World 10-Dance Amateur Championship
Report by Michael Bildner
During the annual Austrian Open held each November in the beautiful and historical city of Vienna, 38 ambitious couples from all over the world had the chance to compete for the crown as World Champion over ten dances.
Right from the start some great performances made us hungry for more and we were not disappointed. All of the contenders have been well prepared and most of them are in top form. But how would the competition progress, who would find favour in the judges' critical eyes? Would it be the defenders Misa Cigoj and Anastasia Novozhilova with their innovative and unusual type of dancing? Or the German couple Christoph Kies/Bianca Ribas-Turon, who finished third last year? Their clean dancing makes them always a force to be reckoned with. And of course we had last year's runners-up Alexej Slide and Anna Firstova from Russia. Latin experts on one hand, but how would they do in Standard?
In addition, there were some newcomers and improved couples, who right from the first bar made it clear, that they won't make it easy for the champions or judges. Who will break into the final? May it be the Italians with big bags of energy and passion, the Czech with elegance or Bruno Petit, the French man, who already finished rather high with his previous partner? And how would this young Japanese couple do, that stood out tremendously in the first round?
Vienna, with all the historical buildings and imperial residences, as well as the worldwide reputation for food it is probably the most beautiful city in Europe. The food in particular is quite irresistible, but whilst you may love it, your waist will hate it. More than a thousand couples, including many regulars, found their way to Vienna in order to compete at the annual Austrian Open Championship, one of the best events in Europe by the way. With this great amount of dancers came 38 ambitious and well-prepared contenders for this year World Amateur Ten Dance Championship. The tournament was well fought and had a high standard. Some of the couples were well improved over the last twelve months and did there best to impress.
Noted in the quarterfinal: (Alphabetical order)
Alexander Elizarov/Natalya Ivanova (Ukraine). Overcame their slight problems with balance in the Latin dances as competition progressed. Quite good togetherness and power throughout. For further development a deeper study of basic should help.
Björn Bitsch/Ashli Williamson (Denmark). Their partnering skills and swing are sound, but Björn's bodyline in movement needs attention, in particular in promenade positions. In Latin they appeared stronger with excellent leg lines and authentic dancing especially by the lady. Man showed improvement in rhythmic.
Bruno Petit/Jade Geropp (France). Strong competitors. In general Jade must work on her driving action on the supporting leg and more stability in Tango. On the other hand in Latin Jade was nicely grounded with a much more expressive approach. Just in Rumba a bit softer action would have been nice. However, a promising performance.
Francis Lafreniere/Claudia Primeau Sauve(Canada). Most likeable, musical dancing in standard and expressive in Latin. Cha-Cha looked not as free as their good Rumba.
Herman Lak/Michelle Gleimann (Netherlands). Good flat tango and fluidity in Viennese waltz. To progress further more drive and expression in Latin in necessary.
Isaac Rovira/Desiree Martin (Spain). Quite fluid Quickstep and overall compact approach in the standard dances. A lower point of gravity would certainly enhance the Latin overall.
Marko Mehine/Maria Fessai (Estonia). Rather invisible in Latin, but impressed with their superb Viennese Waltz. Quickstep a bit too lively. A bit calmer approach would be recommendable.
Olexandr Kravchuk/Angelika Kumar (India). Standard showed us excellent pivots and good posture especially in Viennese Waltz. More drive from supporting leg might add more power. Latin was at times rhythmically not clear.
Tomas Slausgalvis/Gintare Bankauskaite (Lithuania). Not at their best as lady too square in standard and connection in Latin was missing. A lower point of gravity through more relaxed joints could improve togetherness and help to challenge higher. Have seen them better.
Semi-final: (in alphabetical order)
From Australia were Adam Blakley and Meagan Alderton. They have developed a very good base in standard and excellent fluid movement through good use of legs. Their pivots in Waltz and Tango contained great power and technique with an excellent use of the centripetal and -fugal forces. Especially the Viennese Waltz had a good swing. Unfortunately an overall stiffness in the Latin dances diminished their challenge. More use of inner body is vital to go further.
Csaba Laszlo/Szilvia Szögi (Hungary). Superb standard dancing from these two young dancers with excellent shapes and sways. Their biggest asset is their natural movements with impeccable togetherness and power. Just in the Tango a bit more staccato would be good. In the Latin section they showed us good fundamentals with style, although a bit more fire would have created more impact. However, they challenged strongly for a final place, which they could have made. Well done!
Eldar Dzhafarov/Anna Sashina dancing for Azerbaijan. Stylish approach, tremendous body flight and excellent togetherness in standard from Eldar and Anna. Although the standard dances seemed to suit their heights a bit more, they demonstrated some very good actions in Latin as well. Most actions were led from the centre, combined with a good connection to the floor and therefore they expressed rhythms quite well. Check posture in Latin. At times both solar plexus were slightly pointed to the floor instead of projected to the audience.
Astonishing standard dancing and very sound Latin displayed by Ishihara Masayuki/Saito Megumi, who excellently represented Japan. Speaking for myself their omission from the final has been a big surprise to me. Their weight transfer from foot to foot in standard was simply superb and resulted is the most fluid movement of all. Their stable and relaxed hold and posture comes right from their excellent base and togetherness, made them very stylish and sophisticated. In Latin clean and clear with good rhythm. Perhaps a clearer characterization of each Latin dance would help to go further. Having said that, a soon breakthrough would be no surprise at all. At the end one missing mark kept them out of a final, in which they would have caused a surprise. They were a real pleasure to watch.
Marcin Kaltowski and Kamila Domanska from Poland. Standard demonstrated very good togetherness as well as lines. Quickstep was good, but they lost posture at times. Marcin and Kamila did well in Paso and also in their sensitive interpretation of Rumba. Just in the Samba the came across a bit stiff with their body weights rather high. However, overall a promising performance.
Rihards Dusa/Agnese Junkure (Latvia). Lots of drama and atmosphere in their Tango, but remaining standard lacked swing. More use of metronomic and pendulum swing might help. They were much more confident in Latin, where they excel. Tremendous display of leading and partnering skills. Except in their slightly heavy Jive, they did well in this section, especially in Paso Doble.
Final:
After four crucial rounds Misa Cigoj and Anastasia Novozilova were crowned for the second time in succession as Champions. Placed first in all standard dances, second in the Samba and third in all remaining dances. Throughout the competition their will to win was clear to see. Over the last month a most appreciated and significant improvement in the basic fundamentals in standard was visible. Partnering, connection to each other and posture were all improved. They stood out in Tango with an excellent musicality and also with their flighty Quickstep. One of world's adventurous couples in the area of choreography, which was in some cases not entirely within the character of the related dance, Foxtrot in particular, but still eye-catching. In the latin-american dances I have seen them better. Their arms were slightly too wild from Misa and not led from the centre. Anna demonstrated good posture and again excellent partnering skills. Jive and Cha-Cha went well for them with high energy, but again slightly uncontrolled. Having said that, Misa and Anna were interesting to watch. There is high potential, which should come out with even more improved fundamentals and paired with their entertaining value might open new doors for them. Congratulations!
Runners-up became Christoph Kiez and Bianca Ribas-Turon from Germany. First in Paso, third in Samba and second in all the other dances. They challenged cheered by their big fan club tremendously all day. Their expertise in the standard dances shown through. Excellent displayed posture and poise, as well as clear foot placements. At best in Tango and Quickstep with good timing and musicality. Waltz and Foxtrot could benefit from a more coordinated leg-action in order to soften their slightly leggy movement. Their Latin is rhythmically highly improved over the last twelve months. Well rehearsed, never place a foot wrong and excellent partnering. Best dance was the Paso Doble, which they have won. In the Jive Bianca's knee action was slightly less in relation to Christoph, resulting in a different bounce and timing. Their confident look comes clearly from a tremendous believe in themselves and acknowledge about what the trying to do. In Samba a bit softer action and overall even more feel for the music would help to bring out their qualities even better.
Taking the third place were Russia's Alexej Slide and Anna Firstova. Cleary Latin experts, but did also quite well in the standard dances. They won four of the Latin dances, being second in the Paso Doble, fifth in the Tango and sixth in the remaining four standard dances. Superb rhythmic Latin with some powerful movements, followed by quick changes to soft actions. Most of their movements came from the inner body and centre. Good suitable choice of choreography. In standard they displayed a good togetherness, balance and foot-placements, but a deeper study of leg-action and weight transfer is vital as their swing movements were quite clipping. Tango showed us a quite good staccato and in Quickstep good flow, musicality and suitable routines. Well done.
Into fourth place came from Italy Domenico Cannizzaro/Irina Novozhilova, by being third in all standard dances, fifth in Paso and fourth in the others. Lots of charisma surrounded them. They seemed to be turbo charged in both sections and on judging the energy level alone they would have won by a lance light. It is quite risky, though admirable, trying to perform that sort of power and speed. In all rounds they went for it and pushed themselves forward. Having said that, more light and shade is necessary and basics, like correct timed rise or coordinated leg-action, have to be studied much deeper in order to contrast this sort of power and make it more musical. As expected from Italians a great Tango. In Latin lady showed good posture and leg-action, especially in Cha-Cha. Domenico has danced most of his Latin sole on the ball of his feet, which has to be corrected. Having said that, this talented couple has great potential and good prospects for the future.
Finishing fifth were Martin Dvorak and Zuzana Silhanova (Czech), whose results in standard were 54455 and in Latin 56465. They displayed excellent swing with great fluidity and a good Latin-American dances. Best in Waltz, Quickstep, Paso and a light and rhythmic Jive. The leg-action in standard was of a good quality and combined with good posture delightful to watch. Martin got a good shoulder line and is quite stable in the middle bodyline; perhaps at times a slight stiffness took over. Zuzana's curve was much better than recent and she portrayed a lovely image. Overall more relaxation in the hips and joints might help to create more impact in the Latin section. Just get everything a bit more coordinated and from the inner body and you might break though with your undeniable potential.
Completing this final were Austria's represents Florian Gschaider and Manuela Stöckl. Resulting 46544 in standard and in Latin 65646. Up to the semi they tried a bit too hard, especially in Latin, but once they made the final, a calmer approach took place and their qualities came through much better. Stood out in Waltz and, most of all, in the Foxtrot with an excellent leg-action and flow. Quickstep contained a good fluidity and lightness. Tango needs a bit more connection to the floor to get more staccato. More relaxed hip-joints might help. The Latin dances in general needs to be worked on. More understanding of the fundamentals and use of inner body is vital to match the power they try to portray. Rumba had a lovely rhythm and feel. The final Jive showed again some of the tension and hard work and looked slightly heavy. However, this young couple could go far.