_____________________________________________________________________________

Lights, Camera, Action!

Last night the Hollywood Dancesport Championships lived up to its name with a fabulous after party that overshadowed even the terrific professional events that were held just earlier in the Ballroom.

The party had a feast for a king a buffet that included a couple of food stations, but the real action came in the show were some excellent dancing was presented including, US Professional Rhythm Champions Emmanuel Pierre Antoine and Liane Churilova, Canadien Cabaret sensations Carlos Zapata & Dora Yaneva, Singing group Innovate, a ladies modern dance group called “Love”, the master of ceremonies who was very charming with lots of humor, Rob Glover, and to top all this the three amigos and organizers of the Hollywood Dancesport, Michael Chapman, Mary Murphy and Jonathan Roberts.

The show in itself is hard to describe but all I can say is that it was very fast paced and possibly one of the best put together shows I have ever seen, including some major events. The organizers brought the house down with Mary coming in as the lead man and Jonathan and Michael as the Carmen Miranda girls!!

The night in the ballroom was very short but sweet only two Professional events were held the Smooth and the Latin and they were both full semifinal rounds, with excellent professional dancing.

The Latin was an easy win for Roman Kutsky & Anna Kovalova who got a huge majority of firsts from all the judges.  The only judge to award them 4th place marks across the board and a 6th in the jive was Mrs. Shirley Ballas. Second place in all dances was awarded to Andrey Tarasov & Yuliya Kuznetsova and they received three of Mrs. Ballas’ first place marks, the other two first place marks went to the couple that placed third overall Vitalii Proskurin & Eugenia Shatilova and they placed third in all dances. Fourth was Roman Italyankin & Alexandra Bokova 4,5,4,4,4, Mykhailo Bilopukhov & Anastasia Shchypilina were fifth 5,4,5,5,5, Adam Katona & Bella Gubzheva were sixth in all dances and Sergiy Kvashyn & Olga Ginzburg placed seventh.

The Professional American Smooth was also a great comp Peter & Alexandra Perzhu won all dances with nearly perfect scores, only one or two judges per dance awarded then second places. Nick Cheremukin & Viktorija were second in every dance, and Mikolay Czamecki & Victoria Malko were third. Things got a little different from fourth place on, Kyle & Allie Spindler placed fourth overall but not in every dance 4,5,4,4.  Kris Suakjin & Briana Haft were fifth 5,4,5,5. Sixth down was a straight across with Radek Wiatrowski & Denise Sobiewski plasing sixth in all dances, and Sean Brunell & Ekaterina Marshukova taking all sevenths.

The Amateur Open Ballroom event although, a six couple final, was also a noteworthy event.  Here Marek Klepadlo & Liana Bakhtiarova were first in all dances, Mikhail Vorobiev & Sonya Tsekanovsky were second in every dance and Tyler Wilson & Annie Seeley placed third.

The Pro/Am Ballroom categories in the late afternoon were also excellent and here Melonie Kruner w/Max Sinitsa won the “A” category, Ani Mkrtchyan w/Nick Cheremukin was second in all dances and Levina Kasmara w/Slava Stefanov was third. In the “B” category it was an 8-couple final and here Celia Chou w/Erminio Stefano was the champion wining all dances. Michelle Peng w/Mikhail Avdeev was second in all dances and Ling Ma w/Edgar Gasjuns placed third 4,3,3,3,3. The “C” category went to Lisa Lowery w/Radek Wiatrowski 1,1,1,2,2 and second was Nancy Mei w/Dariuz Michalski 2,2,2,1,1, and third was Jenny Fong w/Victor Veyrasset and they took thirds in all dances. In the Senior Yumiko Nakagawa w/Robert Nemiro was the winner.

I want to congratulate the organizers on that phenomenal after party!

Hollywood Rises!

Last night at the Hollywood Dancesport Championships it was all about the Rising Professional Stars and the Pro/Am showcases.

The night started with the pro/am showcases and some of them were excellent a few with great humor, our favorite was Ceci Torres, this showcase number had lots of humor.

The Pro/Am Solos were followed by the professional Rising Star Events, the Rhythm had the most entries with a full semifinal, the event was highly contested but in the end  the winners were Eddie Rivera & Megan McNash from Florida taking first in all dances.  Second was awarded to Romney Reyes & Brooke O’Donnell 3,3,2,2,2, and third went to Ryan Lockham & Danelle Newman. Fourth was Zeki Maviyildiz & Crystal Chang; fifth Jeremy Babagay & Carolyn Barreno and sixth Mictchel Kibel & Bobbie Briceno.

In the Rising Star Smooth, the new partnership of Radek Wiatrowski & Denise Sobiewski placed first in all dances.  Second was awarded to Slava Stefanov & Jessica McMorrow, and third was Sean Brunell & Ekaterina Marshukova. Fourth was Slavic & Valeriia Kostianets; fifth Nathan Simler & Mireille Ginests and sixth was Angelo Verazzano & Erin Drake.

In the Rising Star Professional Ballroom first place position was more challenging but in the end Stefano Di Brino & Bianka Zubrowska took first place overall 2,2,1,1,1. Martin & Liene Reinbold were second 1,3,2,4,4 and Evgeniy Mayorov & Olga Lisovskaya placed third 3,1,4,3,3. Fourth were Alex & Grace Wang, fifth Slavic & Valerria Kostianets, and sixth were Jonathan Atkinson & Lorena Bravo.

In the Rising Star Latin Adam Katona & Denise Sobiewski won overall 1,1,1,2,1.  Simeon & Kora Stoynov were second 2,2,2,1,2, and third were Maksim Kapitannikov & Natalia Fridmanibitch third in all dances. Fourth were Stefan Golubovic & Uliana Maslovskaya; fifth went to Kirill Nikitin & Jenya Kanchukova leaving sixth for Oleksii & Carly Lytvyn.     

Simply Hollywood!

There are no other words to describe the Hollywood Danceport Championships, a four-day event in Los Angeles southern California. As always the ballroom was decorated to the nines, with posters of the most popular stars of the century giving the ballroom the feel and glamour of where we are.

The competition yesterday was all about the Rhythm.  All day long Pro/Am competitors took to the floor to showcase their Rhythm. In the end the evening sessions concluded with the best Pro/Ams competing for scholarships.

The Open Rhythm “B” had the most entries with an 8-couple final.  Here Lisa Lowery with her teacher Radek Wiatrowski took first places in all dance. Kia Malone w/Eddie Rivera all seconds and third went to Heidy Kellison w/Sean Tamashiro.

The “C” category was also excellent and here we had a five-couple final. This Scholarship went also to Lisa Lowery, again first in every dance.  Second was awarded to Quin Bommelje w/Misha Vlasov and they placed second in every dance, I must also point out that Quin was the overall winner of the Senior Schoralship. Third in this “C” division was awarded to Evelyn Lamden w/Daniel Vasco.

The “A” competition was the smallest of all with only 5 couples entered.  Here Nadia Kieyko w/Daniel Vasco won all dances. Second in this heat went to Kia Malone w/Eddie Rivera and third was awarded to Nicole Huerta w/Edwin Torres.

The night ended on a very high note and almost right on time, making people enjoy their surroundings or go to the bar for a cocktail or two.

Looking forward to tonight when things will start getting hotter, with some more scholarships this time in the Smooth divisions.