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