• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
• Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova
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Fresh from their ground-breaking first win at the Open British (Blackpool), Troels Bager & Ina Jeliazkova won the Open Latin tonight. And they didn’t just win, they took every first place mark from every judge in every dance. Quite a testament to their skill and appeal!

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

Andrei Kazlouski & Asta Sigvaldadottir, who were semifinalists in Blackpool, were also quite secure in the runner-up position, capturing the majority of 2nd places in all dances. We felt they had a particularly good night. Also secure in their 3rd place were Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina – although tonight from the judges’ perspective, they were not especially close to the runners-up. The only “non USA” couple in the final, Andrey Kiselev & Anastasia Kiseleva from Russia, placed 4th with 4,4,4,5,4. 5th were Artur Tarnavskyy & Anastasiya Danilova 5,5,5,4,5 and Pasha Stepanchuk & Gabriella Sabler were 6th in all dances.

Watch our website for a report on this division by former 13 Time World Latin Champion, Mr. Donnie Burns MBE.

• Nikita Grygorchuk & Naomi Spektor Nikita Grygorchuk & Naomi Spektor
• U/21 Latin U/21 Latin
•  

Another 2 events of the night were the Under 21 divisions in Ballroom and Latin. The Latin was won by Nikita Grygorchuk & Naomi Spektor and they won all dances with a majority of 1st places from the 11 judges. The runners-up were Oleksiy Bonkovskyy & Kiersten Lujan. They were 2nd in all dances and had the majority of 2nd or better scores in 4.3rd were Timur Valiev & Michelle Itkin, a couple we really enjoyed both in the division and in the Youth division in the afternoon. Tonight they placed 4,3,3,3,3.

• Pro RS Smooth Pro RS Smooth
•  

The last of the Pro RS events, the Smooth, was also Sunday night and the winners were Volodymyr Barabash & Yulia Rudenco and they placed 2,1,1,1.

The daytime session was for juniors, both amateur and pro-am, including the Pro-Am Junior World Championships. Look in our Happy Feet section soon for the results of these divisions.

Paramonovs Retain their World Title and we say “Goodbye” to Iconic US Competitors!

Last night at Embassy, Andre & Natalie Paramonov easily retained their World Professional Rhythm Title and we witnessed the farewell performance of Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva.

• Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva
• Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva
• Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva Victor Fung & Anastasia Muravyeva
•  

We have watched Victor since his days as a junior and Anastasia since she first immigrated to the USA. They have danced together for 12 years and have won almost every title around the world including the Open British and here in the USA the National Title. It was a very moving tribute to this hometown couple who had decided to retire right here in Orange County, CA, where everything began for them. Anastasiia received so many flowers from the adoring fans (and Victor) that we couldn’t see her behind them! We wish them all the best in the next stage of their careers!

• World Professional Rhythm Championship World Professional Rhythm Championship
• Andre & Natalie Paramonov Andre & Natalie Paramonov
•  

Andre & Natalie won all dances and lost a total of only 7 first place marks. They received a perfect 13 first places in rumba.

• Danas Jaksevicius & Yuki Haraguchi Danas Jaksevicius & Yuki Haraguchi
• Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin
•  

Also maintaining their position were runners-up, Danas Jaksevicius & Yuki Haraguchi who placed 2,2,2,2,3. They had the majority of “2nd or better” scores in the first 4 dances but lost the mambo on “3rd or better” scores 11 to 12. Sometimes that one judge who places you 4th instead of 3rd can make all the difference! Taking 2nd in mambo and 3rd in the other 4 dances were Dmitry & Olena Nikishkin. Andrew Escolme & Amy Baker were 4th in all dances and were the only couple apart from the top 2 to take any first places from the judges. Oleksiy Pigotskyy & Anastasiia Zhuchenko matched the 5th place they scored in the Smooth with 5th place here – this must make them a hot tip for the US 9-Dance Championship next week! They were 5th in all dances. Shandor Shtefil & Evgeniia Elcoro closed the final and took 6th in all dances.

The largest event of the night, and of Embassy Ballroom Championships so far, was the Open Amateur Latin that was danced over 4 exciting rounds. Many of the country’s top contenders were present, although some were notably missing.

• Open Amateur Latin Open Amateur Latin
• Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze
•  

Austin Joson & Nino Dzneladze, fresh from their 6th place finish in Blackpool, were the easy winners tonight. They won the first 3 dances with 12 first places from the 13 available. However, in paso they squeaked the majority with 7 and they had 8 in jive. We have not actually seen Austin & Nino dance for some time and we were impressed with their seemingly new determination and grit. In the past they could sometimes appear to be taking things a bit too easy – but not last night! Nino especially was filled with passion and gave her own unique interpretation to each dance.

• Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman
• Max Firestein & Nicole Mtchedlidze Max Firestein & Nicole Mtchedlidze
•  

Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman were the runners-up and quite easily took that position in all dances. In paso they received 6 first places and in jive they received 5. These 2 dances are clearly their best and overall we felt that their performance was closer to the winners’ than the scores might reflect. Max Firestein & Nicole Mtchedlidze were 3rd in all dances. They had the majority of “3rd or better” in all dances except the paso doble. This duo have risen to the finals in the amateur division relatively quickly and last night they truly looked as if they belonged and are here to stay. 4th in all dances fell to Daniil Tymoshenko & Vladyslava Vursalova. This is an attractive couple that we first saw last month at Manhattan Dance Championships. Nikita Grygorchuk & Naomi Spektor were 5th in all dances. They had a good showing at Blackpool, and we were impressed with their performance tonight. They certainly could have placed higher in some dances in our view. Dave Firestein & Kennedy Eaton were 6th – 6,6,7,6,7. Dave is the younger brother of Max and it is unusual to see 2 siblings in the same final, but in many ways the two couples have very differing styles. A new couple to us, Roman Nevinchany & Maria Chernykh, placed 7th overall with 7,7,6,7,6.

• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
• Iaroslav & Lilia Bieliei Iaroslav & Lilia Bieliei
• Alexander & Veronica Voskalchuk Alexander & Veronica Voskalchuk
• Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova
•  

The third big feature event of the night was Open Professional Ballroom, danced over 3 rounds. Keeping true to recent form, Iaroslav Bieliei & Liliia Bieliei were the winners and they won all 5 dances. They had the majority of 1st places in waltz and quickstep. One interesting fact here was that in tango, every couple in the final received at least one first place mark – quite unusual in an event of this caliber. Making a return to the floor and placing 2nd in all dances were Alexander & Veronika Voskalchuk. Their best scored dances were Viennese Waltz and foxtrot where they took 4 first places in each. 3rd and 4th places were decided by a Rule 11 tiebreak. With 3,5,3,5,3, Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova got the “nod” over Andres & Veronika End who scored 4,3,4,3,5. These two couples have quite different approaches to their dancing, so it was interesting to see that they actually tied. Newcomers, Maksym Savytskyi & Polina Riabovil, continue to make great strides and they finished 5th with scores of 5,4,5,4,4. Closing this final with 6th in all dances were Radu Sterban & Xenia Cletova.

• Open Professional Cabaret Open Professional Cabaret
•  

Only 2 couples contested the Professional Cabaret, but they were both of a very high quality and received quite an ovation from the audience. Travis & Jaimee Tuft were the winners with 9 of the 11 first places from the judges and Clifton & Mar Sepulveda were 2nd.

• Open Amateur Smooth Open Amateur Smooth
• Brandon Keck & Kaylee Christensen Brandon Keck & Kaylee Christensen
• Sawyer Stolle & Serena Keck Sawyer Stolle & Serena Keck
• Tanner Cole & Savana Francia Tanner Cole & Savana Francia
•  

The nighttime session began with the Open Amateur Smooth. This was mostly contested by BYU students who are the leading contenders nationwide in this division. The 1st and 2nd place teams tonight each had a member of the Keck family. The winners were the current US Champions, Brandon Keck & Kaylee Christensen who scored 1,1,2,2. Brandon’s sister, Serena Keck with her partner Sawyer Stolle, was the runner-up 2,3,1,1. Tanner Cole & Savana Francia were 3rd 3,4,3,3. 4th Benson Maier & Elisabeth Thompson 4,2,4,4; 5th Ilya Ignatyev & Jacqueline Pop 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Parley Ford & Natalie Jolley 6,6,6,6.

In the US Latin Formation Championship, BYU was once again victorious.

For the Pro-Ams it was Latin day and late in the afternoon we saw the Open World Championships. Some of the judges were overheard to say that this was some of the best pro-am Latin dancing that they had ever seen – and we have to agree with them. The overall standard was outstanding in all age categories.

The Open A was a very tight competition with the winner and runner-up separated by 3 dances to 2.

• Open A Pro-Am Latin World Championship Open A Pro-Am Latin World Championship
• Lena Panin w/ Artur Tarnavskyy Lena Panin w/ Artur Tarnavskyy
•  

  took the event 1,2,2,1,1 over Anna Brown w/ Andrey Tarasov 2,1,1,2,2. The scores in each individual dance were very close also between these two ladies. Julia Lokey w/ Artavazd Tsaturyan took 3rd in all dances. 4th Deborah Tipley w/ Paul Richardson 4,4,4,4,4; 5th Anvelyn Pi w/ Pasha Stepanchuk 5,5T,5,5,5; 6th Meera Mehta w/ Kristijan Burazer 6,5T,6,6,6.

• Open B Pro-Am Latin World Championship Open B Pro-Am Latin World Championship
• Svetlana Mukhametshina w/ Andrey Kiselev Svetlana Mukhametshina w/ Andrey Kiselev
•  

The Open B was perhaps the best event of the afternoon and the only World Championship to go outside of the USA. Svetlana Mukhametshina w/ Andrey Kiselev of Russia was the winner, placing 1,1,2,2,1. However, the scores in each dance were very close and Svetlana did not have the majority of 1st places in the 3 dances she won. The runner-up was Christina Lyon w/ Evgeny Nazarov 3,2,1,1,2. Christina did have the majority of first places (9 out of 11) in the rumba which is certainly her strongest dance. 3rd place went to another lady from Russia, Oksana Kagno w/ Iurii Simachev – 2,3,3,3,3. 4th Christine Stanko w/ Nikita Malakhov 4,4,4,4T,4; 5th Tina Broccole w/ Andrei Kazlouski 5,5,5,4T,5; 6th Irma Wang w/ Daniel Hustiuc 6,6,6,6,6.

• Open C Pro-Am Latin World Championship Open C Pro-Am Latin World Championship
• Deborah Wright w/ Nikolai Voronovich Deborah Wright w/ Nikolai Voronovich
•  

The Open C produced a very close finish between the top 3 ladies. The eventual winner was Deborah Wright w/ Nikolai Voronovich who placed 3,2,2,1,1. 2nd spot fell to Sophia D’Angelo w/ new instructor, Vitalii Proskurin 1T,1,1,3,3. The difference between these top 2 ladies was only 0.5 of a point. And just a couple of points behind was 3rd placed, Lynn Magnesen w/ Tomasz Lewandowski, scoring 1T,3,3,2,2. It’s hard to get much closer than that! 4th Kimberly Bottini w/ Aleksandar Vukosavljevic 4,4,4,4,6; 5th Jamie Barrett w/ Stefano Placidi 5,5,5,6,4; 6th Robyn Shreiber w/ Viktor Shumylo 6,6,6,5,5.

• Joan Goddard w/ Andrew Escolme Joan Goddard w/ Andrew Escolme
• Open S1 Pro-Am World Latin Championship Open S1 Pro-Am World Latin Championship
•  

Matching her win in the S1 Rhythm, Joan Goddard w/ Andrew Escolme was also the winner in the S1 Latin. Joan had a fairly comfortable win, taking all dances, 4 of them with a majority of first places. The runner-up was Vanessa Wilson w/ Andrey Tarasov and Vanessa also placed 2nd in all dances. 3rd in all dances went to Doreen Dressel w/ Genya Bartashevich. 4th Windy Yu w/ Roman Italyankin 4,4,4,4,5; 5th Luna Viva w/ Kristijan Burazer 5,5,6,5,6; 6th Chipaul Cao w/ Elena Krifuks 6,6,5,6,4. (5th and 6th placements were decided by Rule 11).

• Susann Tunick w/ Nikolay Voronovich Susann Tunick w/ Nikolay Voronovich
• Open S2 Pro-Am World Latin Championship Open S2 Pro-Am World Latin Championship
•  

The clearest win of the afternoon came in the Open S2 where Susann Tunick w/ Nikolay Voronovich who won all dances with large majorities of 1st places. The runner-up was Susan Sosin w/ Roberto Cavallo 2,2,2,3,4 and 3rd was Cynthia Lavin w/ Erwin Rybczynski 4,3,4,2,3. 4th Vita Hanley w/ Marcus Johnson 3,4,3,4,5; 5th Pamela Melton w/ Stefano Placidi 5,5,5,5,2; 6th Penelope Parmes w/ Mikal Watkins 6,6,6,6,6.

“And the World Champions Are……..”

Last night at Embassy Ballroom Championships we learned who the 2021 World Professional Smooth Champions are for 2021.

• Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina
•  

And they are Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina! Roman & Galina defeated the defending champions (2019), Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija and won all dances. This was not a complete surprise as Roman & Galina have won all of the recent duals between themselves and Nick & Viktorija. Those of us not judging the event echoed the same sentiments – “Whew! I’m glad I wasn’t judging that!”

In reality it was a fabulous contest, really one of the classic duals that make competition dancing as exciting as it is. We’ve seen this type of thing before – Eggleton/Irvine; Fletcher/Maxwell; Wood/Hilton – there are great precedents. The surprise to us last night was not so much how well the winners danced, they after all are riding a cresting wave, it was how well Nick & Viktorija rallied and certainly gave us the best dancing we have seen from them in recent months, especially in the final round.

• Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija
•  

Roman & Galina won 2 of the dances, tango and foxtrot, with a majority of 1st places. The waltz was the closest scored dance with each couple receiving 6 first place scores each. What handed this dance to the winners was the fact that 2 judges awarded Nick & Viktorija less than 2nd place (2 thirds) while only 1 judge gave Roman & Galina less than 2nd (1 fourth). This pattern was repeated in the Viennese Waltz where Nick & Viktorija actually received 1 more first place than Roman & Galina (although not a majority), but this time 3 judges awarded Nick & Viktorija less than 2nd ( 3 thirds) and Roman & Galina only received that same 1 fourth.

• World Professional Smooth Championship World Professional Smooth Championship
• Travis & Jaimee Tuft Travis & Jaimee Tuft
•  

Travis & Jaimee Tuft maintained their form and although in the judges eyes they did not really challenge the top two, they were clearly 3rd in all dances. As often happens, this final was basically two competitions – first through third and fourth through sixth.

• Aleksandar Vukosavljevic & Alexandra Smirnova Aleksandar Vukosavljevic & Alexandra Smirnova
• Nikolai & Sarika Pilipenchuk Nikolai & Sarika Pilipenchuk
• Oleksiy Pigotskyy & Anastasiia Zhuchenko Oleksiy Pigotskyy & Anastasiia Zhuchenko
•  

The second half of the final was much more fluid. Taking 4th with 4,5,4,4, were Nikolai & Sarika Pilipenchuk. This second half of the final showed us three couples with very varied styles and it was apparent that the judges had little consensus on which style they preferred. Probably the couple most happy with their result today, apart from the champions, was fifth placed Oleksiy Pigotskyy & Anastasiia Zhuchenko who scored 6,4,5,6. We said that the 3 couples had vastly differing styles. Oleksiy & Anastasiia, the smallest couple in the final, are the powerhouses and this gave them that all important 4th in the tango over the more elegant Nikolai & Sarika. With 5,6,6,5, Aleksandar Vukosavljevic & Alexandra Smirnova had to be content with 6th place tonight. They are the “showpieces” of this final – tall and stately, they are certainly capable of placing higher on a different night. We are greatly anticipating the rematch next week at the US National Championships! Who knows how this tightly contested division will turn out there?

The other World Championships held today were in the Pro-Am Ballroom. The open divisions gave us some excellent competitions.

• Leilani Vieney w/ Kamil Ubbaniak Leilani Vieney w/ Kamil Ubbaniak
• Open S2 Pro-Am World Ballroom Championship Open S2 Pro-Am World Ballroom Championship
•  

The Open S2 began with a quarter final. The winner was Leilani Viney w/ Kamil Urbaniak. Leilani won all 5 dances, all but the foxtrot with the majority of 1st places from the judges. The remaining places were not as clear. The runner-up was Linda Dillman & Igor Gayenko who scored 2,2,2,3,3. With 3,3,3,2,2, Monica Lin & Radu Sterban took 3rd. 4th Susan Jen w/ Oreste Alitto 5,4,5,5,4; 5th Dagmar Richter w/ Sergey Kiselev 6,5T,4,4,5; 6th Tai Ching Hu w/ Doga Dumitru 4,5T,6,6,6.

• Open B Pro-Am Ballroom World Championship Open B Pro-Am Ballroom World Championship
• Natasha Janey w/ Iaroslav Bieliei Natasha Janey w/ Iaroslav Bieliei
•  

Natasha Janey w/ Iaroslav Bieliei won the Open B. She won all dances, but only 2 with the majority of 1st places. Laura Shooks w/ Alexander Voskalchuk was today’s runner-up placing 2,2,2,3,2. Brynda Insley w/ Martin Reinbold took the 2nd place in foxtrot and 3rd in all the other dances for a 3rd place finish overall. This was a 7-couple final. 4th Amanda Parton w/ Igor Gayenko 4,4,4,5,4; 5th Wendy Eubank w/ Mikhail Avdeev 5,7,5,4,7; 6th Ling Ma w/ Edgars Gasjuns 6,6,6,7,5; 7th Janet Simsic w/ Andrea Stefano 7,5,7,6,6.

• Open C Pro-Am Ballroom World Championship Open C Pro-Am Ballroom World Championship
• Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano
•  

The experienced team of Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano won all dances in the Open C, the last 3 with the majority of 1st places. Patricia Schneider w/ Oreste Alitto continued her successful weekend, taking the runner-up spot here – 2,2,2,2,2. 3rd and 4th positions were decided by a Rule 11 tiebreak that went to Paige Riffle w/ Iaroslav Bieliei 3,7,3,3,6 over Lisa Dryer w/ Mikhail Avdeev 4,5,5,5,3. 5th Agnes Mah w/ Stefano Di Brino 6,3,4,6,5; 6th Angela He w/ Julius Seniauskas 7,4,6,4,4; 7th Yuping Ting w/ Leonid Burlo 5,6,7,7,7.

• Open A Pro-Am Ballroom World Championship Open A Pro-Am Ballroom World Championship
• Ekaterina Polkova w/ Artem Bronnikov Ekaterina Polkova w/ Artem Bronnikov
•  

The clearest win of the day was also the only World Championship to go outside of the USA. Russia’s Ekaterina Polkova w/ Artem Bronnikov. Ekaterina won all dances with a clear majority of 1st places. Haley Hernandez w/ Oreste Alitto, the winner of the A Smooth, was the runner-up today – in all dances. 3rd Agne Naujokas w/ Martin Reinbold 3,3,3,3,3; 4th Janet Kim Sing w/ Marek Klepadlo 4,4,4,4,4; 5th Meredith Slifkin w/ Christian Lightner 5,6,6,5,5; 6th Machiko Fuji w/ Alex Milov 6,5,5,6,6; 7th Elizabeth Glicksman w/ Lowell Fox 7,7,7,7,7.

• Kathy Stetler w/ Alexander Voskalchuk Kathy Stetler w/ Alexander Voskalchuk
• Open S1 Pro-Am World Ballroom Championship Open S1 Pro-Am World Ballroom Championship
•  

Kathy Stetler w/ Alexander Voskalchuk won the Open S1 with the scores of 1,4,2,1,1. This was a very closely contested division as you will see from the couples’ scores. Lynn Murrell w/ Andrea Zaramella was the runner-up 2,1,3,2,2 and Dana Ben-Yehuda w/ Andrea Faraci was 3rd with 6,2,1,3,4. 4th Linda Gill w/ Luca Balestra 5,3,4,4,3; 5th Linda Dillman w/ Igor Gayenko 4,5,5,5,5; 6th Linda Dobie w/ Victor Veyrasset 3,6,6,6,6.

• Open Amateur Ballroom Open Amateur Ballroom
• Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli
• Jaren Hopkin & Vashti Smith Jaren Hopkin & Vashti Smith
• Erick & Shelly Linder Erick & Shelly Linder
•  

The other major event decided Friday at Embassy was the Open Amateur Ballroom. This event had a very clear winner - Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli. They won all dances losing a total of only 5 first place marks. But from there down the judges seemed far from decided. Scores of 2,4,5,2,2 gave Jaren Hopkin & Vashti Smith the runner-up position with Erik Linder & Shelly Linder close behind 3,5,2,4,3. 4th Robert McShinsky & Jenna McShinsky 5,2,3,3,5; 5th Danylo Yanchyshyn & Dascha Wright 4,3,4,6,4; 6th Parley Ford & Elisabeth Thompson 6,6,6,5,6.

Brigham Young University defended their US Ballroom Formation title, defeating the University of Utah team.

• Pro RS Latin Pro RS Latin
•  

The only professional event danced tonight was the RS Latin and this went to Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolen

On a personal note Dance Beat staff, Keith Todd & Didio Barrera, were delighted and proud to be presented the Marguerite Hanlon – John Ford Award for outstanding service and dedication to ballroom dancing throughout the world. It is a great honor for us to be listed with the other illustrious recipients of this award

Great Divisions in World Pro-Am Smooth

Last night at the Embassy Ballroom Championships it was the turn of Smooth pro-am dancers to contest their World Championships.

• Linda Gill w/ Roman Malkhasyan Linda Gill w/ Roman Malkhasyan
• Open S1 Pro-Am World Smooth Championship Open S1 Pro-Am World Smooth Championship
•  

These divisions were all stellar, but the largest of the age groups in the Open Worlds came in the S1 division that began with a quarter-final. Keeping her current winning streak alive, Linda Gill w/ Roman Malkhasyan took this division in fine style winning all dances. Linda had the majority of 1st places in all dances but the tango. With 2,2,2,3, Llewelyn Nielsen w/ Slawek Sochacki was the runner-up and took a significant amount of first places from the winner in all dances. Sue Eldred w/ Oleksiy Pigotskyy placed 3rd overall with 3,3,3,2 and Sue also took quite a few first places. In fact these 3 ladies took all of the judges’ first places between them. 4th Helena Kostik w/ Nikolai Pilipenchuk 4,4,4,4; 5th Connie Caruso w/ Kamil Urbaniak 6,5,5,5; 6th Kathy Stewart w/ Mayo Alanen 5,6,6,6.

• Open B Pro-Am Smooth World Championship Open B Pro-Am Smooth World Championship
• Patricia Schneider w/ Slawek Sochaki Patricia Schneider w/ Slawek Sochaki
•  

It was a superb night for Patricia Schneider w/ Slawek Sochacki who can now claim to be the World Champion in both the B & C categories. The B was perhaps the most erratically scored division of the night. Patricia won all dances but had a majority of first places in only VW. Matching Patricia in the amount of first places she received in all but the VW, was Zlata Clark w/ Kyle Spinder. However, Zlata’s overall placements were 2,5,5,2 as the judging panel seemed very divided on her performance. In fact her overall position was 3rd. Finishing 2nd was Stacy Tilford w/ Josh Tilford whose overall scores were 3,3,2,5. Alicia Hawryluk w/ Dmytro Gurkov from Canada actually tied with Zlata as her scores were 5,2,3,4, but lost the tiebreak and so ended 4th. Probably the most unlucky competitor in this division was Selene Steelman w/ Travis Tuft who, despite placing 4,4,4,3, ended up in 5th place. Sometimes the vagaries of the “Skating System” are confounding! 6th spot in all dances went to Careen Friedland w/ Viacheslav Kostianets. Despite finishing 6th in all dances, Careen also had scores that ranged from 2nd to 6th place in most dances.

• Open C Pro-Am Smooth World Championship Open C Pro-Am Smooth World Championship
•  

Patricia’s win in the Open C was also a close run and was decided by a Rule 11 tiebreak. Patricia placed 2,2,1,1. Sophia D’Angelo w/ Max Sinitsa was the runner-up and the loser of the tiebreak but placed 1,1,2,2. Patricia did have the majority of 1st places in the 2 dances she won. 3rd and 4th were also decided by a Rule 11 tiebreak and on this occasion it was Sue Eldred w/ Oleksiy Pigostskyy who got the nod. Her placements were 4,3,4,3. Losing the tiebreak, and placing 4th with 3,4,3,4, was Karence Chan w/ Paul Cloud. 5th Joanne Tatem w/ Mariusz Zakrzewski 5,5,6,5; 6th Melanie Mottram w/ Tykhon Zhyvkov 6,6,5,6.

• Open A Pro-Am Smooth World Championship Open A Pro-Am Smooth World Championship
• Haley Hernandez w/ Tykhon Zhyvkov Haley Hernandez w/ Tykhon Zhyvkov
•  

Perhaps the clearest win of the night came in the A division where Haley Hernandez w/ Tykhon Zhyvkov won all dances and had the majority of 1st places in all. A very strong performance from this lady tonight. Zlata Clark w/ Kyle Spinder moved up the ladder in this division to finish 2nd 3,2,2,2. Ani Mkrtchyan w/ Max Sinitsa took the 2nd spot in waltz and 3rd in the other 3 dances. 4th Elizabeth Thomson w/ Nick Cheremukhin 4,4,4,4; 5th Elizabeth Cuevas w/ Mayo Alanen 5,5,5,5; 6th Lucas McCollum-VanHoosear w/ Briana Suakjian 6,6,6,6.

• Connie Caruso w/ Kamil Urbaniak Connie Caruso w/ Kamil Urbaniak
• Open S2 Pro-Am World Smooth Championship Open S2 Pro-Am World Smooth Championship
•  

Another clear win came in the Open S2 division where Connie Caruso w/ Kamil Urbaniak also won all dances and had clear majorities of first places in all. Cynthia Wolfsohn w/ Alex Zagrean was the runner-up scoring 2,3,2,2. Mark Eberle w/ Veronika End was the highest placed gentleman of the night coming in 3rd with 3,2,3,3. 4th Tom Grebel & Tetyana Kuts 4,4,4,4; 5th Kazue Niikura w/ Max Sinitsa 6,5,5,5; 6th Dorie Chueh w/ Viacheslav Kostianets 5,6,6,6.

Last night we also saw the first of the professional divisions at Embassy – 2 Rising Star events – Rhythm and Ballroom. Both were straight finals.

• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
• Pro RS Rhythm Pro RS Rhythm
•  

Shandor Shtefil & Evgeniia Elcoro won the Rhythm, taking all 5 dances but perhaps not as comfortably as we might have expected. They had the majority of 1st places only in the rumba. Maksym Savytskyi & Polina Riabovil also won all dances in the Ballroom. They did have the majority of 1st places in all dances although it was a narrow one (6 to 5) in the foxtrot and quickstep.

Embassy Ballroom Championships 2021 – New Home for the New Era

For many of us, who have been used to attending dance competitions every week for many years, the enforced layoff caused by Covid 19 has left us with the feeling that we are starting a new era of our dance lives.

For Embassy Ball, an event Dance Beat has attended yearly for more than 20 years, this is further accentuated by a new venue. Their old venue has yet to reopen following the pandemic. But the new hotel, the Orange County Hilton is just a hop and jump from the old venue and feels familiar.

Events got under way yesterday with the pro-am rhythm divisions and these culminated with the World Pro-Am Rhythm Championships is all levels. The Open World Championships gave us some fun and heated competitions, some beginning with a semifinal.

• Open C Pro-Am Rhythm World Championship Open C Pro-Am Rhythm World Championship
• Lynn Magnesen w/ Tomas Lewandowski Lynn Magnesen w/ Tomas Lewandowski
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First on the floor of the open championships was the C division that began with a semifinal. The winner here was Lynn Magnessen w/ Thomas Lewandowski. Lynn won all dances and had very clear majorities of first places in all dances. With 2,2,2,3,2, Louise Shah w/ Andrew Escolme took the runner-up spot. Louise had somewhat mixed bag of scores from the judges, ranging from a few first places (judge Victoria Regan awarded her 4 first places, for example) down to some 5th placements. Marguerite Pinard w/ Ilya Reyzin took 2nd in the bolero and 3rd in all other dances to secure 3rd place overall. 4th Carolyn Glazner w/ Danas Jaksevicius 4,4,4,4,4; 5th Tasha Romero w/ Przemyslaw Modrzynski 5,5,5,6,6; 6th Cecile Munoz w/ Anton Tregubov 6,6,6,5,5.

• Open A Pro-Am Rhythm World Championship Open A Pro-Am Rhythm World Championship
• Natalie Peterson w/ Jason Daly Natalie Peterson w/ Jason Daly
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The Open A was a 6-couple final that was very keenly contested, in fact no competitor received a majority of 1st place scores in any dance except the mambo. The winner was Natalie Peterson w/ Jason Daly 2,1,1,1,1. Natalie did take the majority of 1st places in the mambo. 1,2,2,2,2 gave Veronika Kireyko w/ Daniel Vasco the second placement. We felt these 2 ladies both gave excellent performances tonight. Alicia Hawryluk w/ Dmytro Gurkov placed 3rd 3,4,3,3,4. Alicia was the only contender tonight from Canada. 4th Chastity Smith w/ Eddie Ares 4,3,4,4,3; 5th Elizabeth Glicksman w/ Lowell Fox 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Andrew Tornell w/ Samantha Swart 6,6,6,6,6.

• Open B Pro-Am Rhythm World Championship Open B Pro-Am Rhythm World Championship
• Alicia Hawryluk w/ Dmytro Gurkov Alicia Hawryluk w/ Dmytro Gurkov
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Alicia Hawryluk moved up to the Winner’s podium in the Open B and once again the race for her was against Chastity Smith with the dances going the same way – 1,2,1,1,2 for Alicia and 2,1,2,2,1 for Chastity. Thara Salamone w/ Jim Maranto was 3rd in all dances.

• Joan Goddard w/ Andrew Escolme Joan Goddard w/ Andrew Escolme
• Open S1 Pro-Am World Rhythm Championship Open S1 Pro-Am World Rhythm Championship
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Joan Goddard retained her World Title from 2019 in the Open S1, winning all dances with clear majorities if 1st place scores from the 11 judges. Also with majorities in the “2nd or better” column, Carolyn Glazner w/ Danas Jaksevicius was the comfortable runner-up. Kathy Myers w/ Marcus Johnson placed 3rd 3,4,3,3,3. 4th Darla Davies w/ Jim Maranto 4,3,5,4,5; 5th Debbie Clyne w/ Jeremy Gatlin 5,5,4,6,4; 6th Kelly Akol w/ Jeremy Pilling 6,6,6,5,6. This division also began with a semifinal.

• Leslie McCleod w/ Melbin De La Cruz Leslie McCleod w/ Melbin De La Cruz
• Open S2 Pro-Am World Rhythm Championship Open S2 Pro-Am World Rhythm Championship
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Leslie McLeod w/ Melbin De La Cruz won all dances to take the Open S2 division. Leslie won all dances and all but the cha cha with a majority of 1st place scores. Evelyn Lamden w/ Daniel Vasco was the runner-up and took 2nd in all dances. With 3,4,3,3,3, Mary Beth McCallum w/ Oleg Astakhov was 3rd. 4th Nadine Kawaguchi w/ Dmitry Nikolaev 4,3,4,4,4; 5th Ginny Davies w/ Felipe Telona Jr. 5,5,5,5,5; 6th Sue Rossman w/ Erwin Rybczynski 6,6,6,6,6.

Stay tuned for much more from the Embassy Ballroom Championships.