Yes, last week in Orlando, Florida we saw major downpours throughout the city. As usual the days started with sunshine but by the end of the afternoon, the heavy clouds were ready and dropped all the accumulated water. Luckily for many, the action is inside the Dolphin Hotel ballroom where the United States Championships were held and there was plenty of action.

• US National Pro Ballroom Championship US National Pro Ballroom Championship
• Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova
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Friday night for us was the most exciting competition - the Professional Ballroom Championship, where at least two of the couples competing were going head to head for the title- Maksym Savytskyi & Polina Riabovil who have been one of the favorites up to this point and Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova who have been working super hard to up their game. The last event before the US Championships was the Embassy Ballroom Championships where Valeriu & Liana won three dances to two, the two dances that Maksym & Polina won were the Viennese & Quickstep making that competition a very close contest that evening. Coming to the US Championships it looked like a toss-up and so this final at this year’s Championships was as exciting as a tennis match.

From our perspective we thought that both couples had a good game, but Valeriu & Liana perhaps had an edge that night. They looked confident and playful with some very sleek moves. We enjoyed their musicality and thought they might win again, but one never knows. Maksym & Polina are very secure in what they are doing. Although at times it looked as if they were on automatic pilot, rather than dancing for the moment , their skill is exact and they are able to produce high standard dancing quite easily giving them always an advantage as if they never have a bad day. In the end, the judges were clear in their judgement and crowned Valeriu Ursache & Liana Bakhtiarova the 2024 United States Professional Ballroom Champions by awarding them every dance with a majority of firsts from the 21-panel of adjudicators.

• Maksym Savytskyi & Polina Riabovil Maksym Savytskyi & Polina Riabovil
• Danylo Dobrovolskyi & Anastasia Malovana Danylo Dobrovolskyi & Anastasia Malovana
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It was not so clear this time for Maksym & Polina who placed second overall and yes you heard it right the judges awarded them second in the waltz, foxtrot and quickstep but placed them third in the other two dances, making them quite far from their goal of taking the crown home. Another one of our favorites and a couple that we think could easily challenge the top in future outings placed third overall, Danylo Dobrovolskyi & Anastasiia Malovana 3,2,2,3,4. We truly enjoy this couple’s dancing but this was not their night, it could have been the fact that the other two top couples were playing such a good game that it was even hard for us to find them on the floor. We still enjoyed their dancing and on a great night as we mentioned before they could challenge them all, but this was not it.

• Radu Sterban & Xenia Cletova Radu Sterban & Xenia Cletova
• Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli
• Dan Malov & Anna Bohachova Dan Malov & Anna Bohachova
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Fourth place was awarded to Radu Sterban & Xenia Cletova with these marks 4,4,4,4,3, fifth went to Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli 5,5,5,5,5 and sixth place in all dances went to Dan Malov & Anna Bohachova.

It was a very disappointing championship for Igor Mikushov & Valeriia Mikushov who were not able to get enough marks to make it into this final, the most marks they received were in the tango, Viennese waltz and foxtrot where 10 out of the 21 wanted them back, but this was not enough to place them in this final.

• US National Pro Latin Championship US National Pro Latin Championship
• Andrei Kazlouski & Nino Dzneladze Andrei Kazlouski & Nino Dzneladze
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We also crowned new US Professional Champions in the Latin division, Andrei Kazlouski & Nino Dzneladze won all dances also with a majority of firsts in all dances. Many of the attendees were expecting a great match between last year’s Champions Troels Bager & Ina Jeliavkova, but unfortunately due to injury they were not able to dance allowing Andrei & Nino to win the US Professional Latin unchallenged.

• Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina
• Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman
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Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasiia Shchypilina took second in all dances with the majority of second or better in three dances and third or better in the cha cha and paso doble. Third place overall was awarded to Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman with these marks 3,3,4,3,3.

• Austin Joson & Liza Lakovitsky Austin Joson & Liza Lakovitsky
• Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maiduk Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maiduk
• Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan
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Austin Joson & Liza Lakovitsky placed third in the rumba but were fourth in the other four dances securing them a fourth overall. Manuel Favilla & Natalia Maidiuk were fifth in all dances leaving all sixths to Nikolai Tarasov & Sarah Nolan. Perhaps we were expecting a great fight for the top with Troels & Ina at the helm, but somehow their absence left a major hole in this championship and it did not seem to have the punch we expected from this division.

Interestingly this was the second US Championship for Andrew Kazlouski who won the division back in 2017 with Asta Sigvalddaotir

• Celia Chou Celia Chou
• Celia Chou Celia Chou
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In other happenings, we want to congratulate Ms. Celia Chou for her well-deserved “Hall of Fame” award. Ms. Chou a very accomplished dancer in many styles, has been and continues to be of great support to our industry in many, many ways. This was such a well-deserved award from (ABC) at the United States Championships.

• US National Pro Rhythm Championship US National Pro Rhythm Championship
• Francesco Arietta & Jessa Mae Briones Francesco Arietta & Jessa Mae Briones
• Andrew Escolme & Asta Sigvaldadottir Andrew Escolme & Asta Sigvaldadottir
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Francesco Arietta & Jessa Briones continue to hold the lead in the US Professional Rhythm Championship by winning all dances and the US title for the second year in a row, with a full majority of firsts from the judges. It was also an easy second place in all dances for Andrew Escolme & Asta Sigvaldadottir who also stole the most first places from Francesco & Jessa 4 firsts in the cha cha, 3 firsts in the rumba, 6 firsts in the swing, 3 firsts in the bolero, and 2 firsts in the mambo. Third place overall was awarded to Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin 3,3,3,3,4.

• Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin
• Ivan Kudashev & Ksenia Sokolova Ivan Kudashev & Ksenia Sokolova
• Shane & Shannon Jensen Shane & Shannon Jensen
• Kevin Ubillus & Milagros Lareto Kevin Ubillus & Milagros Lareto
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Fourth went to Ivan Kudashev & Ksenia Sokolova 4,4,4,4,5, fifth was awarded to Shane Jensen & Shannon Jensen 5,5,5,5,6, and sixth overall went to Kevin Ubillus & Milagros Lareto 6,6,6,6,3.

• US National Pro Smooth Championship US National Pro Smooth Championship
• Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina
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The US Professional Smooth was as expected with Roman Malkhasyan & Galina Detkina taking all dances with the majority of firsts in every dance. Also they won the waltz with perfect scores from the 21 adjudicators. In the rest of the dances they missed perfect scores by one mark from the judges, in the tango they got a second from Maria Hansen, who also awarded them a second in the foxtrot, and the other first place mark they lost was in the Viennese Waltz and this second came from Marianne Nicole. We still think they are well-deserving of their title, but while watching on the sides a pro/am by bystander asked her teacher; “I thought the waltz was supposed to move around the room?” the teacher looked at her and said yes. “I did not see them go too far around the room in the waltz she said, the teacher could not respond to his student. It would have been hard to debate the observation Roman & Galina do put a lot of effort on the stationary steps and at times do not get around the floor as perhaps many of us would like to see and apprciate their basic waltz movement around the floor, this might be a new trend to a more localized Smooth style.

• Travis & Jaimee Tuft Travis & Jaimee Tuft
• Yegor Novikov & Tatiana Novikova Yegor Novikov & Tatiana Novikova
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Second place in this final was awarded to Travis & Jaimee Tuft who easily took the majority of seconds and even one first from Roman & Galina in the Viennese waltz, third in all dances went to Yegor Novikov & Tatiana Novikova.

• Tykhon Zhyvkov & Yana Zhyvkov Tykhon Zhyvkov & Yana Zhyvkov
• Volodymyr Barabash & Yulia Rudenco Volodymyr Barabash & Yulia Rudenco
• Leonid Burlo & Mariia Usan Leonid Burlo & Mariia Usan
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Fourth were Tykhon Zhyvkov & Yana Zhyvkov, fifth went to Volodymyr Barabash & Yulia Rudenco and sixth was awarded to Leonid Burlo & Mariia Usan.

In other US Championships Ivan Kudashev & Ksenia Sokolova won the US National Professional Latin ShowDance Championships; Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantley won the US National Professional Ballroom Showdance Championship. There were 3 couples in the US National Professional 10 Dance Championship and the winners were Aleksei Minaev & Elena Minaeva. They won 8 of the dances outright and tied for first in cha cha and samba. There were 4 couples in the US National Professional Theatrical Dance Championship and this title went to Shane Jensen & Shannon Jensen with perfect scores from the judges. Shane & Shannon also won the US National Professional American 9 Dance Championship. They won all the Rhythm dances and these were their marks in the Smooth 2,2,3,2. Shane & Shannon also won the US National Professional Cabaret Championship. The US National Professional Mambo Championship went to Kevin Ubillus & Milagros Lareto with the majority of first places.

We must certainly congratulate Shane and Shannon Jensen who won 3 National Championships and placed 5th in a fourth division.