Slovenian Open - Young at Heart
Commentary by Keith Todd
Photos by Igor Lapajne
As this was my first visit to Slovenia and the Slovenian Open, I would like to begin this report with some of my first impressions and my very first impression was one of youth. The majority of the dancers of course were young, this is normal, but in Slovenia, so were the staff on the door, the DJ, the two MC's and even most of the judges were in the thirty to fifty age range. (At almost 43, Didio felt positively ancient and if I had been judging, I think I would have been the oldest judge, and I am under 50!). Fredi and Daniella - you are young too, of course! This was a refreshing state of affairs and bodes well for the dancing future of this region.
The second impression is that of the great natural beauty of this coastal area of Slovenia. The town of Izola sits on the Adriatic Sea, nestled below rolling green hills. Sailboats bob in the harbor or make their way majestically across the bay to neighboring Croatia and Italy. The topography almost brings in mind Monte Carlo albeit without the grand hotels and casinos.
There were many dancers present from Italy as Slovenia borders Italy and from the town of Izola, where the competition is held, you can see Trieste in Northern Italy quite clearly across the bay. In fact, one final, the Senior Standard, was made up entirely of couples from Italy. Overall, we felt Italy was a bit unlucky in several of the divisions and you can read why in our reviews. Slovenia also has borders with Croatia, Austria and Hungary and those three countries were represented as well. Most of the dancers were from the Eastern side of Europe, many of them new couples to my eyes. There was one lonely couple from Japan, another from Spain and one from England (although the Gentleman is from Slovenia). All three of these couples featured highly and will be mentioned in our reviews - favorably as it happens.
The Slovenian Open is a great showcase for the dancing of Slovenia and local couples featured in most of the major finals and were usually on the medal roster. In a country of only two million total inhabitants, it seems that dancesport is a major pastime. Slovenia captured the top two places in the IDSF Latin, first went to Matej Krajcer and Iwona Golczak and second to Jurij Batagelj and Jagoda Strukelj. I imagine that Slovenia could also have had a major medal chance in Domen Krapez and Monika Nigro who are highly ranked in Standard, but strangely they chose not to compete. Maybe they were lost in the more distant parts of Slovenia.
Showing It Off!
Andrej Skufka and Katarina Venturini, current World Professional Latin Finalists and local heroes performed Saturday night to an ecstatic audience. They have become famous for their left of center performances and this show continued in that tradition. Their first number was an interpretive piece to classically themed music and the second was Jailhouse Rock - an up-tempo50's style jive piece. Check out the performance highlights here.
The next night was the turn of Jurij Batagelj and Jagoda Strukelj and what a show they gave! While I was less than delighted with their competition showing, I thought this was a great piece. Classically themed paso doble was their choice and you can check out some highlights here: (modem | broadband). By the way Youriy, we loved those abs. Talk about a washboard! It was a shame we didn't bring our laundry!
Slovenia on Top
The IDSF Adult Amateur Championships were naturally the highlights of the competition. Of the two I found the Latin the more exciting. We asked Andrej Skufka, current world professional Latin finalist to give us his views on this competition, and you can read his comments here.
But what did we think? Well, we didn't quite agree with the result. To find out what we thought click on our article - Too Many Tapas, But We Both Voted for Spain!
Slovenia Not on Top
The IDSF Standard was not quite up to the quality of the Latin, but still it was a great event with a very uncertain outcome. Victory went to Italy and Sami Yli-Pilpari from Finland has the official review, click here for that.
On this event Didio and I disagreed on the result, to find out why I'm right and he's wrong - click here.
Right Ingredients - Wrong Pie!
Great couples - wrong result! At least, that's how we saw them. Three divisions that had great couples dancing but final results were ..........? I have a review of the IDSF Senior Standard -" Italian Top to Bottom" and Dido has the IDSF Youth Standard and the Rising Star Latin - "Slovenia on the Rise". These reviews are not for the feint of heart!
The Round-Up
We also have reviews of the following events from the 2005 Slovenian Open and while we may have agreed with the majority of the results, you know we can never be totally politically correct.
- IDSF Youth Latin - "A Tough Choice!"
- IDSF Senior Latin - "A Win for Andorra!"
- IDSF Junior II Standard - "A Rough Ride!"
- IDSF Junior II Latin - "Lithuania 5 - Slovenia 1"
- IDSF Junior I Standard - "Lots of Talent"
- IDSF Junior I Latin - "Too Sexy for My Shirt"
G-Strings and Judge Stomping - Not Allowed!
OK, so nothing is ever all good, right? Here were a few of the things we didn't like. Click here for the "not quite full" Monty and for which judge is nursing a bruised toe.
In Closing........
I really enjoyed my trip to Slovenia. This year the weatherman smiled on us and we enjoyed sunny blue skies and mild temperatures. The Adriatic Sea sparkled and the distant snow-capped Alps shone as we watched elegant sailboats traverse the bay between Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. Fredi and Daniella Novak were exemplary hosts. The hotel accommodations were first rate. We also enjoyed an adventurous trip to a Croatian casino. The Croatian immigration officials were not particularly welcoming, (hardly surprising maybe because our bus had a veritable League of Nations aboard) but our driver, Andrej Skufka, smoothed things out for us. Once there, Fredi and Daniella had laid on a sumptuous dinner. This was followed by a visit to the roulette tables. I don't want to talk out of turn, but if you're looking for a loan, it might be a good time to hit up Bo Loft Jensen or Sami Yli-Pilpari. They left richer than they arrived!
The local Slovenian audience was knowledgeable and very vocal creating an exciting atmosphere in the sports hall, and most importantly, there was great dancing on the floor with couples from six to sixty showing us that Eastern Europe is certainly a powerhouse of dancesport.
For an overall look at the 2005 Slovenian Open, click here for our Highlights Video.
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