Can Am Dancesport Gala 2019

(0 votes)

Open Canadian Champions Crowned at Can Am

Last night we saw the crowning of 2 Open Canadian Champions in the professional division – Smooth and Latin.

4 of Canada’s leading pros contested the Latin in what turned out to be an exciting division. The winners, placing 2,1,1,1,1, were Ilya Maletin & Polina Mayer. This duo have really matured into a fun couple to watch and this combined with their faultless technique makes them hard to beat. Kamil Studenny & Anna Kaplii won the cha cha and were 2nd in all other dances. They have a more energetic and effusive style than the winners and perhaps after their strong showing in Blackpool could have expected the win here today, but it was not to be. Richard Lifshitz & Laura Robinson took 3rd and Han & Crystal Li were 4th.

Dmytro Gurkov & Celeste Bailey moved up from their runner-up spot in the Rhythm on Friday to win the Smooth tonight, taking all dances. Runners-up were Patrick Derry & Anastasia Trutneva and 3rd were Vadim & Alina Safonov. 4th Mathieu Casavant & Melanie Martin; 5th George Kastulin & Melina Xu; 6th Daniel Connell & Monica Lickona (USA).

There were 3 couples in the Open Amateur Ballroom and 2 of them were among Canada’s leaders in this style. The winners were Nikita Druzhynin & Virginie Primeau who are the current Canadian Champions in this division. 2nd and another of our favorites in this style were Vladyslav Komelkov & Alexandra Sevastianova. 3rd went to Sylvain Collete & Caroline Trudeau.

There was a very strong U/21 Latin Division and the winners were Idan Daich & Rumi Dolmaya who created a lot of buzz in the ballroom at this competition. Certainly a young couple with a great future!

The competition concluded with the now traditional “Dancing Beyond the Stars” show, this year featuring all local and Canadian talent. The show somewhat followed the format of the recent show produced by Carlos Zapata & Kamil Studenny and in fact these 2 gentleman received the Can Am Special Achievement Award for 2019 because of their work on this show in the city of Toronto.

We always appreciate our summertime trip to the Queen City of Toronto and the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel on the shimmering shores of Lake Ontario.

The Competition on the Lake! Can Am Dancesport 2019

We are back for our yearly trip to Toronto for the Can Am Dancesport Gala.

Held once again in the beautiful Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, right on the banks of Lake Ontario, Can Am offers competitors a summer venue in this charming city. We always enjoy a walk by the lakeside with the outdoor cafes and bars.

In the ballroom last night, the headline event we felt was the Amateur Latin. Only 4 couples competed but all were at a very high level. Winning all dances were Adam Hathazi & Morgana Lakatos-Hayward, from Canada but now representing England. This is world-class partnership and as expected they won all dances. Some observers felt this was not perhaps their best performance, but still they were comfortable winners. Runners up, placing 2,2,2,2,3, were Michel Finkelstein & Yulia Ishchak. This attractive couple have been competing heavily of late both in the USA and their native Canada and the experience is paying dividends for them. With 3,3,3,3,2, Idan Daich & Rumi Dolmaya were 3rd and some judges were very impressed with this young couple, marking them to win some dances. Closing the group, but always looking in contention were Andrew Nguyen & Lexi Pylat.

We also saw 2 of the Open Professional divisions last night, the Ballroom and Rhythm. Both divisions had clear winners. In the Ballroom it was Richard Tonizzo & Clare Hansen who easily won all dances. 2nd went to Evgueni Chaoulski & Sara Schilling; 3rd Han & Crystal Li; 4th Mathieu Casavant & Melanie Martin.

In the Rhythm, the largest of the night’s events, Dmitry & Olena Nikishkin from New York were the winners in all dances. A comfortable win for one of the USA’s leading teams in this style. Dmytro Gurkov & Celeste Bailey from Ontario were the runners-up and are a very attractive pairing. USA took 3rd spot, Andrei Svirydzenka & Yuliya Zubava. 4th David Rodriguez & Emilie Charest; 5th Mathieu Casavant & Melanie Martin; 6th Kevin Carpenter & Monica Lickona.

Stay tuned for more from Can Am!

Login to post comments

Social Share

Advertise with us

Are you looking for a new client?.. We will help you to find them cost effectively!..

Advertise with us!Advertise with US!

Subscribe

Do you want to get access to all articles and pdf issues?.. Join us now!

SubscribeDance Beat Membership

Top