by Edward Simon, US Judge
This year the World Latin Showdance was held in Moscow, Russia on April 22. The event coincided with the Russian National Latin Championships (Slavik Kryklyvyy and new partner Elena Khvorova taking first). The organizer Stanislav Popov created a wonderful and distinctive atmosphere that included walls covered in Russian skylines. Although the afternoon session for the quarter-finals was sparsely attended the evening was packed with spectators and television cameras.
The semi-final ended up with 16 couples. The alternative was 10 couples that did not fit into the required 50% maximum elimination rule. A few couples I'd like to mention, but not making the final:
Michael Petr & Harmony Lyris (Czech Republic, but reside in US) - not technically strong enough for the final, but fun routine.
Ryno van den Berg & Sveltlana Tishina (South Africa) - A routine that had a very clear theme about the man totally dominating (or abusing?) the woman. I thought it well done, but besides needing to develop the technical side of their dancing, there is always a risk of offending some judges with this kind of material. We'll leave the debate over whether that's fair or not for another time.
Menno Hoogeveen & Karin Karamat Ali-van Berkel (Netherlands) - A couple who are good dancers and danced an artistic performance that unfortunately had missed connections.
Atsuki Omura & Megumi Wada (Japan) - I was very disappointed not to see this couple in the final! Excellent dancers with a dynamic martial arts routine.
The final:
6th place - Andre Paramonov & Natalie Kopossova (Canada) - Fun routine, with their usual sense of freedom and flare. I always feel this couple have a wonderful sense of dance. To improve their standings they need to tidy up a bit more.
5th place - Delyan Terziev & Boriana Deltcheva (USA) - making their first world final, their routine showed a powerful male presence, but allowed the woman to show she was a match in her own right. Much improved posture and more natural facial expression from the man on this outing. They just need to find more consistency of quality throughout all their dancing.
4th place - Marcin Wrzesinski & Anna Glogovska (Poland) - They used the overused "Cabaret" theme without bringing anything new to it. Good dancers and entertaining, just cliché.
3rd place - Maurizio Ghigiarelli & Manuella Andracchio (Italy) - The man is a wonderful dancer, and although I understand they have been finalists before, I was surprised at the lady's lack of technical skills on this occasion. They were successful in pushing the costume/ prop rules by having long floating material that developed out of their costume, that was visually beautiful and effective.
The top two couples were in a class of their own and far above the pack.
2nd place - Andrei Butchik & Valeria Bushueva (Russia) - Valeria was presented in a dazzling rhinestone blasted black bodysuit. Their dynamic choreography was impeccably crafted and their solid technical proficiency on display. I feel in some years this routine would have been a winner, they should be very proud of their efforts.
1st place - Max Kozhevnikov & Yulia Zagorudchenko (USA) - Last year's champions, Max and Yulia brought the house down! Once Yulia, stunning in a shimmering gold fringe pantsuit, started her back samba actions to the pulsating rhythm, the crowd erupted with delight. There was no turning off the energy that sizzled out of this couple until the very end of the routine, and I might add stayed just as effective through each round, even the honor dance. It seemed as though the presentation was an homage to the joy of dance, showing what it means to use great technique to deliver the emotion of the dance. Congratulations!
I would like to thank the organizers for their hospitality and congratulate them on a successful event!
Edward Simon was the U.S. Judge for this event. He is a former US Smooth and Theatrical champion and World Classic Showdance Finalist.