This couple is amazing.
Anna Kuzminskaya has the one of the best leg extensions I have ever seen. Can you think of any female Amateur Latin division that produces such clean leg lines? She's had some comparisons to the equally amazing Yulia Zagorouitchenko. This pair's precision is insane and they are so talented.
I really hope that any political issues are resolved and we see this pair and some of the other top couples at all the major competitions in the future.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Maxim Kozhevnikov is back with Anastasia Grigorieva!
Maxim and Anatasia
In an exciting interview with dancesport.ru, Maxim Kozhevnikov and Anatasia Grigoriev have a candid interview. Maxim is known for his choreography and his former partnership with current world champion, Yulia Zagorouitchenko.
He will be returning to competition with Anastasia Grigoriev in the Professional Latin category.
Here are some of the tidbits from the interview:
On their first try-out:
After just two training sessions in the same day, it all became clear. Everything came naturally like a sixth sense, which is what has always lead decisions in my life. You could say that I am glad to have found my “Star” !!!!!
He had some very nice things to say about his ex-partner and fiance, Yulia:
For me Yulia is the best woman in Latin ballroom dancing now …. and not because she was part of my life. I danced with her, I brought her to America and I played a big role in her partnership with Ricardo at the beginning. As a professional, technically and emotionally, she is stronger now than she has ever been. With great respect for Joanna, and as a dancer and as a person, I prefer Yulia for justifiable reasons - her dancing. But my opinion (as you know), is very subjective in this. Honestly, I cannot say that as a couple Ricardo and Yulia are better than Michael and Joanna. In some areas I like one couple, and in other areas the other couple.
On Slavik:
I don’t believe it is enough to have naturally incredible talent, it takes more than that. An example of this is Slavik Kryklyvy. With all respect to his talent and spirit on the dance floor (and I am one of his biggest fans!), my opinion is that at the moment he has lost himself.
On Yulia choosing Riccardo over Slavik:
I was right when I insisted to Yulia to choose Riccardo over Slavik, even though he tried hard to partner with her. Because as a team, Riccardo is better for many reasons which will help her achieve her dreams. I was right, and the results from this are that they are now World Champions. The lack of clearly structured work led to the failure of Slavik as an athlete. Many people know how much Kriklivyi deserves the title of Champion for his special abilities and talent. I am one of his fans who believe in him as a champion, however it never happened. He didn’t achieve the dreams others had for him to be a champion….
I am so happy that he has found a new partner to dance with and I look forward to seeing him compete soon. He sounds like a very nice person and I appreciate his honesty during the interview.
For the full English interview go here (thanks to Dancesportshow).
Here is their very cheeky cha cha:
Their Avatar interpretation:
Friday, June 10, 2011
Surprises at Blackpool 2011: Joanna and Michal win again and some notable couples are missing!
Sorry for being away for so long...was busy with real life.
I am going to write about how I honestly felt about the Blackpool results...sorry if this offends anyone, but these were my thoughts.
So the battle between Joanna Leunis and Michal Malitowski and Yulia Zagorouitchenko and Riccardo Cocchi wasn't a tight race after all with Joanna and Michal placing first in all five dances. Last year, Yulia and Riccardo won the jive. I don't think any couple can come close to the Yulia and Riccardo's jive, so for me no doubt Joanna and Michal's unanimous victory leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
Personally, I prefer the way Yulia and Riccardo dance. They are a lot softer and I think Yulia dances with more feelings than Joanna does. In addition, it's very evident that Riccardo is technically superior to Michal.
Btw, interesting note at the World Championships, Michal and Joanna were clearly very disappointed and did not speak to Yulia and Riccardo when they were standing on the podium. It's around 6:18 minutes. Yulia and Riccardo only spoke to Sergey and Melia. Michal and Joanna did not stay to watch Yulia and Riccardo's honor dance.
Here is the video:
Looking at dance politics, when Slavik Kryklyvyy and Karina Smirnoff were in the finals with Bryan Watson and Carmen Vincelji, Slavik and Karina could never beat them. Will Michal and Joanna win every year at Blackpool even when Yulia and Riccardo are winning the World Championships?
In addition, I have to point out that Sergey Surkov and Melia, as usual placed third. Sergey is a great dancer, but Melia in all honesty, is technically worse than any of the ladies in the top 20. She lacks hip action in the samba, cha cha and rumba and her jive lacks any bounce action.
I know everyone says she dances with great expression and feeling, and I think she does and I do enjoy watching her dance, but does someone this level of technique deserve to be third in the world beating out exceptional female dancers like Melinda?
If any of you readers are professional dancers please explain to me what makes her technique even comparable to the top ladies like Yulia, Joanna or Olga. I know they train with Donnie Burns, but I find it shocking that someone so technically inferior can be a world finalist. For me, an interesting situation would be if Yulia and Riccardo and Joanna and Michal retired. That would make Sergey and Melia first in the world...even with her being a worse dancer than any of the top 20 ladies!!
Couple to watch out for: Stefano di Filippo and Olga Urumova placed fifth in the Blackpool Professionals. He looks like he has the most fun out of all the finalists and his hip action, energy and his choreography brings an authentic Latin flavour to the final. Olga is very good as well and they are very compatible together.
Notable missing couples: Some of my favourites in the Latin Amateur division that didn't compete (I am guessing due to IDSF restrictions) include Andrei Zaitsev and Anna Kuzminskaya and Zoran Plohl & Tatsiana Lahvinovich making the Amateur competition seem a bit emptier than the past few years.
Alexei Silde and Anna Firstova also were absent from the Professional division, and we won't be seeing them at any WDC competitions competing with other top 6 pairs. Sad...they are both so good!
So what did you think of my assessments of Blackpool? If you disagree with anything I said please let me know, eager to listen to some other opinions as well!
I am going to write about how I honestly felt about the Blackpool results...sorry if this offends anyone, but these were my thoughts.
Michal and Joanna take first place in all six dances at Blackpool 2011
Photo credit: www.malitowskileunis.com
So the battle between Joanna Leunis and Michal Malitowski and Yulia Zagorouitchenko and Riccardo Cocchi wasn't a tight race after all with Joanna and Michal placing first in all five dances. Last year, Yulia and Riccardo won the jive. I don't think any couple can come close to the Yulia and Riccardo's jive, so for me no doubt Joanna and Michal's unanimous victory leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
Personally, I prefer the way Yulia and Riccardo dance. They are a lot softer and I think Yulia dances with more feelings than Joanna does. In addition, it's very evident that Riccardo is technically superior to Michal.
Btw, interesting note at the World Championships, Michal and Joanna were clearly very disappointed and did not speak to Yulia and Riccardo when they were standing on the podium. It's around 6:18 minutes. Yulia and Riccardo only spoke to Sergey and Melia. Michal and Joanna did not stay to watch Yulia and Riccardo's honor dance.
Here is the video:
Looking at dance politics, when Slavik Kryklyvyy and Karina Smirnoff were in the finals with Bryan Watson and Carmen Vincelji, Slavik and Karina could never beat them. Will Michal and Joanna win every year at Blackpool even when Yulia and Riccardo are winning the World Championships?
In addition, I have to point out that Sergey Surkov and Melia, as usual placed third. Sergey is a great dancer, but Melia in all honesty, is technically worse than any of the ladies in the top 20. She lacks hip action in the samba, cha cha and rumba and her jive lacks any bounce action.
I know everyone says she dances with great expression and feeling, and I think she does and I do enjoy watching her dance, but does someone this level of technique deserve to be third in the world beating out exceptional female dancers like Melinda?
If any of you readers are professional dancers please explain to me what makes her technique even comparable to the top ladies like Yulia, Joanna or Olga. I know they train with Donnie Burns, but I find it shocking that someone so technically inferior can be a world finalist. For me, an interesting situation would be if Yulia and Riccardo and Joanna and Michal retired. That would make Sergey and Melia first in the world...even with her being a worse dancer than any of the top 20 ladies!!
Couple to watch out for: Stefano di Filippo and Olga Urumova placed fifth in the Blackpool Professionals. He looks like he has the most fun out of all the finalists and his hip action, energy and his choreography brings an authentic Latin flavour to the final. Olga is very good as well and they are very compatible together.
Notable missing couples: Some of my favourites in the Latin Amateur division that didn't compete (I am guessing due to IDSF restrictions) include Andrei Zaitsev and Anna Kuzminskaya and Zoran Plohl & Tatsiana Lahvinovich making the Amateur competition seem a bit emptier than the past few years.
Alexei Silde and Anna Firstova also were absent from the Professional division, and we won't be seeing them at any WDC competitions competing with other top 6 pairs. Sad...they are both so good!
So what did you think of my assessments of Blackpool? If you disagree with anything I said please let me know, eager to listen to some other opinions as well!
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