Ekaterina Lapaeva retires from competitive dancing!

Much apologies for my delay in the latest news with the Slavik and Ekaterina partnership!

Ekaterina just announced last week that she will be retiring from competitive dancesport

Very sad news for all the fans we had eagerly anticipated this partnership to blossom!

I wonder what was behind her decision to quit? In her  letter to Dancesportinfo she mentions that she wants to  continue her education of psychology and philosophy, together with study of literature and creative art....so perhaps those were her reasons. Her dancing will sadly be missed!

Does anyone know what will happen to Slavik now? I hope he finds a suitable partner soon...

Stefano and Daria at the Internationals

So the debut of the new partnership between Stefano di Filippo and Daria Chesnokova is finally on Youtube!

I think they look great together! A lot of people commented that Daria kind of dances like a combination of Anna Melnikova and Olga Urumova. I think Stefano always brings out the sexiness in his ladies ;)

Here is it for your viewing pleasure! What do you think?

Slavik Kryklyvyy will be dancing with Ekaterina Lapaeva

Slavik Kryklyvyy will be dancing with Ekaterina Lapaeva! How exciting! I had written about this being a potentially good match more than a year ago here.

I do not think they are involved in a romantic relationship, so I hope that they will have the chemistry to make this partnership work. His partnership with Hanna Karttunen definitely needed this!

Thanks to a very astute reader for sending me a link with an interview with Slavik to alert me of this new partnership! Thanks to another reader for his comment to my post that alerted me to this!

Slavik definitely has a good chance with Ekaterina. She is a seasoned pro and  I hope they will make this partnership work. He definitely needs to dance with her for more than a year to establish this partnership first then see if they can progress further in the ranks. I am predicting that they should make the finals at least.

This girl is fabulous I think! Just look the passion and charisma she brings in this WSSDF Latin video with Anton Karpov! She definitely has a style all her own for sure.




This is definitely Slavik's last chance to rise to the top I think. His age is catching up, but he is still a brilliant dancer. I think Ekaterina is definitely a better woman to reach for the top with than Franco's choice to dance with Olga Muller. I have high hopes for this partnership! (Please make it work Slavik, if you reading this!) What do you guys think? Will he finally find someone he can rise to the top with?

Results for WDC World Championships- Riccardo and Yulia are up on top!

Yulia Zagorouitchenko and Riccardo Cocchi are rising to the top!!! With their recent win at Internationals, I think they are solidly ranked as the best dancers in the world.

They were just crowned the new World Championships! Congratulations to them both!

Michael Malitowski and Joanna Leunis were second, Sergey Surkov and Melia were third, 
Maurizio Vescovo  and Andra Vaidilaite were fourth, Andrej Skufca and Melinda were fifth and Justinas Duknaukas and Anna Melnikova were sixth.

The general trend at the moment appears that Andrej and Melinda have dropped to fifth place and Maurizio and Andra have risen to fourth.

Franco Formica and Olga and Stefano di Filippo did and Daria did not compete in the World Championships!  

Thank you very much for reader electricblue for directing me to the results for WDC World Championships! I look forward to hopefully catching this on Youtube! 

Internationals 2012: Very disappointing result for Franco and Olga; Riccardo and Yulia beat Michal and Joanna!

Riccardo and Yulia end up on top!!!

As I had predicted....results confirm that Franco Formica and Olga Muller-Omelchenko finished outside of the finals at the International Championships 2012. They 16th! For me that is absolutely shocking! Franco is undoubtedly one of the best eligible men on the dance floor and I am pretty sure he would be disappointed with this result. I will keep everyone updated on the status of their partnership, but with this result, I am predicting that they will part ways soon. With Olga's age, I can't foresee this partnership even lasting beyond another 2 years.

It seems that Oxana and Franco did the best paired up together...as Ilia and her also placed in the top 32nd. I was very sad with the end of that partnership 

I truly hope that Franco continues to compete nonetheless. I can see he is at his prime and with the right partner he will undoubtedly make the final again!

On other surprising note Riccardo and Yulia beat Michal and Joanna and finished in 1st place! I prefer the direction of Riccardo and Yulia, as I think they put more emphasis on the artistry of dance and are softer in their lines. I think the result is a fair one.

It seems that Maurzio and Andra are starting to consistently beat Andrej Skufca and Melinda as Maurizo and Andra finished in 4th and Andrej and Melinda finished in 5th. I have a feeling Andrej and Melinda will also be somewhat disappointing with that result.

I am very happy that Stefano Di Filippo & Dariya Chesnokova placed 6th overall! Very strong result for the pair and I have a feeling that in a few years Stefano will be in the top three. 

So it looks like age is starting to matter in the Professional ranks of dancesport. Olga's technique just cannot compete with girls half her age. From videos I have watched, it also looks like age is catching up with Andrej Skufca and perhaps this is why he was beaten by Maurizio and Andra (Andra is very young!). 

So what does everyone think? I think the results show a huge shake up in the rankings and age is definitely starting to matter. Though when I see Bryan Watson performing now, he is still amazing!! 

Are Franco Formica and Olga Muller in trouble?

Finally videos of Franco Formica and Olga Muller are up! Watching them...I have to wonder if this pair is in trouble.

The pair will be competing tomorrow at the International Championships...so I can't wait to post the results!

Here is their rumba:




The Youtube comments have not been very positive. There have been many remarks that her age has limited her flexibility and that Olga is not as good as Oxana was. There have also been people saying it looks very pro-am...with Franco being the Pro! I have to say I do prefer Oxana, as I think her technique allowed Franco to be more creative with the choreography. I found their choreography less dynamic and interesting.

To me, this partnership looks reminds me of the one that Slavik had with Hanna. I think Olga just hasn't danced for a while and this does show. Her technique is different from the younger girls and when you watch her rumba, you can see she takes smaller steps and her back is less flexible. But at 40 her dancing is still quite good.

The only question is whether this pair is good enough to crack the top three in world competitions. My prediction is that this pair will end up in 6th place or the semi-finals. However, given that Melia doesn't have perfect technique, yet her and Sergey are ranked well, maybe Franco and Olga have what it takes!

I absolutely adore Franco and I had hoped this partnership would be dynamic, but I have to say I am a bit disappointed.

Do you guys disagree with my analysis? Let me know!

Other videos:

Samba:


Jive:


Paso:

How ironic...Stefano di Filippo and Dariya Chesnokova dance together

Looks like another one bites the dust for Slavik Kryklyvyy....his partnership with Daria Chesnokva fizzled out and they broke up shortly after. According to Dancesportinfo they broke up in June. 

In some strange twist of fate, Daria will be dancing with Stefano di Filippo. Back in 2009, Slavik had convinced Anna Melnikova to break up with Stefano to dance with him. Now it loos like Slavik's ex girlfriend has left him to dance with Stefano. Daria and Stefano are also a couple in real life!

The dance universe is small indeed!

I am very happy that Stefano is back! He's insanely talented and he could easily make the finals with Daria. I wonder if Stefano will continue to do Dancing with the Stars in Italy...

What do you think will happen with Slavik next? I am now almost 100% sure his competition days are over. I would love to see some dance shows of the classic routines Slavik once did with Karina...he has never found a partnership that could match what he had with her.

Also thanks for all the readers who has emailed me about this! I am so sorry I have been MIA!

WSDF lifts sanctions for participating in "Non-WDSF Events"

Very exciting news! Maybe dancers will finally get the freedom to dance.

WDSF announced yesterday that it would be allow dancers to participate in non-WDSF competitions. They had a General Meeting to resolve this issue. For the past few months, WDSF also allowed Facebook users to discuss this issue.

In the past, dancers such as Stefano di Fillipo and Valentin Chmerkovskiy have spoken out against these restrictions.

So perhaps the Amateur and Professional dance field will be more exciting?

I hope to see all dancers do Blackpool and World Championships next year. That would be definitely make things more interesting for me....

Let me know your thoughts!

Franco Formica and Olga Müller-Omeltchenko are still gong to compete!

I recently found out that the reason that Franco Formica and Olga Müller-Omeltchenko were not at Blackpool was because they have decided to wait a bit longer!

That's definitely a relief for me! Franco is too good/young to retire this early in my opinion!

This was their message:

Dear Facebook Community, Danceworld, Fans and Friends,

...... Olga and me have decided to wait with our first competition and not compete in Blackpool.

We need just a bit more time.

Love
Olga and Franco

Would it be quite the shock if Franco and Olga or Slavik and Daria were to compete at Blackpool and not even make the finals?

The longer they are away, the more likely that is to happen, so I hope I see both couples soon!

Is the partnership between Slavik and Daria over?

I just learned today about the new partnership between Slavik Kryklyvyy and Daria Chesnokova. They will be representing the US.

They were supposed to be at Blackpool competing in the Professional Latin division at Blackpool but they were a no show!

Apparently they had performed at the Sunshine State Dancesport Championships in Miami at the end of April and performed three dances. However although the MC had said they would return to perform more dances, apparently they just left.

A person on Dance Forums says:

they only danced 3 dances and received a standing ovation for Rumba, after doing Cha Cha and Samba......however, in the middle of the 5 dance show, they announced that Slavik and Daria were coming back after a costume change and would be back out (also note that never at any point did Slavik and Daria get a final send off from the MC....they never said anything more about why Daria and Slavik weren't coming back out, everything just ended and I asked a few people why they didn't come back out and you just got kind of a shrug, no explanation....
 It was very strange, even now I never found out what happened, but I kind of felt something happened right in the middle of the show...Then Daria and Slavik are registered for these comps and now the whole partnership is supposedly off...

However, according to their respective Facebook statuses, they are both a romantic couple. 

In my opinion, I think the two most talented guys in in the Pro Latin division are Slavik and Franco! Hopefully we find out what soon whether or not they will be back to compete!

Professional latin results: Michal and Joanna emerge on top!

Blackpool winners: Michal and Joanna 

It was no surprise for me that Michal Malitowski and Joanna Leunis won Blackpool 2012! Congrats to the fabulous couple!

Also congrats to Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagorouitchenko who placed second and Sergey Sourkov and Melia that were third! 

However there were some notable surprises. Where were Franco Formica and Olga? I was surprised they didn't compete. Hopefully that doesn't mean that Franco has decided to retire :S

Also, the Canadian pair, Maurzio Vescovo and Andra Vaidiliate  placed ahead of Andrej Skufca and Melinda Torokgyorgy for all five dances! Normally Andej and Melinda are always ahead!

What do you think of the results?

Will Blackpool ever be the same again?

 Blackpool Latin 2012 winners! 

Neil Jones and Ekaterina Solokova

Photo credit: Peter Suba

Hi everyone,

Sory I have been so inactive lately- life has been crazy!

I have been reading about the Blackpool results and I am eagerly anticipating the Professional Latin results that will be out very soon! I have a feeling that we all know who is probably going to win, but you never know!! I am very excited see how Franco Formica & Olga will do!

But on an interesting note Amateur Latin at Blackpool has really changed due to dance politics. The winners were Neil Jones and Ekaterina Solokova as expected, but I really miss the time when the top dancers from the World DanceSport Federation could compete as well. I feel that the competition would have been much more exciting with Andrei Zaitsev & Anna Kuzminskaya, Nino Langella & Khrystyna Moshenskaya and Martino Zanibellato & Michelle Abildtrup!

Martino and Michelle did dance at Blackpool last year and were only ranked 4th-perhaps that is also another reason why they chose not to compete this year. I am sure WDF is not happy with dancers that try to also attend the Britisah competitions.

The last amateur Latin Blackpool competition that had all the top dancers was in 2009, when Stefano di Filippo and Anna Melnikova took the crown! In 2010, Alexei Silde and Anna Firstova along with Andrei and Anna didn't go...and then it has gotten worse.

So what does everyone think? Will there be any changes soon to revert back to when dancers could dance at all the coveted competitions?

Exciting news: Franco Formica will be dancing with Olga Müller-Omeltchenko!

Such good news!

Credit: Dancesportinfo.net

So Franco Formica will be competing again with Olga Müller-Omeltchenko! Their first competition with be Blackpool 2012. Here is their new Dancesportinfo profile.

Special thanks to a kind reader who alerted me to this news!

This will certainly be an interesting partnership. Olga has not competed since 2000. She was a former Blackpool finalist with her husband, Ralf Muller. She is definitely a dancer from the golden era of ballroom and I am interested to see how she will fare against some of the younger ladies in the finals. Most professionals retire in their mid 30s; so certainly Franco and Olga will be quite a bit older than the rest. According to Wikipedia. Olga is currently 39 or 40 and I believe that Franco is in his mid 30s (correct me if I am wrong).

Here is a video of Olga dancing with Ralf in 2011. The video was shot pretty far away from the couple, but her dancing still looks pretty good!



Here is Olga in competition with Ralf:




I would definitely appreciate seeing some more traditional approaches to Latin dancing. I like the innovative shapes and styling that dancers such as  Michal and Joanna bring, but sometimes, I wonder if Latin dancesport is going into the "right" direction.

I miss the classical approach to Latin dancing Bryan and Carmen bought to the dance floor, so perhaps Franco and Olga will bring some of this back!

Btw, I l enjoy how Franco choses whoever he would like to dance with regardless of who is the "top" lady. He chose Oxana Lebedew when she was a unknown young talent and now is he going to be with a previously retired dancer.

I do hope that he doesn't make the mistake that Slavik Kryklyvyy did when Slavik picked Hanna Karttunen to dance with him. It was very clear that Hanna and Slavik didn't have much of a connection. In addition, it was also pretty obvious to me that her Latin technique was no longer what it used to be when she was with Paul Killick. I hope Olga still has the technique to compete with ladies such as Joanna and Yulia!

With their first Blackpool competition, I am predicting they will end up in the finals. If not the finals, then at least top 10.

I have always thought that Franco is a very special dancer. I have a feeling that Franco, like Slavik wouldn't be satisfied with any result other than being #1 (hence he split with Oxana, as the pair seemed stuck in a limbo). With dance politics, it will be very difficult for him to get to first place, but I definitely think that Franco's talent makes that a real possibility!

Edita Daniute retires from competitive dancing!

Edita Daniute

Credit: OptimusMorton

Edita Daniute, former amateur ballroom champion and partner of  Mirko Gozzoli has announced that she will be retiring from competitive dancing!

I am not that surprised she has retired as she does have a very young daughter and a husband who is a lawyer. I having a competitive dance career must have been difficult for her family. I think it is hard in general for a woman with a family and children to have a competitive dance career.

This is a portion from her interview with Dancesportinfo in 2010 on competing and having a family.

Edita:  No, it is complicated and difficult I must admit I miss my family and I miss my daughter very much and it is hard but I am getting something that will stay with me for all my life. I have my career and there is a choice. In the 2 years I stayed with my family I missed that very much and I regret that I lost my career. I could be getting old and sitting and crying I could have been this or I could be that but I did not do it or, instead, I can do what is right for my own satisfaction...There is nothing worse in life than someone who is not satisfied with their career. There are people who do not care about their career they even do not want a career and they concentrate on the family but I think for most dancers this is not the case. We are sportsmen, we are competitors and dreams which have not been fulfilled leave us angry and even change your character and therefore I decided to give it a go. It is not easy but I try to spend one week in every month with my family.

She is very beautiful and talented and I loved seeing her dance with her hair down! Wish her best in the future and I hope Mirko finds someone and continues to compete!

Huge surprise....Stefano di Fillipo and Olga Urumova split up!

Wow....just when this super pair was getting so good. I just found out that Stefano di Fillipo and Olga Urumova split up! I am very sad about  this news, but happy to hear that Stefano will be returning onto the dance floor.

Stefano di Fillipo and Olga Urmova at International Championships 2011

Photo credit: Volgyi Attila

The pair was ranked number 5 at Blackpool in 2011. I noticed that although they have technically been dancing for 2 1/2 years, they weren't a pair that consistently competed in every competition, which was probably due to Stefano's hectic dance schedule on the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars, Ballando con le stelle. 

When someone splits up with their partner, it becomes more difficult to move up the ranks in dance competitions. Judges generally mark more established partnerships such as Bryan Watson and Carmen or Joanna Leunis and Michal higher than new couples. It makes sense on one level, as their partnership is not as strong yet, but I think sometimes some newer couples are marked lower because of political reasons.

I wish them both success in their future dance careers. I was truly moved by their performance at the World Superstars Dance, so I will post that again.

Real reason for Franco and Oxana's breakup?

Franco Formica and Oxana

Photo Credit: Thomas Morton 

Earlier I had speculated that Franco and Oxana broke up because Oxana wanted to dance with her husband, Ilia Russo but according to some rumors the actual reason that Franco and Oxana broke up was that Franco was pretty disappointed with their 4th place finish at the World Champions in 2011. It looks like after their breakup in May, Oxana may have convinced her husband to split up with his partner to partner her instead.

I don't know if this is true, but looking at Franco's face after the results of their 4th place finish, he looks very unhappy.  He's definitely not smiling. (7:46)Considering the pair was ranked 3rd in the world and consistently beat Sergey Surkov and Melia in competitions I can see why.

Please note that this is just a rumor, the only people that really know why they split is them, but I am sharing with you guys because I think there may be truth to it.

No surprise here... Ilia Russo and and his wife Oxana Lebedew will dance together!

Looks like we finally may have an idea of as to why former top pair Franco Formica and Oxana Lebedew split up. The rumor is that they had conflict over their 4th place finish at the World Championships in 2011.

Oxana Lebedew will be dancing with her husband, Ilia Russo, who also split with his partner around the same time. I wish the pair good luck in the future.

Ilia and Oxana Russo

I truly hope that Franco, one of my all-time favorite dancers returns to the dance floor. The man is so talented and I adore his dancing.

Someone finally posted some of the good quality videos of World Superstars Dance Festival 2011 on youtube.

Franco looks like he's dancing at WSD like it might be his last time performing there...especially during the samba at the end!

Another memorable performance was Stefano di Fillipo and Olga Urumova's very emotional rumba with Mikee Intron's wondeful live vocals to "Ma Che Ne So"! He sounded amazing live.


What a show! Hopefully one day I will get a chance to see it in person.

Happy New Year everyone!