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!

Congrats JR Martinez and Karina Smirnoff on winning Dancing with the Stars Season 13!

I don't normally watch Dancing with the Stars, but I couldn't help it this season with one of my favorite dancers, Karina Smirnoff and her partner JR Martinez doing so well this season!

JR went into the show with absolutely no dancing training. He was definitely very talented and had I think the most positive attitude.

The finale night was tense, as the pair received a 7 from Len Goodman last night, and were in the bottom two the week before. I also felt they were somewhat underscored in the first few weeks, but I think his talent was so evident that the judges finally started to give him scores he deserved.

Thankfully, they won and now Karina Smirnoff can enjoy her first victory on the show! However, I think this victory means we probably won't be seeing her in the rumored show dances with Slavik Kryklyvyy any time soon.

Congrats again JR and Karina!

Here is my favorite dance from JR and Karina:

Was Michael Malitowski rude or just tired?

I was on Youtube watching some interviews from the Blackpool champions, Michael Malitowski and Joanna Leunis and in this clip Michael abruptly cuts off the interviewer with "done" at 4 minutes and 12 seconds.

So what you guys think? Rude or was he just tired?
On the other hand, Joanna seems very soft-spoken and sweet.