A Weekend in Baltimore at the USA Dance National Championships

I know this post is a few days late but Nationals weekend was exhausting and of course there was DWTS to be watched.  So better late than never here are some of my thoughts from the USA Dance Nationals in Baltimore this weekend.  Now, it is a full three days of dancing so I didn't get to see everything but here are my highlights.

Let's kick things off with the Championship Latin event on Friday night.  Originally I was pretty bummed going into this event since last year's champs Val and Daria were out of the running after his retirement from competition last year and many other finalists weren't registered.  I was even more bummed when I found out that Denys Drozdyuk and Antonina Skobina weren't competing even though they had been  registered.  But my outlook quickly changed once the rounds started and I was treated to some great dancing.  Pasha Pashkov and Daniella Karagach took home the title, adding it to their previous US 10 Dance titles.  Pasha and Daniella focused only on Latin this competition and as much as I missed their Standard, it was nice to see them really shine with some new material in their routines.  They are such a great couple and so gracious, I really hope they get to represent the US at the World Championships (why wouldn't they? yup, it's that pesky WDC/WDSF war again).  Other couples I loved watching:  4th place couple Jason Dai and Patrycja Golak and semi-finalists (and next into the final) Ron Garber and Liza Lakovitsky.  Other things of interest?  I noticed a lot of the couples were foregoing the traditional rhinestones everywhere approach for simpler costume styles based on color-blocking, overall I would say they were very effective at catching the eye.

The New Champs

Moving on to Saturday night.  At ballroom competitions and events its pretty common for Saturday night to be the marquee evening, with the best events and the best dancers.  This year I felt a little differently though for a few reasons.  To start, the Championship Rhythm final.  I say final and not event because there were only six couples registered.  After attending the American Style Congress earlier this year, I was really hoping to be inspired by what could be the future of the Rhythm style.  There seemed to be a lot of camaraderie between the finalists and I don't doubt that many of them are working hard to improve and represent the style but the reality is the amount and the level of competition is just not on par with the other three styles showcased.  I really hope that next year (if I make it, LA is far to spectate!) that I'll have more to report on.

Also on Saturday were the Youth Championship Latin and the Adult Championship Standard events.  I really enjoyed the Latin although I thought that many of the couples didn't dance as well as I've seen them dance before.  The Standard was a little more confusing to me.  I just didn't find myself really picking favorites throughout the rounds and even in the final I wasn't decided on all the dances.  It definitely made miss some of the couples I'm used to seeing, especially those that were already there in Baltimore but not competing like Pasha and Daniella and Sasha Tchernossitov and Regina Maziarz (who later on Sunday won the US 10 Dance title when I was sadly already on my way home).

On Sunday, I mainly enjoyed Baltimore but I stopped in for some of the night session before heading home. I didn't get to see the conclusion of all the events because I had to leave but I have to say I really enjoyed the session, particularly the Junior II Latin Championship event and the Championship Smooth event!  I thought both of the top two couples in the Latin were fantastic.  I think Patryk Ploszaj and Anna Kaczmarski had a well deserved win but it could just as easily go to second place couple Nicholas Stevens and Alexandra Gutkovich next time!  Patryk and Anna probably had the best weekend of anyone at Nationals mopping up the Junior II titles in Latin, Standard, and 10 Dance.  Looks like they have a busy international travel schedule ahead!

Right before I left I got to see the beginning of the Champ Smooth event and I was really impressed with the level of talent.  I remember not being that impressed in past years so it was great to see such an improvement in the field overall.  Although I wasn't there to see it, the win went to Kyle and Allie Spinder from Utah.

Looking back, I really did get to see some incredible dancing this past weekend even if there were couples missing for their various reasons.  I've heard this year's Nationals was the biggest yet (so I guess that 75% rule didn't eliminate too many couples).  Even if it does mean a packed schedule, I hope they get to say something similar next year; it is such a great time and I'd truly hate to see the event suffer from international politics.

Video Vendredi: Remember when Karina was known for this??

Well, Dancing with the Stars starts Monday and there has certainly been a lot of buzz about the new season.  You can't watch ABC for more than 5 minutes without seeing something about the premiere.

So I figured for this week's video I'd take a look back on Dancing pro Karina Smirnoff.  Now there are plenty of seasons worth of DWTS videos to choose from, including some all pro performances that weren't bad, but why not go back to what she's really known for in the ballroom world.  That's right, potentially the most well known Rumba ever, her performance with Slavik from 2004.

Of course if you're reading this blog, you've probably seen this video before.  But I find it never disappoints with a re-watch.  Clearly, youtube seems to agree with me since the video has over 1.4 million views.  Could it be the most watched ballroom show dance online?  I've yet to come across a video with more views but now I'll certainly keep an eye out!

Video Vendredi: Looking back on Slavik & Joanna

This week I've been looking back on some older videos of current couples.  Not sure why the urge struck me but it turns out its just as easy losing hours looking at videos from 2000 as 2012.  I'm sure none of you are surprised by that either!

One partnership of interest:  Slavik Kryklyvyy and Joanna Leunis.  With Joanna coming to NYC in a about a month to perform, its just as good a time as any to take a look back on her dancing and with the documentary Ballroom Dancer featuring Slavik supposedly heading to NYC around the same time, the look back seems extra fitting!

So here is this week's video, a jive from 2000!

Standard Shocker: Edita Danuite retires!

Coming off of the Asian Open in Japan last weekend, Edita Danuite announced yesterday she is retiring from competition. Currently ranked second in the world in the Professional Standard division, Edita and partner Mirko Gozzoli were first in the eyes of many. Their exciting and dynamic performances won them titles and fans the world over and their presence on the Standard floor will be greatly missed by more than just this blogger I'm sure!

After her announcement, Edita sent the following message to DanceSport Info for her fans:

"I want to thank you all for the beautiful dancing world. I am going to enjoy the work that I love and continue to compete emotionally together with my couples."

Since the announcement was made by Edita only, the question remains "what will Mirko do"?! Already dance fans are speculating who his next partner will be and many are hoping he returns to former partner Alessia Betti. We will all be waiting for that announcement and in the meantime wishing both of them the best! And to end, one of my favorites of them:

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!