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!! 

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!

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!

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!

Last dance of Franco Formica and Oxana Lebedew

Some World Superstars of Dance videos are up and they are enjoyable to watch, even if they are in poor quality.

I was particular touched by the rumba of Franco Formica and Oxana Lebedew, as you can visibly see Franco crying at the end of the routine. I hope Franco returns to the dance floor, because I think he has the best samba, and his dancing is so brilliant!

I think that based on his age, him and Slavik might be headed to retirement, rather than return to the floor with new dance partners? What do you think?

Here is the rumba:

Brand new chacha routine: 


Nobody knows exactly why the pair broke up, but Oxana did recently get married to Ilia Russo, another Latin dancer, who also split up with his partner. Maybe Oxana will end up dancing with her husband?

Hope to see Franco or Oxana on the dance floor soon, they are both brilliant dancers, and I thank them for the five years of excellent dancing!

Franco Formica and Oxana Lebedew split!

 Photo credit: Thomas Morton

According to Dancesportinfo.net, legendary dancer Franco Formica and Oxana Lebedew have split up!

I am shocked, but there were rumours that the pair were involved together privately and that it didn't work out. We can only speculate if that is what led to the split.

Oxana owes much of success to Franco, who started dancing with her when she was only 19. Apparently she was the best dancer in his class, and he came out of retirement and they became part of the top three couples in the world.

Forums say she already has a new partner. If Franco decides to continue to compete, I have no doubt he will find another partner and make it into the professional finals. Him and Maurizio Vescovo have already shown that they can turn any young, relatively inexperienced partner into a super star.


Wish the pair well, hope to see them to both on the dance floor soon.

WDC Latin Championship: Yulia are Riccardo beat Joanna and Michal, Sergey and Melia beat Franco and Oxana and Justinas and Anna debut

 Riccardo and Yulia are now the official champs! 

Photo credit: Thomas Morton 

So the King and Queen of Latin Ballroom are officially Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagorouitchenko.

Riccardo and Yulia beat Michal Malitowski and Joanna Leunis at the WDC World Professional Latin Championship 2011 yesterday.

Michal tweeted " Here we go again. We gave our best as always. Some things we can not control. Thank You for your support. Means the most to us. Love. M&J"

The last competition that Michal and Joanna beat Riccardo and Yulia was the UK Open last January. Riccardo and Yulia beat Joanna and Michal for the first time at WDC World Professional Latin last November.

I am glad that Riccardo and Yulia are they new champs and I think they are more creative Michal and Joanna. I respect them for continuously coming up with new routines and I prefer the fluid nature of Yulia's dancing, over Joanna's more technical, but stiff movements. However, I am sure these two couple are the undisputed top pairs.

I am still curious to see if this will be the same result at Blackpool.

There were some other surprises as Sergey Sourkov and Melia beat Franco Formica and Oxana Lebedew. Personally I think that Franco and Oxana are a much stronger pair and should have been third.

It was also the first competition for Anna Melnikova and Justinas Duknauskas. The pair placed just outside of the finals and were 7th.

So who do you think deserved to be first? 

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.