Justinas & Anna: What a difference a year makes!

As the competition continues at La Classique, one important part of the event has come to a close; the traditional Thursday night Pro Showcase.  This year's showcase was performed by Justinas Duknauskas and Anna Melnikova and while I couldn't make it in person this year I had been awaiting the videos with anticipation.

First a quick trip down memory lane.  Just about a year ago videos of their first full show together hit the internet.

 Votes for whose hair is more distracting??

Now I would never go so far as to say they looked awful, just disappointing.  Having loved her with Stefano I was never really satisfied with her dancing with Slavik, something was just missing.  She couldn't quite rock that uber-feminine style that stands out among the other top pros.  When I saw this video though, all I could think was "oh dear."  A thought that she might not be able to reach her full potential since as they are married this partnership wasn't likely to end so quickly.  Similarly for Justinas, it just didn't seem to be a good match.  Admittedly I was never his biggest fan but I appreciated him much more with  Ekaterina Lapaeva.

My fears only deepened when I got to see them shortly afterward.  Not only did they seem disconnected physically but there wasn't much emotion in their dancing either.  I thought for sure they could at least sell a romantic rumba but Justinas seemed too into his own thing, hardly giving her a passing glance throughout the show.  That seemed to be the theme of the other dances as well, two partners dancing separately not together.  Justinas seemed to take things constantly to the extreme, going way too over the top to command attention and Anna just came across as too subtle and unstable.

Fast forward a year and I'm sitting at my computer fingers crossed as the videos loaded.  Cue the first video and I'm thinking, "oooh now this I might even enjoy!"

Rumba

Now I still wish that Justinas would rein in some of solo work, especially in the rumba, but at least Anna is more stable and there are some real connected moments.  Could the other dances be this improved as well??

Paso

Jive: What no Elvis suit?

So the choreography/music selection didn't necessarily change but they certainly look more together.  There's much less flailing from Justinas and Anna seems like she may even be able to be herself in a way she couldn't with Slavik.  This is so much better than the show I saw, I'm experience serious Canadian jealousy!

Cha Cha: better but still a bit boring

Now I love me some traditional fun and flirty Cha Cha but something about theirs is still lacking.  It too has improved since I saw them dance live (it was pretty sparse then) but it's still a bit boring.  I'm hoping they jazz it up a bit before their next show!

Samba   

All in all an entertaining performance and even more important a much improved one!  Of course this says nothing of their competition material but its great to see them starting to mesh with each other.  Who knows where they'll be a year from now.

Thanks to SuperShag for all the videos.  Now if only we could find some video of Ballroom Dancer the documentary!