Wow just news that Justinas Duknauskas and Anna Melnikova have split!
What a surprise! They were married and both intend to continue with new partners. A
Justinas and Anna at their wedding
All the content in this blog posts are property of Ballroom Dance Gossip.
I am saddened by this and I hope they both continue their respective dance careers. Any thoughts on who they should partner next?
Should Slavik try again with her as a partner? I just watched Ballroom Dancer again and it really did seem like he loved her and then lost her to Justinas. He needs to be gentle with her though and dance with her and not do all the solos he does in a competition.
If Slavik wants to come back, I think that he should dance with Anna or any other amazing girl, but he should lower his expectations a bit initially. I think they could have been in the Top 3 if he had persevered and not been as hard on her. Sometimes winning is about waiting for the couples above you to retire...
Comments are Youtube were always quite critical about this partnership and about the fact that Anna was simply more talented than Justinas. I don't necessarily agree with that that was the reason their partnership failed, as I just think that as a couple, Anna and Justinas' dance styles didn't match that well and it showed in their results.
For instance arguably, in the partnership of Sergey and Melia, Sergey is the better dancer; in the partnership of Yulia and Riccardo, Yulia is the better dancer; and in the partnership of Michal and Joanna, Joanna is the better dancer. However, these couples still shine because the individual styles in the partnership complement each other.
Anna's dancing became more subdued with Justinas, and Justinas is not grounded or intense enough for her in his movements and he seems to make a lot of extra movements. She needs a dancer that brings out her fierceness and is a very masculine figure to her. In her partnership with Justinas she almost became the masculine figure because her style is so different from his. I still like her the best with Stefano, but she was also great and developing well when she was with Slavik. Justinas looked fine with Ekaterina because she's a softer dancer and she does a lot of extra movement as well, so they actually complement each other. Watch the videos to see if you agree with me.
Please comment if you here of any other news!
Slavik and all his solo wwhile dancing with Anna
Slavik holding Anna closely at the end.
Stefano and Anna looking amazing at the World Champions!
Justinas and Ekaterina
Hi, there. Thank you for your extended rant on Anna and Justinas dancing. I beg to differ, though. For me there is no such thing like "Yulia is a better dancer than Riccardo" or Joanna is better than Michael. Sorry, childlish thinking. In ballroom dancing and in latin dancing there are couples not just individuals that are scrutinized. Yulia are a perfect match with Riccardo and they look and perform brilliantly together, wonderful basics, individually tailored choreography and they just flirting with each other while dancing- and that's the clue. The same went for M@J (sadly enough the couple retired in Blackpool this year). Justinas and Anna are marvelous showcase dancers, Their rutines are stunning. In private they love each other and have a beautiful child. They chose to pursue their carers with different dancing partners just becasde their basics, their rutines in WDC series had been disappointing. Langella would be a perfect match for Anna ( I doubt it personally), as he was brilliant world champion with Moschinska. The couple was incredible in WSDF series. Well, the difference is that WSDF is mostly pro sport oriented federation and WDC is pro artistry oriented one- and that's good ! Moschynska is already dancing with Franco Formica- what a huge surprise. Well, in this world of latin dancing is quite typical to change partners- quite emotional stuff, isn't it ? All in all it looks fantastic for all of us afficionados and admirerers or the greatest dancers in the world. Cheers !
ReplyDeleteanyway... Anna and Slavik make me dream ALWAYS !!! I DON'T KNOW WHY.... but the passion was different.... Anna and Slavik anyway you're always the top for me !!
ReplyDeleteAnna and Slavik, when they dance, they make you believe in true love, passion and Unicorns!
ReplyDelete...and Unicorns!....lol
Delete...and Unicorns!....lol
DeleteYup! It will always be Slavik and Anna! Magical partnership for me....
ReplyDelete