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!
"Joanna and Michal placing first in all six dances"
ReplyDeletetypo I'm sure -- there are just five dances :)
It's really a shame that some of those top dancers are skipping Blackpool, it prevents us from having a ranking of all the best dancers in the world.
When we say that we think a certain couple should have won and another couple shouldn't have - which is a fun exercise and something I am guilty of as much as anyone - we should remember the judges get to see the dancers dance the whole dance, wearas we just get to see them when the camera is looking at them. Maybe there are things we are missing.
I like Melia as a dancer, so I disagree with you there...
Thanks for the correction MC...it was a late night!
ReplyDeleteI miss when Blackpool actually had the top pairs in the world...hopefully this changes in the near future.
Michal and Joanna are very good, no doubt they deserve to be in one of the top two spots. I was just surprised they won the jive because for me, Riccardo and Yulia have the best jive the dance community has ever seen, perhaps only comparable to Bryan Watson's amazing jive.
I do prefer Riccardo and Yulia stylistically, but I have a hard time as well saying who should have won.
In terms of Melia, I like her too as a dancer and she is very emotional when she dancers. Technique wise I think she pales in comparison to Melinda Torokgyorgy or Anna Melnikova, who consistently place below her.
I thought overall MJ danced better overall than RY. I will say the adjudicators at Blackpool have a more prestigious ballroom (more collective champions)background than those at Worlds. Its also important to remember, dancers are not static, they are constantly striving to improve. Also, they are not always on top of their game.
ReplyDeleteI understand your comparison of Bryan/Carmen and Slavik/Karina, and the latter is my all time favorite couple, I don't they should have won over B/C. And saying a couple doesn't deserve their victory, is your opinion as a spectator versus the opinion of several champions. If one's victory is called into question, what makes another couples victory more credible.
As far as Melia goes, she is not my favorite, but she and Sergey make a very balanced partnership. I would not say her technique is inferior, they just have different priorities and aesthetic as a couple.
Hello Crystal,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. I appreciate getting a perspective from someone who is a competitor (I am assuming).
I think it's incredibly exciting that Professional Latin no longer has a static champion and I am very interested to see what will happen to MJ and RY in the future.
I can't really say if B/C or K/S deserved Blackpool championships more. K/S are my favourite couple of all time, but B/C had a very established partnership. It was interesting to note that K/S never did beat B/C in competitions.
Sergey is brilliant and Melia has her strengths, from my perspective as as spectator with limited dance training, I notice she does dance differently from the other top ladies. Rewatching some of their competition videos even side by side with Franco and Oxana, their choreography really stands out.
Thanks for the insight,
Ballroom Gossip
I agree with your comments about Melia. I don't understand why she places so well when she has no hip action and quite frankly, her facial expressions are a little scary. I don't think she is as skilled as the other ladies technically and in terms of seductiveness and expression,they are miles beyond her.
ReplyDelete