high-level final were Mikhail Vorobiev & Natasha Kozhevnikoff who were 4th 3,6,4,4,4. The U/21 winners from the night before, Alex Dubovyk & Rickie Taylor Dubovyk were 5th 5,4,5,5,5. This was a better result for them than in this division at the US Championships in March where they did not make the final. A team from Canada closed this final, Vladyslav Komelkov & Alexandra Sevastianova 6,5,6,6,6. Patryk Ploszaj & Natalia Linda O'Connor were next into the final.

• Open PA Ballroom A Open PA Ballroom A
• Alexandra Dachenko w/ Kamil Urbaniak Alexandra Dachenko w/ Kamil Urbaniak
•  

For the pro-ams it was Ballroom day and as has historically been the case at Manhattan Dance Championships, the level was very high. In the Open A Scholarship there was a close race for the winner’s rostrum between 2 excellent ladies. The win by 3 dances to 2 went to Alexandra Dachenko w/ Kamil Urbaniak over Jennifer Lin w/ Radu Sterban. Alexandra placed 2,1,1,2,1 and Jennifer 1,2,2,1,2. The judges, it seemed, were very undecided. The only dance won with a majority of 1st places was the tango. Eva Chen w/ Cristian Radvan was 3rd in all dances and took some first places from the top 2. Natallia Semendziayeva w/ Igor Mikushov was 4th in all dances. 5th Carole Simmons w/ Serghei Pogonet (Canada) 6,6,5,5,5; 6th Colette Marotto w/ Egor Abashkin 5,5,6,6,6.

• Open PA Ballroom B Open PA Ballroom B
• Michelle Chen w/ Pavel Kuzmin Michelle Chen w/ Pavel Kuzmin
•  

The Open B was another close race at the top, decided by 3 dances to 2. In this case Michelle Chen w/ Pavel Kuzmin was the winner, scoring 2,2,1,1,1. Janet Simsic w/ Andrea Stefano was the runner-up 1,1,2,2,2. No dance was won with a majority and tango and VW were actually decided by a tiebreak. 3rd in all dances went to Dana Miller w/ Davide Gozzi and Dana took 1st places in all dances except the VW. 4th Rebecca Kuhn w/ Andrea Faraci 4,4,4,4,5; 5th Amanda Parton w/ Igor Gayenko 5,5,5,5,4; 6th Bo Chang w/ Andrii Mykhailov 6,6,6,7,6; 7th Daniella Koren w/ Rudy Homm 7,7,7,6,7.

• Open PA Ballroom C Open PA Ballroom C
• Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano
•  

Congratulations to Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano who not only won all dances in the Open C, but also had perfect scores – 9 first places in all dances! 2nd in all went to Annie Chan w/ Christian Radvan. This was a tighter race, Annie did not have the majority of “2nd or better” scores in any dance. Hye Kyong Park w/ Linas Korieva was 3rd 3,3,4,3,5. 4th Lynn Murrell w/ Andrea Garamella 4,4,3,5,3; 5th Leila DeNoteristefani w/ Igor Mikushov 5,5,5,4,4; 6th Sibyl Yang w/ Rudy Homm 6,6,6,6,6.

• Open PA Ballroom S1 Open PA Ballroom S1
• Kyle Brown w/ Sergey Bondarenko Kyle Brown w/ Sergey Bondarenko
•  

Kyle Brown w/ Sergey Bondarenko won the Open S1 placing first in all dances with clear majorities. 2,2,3,2 gave Linda Gill w/ Roman Malkhasyan the runner-up spot and with 3,3,2,3, Betty Lin w/ Andrea Stefano was 3rd. 4th Laura Solomon w/ Oscar Pedrinelli 5,4,4,4; 5th Gloria Genevieve w/ Samuele Pacchini 4,5,5,6; 6th Vicki Sato w/ Nazar Bati 7,6,6,5; 7th Audria Hill-Mitchell w/ Peter Perzhu 6,7,7,7.

At this point we unable to retrieve the full result of the Open S2 Scholarship. The winner was Linda Huntress w/ Andrea Stefano.

Manhattan Heating up on July 4th

Manhattan Dance Championships began to really heat up yesterday, which happened to be July 4th.

There were fireworks over the East River and Brooklyn Bridge last night to celebrate the independence of the USA, and in the ballroom, we couldn’t see the fireworks, but the dancers were certainly firecrackers! Actually we did get a glimpse of the firework display as Gary McDonald had a camera on the roof of the hotel that caught the fireworks and bradcast them on the giant screen in the ballroom.

• Open PA Smooth A Open PA Smooth A
• Joanne Smiith w/ Anton Lebedev Joanne Smiith w/ Anton Lebedev
•  

The majority of the day was spent on Pro-Am Smooth divisions that culminated with the Open Scholarships, most of which were of a very high standard. Most began with at least a semifinal. It was a good day for Joanne Smith w/ Anton Lebedev from Canada. Joann won the Open A and placed 2nd in the Open B. She was an easy winner in the A, taking the majority of 1st places in all dances. Her expressive and athletic style was a real eye-catcher today. In an interesting turn of events, Canada actually took the top 3 places in this event. The runner up was Alicia Hawryluk w/ Dmytro Gurkov who was 2nd in all dances and the only competitor to take any 1st places from Joanne. 3rd in all dances went to Carole Simmons w/ Patrick Derry. We have never seen Carole dance in the American style, but her sound ballroom technique kept her in good stead in this more fluid style. 4th in all dances went to Melissa Jensik w/ Dave Hannigan. This is another lady who shows good ballroom technique. 5th was Zlata Clark w/ Dawid Schulz 6,5,5,6; 6th Rebecca Mandell w/ Marko Urosevic 5,6,6,5; 7th Lilly Farrar w/ Danny Pugh 7,7,7,7.

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

Celia Chou w/ Erminio Stefano won all dances in the Open B and in fact lost only 1 judge’s 1st place mark – a 2nd in the VW from Hunter Johnson. Joanne w/ Anton was the runner-up, again in all dances. 3rd place in all dances went to another very strong and experienced lady in this style, Selene Steelman w/ Travis Tuft. Amy Brewer w/ Gunnar Sverrisson danced a strong final to take 4th 5,4,4,4 and Carole w/ Patrick took 5th 4,5,5,5. Melissa Ommundsen w/ Mayo Alanen closed tis final.

• 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, another strong force in pro-am Smooth, won the Open C very easily losing only a handful of 1st places. Those handful of firsts all went to the runner-up, Meredith Kaplan w/ Sergey Vasilyev who was easily second in all dances and performed well today we thought. Kako Matsumoto w/ Dave Hannigan saved her best dancing of the day for this final and was 3rd in all dances. Janice Stanton w/ Clive Phillips was 4th 4,5,4,5; 5th Hope Hubber w/ Eddie Stutts 5,4,5,6; 6th Debra Hoag w/ Rudy Homm 6,6,6,4.

• Open PA Smooth S1 Open PA Smooth S1
• Linda Gill w/ Roman Malkhasyan Linda Gill w/ Roman Malkhasyan
•  

Another fast-rising competitor in the Smooth divisions, Linda Gill w/ Roman Malkhasyan, won the Open S1, taking all dances with strong majorities of 1st places. 2nd in all went to Connie Caruso w/ Kamil Urbaniak. Connie is a very emotional performer. 3rd in all fell to Alla Neyshtadt w/ Dave Hannigan; 4th went to Audria Hill-Mitchell 4,5,4,4; 5th Hope Huber w/ Eddie Stutts 5,4,5,5; 6th Sherry Tucker w/ Gunnar Sverrisson 6,6,6,6.

• Open PA Smooth S2 Open PA Smooth S2
• Pat Luthy w/ Vladimir Popov Pat Luthy w/ Vladimir Popov
•  

We had another strong winner in the Open S2. Pat Luthy w/ Vladimir Popov won all dances and lost very few first place marks. The runner-up was Patricia Mooney w/ Slawek Roszak 2,2,2,2. Good to see Patricia back on the floor, we haven’t seen her in a while. A gentleman took 3rd, Buck Lindsay w/ Yuliya Besarab 3,3,3,3; 4th Doreen Marchak w/ Youriy Pavlov 4,4,5,4; 5th Nancy Brittingham w/ Kurt Lemmer 5,5,4,5; 6th Kimberly Tran w/ Dawid Schulz 6,6,6,6; 7th Diane Schuman w/ Gunnar Sverrisson 7,7,7,7.

There was a “men only” Open Championship that attracted 7 entries. The winner was Stefan Tuomanen w/ Michelle Officer 1,1,1,1. A strong 2nd place went to William Edstrom w/ Sasha Kharchenko 2,2,2,2 and 3rd was Jason Mihevic w/ Leisa Howard 4,3,3,3.

• Pro RS Rhythm Pro RS Rhythm
• Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker
•  

This was also a day for the Rising Stars. All 4 divisions took place in the evening session and all were well attended. First up were the Rhythm and Ballroom. 14 couples entered the Rhythm and a final of 7 was returned. Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker were the winners placing 1,2,1,1,1. They had the majority of 1st places in cha, swing and mambo. The winners of the rumba were Kristian Sese & Mae Lozado and they were the runners-up 2,1,3,2,3. They had the majority of 1st places in rumba. Aleksei Shipilov & Julia Mitina were 3rd 3,3,2,3,2.

• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
• Luca Balestra & Krizia Balestra Luca Balestra & Krizia Balestra
•  

The RS Ballroom began as an 11-couple semifinal and was quite tight at the top. The winners were Luca Balestra & Krizia Balestra 2,1,2,1,1 and the runners-up, Slava Kostianets & Valeriia Kostianets 1,2,1,2,2. The only dance won with a majority of 1st places was the VW by the Kostianets. An interesting piece of trivia – both of these couples are brother/sister partnerships. 3rd spot went to Mikhail Babenko & Kateryna Iaritenko 3,6,4,3,3.

• Pro RS Smooth Pro RS Smooth
• Tykhon & Yana Zhyvkov Tykhon & Yana Zhyvkov
• Stephan & Eliza McCann Stephan & Eliza McCann
•  

The RS Smooth began with a quarter-final and produced a very tight-fought final that required a Rule 11 tiebreak to decide 1st place. The 2 couples in question were Stephan & Eliza McCann who placed 1,1,2,2 and Tykhon & Yana Zhyvkov, 2,2,1,1. The Rule 11 gave the win to Tykhon & Yana. The judges’ marks were very even for these 2 couples and in fact the waltz was the only dance won with a majority of 1st places, by Stephan & Elisa. 3rd in all dances went to Dmitrii Zavialov & Katt Baumgartner.

• Pro RS Latin Pro RS Latin
• Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabriella Sabler Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabriella Sabler
•  

Pasha Stepnachuk & Gabriella Sabler continued their run of RS wins taking the Latin quite easily with large majorities of 1st places in 4 dances and a perfect 11 first places in PD. Dmitry Barov & Joanna Meller were 2nd 3,2,3,2,2 and Dmitry Barov & Joanna Meller matched their 3rd place in the RS Rhythm with another one here 2,3,2,3,3.

• U/21 Ballroom U/21 Ballroom
• U/21 Latin U/21 Latin
•  

We also enjoyed the U/21 Amateur competitions – both showed some very high grade dancing. Alex Dubovyk & Rickie Taylor Dubovyk won the Ballroom, losing only 1 first place mark – a 2nd in waltz from Hunter Johnson. The Latin was closer fought. The winners were Nikita Grygorchuk & Naomi Veronica Spektor and they won 4 dances but only the cha cha with a majority of 1st places. 2nd went to Canada, Idan Daich & Rumi Dolmayer 3,2,3,3,1 and 3rd to Max Firestein & Nicole Renee 2,3,2,2,3.

Stay tuned for more pro-am and the first of the Pro and Amateur Open Championships tomorrow.

The Fireworks Begin in Manhattan

We are all back at the Marriott Hotel, Brooklyn Bridge, for the Manhattan Dance Championships, organized by Gary & Diana McDonald.

• Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights
• Supreme Courth Building Supreme Courth Building
•  

The hotel sits right across the street from the Supreme Court of New York and the Brooklyn Heights area has charming restaurants and bars as you walk down towards the East River.This year, the 4th of July celebrations fall right in the middle of this competition and the fireworks are visible over the East River right from the hotel – for those not dancing that is!

• Open PA Rhythm C Open PA Rhythm C
•  

The event kicked off with the Pro-Am Rhythm divisions and concluded last night with the Open Scholarships. The Open C and Open S1 were the largest divisions. Janice Gonzalez w/ Aleksandar Vukosavljevic was the comfortable winner, taking all dances with a majority of 1st places. Rumba was the closest, Janice won this one 5 to 4 over the runner up Michelle Loeb w/ Aleko Khutsidze who was 2nd in all dances. The rest of the placements were less cut and dried. 3rd spot went to Jennifer Marre w/ Delyan Terziev 5,5,3,3,4; 4th Hope Huber w/ Eddie Stutts 4,3,5,4,5; 5th Marisol Martinez w/ Vard Margaryan 7,6,4,5,3; 6th Christina Rossetti w/ Francesco Arietta 3,4,6,6,6; 7th Emily Frosch w/ Joe Howard 6,7,7,7,7.

• Open PA Rhythm S1 Open PA Rhythm S1
•  

Joan Goddard w/ Andrew Escolme won all dances in the Open S1 and also had the majority of 1st places in all. From there down the final summary positions seem fairly consistent, but the individual judges’ scores were very varied. The runner-up was Hope Huber w/ Eddie Stutts 2,2,2,2,3. Hope did have the majority of “2nd or better” scores in 3 dances. Sherry Tucker w/ Vlad Astafiev 3,3,3,3,4; 4th Kelly Akol w/ Jeremy Pilling 4,4,4,4,2; 5th Lois Fein w/ Aleksandar Vukosavljevic 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Vimala Sivaraman w/ Plamen Danailov 6,6,6,6,6; 7th Adele Morrissette w/ Yuri Stefanskiy 7,7,7,7,7.

• Open PA Rhythm A Open PA Rhythm A
• Open PA Rhythm B Open PA Rhythm B
• Open PA Rhythm S2 Open PA Rhythm S2
•  

The Open A, B and S2 divisions were smaller. The winner of the A was Brittan Elizier w/ Sergey Samcynskyy 1,1,1,1,1; 2nd was Stefan Tuomanen w/ Michelle Officer 3,2,2,2,2 and 3rd was Cristina Diana w/ Ion Simboeanu 2,3,3,3,3. In the Open B Mari Edstrum w/ Oleksandr Kozhukhar won all dances. Marisol Martinez w/ Vard Margaryan was 2nd in all and Jason Mihevic w/ Leisa Howard was 3rd in all. Susan Miller w/ Hayk Arshakina won the Open S2, 1,1,1,1,1. 2d went to Patrica Mooney w/ Slawek Roszak 3,2,2,2,2; 3rd Buck Lindsay w/ Yuliya Besarab 2,3,3,3,3 amd 4th Diane Schuman w/ Gunnar Sverrisson 4,4,4,4,4.

Today the championships continue with the Pro-Am Smooth divisions and Pro RS events.