It was here that the US Championships rose to world fame as one of the best dance competitions in the world. So when Andrew Phillips chose to run his Miami Vibe competition there in 2021, he was assured the nostalgic amongst would be looking forward to returning. And so it turned out to be! This was Andrew’s largest Miami Vibe to date with more than 8,000 entries. This led to some very long sessions, but this is indeed a problem that many organizers would like to have.
Pro-Am entries were way up in all styles and all four open professional divisions were first class, as was the Open Amateur Latin and many of the Youth and Junior divisions.
Perhaps the two Latin divisions, amateur and professional, stole the show and both were highly contested with the judges showing some widely differing opinions.
Open Pro Latin
Open Pro Latin
Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina
Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina
Artur Tarnavskyy & Anastasiya Danilova
Artur Tarnavskyy & Anastasiya Danilova
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1924-miamivibe21#sigProId3e48eb0469
Darren Hammond & Maryna Steshenko
Darren Hammond & Maryna Steshenko
Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maiduk
Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maiduk
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1924-miamivibe21#sigProIdfce38c512b
5th position went to Nikita Malakhov & Nadezda Vlasova 5,6,5,5,5; 6th were Andriy & Amanda Besyedin 6,5,6,6,6 and 7th were Valentyn Ivanov & Yana Tikhenko. Interestingly, Valentyn & Yana were the only couple other than the top 4 who received any 1st place marks.
Kasia Kozak will report on this division soon.
Open Amateur Latin
Open Amateur Latin
Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze
Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze
Alexander Chernositov & Ariana Grishanina
Alexander Chernositov & Ariana Grishanina
Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman
Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1924-miamivibe21#sigProIdb03cae175d
4th in all dances went to Miroslav Randelovic & Dakota Pizzi. Although we are not as familiar with this couple, we found them very impressive and very deserving of this placement. Bumchin Tegshjargal & Michelle Klets, the only west coast couple in the final, were 5th with 5,5,5,6,5 and Yegeni Orlov & Anastasia were 6th 7,6,6,5,6 and Vadym Pidhorestky & Ruby Castro were 7th 6,7,7,7,7. The event began with a semifinal of 13 couples.
Look out for a report on this style by Oxana Lebedew
Open Pro Smooth
Open Pro Smooth
Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina
Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina
Nikolai & Sarika Pilipenchuk
Nikolai & Sarika Pilipenchuk
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1924-miamivibe21#sigProId39e2b7de48
Steven Dougherty will have a full report on this division.
The Open Pro Rhythm and Ballroom were both danced on Saturday night and both began with semifinal rounds.
Open Pro Rhythm
Open Pro Rhythm
Andre & Natalie Paramonov
Andre & Natalie Paramonov
Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin
Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin
Kevin Ubillus & Milargros Lareto
Kevin Ubillus & Milargros Lareto
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1924-miamivibe21#sigProIddf0650c4c7
Inna Ivanenko will report on this division for Dance Beat soon.
Open Pro Ballroom
Open Pro Ballroom
Rudy Homm & Katya Kanevskaya
Rudy Homm & Katya Kanevskaya
Gianni Caliandro & Arianna Esposito
Gianni Caliandro & Arianna Esposito
Luca Balestra & Krizia Balestra
Luca Balestra & Krizia Balestra
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1924-miamivibe21#sigProIdd959b6f2c1
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1924-miamivibe21#sigProId981e57e893
Amateur finalists draw for the prize
Amateur finalists draw for the prize
Mariko Dozono w/ Andrew Phillips
Mariko Dozono w/ Andrew Phillips
https://dancebeat.com/m-blogs-en/item/1924-miamivibe21#sigProId367ede8a1c
The Fontainbleau has always been a vibrant and popular Miami destination and as always, it was humming with activity. The recent lifting of most covid restrictions in Florida meant that the restaurants and clubs were open and for those that wished, late night entertainment was certainly an option.
Once again congratulations to Andrew and his team on their biggest event to date.