A Hero’s Welcome to the Big 20! Colorado Star Ball 2016

This year it was the big 20th celebration for the Colorado Star Ball, and organizers Richard and Jennifer Booth went all the way out to make it a major celebration. Two World Professional Champions were invited to perform, World Professional Ballroom Champions, Arunas Bizukas & Katusha Demidova and World Professional Latin Champions, Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko.

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Savannah Dance Classic 2016: Professional Divisions

Saturday night at the Savannah Dance Class was breathtaking.  From the Professional American Rhythm to the final Professional International Latin was scintillating to watch. 

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Open Professional Divisions at Atlanta Open 2016

All of the Open Professional Divisions at Atlanta Open took place on the last night of competition and it was quite a marathon!  The two international styles had semifinals and the two American Styles had quarter-finals.  On top of this we had what I believe was an unprecedented “13-couple” cabaret final at the end of the night.

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Emerald Ball 2016 Open Pro Smooth

The Smooth this year at Emerald Ball was an exciting battle once again. Although one couple emerged on top, all of the couples had a range of placements in each dance. The marks ranged from first through sixth for most couples in EVERY dance.

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If you wanted to see every event of this year’s Emerald Ball, you basically had to check into the LAX Hilton on Monday April 26th and check out Monday May 1st. That’s right a full week of dancesport competition! Emerald Ball, run by Wayne & Donna Eng for the past 27 years, is certainly one of the USA’s largest competitions and the largest on the West Coast. This year, more time was added to the schedule with an earlier start on Tuesday and this made everyone a little less stressed and allowed some downtime for competitors and officials alike. It is certainly the trend of competitions to become longer and longer nowadays, but as entries continue to increase for many, there is little option.

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Open Professional Smooth from Ballroom Beach Bash 2016

Report by Anna Trebunskaya

Photography by Stephen Marino 

First, I want to congratulate Michael Mead, Tony Redpath and Jonathan Roberts for a fantastic weekend! It's the second year of the annual event and is already sporting an impressive 8000 entries. A+ for keeping it light, fun, and humorous while still maintaining a lot of quality Pro-Am, Amateur and Professional dancers.

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Getting the “Vibe” in Miami Beach! Miami Vibe 2016

Report by Keith Todd

Photography by Ryan Kenner

It is always a treat to attend a competition in your hometown and for me, Miami Vibe offers just such a treat. Its venue, The Eden Roc Hotel, is barely ten minutes from my residence. And what a venue this is! The Eden Roc is a MIMO masterpiece, designed by Morris Lapidus and completed in 1955. It has been lovingly restored, keeping all of its original flavor.  I was very lucky this year to be housed in the fully renovated ocean tower and I could literally hear the Atlantic surf if I opened my windows.

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Pro Smooth At Vegas Open

Report by Toni Redpath

Photography by Chris Hansen

It's been great to watch the Professional Smooth division from the sidelines recently but I must admit that it gives me a completely different perspective from when I'm actually judging. Firstly, when I'm watching I have time to watch a couple for a whole dance rather than a few bars.  I have the luxury to just get engrossed in one couple’s dancing, rather than have to hurry to compare their qualities to another couple.

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