Is Slavik Kryklyvyy's dance career over?

Slavik Kryklyvyy has the reputation for dating and losing his dance partners.

The latest rumor from is that Slavik will get back with Karina Smirnoff...but only for shows. Dancesport.ru reported that Slavik said this at the Rhythm 2010 tournament, but he says this is still undecided. 

Which brings us to the question: is competition over for Slavik?

Slavik is now 34. Bryan Watson, former world champion was 39 when he retired.

It didn't seem like too long ago when he was ranked second in the world with Karina Smirnoff and ranked third Elena Khvorova.He had a brief partnership with Hanna Karttenen, but you could just see in they had no connection on the dance floor.

His latest partnership with Anna Melnikova was by far the most promising after Karina.
They had chemistry, she's a good height for him, and she's also very talented.

Yet, Slavik's reputation for losing his partners remained when they broke up after only a year of dancing.

Slavik is known for difficult to partner. Elena has said this and there were constant rumors of fighting between him and Karina.

In this Ballroom Fantasy interview with Slavik and Anna, you can see the tension when she talks about dancing with him.

She says in the interview ''He's an amazing person, but it's just he's very difficult. But like all artists, he's a little bit mad.''

The sad moment was when Slavik says " We'll see if she's gonna survive for a year" and she responds "Yeah, I will."

They didn't make it.

Another interesting video is his practice session with Karina for the 2004 WSS. He is seen yelling at her at the beginning. You can see some definite tension.

 I've noticed that his choreography has also really changed. With Karina, the figures were more connected and there is less separation.




In his samba with Anna in the UK, you can see the use of more solo choreography.



Personally, I think Slavik could not break into the top 4 because of the choreography, not because of his or  Anna's technique.

For Slavik to make it, he needs a lady that is good and a partnership that will last. The top 6 ladies are now all taken and in fairly stable relationships. The closest single top lady is Ekaterina Lapaeva, who recently spilt from Justinas Duknauskas.

Slavik could do what Franco Formica did and dance with his best student and make her his partner. Oxana Lebedew is now a star. 

Hopefully it isn't over for this brilliant dancer, but his odds aren't looking great at the moment.

Video of Anna Melnikova and Justinas Duknauskas dancing (Finally!)

Merry Christmas dance friends,

A much anticipated video of Anna Melnikova and Justinas Duknauskas dancing a rumba to  Vittorio - All In Love Is Fair (Se l'amore c'è) has finally appeared on youtube.




Anna is still fantastic, she has a way of giving everything when she dances like Karina Smirnoff. However, her style is very different and she dances softer like Yulia Zagoruychenko. She also has some of the best facial expressions.

Comments on it have been somewhat critical about Justinas and their choreography. Of course Justinas is not yet near the caliber of Slavik Kryklyvyy yet, but only time will tell of how far he will go. Remember Justinas is only 24, while Slavik is 34. Justinas has 10 years less dance experience than Slavik.

I remember when Slavik first broke up with Karina Smirnoff and started dancing with Elena Khvorova. The comments were very harsh and makes me believe it attributed to their break-up. 

I think Anna and Justinas will only get better. Best of luck to this engaged couple.

Stefano di Fillipo is leaving the Italian dance federation (FIDS) to protest against competition restrictions

Photo credit: Valentin Behringer

  

Stefano di Fillipo, former Amateur World Champion is leaving the Italian dance federation, F.I.D.S. ( Federazione Italiana Danza Sportiva) to protest against competition restrictions.

The F.I.D.S. has banned it's dancers from competing in most elite Professional competitions in the world to accomodate Olympic entries for Dancesport. This means, no U.K, British and International Championships. Those competitions are under the World Dance Council.

The point is, the Stefano wants to be able to compete with the very best in the world, which would undoubtedly help him grow as a dancer.

His press release is here. Some of the points he makes are:

Recently I have been pressured not to dance in U.K. Competitions, and when on one occasion Olga and I were allowed to dance in England from our Federation, we found we have to suffer financial consequences after dancing !!??!!

It is with a heavy heart I find myself out of F.I.D.S. and i will not return back until my freedom and the general goodwill and fairness returns to the Italian dance system. This is not just about me, I believe in a fair open system which is for all of us, in every country and every federation!

I want to thank a reader who had commented on a previous post writing that Stefano is likely unable to compete with elite competitors, like Anna and Justinas due to restrictions on dancers imposed by F.I.D.S.

I also want to thank Donovan, who let me know that Stefano did not specify in press release that he was retiring. His press release also didn't say explicitly whether he would be dancing with the WDC. 

Hopefully we will see him on the dance floor soon.

I have met him and he is brilliant and way too young to retire.

Here is Stefano after winning his first Amateur Championship with Anna Melnikova in 2008. I think this honour dance is one of the best showcases of his talent.

Giselle Peacock burned and bitter over ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev

 Giselle Peacock and her ex-husband Artem Chigvinstev

Giselle Peacock, the ex-wife of Strictly Come Dancing's Artem Chigvinstev had some harsh things to say about him after he took come the top prize with his now girlfriend Kara Tointon.

She said: “He was a sweet, skinny Russian boy when I met him but he became more and more obsessed with fame, success and money. Kara can have him. She’s welcome to him.”

Artem allegedly seduced Giselle into marriage to get his green card in America and dumped her as soon as he found success on So you think you can dance.

“He literally disappeared out of my life and started staying with a friend. He stopped taking my calls. He never even went back to my dad’s house to pick up his clothes. I was left to pay his outstanding bills and cancel dance lessons he had scheduled with his students.

I remember their audition and I was surprised that he had been married before. I could tell from their Youtube video, Giselle seemed to the one more into him. I think she is the one that always loved him more.


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Although, she does come across as an bitter ex, I think there's truth to her story. I think he did use her and dump her without saying a word as soon as he got rich and famous.

Interestingly enough, Artem dated Dancing with the Stars judge, Carrie Ann Inaba, 14 years his senior  for two years and she confessed “I’m more the bread-winner right now but I think things will change.”

Despite of her rant against her ex, she does appear to have moved on. “We’ve decided to leave the past behind us. We’re older now and life has moved on.”

Maksim Chmerkovskiy is the new Bachelor (in Ukraine)

I guess Karina Smirnoff really broke Maksim Chermkovskiy's heart...so much so that Dancing the Star pro is looking for love on reality TV. Maks is now filming the Ukrainian "The Bachelor" with a bunch of single ladies vying for his attention.

When I read this I thought...really Maks, you couldn't get a date the normal way? 

But he says he has his reasons for doing the show.

"I'm going into this with a thought of 'why not?'. I know it’s hard to find someone you can connect to on a project like this, but nothing is impossible. For the sake of the show I can't reveal anything, but I must say I am very pleasantly surprised so far. "

He also adds "This is the first thing in a VERY LONG TIME that I'm doing for ME. For the first time I don't really care what people think. First time that I'm not being 'judged', 'placed' or 'criticized' (well, maybe criticized, but you know what I mean)."
 
He turned down ABC's American Bachelor to do it in his native Ukrainian.

I am surprised he would go down this route with the swarms of women in real life who would love date him, but I wish him the best with love.

But from what I know about "The Bachelor," the love looks good onTV, but fails to translate in real life.

Here's a video in Ukrainian with him on the show.

Denys Drozdyuk returns to competition!

 Denys and his partner Antonina in Blackpool 2010

Photo credit:Volgyi Attila

The winner of So you think you can dance Canada, Denys Drozdyuk returned to ballroom competitions with his partner Antonina Skobina almost immediately after the show.

Denys has been compared to the great ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev. I do see the resemblance.

                                       

Denys in a photo shoot                                                      The late Rudolf Nureyev
Photo credit: CTV                                              Photo credit: Rudolf Nureyev Foundation

I love this dancer because he is different from previous ballroom contestants on SYTYCD. Most of them quit competition and end up doing shows or dancing with celebrities on Dancing with the Stars or Strictly Come Dancing. Some good examples of ex-contestants that have gone to reality TV or just shows are Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis, Artem Chigvintsev, Chelsie Hightower and Lacey Schwimmer.

In this interview with Hanna Kattunen with Dancesportinfo, she explain her opinion on this.

"Some people, some dancers choose to go there and choose not to develop their own dancing anymore. So, from our point of view, it is a loss of some great dancers but it is also an opportunity for some of them, who, for instance, might not have been able to make the Blackpool final, to make their dancing successful for them, in a different form."

Denys seems to be all about the dancing. Unlike other dancers, he's not following the quick and easy money, but he is continuing to develop his dancing. His first result back was lower than what I expected considering he was Top 59 at Blackpool this year, but this makes sense because he did spend months away from ballroom training.

Here's a montage of his brilliance on the show



I hope Denys continues competing and staying true to dancing.

It's Official: Anna Melnikova and Justinas Duknauskas will dance together!

Although Dancesportinfo.net has not reported of their partnership yet, acccording to her facebook photos, we can see that she did a show with Justinas Duknauskas. According to her status they are also now engaged.

Looking at how incredibly beautiful she is and how insanely talented she is, it is no surprise how quickly she moved on from Slavik Kryklyvyy.

Anna and Justinas during a show

Credits: Mindaugas Vaiciulis

Anna and Justinas during a photo shoot

Credits: Anna Melnikova

How high do you think this new pair will rank in the standings? Do you think this pair will beat Stefano di Fillipo and Olga Urumova or Maurizio Vescovo and Andra Vaidiliate in the finals? 

Knowing dancesport politics, I will say the pair might not beat those pairs initially, but can get  be a force to reckon with in the future.

I can't wait to see some Youtube videos of their dancing!

Update: Here is the video of their rumba.

Underrated, nearly forgotten...but really amazing: Dmitry Timokhin and Anna Bezikova

I was on Youtube, like always. I am a Youtube, ballroom dancer stalker.

But I came across videos of Dmitry Timokhin and Anna Bezikova, who are just phenomenal. Even though the videos are from 2001, even compared to dancers today, their choreography is fresh and very current. I love Anna especially with her cha cha flicks and her samba rolls. Anna retired in 2005 and Dmitry danced with Karina Smirnoff and Natalia Petrova. He retired last year.

I feel as when they were at the top amateur wise, they always overshadowed by Andrej Skufca and Katarina Venturini. When they were the professional, Karina and Slavik got most of the attention.

Nonetheless, I think they are amazing. Even looking at their routine ten years ago, I think it could beat  most amateurs right now. Her cha cha leg actions are wow!

Breast implants and ballroom dancers: yes or no?

I was watching So you think you can dance auditions and I couldn't help but notice that Giselle Peacock (ex-wife of Artem Chigvintsev) was sporting really large breast implants.

However the routine was so incredibly hot, I thought they suited her. Here's her and Henry Byalikov dancing their samba.




She's not the only one with breast implants in Latin Ballroom today.
Another I suspect that have them are Shirley Ballas.

Shirley looks amazing for 50!
Photo credit: Shirley Ballas

Former Strictly Come Dancing Professional and Amateur World Champion (with her ex-husband Mathew Cutler) Nicole Cutler also has them.

Nicole Cutler in black and white

Photo credit: Nicole Cutler

I guess the generally trend appears to be that dancers get them in after their competitive careers. Time will tell.

Personally I think ballroom dancers have such a hot bodies that breast implants aren't necessary. For example, Anya Garnis of Season 3 SYTYCD is very sexy and very natural.                                                                               

Slavik dancing badly is possible

To make all you aspiring dancers feel better...I found videos of Slavik dancing badly.

He's very unfocused, skinny and stops midway through. These potentially embarrassing videos are more than 10 years old! It was back then when he was a partnership with Olena Fedorchuck (who never took off in dancing like he did). In the videos, he is still a lot better than her.

Doing the math, these videos were made when Slavik was around 21/22.

Enjoy and don't feel bad about your dancing!

Once upon a time there was Karina Smirnoff (Karyna Kylkova) and Paul Killick

I love finding old videos of my favourite dancers.

Karina's big break came when she was relatively unknown and 18 and paired up with the already established Paul Killick. Back then, Karina was known as Karyna Kykova.

She is so beautiful and not as tanned in the video. Short lived, but it is the partnership that made her a legend. They placed second overall in the 1999 British Open, losing to Jukka Haappalainen and Sirpa Suutari, but BEATING Bryan Watson and Carmen Vincelji.

Karina Smirnoff still can dance!

Okay, so we don't know whether or not Karina is going to get back with Slavik. At this point, judging by of her official website, I am going to say no. About every month, she is involved with some kind of Hollywood gig. She was at the American Music Awards just last month. I think she enjoys being a celebrity too much to leave Hollywood.

But we do know that her dancing abilities are still awesome! Look at the latest videos of her dancing with fellow Dancing with the Stars Dmitry Chaplin. She is amazing!

This proves that IF she did want to compete she COULD. If she looks this great with Dmitry...imagine how good she would be with Slavik. Her leg actions, speed and efficiency on the dance floor is still there. Karina + Slavik would be in the top 3 for sure.

 

Officially the best: Yulia and Riccardo are now the 2010 World Champions!

Been late with reporting this, but needed to say it anyways.

Yulia Zagorouitchenko and Riccardo Cocchi beat Joanna Leunis and Michal Malitowski at the WDC World Championships last month!

My opinion: Yulia and Riccardo are the deserving winners. I am watched them grow and progress to become one of the most mesmerizing couples of all time. For me, the diamond in the partnership is Yulia. I mean Riccardo is great, but Yulia is just perfection. She is strong, fierce, yet is very soft in her movement at the same time. They are a great pair.  In addition, every year, they come up with new routines at competitions, while Michal and Joanna have been dancing the same ones for years. I like couples that can take risks in their dancing.


The catch is...this year Yulia and Riccardo switched teachers. Riccardo had a romantic relationship with Shirley Ballas, but that ended this year. Yulia also broke with her ex-partner and long-time fiancé, Maxim Kozhevnikov. The rumour is that Riccardo and Yulia are dating.

Their new coach is Donnie Burns, who is also the head of the WDC (World Dance Council). Like I said, I think they deserve it, but politics is rampant in dancesport. I wonder if they wouldn't have won the title earlier if they had had Donnie as a coach earlier.

It will be interesting to see if they continue their winning strike to really overtake Michal and Joanna in the future. It does make dancesport less predictable and more exciting!