The other professional and amateur events were great but the Ballroom competition got the who’s who on the Ballroom national scene.
Open Pro Ballroom
Open Pro Ballroom
Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva
Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProId83db098dd2
Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova
Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova
Andres & Veronika End
Andres & Veronika End
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProId75b3352fb1
Fifth place went to Stefano & Bianka Di Brino, 5,4,5,5,5, as you can see their tango really impressed some of the judges and we totally have to agree, with the exception of Victor & Anastasia’s tango there was no other tango that made us really watch. In the other four dances Stefano & Bianka got in the mix with the rest of the couples and the judges too had them going up and down. In sixth place but also with a strong showing among this excellent group of dancers, Serhiy Averkov & Olena Barna taking sixth in all dances. They did get a good amount of sixth place marks from all judges but they did manage an occasional 3rd down to 5th place from some of the judges and even a second in the waltz from Michael Mead.
We must point out that the Dance Beat Team itself was very divided in their opinions of the couples tonight and keep reading Dance Beat online for a review of the event by Luca Baricchi.
The ballroom was a great competition but it was also a little sad due to the absence of the well known ballroom icon, and a person we all got to love, Mr. Paul Holmes. During the foxtrot the organizer, Maria Hansen, gave few words to express what we all felt and conducted the couples to dance to the one song he liked to teach with “More.” It was a very somber moment for all especially many of the judges who shed tears while judging this dance until it ended. We personally will mis this very kind, funny, caring man for all our years to come, no one made us laugh and see how special life is for us all. We will miss you forever Paul!
Open Pro Smooth
Open Pro Smooth
Yegor Novikov & Alexandra Smirnova
Yegor Novikov & Alexandra Smirnova
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProId13120beb48
Second in all dances went to Aleksandr Vukosavljevic & Nevena Urosevic. Here is another very talented couple but we were a little disappointed with their performance. In other events we have seen this couple display the beauty of their extremities and energy. In last night’s performance it all looked timid and contained. We hope this is just a passing phase and that they do not take away what was very special. We don’t want the shine to go away from them, just want to see it better.
Aleksandar Vukosavljevic & Nevena
Aleksandar Vukosavljevic & Nevena
Igor Afonkin & Meghan Anderson
Igor Afonkin & Meghan Anderson
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProId0575789d04
There was a great addition to this final, the new partnership of Marcin Tomaszewski & Zhenia Casanave. What a breath of fresh air! We really loved what we saw. Marcin is possibly one of the most talented men in this group and he had the opportunity to shine with this excellent lady, Zhenia. On this outing they placed fifth but we can tell this is going to be a challenging couple in future competitions and a terrific addition to this wonderful style. Marcin & Zhenia took fourth in all the dances.
Sixth in all dances was awarded to Igor Dogoter & Natalia Gorshkova, and seventh went to Joseph Nuget & Kyla Liu.
A note of caution for all dancers, when asked to present a “dance-on” before the event begins, do not start your routine with a basic movement if you are not able to do a great basic. Flat throughout is not proper footwork for a foxtrot or a waltz.
Open Pro Rhythm
Open Pro Rhythm
Andre & Natalie Paramonov
Andre & Natalie Paramonov
Danas Jaksevicius & Yuki Haraguchi
Danas Jaksevicius & Yuki Haraguchi
Ilya Velednitskiy & Mariya Ilchenko
Ilya Velednitskiy & Mariya Ilchenko
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProId3ab2c7cc1b
Open Pro Latin
Open Pro Latin
Roman Italyankin & Alexandra Bokova
Roman Italyankin & Alexandra Bokova
Vladyslav Babenko & Anastasia Shynkarova
Vladyslav Babenko & Anastasia Shynkarova
Roman Drobotov & Liya Kazbekova
Roman Drobotov & Liya Kazbekova
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProIdc82a00c191
Third in all dances went to Roman Drobotov & Liya Kazbekova, fourth overall went to Przemyslaw Modrzynski & Magdalena Zybura 4,4,4,5,5; fifth were Joseph & Alexandra Hopwood 5,5,5,4,4; sixth in all dances went to Mattia Bielli & Tasiia Hughes and seventh was awarded to Zsolt Katona & Timea Potys.
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProIdc9c4f5fb7e
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProIdd620599719
We want to congratulate Maria Hansen and Mikhail Watkins for running this very successful event. This year their entries were much higher than ever and there was plenty of people and major competition.
Rising Las Vegas!
Last night was Rising Star time for the Professionals here at the Vegas Open.
All heats were well attended with full finals in the international styles, a semi in the Rhythm and a quarter in the Smooth. The interesting result was in the Professional Rising Star Rhythm where the winning couple basically lost to a dance, we’ll explain.
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProIdf154afaa5d
Third in this Rising Star Rhythm went to Tony Nunes & Oxana Kashkina with these marks 3,4,3,4,2. Fourth was John Bernal & Bailey Carrillo 4,3,4,3,3; fifth went to Victor Cameo & Julia Vaysfeld 5,6,5,5,4, and sixth was awarded to Oliver Dominguez & Georgia Lerma 6,5,6,6,5.
Pro RS Smooth
Pro RS Smooth
Marcin Tomaszewski & Zhenia Casanave
Marcin Tomaszewski & Zhenia Casanave
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProId4cc5e66bfc
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProIdcd13e46024
Pro RS Latin
Pro RS Latin
Vladyslav Babenko & Anastasia Shynkarova
Vladyslav Babenko & Anastasia Shynkarova
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProId9fce5b272d
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProIdc3bbc24843
Open PA Ballroom B Scholarship
Open PA Ballroom B Scholarship
Open PA Ballroom C Scholarship
Open PA Ballroom C Scholarship
Open PA Ballroom S1 Scholarship
Open PA Ballroom S1 Scholarship
Open PA Ballroom S2 Scholarship
Open PA Ballroom S2 Scholarship
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1854-vegas2020#sigProId6a3e41e3c4
It was a fast passed event leaving people time to have fun, go see show or gamble a little