Koper (SLO) hosts a three-day event which kicks off on Thursday with a fantastic WDSF World Open New Series Latin and several WDSF Open competitions.
The anticipated highlight of the event, however, takes place on Friday as the 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Master Class II Standard and Latin, and WDSF PD Super GrandPrix Latin steal the spotlight together with WDSF International Open Standard. A good number of couples have registered for the competitions in Koper, including many of the reigning World and European Champions (in photos) and their runners-up, making it an event of high quality.
The Palace of Sports in Kharkiv (UKR) will rock all weekend as our associate member the World Rock’n’Roll Confederation (WRRC) hosts a 2019 WRRC European Championship Rock’n’Roll Formations Juniors, Girls and Ladies on Sunday, and a World Cup Rock’n’Roll for Children, Juveniles, Juniors and Main Class Contact Style on Saturday. 14 Girls Formations, 11 Juniors Formations and seven Ladies Formations have registered for the European Championships, including the two reigning European Champions representing Hungary; Szupergirls in Ladies, and Party Team in Girls.
WDSF International Open events take place in Moscow (RUS), Kistelek (HUN), Jelenia Góra (POL) and Bertrange (LUX). Frauenfeld (SUI) hosts a WDSF Open event on Saturday at the ultramodern Army Sports Hall Auenfeld. The Swiss National Championships will be organised next day, and it means all of the Swiss elite will have a perfect chance to warm-up and finalize their routines with their European peers at the WDSF Open competitions.
The 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Master Class II highlighted the weekend in Koper (SLO). There’s a separate report of the Championships on the Professional Division news section. The World Championship titles were delivered to Carlo Righero - Manuela Traversi (ITA) in Standard and to Andrea Leandri - Maria Cristina Trevisiol (ITA) in Latin.
Other events in Koper have also been reported earlier. Gabriele Goffredo – Anna Matus (MDA) continued to reign the WDSF PD Super GrandPrix Latin. The World Champions Armen Tsaturyan – Svetlana Gudyno (RUS) dominated the WDSF World Open New Series, and Francesco Galuppo – Debora Pacini (ITA) took home the gold medals for WDSF International Open Standard. The European Youth Ten Dance Champions from last week, Vladislav Untu – Polina Baryshnikova (MDA) worked hard and gained success in Koper. They won the both WDSF Youth Open competitions, ranked 9th at WDSF World Open Latin and 8th at WDSF International Open Standard.
Kharkiv (UKR) hosted the 2019 WRRC European Championship Rock’n’Roll Formations. Sparta (UKR) impressed the adjudicator panel with their energetic performance and won the European title in Juniors. The Girls and Ladies titles went to Hungary, as just like last year Party Team won the title in Girls Formations and The Szupergirls won the title in Ladies Formations. The event had a spectacular atmosphere and the Formations raised the roof with their energy and good spirit!
Moscow (RUS) hosted a spectacular WDSF International Open Standard and Latin. Artur Balandin – Anna Salita (GER) won the Saturday’s Latin competition, which had a good number of 83 couples on the starting list. Evgeny Moshenin – Dana Spitsyna (RUS) dominated the Standard competition with 75 couples on Sunday.
Kistelek (HUN) hosted WDSF International Open Latin on Saturday. Miha Zerjav – Laura Karcagi (HUN) took the win over the 37 participating couples. Georgy Kalashnikov – Domile Semeskeviciute (LTU) won the WDSF International Open Standard on Sunday.
The winners in WDSF International Open Latin in Jelenia Góra (POL) were Cristian Vanni – Camilla Mola (PHI). Alessio Disca - Luisa Celeste Cardillo (ITA) won the WDSF International Open Standard.
WDSF International Open Latin in Bertrange (LUX) turned out well for Luxembourg’s own Mateusz Kieszek - Ludivine Brangbour, who dominated the final and won all the five dances in front of a supporting home crowd.
Last, but not least, a WDSF Open event was held in Frauenfeld (SUI). Robin Goldmann – Stefani Ruseva (GER) secured the win in WDSF Open Latin, and Volodymyr Kasilov – Yulia Dreier (SUI) took home the gold medals in WDSF Open Standard.
It was a fabulous ending for September, and October begins just as fabulously with three World Championship events: Disco Dance in Belgrade (SRB), Senior I Latin in Ostrava (CZE) and Senior II Standard in Toronto (CAN). Plus a lot more.
Four top couples entered the centre stage at the World Urban Games for a special Latin Sports Presentation between the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the Breaking competitions.
Andrey Gusev – Vera Bondareva (RUS), Andrea Silvestri – Martina Varadi (HUN), Marius-Andrei Balan – Khrystyna Moshenska (GER) and Edgar Marcos Borjas – Alina Nowak (POL) demonstrated four Cha Cha Cha and Samba battles as a showcase.
The panel of three persons; one random member from the audience picked by MC Amjad, Beatrix Lajtai from the Hungarian NMB, and a Youth Olympic Games athlete, B-girl Csepke from Hungary, who participated the competition at WUG, pointed their flags towards the couples they considered the winners of each battle.
The overall experience of the presentation was an eye-captivating and enjoyable breath of fresh air. The selected music consisted of modern remix -type of Latin music, which can be heard on radios and media players around the world.
The Presentation was broadcasted live on the Olympic Channel. Watch it below!
The weekend of four World Championship events starts already on early Friday afternoon in Belgrade (SRB) with 2019 WDSF World Championship Disco Dance. Adult and Youth dance for the World Titles in Solo and Duo categories. 12 adults have registered for the Adult Solo and three duos are competing for the Adult Duo titles while 19 solo dancers and four duos can be found on the preliminary starting list for the two World Championships in Youth.
The World Championship day will be completed with WDSF Open Disco Dance competitions in 16 different categories. The three-day event in Belgrade has also WDSF World Open New Series on the programme, Standard with 60 couples on Saturday and Latin with 68 couples registered on Sunday. All age groups from Junior I to Senior II have WDSF Opens on the weekend schedule.
Ostrava (CZE) hosts the 2019 WDSF World Championship Senior I Latin on Saturday. 85 couples have registered for the Championship, including the World Ranking number ones and the reigning World Champions Georgy Osadchy - Tatiana Nikolaeva (RUS). This couple which has been dancing together since 2018 has won all the competitions since the beginning of their joint career. The second runners-up of last year, Andreas Hoffman – Isabel Krueger (GER) are also starting the competition, as well as Umberto Abbatangelo – Luna Indriolo (ITA), who are currently at the second place on the World Ranking List.
In addition to the World Championship, Ostrava also hosts a WDSF World Open Latin with 75 couples on Saturday and WDSF International Open Standard with 50 couples on Sunday. A live stream from Ostrava can be followed below.
The third WDSF World Championship event of the week will be organised in Toronto (CAN) as the 2019 WDSF World Championship Senior II Standard takes place on Saturday. 81 couples have registered for the Championship including all of the top six on the World Ranking List! The exciting weekend in Toronto will be completed with WDSF Open competitions for several age groups. Toronto is planning to stream the event on their Facebook channel, and we will forward the link here if the stream will be confirmed.
Our associate member, World Rock'n'Roll Confederation (WRRC) hosts 2019 WRRC World Championship Formation Ladies and Girls in Prague (CZE). Only a week ago the two Hungarian Formations, The Szupergirls and Party Team won the European titles. Both Formations are back on the dance floor, together with 31 Ladies Formations and 27 Girls formations. A live stream from Prague can be followed below.
Two WDSF International Open events are happening this weekend: in Kaunas (LTU) and in Bucharest (ROU). The event in Kaunas will be organised for the 25th time, and two full days of DanceSport will fill up the Garliava Sports & Culture Center. In Bucharest the Polyvalent Hall will be filled with both international couples as well as Romanian National Class Championship couples. A live stream from Romania and from Kaunas can be followed below.
The two WDSF Open events of the week take place in Charlotte, North Carolina (USA) and Hanoi (VIE). Charlotte hosts WDSF Open Youth Standard, Latin and Ten Dance as well as Senior I Standard and Smooth, and Senior II Smooth. The event kicks off already on Friday and finishes on Saturday. Hanoi hosts a WDSF Open Youth, Adult and Rising Star Standard and Latin. This event is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Keep an eye on our channels, we have members of the WDSF crew in Belgrade reporting live from Serbia. We are also keeping an eye on the possible live streams, hoping to deliver the information to all of the DanceSport community in good time.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has unanimously decided to grant official recognition to DanceSport Asia Limited (DSA) as the official continental body representing WDSF’s DanceSport Federations in Asia. In his letter, dated 30th September 2019, his Excellency Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, the President of OCA, stated that he and the OCA looked forward to cooperating with DSA in the promotion and development of the beautiful sport of DanceSport.
DanceSport Asia Limited, a newly-constituted and truly representative Asian Continental Federation for DanceSport held its inaugural meeting in Singapore on 25 August 2019. DSA was legally created on July 19th in Singapore as a Company Limited by Guarantee.
At the meeting of August 25th, the DSA Presidium was elected based on a democratic nomination process, with access to secret ballots and the ability of all delegates to speak freely. A true testimony of the DSA’s principle of inclusiveness and broad participation, the DSA Presidium which was elected comprises delegates from 14 different countries and regions representing most of WDSF’s member bodies across Asia.
Since the Singapore General meeting of DSA, the remaining 6 of WDSF’s 20 Asian member bodies requested to join DSA.
As the sole officially recognised body for DanceSport under OCA in Asia, DSA will have opportunities for the inclusion of DanceSport in a range of Games including the Asian Youth Games and the Asian Games. WDSF believes that everyone in DSA will have a strong voice as WDSF’s Asian Continental DanceSport Federation. WDSF and DSA are committed to working hand in hand to promote and develop DanceSport on the Asian Continent.
On behalf of WDSF, the WDSF President Shawn Tay sincerely congratulated DSA President Guochen Yin from China and General Secretary John Fam from Malaysia and all Asian members and delegates involved in achieving this momentous outcome. Mr Tay and WDSF looked forward to working collaboratively with DSA to achieve the best possible governance for DanceSport in Asia to help to develop DanceSport to its fullest potential.
The weekend of four World Championship events started with huge energy on Friday as the 2019 WDSF World Championship Disco Dance was competed in Belgrade (SRB). The day was filled with powerful and energetic music, and dancing which included fast arm movements, jumps and hair-whipping. At the end of the day Belexpocentar cheered as the names of the Champions were announced. The 2019 WDSF World Disco Dance Duo titles went to Ellen Dupon and Manon Galle (BEL) in Youth, and Agnes Holmback-Svensson and Natalie Forsberg (SWE) in Adult.
The exciting prize presentation ceremony continued with announcements of the 2019 WDSF World Disco Dance Solo Champions: Melvin Olofson (SWE) in Youth and Femke Goovaerts (BEL) in Adults. We met Femke some weeks before the event, and you can read about her thoughts and expectations, and her philosophy on Disco Dance here. The winner's interview with her is below.
Ostrava (CZE) hosted the 2019 WDSF World Championship Senior I Latin on Saturday. The World Ranking number ones and the reigning World Champions Georgy Osadchy - Tatiana Nikolaeva (RUS) continued on their golden path, and secured their second World title by winning three of the five dances in the final. The Italians Umberto Abbatangelo - Luna Indriolo had a good day, and by winning two of the five dances in the final they were very close to the World title. This time they were awarded the Silver medals. Gerard Perez Raventos - Eva Krejcirova (ESP) won the Bronze as they were ranked to the third place in all dances.
Toronto (CAN) hosted the 2019 WDSF World Championship Senior II Standard on Saturday. Thorsten Zirm - Sonja Schwarz (GER) won their first World title clearly, by winning all five dances. Just as clear was the ranking for the runners-up, as Canada’s own Horace Fenghua Hu - Agnes Xiaoguang Yuan were ranked second in all dances. Slawek Lukawczyk - Janine-Nicole Desai (ENG) won the Bronze.
Czech Republic hosted also another World title event as the 2019 WRRC World Championship Rock’n’Roll Formations were competed in Prague on Saturday. The Ladies Formation The Szupergirls (HUN) and the Girls Formation Party Team (HUN) continued where they left off after the European Championship a week ago, and took home the 2019 World Championship titles aswell. In World Cup Rock’n’Roll Main Class Free Style the winners were Ivan Kudryashov – Margarita Charkovskaya (RUS). Mary Delatorre – Ophélie Portillo (FRA) won the World Cup in Juniors.
In other, non-title events of the weekend, the WDSF World Open New Series in Belgrade (SRB) winners were Francesco Galuppo – Debora Pacini (ITA) in Standard and Marius-Andrei Balan – Khrystyna Moshenska (GER) in Latin. Konstantin Gorodilov – Dominika Bergmannova (EST) won the WDSF World Open Latin, and Maxim Sitkin - Svetlana Karpova (RUS) won the WDSF International Open Standard in Ostrava (CZE).
The WDSF International Open competitions in Bucharest (ROU) were won by the home couples, as Stefan Grigore – Laura Filipescu (ROU) won Latin, and Rares Cojoc – Andreea Matei (ROU) won the Standard. Erekle Girgvliani - Lele Khutsishvili (GEO) won the WDSF International Open Latin in Kaunas (LTU). Egor Starchenko - Daria Rodina (RUS) won the WDSF Open Standard and Raffaello Brancato - Alexandra Koldan (ITA) won the WDSF Open Latin in Hanoi (VIE). Aliaksandr Rybakou - Madeleine Mravkarov (USA) won the WDSF Youth Open Standard, and Alessandro Scalora - Sofia Ward (USA) won both the WDSF Youth Open Latin and Ten Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina (USA).
One busy weekend behind and another one coming up in a few days, as the 2019 WDSF World Championship Senior III Standard and World Championship U21 Standard will take place in Bilbao (ESP), and the 2019 WDSF European Championship Youth Standard and the 2019 WDSF PD European Championship Standard will take place in Chisinau (MDA). These four title competitions in addition to the WDSF World Open in Elblag (POL) and WDSF International Open in Adana (TUR) will make sure DanceSport will be in the spotlight also this week.
2019 WDSF World Disco Dance Solo Champion Femke Goovaerts (BEL):
cim_5Gnejto|2019 WDSF World Disco Dance Winner - Femke Goovaerts (BEL)
2019 WDSF World Championship Senior III Standard opens the weekend in Bilbao (ESP) on Friday. The reigning World Champions, Moreno Carnelli - Michela Saggiorato (ITA) will be defending their title against the 171 of their fellow couples representing 23 countries. The huge number of couples will make it another marathon event for these fabulous examples of DanceSport being suitable for all ages, as the first round will be starting at 10 am and the final round is scheduled to start at 21:40 local time.
On Saturday, the 65 couples of under 21 years of age will enter the centre stage at the 2019 WDSF World Championship U21 Standard in Bilbao (ESP). The couples representing 28 countries will be dancing for the World title, which is open as the reigning World Champions Paul Rednic – Roxana Lucaciu (ROU) had their farewells for U21 competitions last year at the World Championship, and they moved on to Adult age group in the beginning of this year.
The 2019 WDSF PD European Championship Standard will continue the row of title events of the week at Chisinau (MDA) on Sunday. The title is open as the 2018 Champions, Donatas Vezelis - Lina Chatkeviciute (LTU) have retired from the competition floors.
As the last, but certainly not least of the title events, there will be the 2019 WDSF European Championship Standard Youth in Chisinau (MDA) on Monday. The successful Moldovans Vladislav Untu – Polina Baryshnikova are chasing for the hat trick, their third European title after winning European Latin and European Ten Dance earlier this year.
Elblag (POL) hosts a three-day event with WDSF World Open Standard on Saturday and WDSF World Open Latin on Sunday. 55 couples have registered for Standard, including the number one couple on the World Ranking List, Evaldas Sodeika – Ieva Zukauskaite (LTU). 51 couples have registered for the Latin on Sunday.
Adana (TUR) hosts a WDSF International Open Latin, WDSF Open Standard, WDSF Youth Open Latin and WDSF Rising Stars Open Latin on Sunday.
There is a lot to look forward to, and we have some members of the WDSF crew on site, which means there will be updates and photos available on our channels later on.
After their successful debut in the Professional Division in Stuttgart, Dmitry Zharkov – Olga Kulikova (RUS) started the 2019 WDSF PD European Championship as the favourites for the title. And, as expected, they dominated the whole competition, earning scores over the magical 39 points in three of the five dances in the final, and won their fourth European title in Chisinau (MDA) on Sunday.
”Well, I danced here first time 18 years ago. And then together with Olga many times. Our students became here in Chisinau many times World and European champions. And finally we get a chance to dance a title competition in this legendary place. And we enjoy a lot and finally also get a title here,” Dmitry wrote soon after the competition on his social media wall, thanking the organisers for a great event and everyone for support.
Nikolay Darin – Natalia Seredina (MDA) won the silver, in front of their home crowd. ”It was so exciting for us to dance here tonight,” Natalia said. ”We had a lot of friends and a lot of pupils, a lot of supporters here. They were very warm to us, so everything was fantastic,” Nikolay continued.
Andrey Motyl – Ekaterina Kim (RUS) ranked third and won their first medals in a title event.
Results: 1. Dmitry Zharkov – Olga Kulikova (RUS) 2. Nikolay Darin – Natalia Seredina (MDA) 3. Andrey Motyl – Ekaterina Kim (RUS) 4. Eros Sciamanna - Anna Angelika Jaglinska (POL) 5. Andres Liiv - Kristin Vaha (EST) 6. Kamil Kedra - Aleksandra Fron (POL)
Congratulations for the Champions, the runners-up and all the finalists!
The next event for these excellent professionals is right around the corner, as the 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Standard will take place already next Saturday in Leipzig (GER).
The week with three WDSF title events started on Friday in Bilbao (ESP) as the 2019 WDSF World Championship Senior III Standard with 160 couples entered the dance floor in the morning. After a long day Moreno Carnelli - Michela Saggiorato (ITA) defended their World title successfully by winning all five dances in the final. Thomas Schmidt - Susanne Schmidt (GER) won the silver medals and Aldo Mazzi - Roberta Pisacane (ITA) took home the bronze medals.
The World Championship events continued the next day with the 2019 WDSF World Championship U21 Standard. 67 couples started the competitition. Again, Italian World Champions were crowned in Bilbao as Marco Bodini - Kristina Charitonovaite (ITA) upgraded their silver medals from last year and won the 2019 World title. Stan Tiberiu-Florin - Grigore Daria (ROU) won the silver medals and Dmitry Chelpanov - Maria Izotova (RUS) won the bronze.
On Monday, the 2019 WDSF European Championship Youth Standard in Chisinau (MDA) had 53 couples representing 31 countries on the starting list. Vladislav Untu - Polina Baryshnikova (MDA) completed their hat trick by winning the title, and making it the third European Championship title for the couple this year. Zicoane Heler Sebastian Alin - Copos Anca (ROU) won the Viennese Waltz in the final, ranked second in other four dances, and won the silver medals. The bronze medals travelled to Russian Federation as Ivan Reshetnikov - Elizaveta Kharinova (RUS) ranked third.
In non-title events hosted by Elblag (POL) and Adana (TUR), Evaldas Sodeika - Ieva Zukauskaite (LTU) continued their strong season by winning the World Open Standard, Anton Aldaev - Natalia Polukhina (RUS) won the World Open Latin, and Alexey Dolgushin - Ksenia Piatakhina (RUS) took home the gold medals of the International Open Latin.
There are only a few days to go until the next title events. Kiev (UKR) hosts the 2019 WDSF World Championship Youth Ten Dance, and Leipzig (GER) hosts the 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Standard. Plus, there's a lot more to look forward to.
The first WDSF New Sports Series event took place in Singapore on August 24th 2019. Some of the top European couples were invited to test the competition format together with the best couples of the Asian continent.
Eight couples qualified for the final, which was danced in a Duel (Battle) format. There were a total of 12 duels in three stages, as each stage had four duels. The seeding in the bracket was based on the semi-final result.
The music length was 2,5 mins / medley of three dances. On the first stage couples danced to Cha Cha Cha/Rumba/Jive or Waltz/Tango/Quickstep. The second stage had Paso Doble/Rumba/Samba or Waltz/Viennese Waltz/Slow Foxtrot and the third stage Samba/Cha Cha Cha/Jive or Tango/Slow Foxtrot/Quickstep.
The final duels were between Marius-Andrei Balan – Khrystyna Moshenska (GER) and Armen Tsaturyan – Svetlana Gudyno (RUS) in Latin, and between Evaldas Sodeika – Ieva Zukauskaite (LTU) and Evgeny Moshenin – Dana Spitsyna (RUS) in Standard.
As the New Sports Series editions in 2019 and 2020 act also as the World Games Qualifying Events, the European couples did not get an official result of the competition. In results, the winners were Yan Bangbang – Du Yujun (CHN) in Latin and Qiu Yuming – Wei Liying (CHN) in Standard.
After the experiences of the first Sports Series event the WDSF Sports Commission prepares some minor adjustments and informs us of the following Sports Series events in a near future.
Here is the resume of the Sports Series Latin. The resume of the Sports Series Standard will follow.
MdJUVAuHK7s|2019 WDSF Sports Series Latin Singapore | Resume
The 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Standard has 44 couples representing 19 countries on the unofficial starting list, including the European Champions crowned just last week, Dmitry Zharkov – Olga Kulikova (RUS), who are pursuing for their fifth World title, the first one as professionals.
Leipzig (GER) hosts the event which has the first round scheduled at 13:30 CET, the quarter final at 20:00 CET, the semifinal at 21:30 CET and the final at 22:30 CET on Saturday. The event will be streamed live on DanceSportTotal: https://wdsf.org/2019-WDSFPD-World-Standard-DST
The 2019 WDSF World Championship Youth Ten Dance has 39 couples on the preliminary starting list, including the reigning World Champions and three-times 2019 European Youth Champions Vladislav Untu – Polina Baryshnikova (MDA) (in photo). The Youth couples will start their journey towards the final at 12:30 CET on Saturday. In addition to the World Championship, WDSF World Open Standard has been scheduled for Saturday and World Open Latin for Sunday. There will live streams from Kyiv (UKR) on both days, see the links below.
Almere (NED) hosts a WDSF World Open event starting already on Friday with WDSF Opens for several age groups. The two WDSF International Open events take place in Prienai (LTU) and Trencin (SVK), which will be streamed live (see below). Hanoi (VIE), Taipei City (TPE) and Prague (CZE) will host WDSF Open events during the weekend.
The FDSARR pilot edition of international Breaking competitions - Russian Open Breaking Championships (ROBC) will be held from Friday to Sunday, and the event will also kick-off the ROC week in Moscow. B-boys, B-girls, Teams, Youth, Kids and Juveniles will fill up the Irina A. Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace for the qualification rounds on Saturday and final rounds on Sunday. Live stream will be provided, see below.
Dmitry Zharkov – Olga Kulikova (RUS) continued to reign convincingly in Leipzig on Saturday. Again they broke all records, as the 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Standard marked them the fifth World title in five years, and the first one in WDSF Professional Division. The outstanding scores over 39.2 points in each dance were awarded to the couple, and the last dance, Quickstep, earned them close to the perfect scores, 39.6 out of maximum 40.
The same trio took over the podium as in the European Championship a week ago. Nikolay Darin – Natalia Seredina (MDA) won the silver medals and Andrey Motyl – Ekaterina Kim (RUS) won the bronze medals. The ambiance both in the spectator stands and on the dance floor kept growing towards the end, and by the look of scores Quickstep turned out to be the best dance for all couples in top three.
Zhao Peng – Wang Qi (CHN) ranked fourth, Eros Sciamanna – Anna Angelika Jaglinska (POL) ranked fifth, and Alessandro Ilarioni – Aurora Sbardella (ITA) ranked sixth.
In Kyiv (UKR), the 2019 WDSF World Championship Youth Ten Dance gave us a glimpse of how another page on the history book is in the making. Vladislav Untu – Polina Baryshnikova (MDA) have won all the three European Youth titles (Standard, Latin, Ten Dance) this year and the couple continued their strong year by winning the World Championship Youth Ten Dance title aswell. With two more World title events to go, the couple is going strongly towards the historical six out of six titles in 2019.
German Pugachev - Ariadna Tishova (RUS) won the silver medals and Karolis Burneikis - Izabele Sekaite (LTU) won the bronze.
In non-title events, the two WDSF World Open Latin winners of the week were Edgar Marcos Borjas – Alina Nowak (POL) in Amsterdam-Almere (NED) and Alexandru Miculescu Ionut – Andra Pacurar (ROU) in Kyiv (UKR). The WDSF World Open Standard winners were Madis Abel - Aleksandra Galkina (EST) in Amsterdam-Almere and Marco Sirocchi - Kilin Dora (ROU) in Kyiv.
The two WDSF International Open Latin winners of the week were Lars Olav Eltervaag - Paraskevi Zygouri (NOR) in Trencin (SVK), and Konstantin Gorodilov - Dominika Bergmannova (EST) in Prienai (LTU). The WDSF International Open Standard winners were Evaldas Sodeika - Ieva Zukauskaite (LTU) in Prienai and Matej Stec - Elena Popova (SVK) in Trencin.
Congratulations to all the winners and finalists, also of the WDSF Open competitions! It is again the start of a GrandSlam week, and this year the World Championship Ten Dance is included in the programme in Moscow (RUS). World Cups in Rock’n’Roll and Boogie Woogie are also taking place on Saturday, which means it will be another busy week in DanceSport!
YmtbCVmF01w|2019 PD WCH STD I ITV Zharkov Kulikova, RUS I Leipzig, GER
People were whispering about Bjorn Bitsch and Ashli Williamson and their possible retirement from the competition floors. We heard the rumours and wanted to set the record straight, and just like always, the couple was more than willing to tell us what’s going on, as they have already answered the same questions to many.
In short, there are two more competitions for Bjorn and Ashli, the 2019 WDSF PD World Championship ShowDance Standard next week in Germany and the 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Ten Dance a week after that in Portugal. These two competitions are the last two with Bjorn and Ashli on the starting list, and the couple will retire from competitions after the PD World Ten Dance on November 9th.
Two-times European Champions and eight times World Champions say goodbye to the heat of active competing, and they do it just like they started their careers, in Ten Dance. For 17 years they have been dancing together, and by finishing the circle with Ten Dance they want to inspire the younger generations to not to feel the need for specializing to one discipline too early in order to have a great career.
We would like to thank Bjorn and Ashli for being so open and sharing this news with us. Although we will be sad to hear them leaving the competition floors, we are not going to say goodbye to them, and we are looking forward to the events in Dresden and Vila Nova de Famalicao!
h3K7Sae28sk|Bitsch - Williamson, DEN | Announcement
The 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Show Dance Standard with 12 couples on the starting list will take place in Dresden (GER) on Saturday. At the same time, the 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Show Dance Latin with 9 couples on the starting list will take place in Usti nad Labem (CZE).
Many innovative choreographies with storytelling through dance and music, and outfits which support the themes of the performances are expected to be seen on Saturday. Emotions inside the stories will vary from happiness to sadness, from hope to despair, and everything in between. The professionals use their experience to bring the stories alive with movement and interpretation of music.
While the couples of the Professional Division represent experience, the third World Championship event, the 2019 WDSF World Championship Junior II Ten Dance represents the young diamonds in the rough. The couples aged 14-15 years old still have a long way to go, and many hours to spend at practice rooms until they reach the same level in technique and expression. A true test of their skills for the 35 nominated couples will take place in Sibiu (ROU) on Saturday.
In addition to the World title events, there are two WDSF World Open New Series events in Zagreb (CRO) and Novo Mesto (SLO), and WDSF Open events in Bologna (ITA), Dnipro (UKR), Krasnogorsk (RUS), Riga (LAT) and St. Petersburg (RUS), making it a fabulous start for November 2019!
And, like always, we will keep an eye on the possible live streams, and add the links here, if we get some confirmed information of the links from the organizers.
Beautiful storylines were performed at the 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Show Dance Latin in Usti nad Labem (CZE) and Show Dance Standard in Dresden (GER). The Professional Division couples shared their ideas and stories for the appreciative spectators, and in the end there could be only one winners.
The 2019 WDSF PD Show Dance Latin World Champions, Alexandr Shmonin - Maria Shmonina (RUS) scored 41.388 and defended their World title successfully by winning the gold medals. Marts Smolko - Tina Bazykina (LAT) won the silver medals and Marco Zingarelli - Ilaria Campana (ITA) won the bronze medals. After the event on Saturday the winning couple announced their retirement from competition floors.
The 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Show Dance Standard gold medals were awarded to Bjorn Bitsch - Ashli Williamson (DEN). With their performance, based on the story of Rocky, they impressed the Adjudicator panel, which awarded them 41.875 points and the World Title. Valentin Lusin - Renata Lusin (GER) ranked the second and Sean Smullen - Aimie Leak (IRE) won the bronze medals.
The third title event of the week, the exciting 2019 WDSF World Championship Junior II Ten Dance took place in Sibiu (ROU). 34 couples started the marathon, and after four rounds Kirill Kurbatov - Alexandra Revel-Muroz (RUS) won their first World Championship title. Vadana Rares Emanuel - Neculae Maria Tea (ROU) won the silver medals and Maxim Zhilenkov - Arina Molochnikova (KAZ) won the bronze.
Congratulations to all the new World Champions, the runners-up and the finalists! And all the best for the future for the fabulous couple Alexandr Shmonin - Maria Shmonina, thank you for the beautiful moments you have shared with us during the years!
Vila Nova de Famalicao (POR) hosts the 2019 WDSF PD World Championship Ten Dance on Saturday. 15 couples have registered, including the reigning World Champions Bjorn Bitsch – Ashli Williamson (DEN), who announced two weeks ago that they will end their long career on competition floors after the Championship. It will be the end of one era, but at the same time gives a chance for new ones to emerge.
The second title event of the week will take place in Warsaw (POL) as the 2019 WDSF European Championship Show Dance Standard with 15 couples and the 2019 WDSF European Championship Show Dance Latin with 17 couples highlight the event. During the weekend Warsaw also hosts WDSF PD Open Standard and WDSF World Open Standard and Latin with many top couples on the starting lists.
The third big event of the week takes place in Genova (ITA) as the WRRC World Cup Boogie Woogie tournament has the last event before the World Cup Final 2019. It is also the last event for the Boogie Woogie couples before the World Championship, which will take place in Moscow (RUS) in two weeks. Genova will be dancing the whole weekend, as the WDSF International Open Standard and Latin, and WDSF PD Open Standard and Latin with many of the current top couples have been scheduled for the same days.
Yerevan in Armenia, and Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and St. Petersburg in Russian Federation host WDSF Open events. Pontault-Combault (FRA) and Szentes (HUN) host WDSF International Open events. The event in Szentes will be live streamed, and we will add the link below as soon as we receive it!
The reigning WDSF PD World Ten Dance Champions ended their successful competition career by winning the World title in an impressive way in front of a huge supporting group from Denmark.
Two weeks ago, at the WDSF World Championship Ten Dance in Moscow (RUS), Bjorn Bitsch – Ashli Williamson (DEN) announced they would retire from competitions after the Vila Nova de Famalicao competition. On Saturday, with two more World titles later (WDSF PD Show Dance Standard a week ago) they said farewell to the competition floors.
They didn’t, however, say farewell to DanceSport, as new challenges and plans have already been made for the future (see the interview below). That means we don’t say goodbye to Bjorn and Ashli, and we are looking forward to hearing from them again in their new roles.
All the best success for the couple, where ever they will be heading from now on, and thank you for demonstrating your passion and beauty, on the inside and outside, on the dance floors around the world. Your successors will have a huge gap to fill in.
Mario Cecinati – Rosario Messina Denaro (ITA) won the silver medals and they repeated their result of last year. The third place and the bronze medals were awarded to Nikolaj Lund – Marta Kocik (DEN), and they also repeated their last year’s result.
The 2019 WDSF European Championship Show Dance Standard and Latin impressed the crowd in Warsaw (POL) during the weekend. 15 couples had prepared a Show Dance Standard number for Saturday. Jacek Jeschke - Hanna Zudziewicz (POL) made the Polish crowd go wild as they won the European title, and brightened the colour of their bronze medals of last year. Matej Stec – Elena Popova (SVK) won the silver and Dmitry Pleshkov – Anastasia Kulbeda (RUS) won the bronze.
On Sunday, 17 couples competed for the WDSF European Championship Show Dance Latin. Marius-Andrei Balan – Khrystyna Moshenska (GER) had their first ever Show Dance Latin Championship, and they impressed not only the Polish crowd but also the Adjudicator panel and they won the European title. Their fellow Germans, Artur Balandin – Anna Salita won the silver medals, and Ilya Beloborodov - Victoria Kochkina (RUS) won the bronze.
In addition to these title events, many more interesting events were held around the Europe. The WDSF World Open winners in Warsaw were Jakub Lipowski – Diandra-Aniela Illes (POL) in Latin and Evaldas Sodeika – Ieva Zukauskaite (LTU) in Standard. Andrey Motyl – Ekaterina Kim (RUS) won the WDSF PD Open Standard in Warsaw.
Armen Tsaturyan – Svetlana Gudyno (RUS) dominated the WDSF International Open Latin in Genova (ITA) and Qiu Yuming – Wei Liying (CHN) did the same in Standard. Nikolay Darin – Natalia Seredina (MDA) won the WDSF PD Open Standard, Gabriele Goffredo – Anna Matus (MDA) secured the win of the WDSF PD Open Latin, and Sondre Olsen Bye – Tatiana Georgiievska (NOR) won the WRRC Boogie Woogie World Cup Main Class in Genova (ITA).
Dusan Grula - Giada Cragnolini (SVK) won the WDSF International Open Standard, and Sutu George - Tereza Florova (CZE) the WDSF International Open Latin in Pontault-Combault (FRA). The winners in Szentes (HUN) were Iliya Dobrev - Ana Mesec (SLO) in WDSF International Open Standard and Hidi Balazs - Kis Violetta (HUN) in Latin.
It was a busy, wonderful week! Congratulations to the winners and the runners-up in each and every event!
This week the DanceSport eyes will be locked in Vienna (AUT) and in Kaunas (LTU). Both locations host the WDSF World Open New Series, and Vienna hosts the anticipated 2019 WDSF World Championship Youth Latin.
k91CV1xr0kY|2019 PD World 10Dance I ITV Bitsch - Williamson, DEN I Vial Nova di Famalicao, Portugal
The three-day event began on Friday with the master classes with some of the world leaders in Breaking, including Intact (UKR), Katsu One (JPN), Abstrak (USA) and Crumbs (USA). More than 80 athletes took part having the opportunity to pump their knowledge with the experienced mentors.
On Saturday, the competitions started with preselection in eight categories. Following the results of the first day, the strongest athletes proceeded to the final stage of the Russian Open Breaking Championships and took part in the final battles on Sunday, along with the invited participants.
The competitions were assessed by an international panel of judges: Abstrak (USA), Crumbs (USA), Intact (UKR), Niek (NED), Katsu One (JPN), Tuff Kid (BEL), Differ (KOR), and as the head judge of the competition Jamal (RUS). DJ Legioner and DJ Smirnoff took care of the beats, and MC Kazak and MC Scream of the speaks.
An impressive list of invited participants starred the event. The 1vs1 battles were starred by Cheerito (RUS), Alkolil (RUS), Bullet from Space (RUS), Zip Rock (RUS), T-Rock (BEL), Shadr (KAZ), Sirop (BLR), Sarah Bee (FRA), Jilou (GER), Ramona (FIN), Tata (RUS), Vavi (RUS), Klara (RUS) and Kastet (RUS). The team battles were attended by FlipStyle Technique (CAN), Fusion MC (KOR), From Down Town (FRA), East Side B-boys (UKR), Illusion of Exist (RUS), OBC (RUS), Predatorz (RUS) and TOP 9 (RUS).
The WDSF Open B-girls competition had 47 B-girls on the starting list. After the battle for gold B-girl Sarah Bee celebrated her victory and B-girl Jilou took second place. Natalia Kilyachikhina (B-girl Kastet) won the bronze.
WDSF Open B-girls 1. Sarah Bee (FRA) 2. Jilou (GER) 3. Kastet (RUS) 4. Art (RUS)
The WDSF Open B-boys competition had 151 participants. The entire podium was taken by the Russian athletes. In the battle for the main prize Ivan Ososkov (B-boy Alkolil) defeated Nazip Minikayev (B-boy Zip Rock). The bronze medalist was Eugene Pervushkin (B-boy Cheerito).
WDSF Open B-boys 1. Alkolil (RUS) 2. Zip Rock (RUS) 3. Cheerito (RUS) 4. PJ (RUS)
The Russian Open Breaking Championships 2019 ended with battles between teams in a five vs five format. Forty teams, including eight invited, took part in this competition. Top 9 (RUS) became the winner by defeating East Side B-boys (UKR). In the battle for bronze, Fusion MC (KOR) won FlipStyle Technique (CAN).
ROBC Crews 5vs5 1. Top 9 (RUS) 2. East Side B-boys (UKR) 3. Fusion MC (KOR) 4. FlipStyle Technique (CAN)
Congratulations to all participants, winners and prize winners on their successful performance at the Russian Open Breaking Championships 2019!
Vienna (AUT) hosts one of the highlights of the DanceSport year, the 2019 WDSF World Championship Youth Latin at Multiversum Schwechat on Saturday. The event in Vienna, which has the 26th consecutive year running, has been highlighted with many championships before, and this year makes no exception. 79 couples have been nominated by the WDSF National Member Bodies to test their skills and to pursue good rankings with their fellow couples, world's best representatives of the Youth age group.
In addition to the World Championship, Vienna also hosts a WDSF World Open New Series with 85 couples in Latin and 82 couples in Standard, and many WDSF Open competitions for all age groups from Juveniles to Senior III.
The second event of the week, in Kaunas, has even longer traditions, as it is one of the oldest DanceSport events in Lithuania. The event is growing very fast and this year the event includes WDSF World Open New Series Standard with 60 couples and WDSF International Open Latin with 52 couples together with 13 other WDSF competitions and many local competitions. Age range varies between 4-5-years old beginners to the most experienced Senior IV couples aged 60+.
All WDSF World Opens granted since the beginning of May 2019 onwards are called WDSF World Open (New Series).
Athletes should know that under this Series the Adjudicators are selected by the Sports Commission. This has been unanimously approved with the intention to minimize the potential risk of manipulation at World Opens which award high ranking points.
Good to Know: the WDSF World Open New Series
1. The Chairperson is appointed by the Sports Commission.
2. For appointment of Adjudicators, organisers can select either of the following options:
a) Organisers provide a list of 20 Adjudicators for the Sports Commission Judges Selection Committee to select 10 Adjudicators to be appointed. If an ideal panel of 10 Adjudicators cannot be formed with this preferred list of Adjudicators from the organiser, the Sports Commission will nominate up to five Adjudicators from outside the list. The other five remaining Adjudicators will still be nominated from the list provided.
b) 10 judges to be selected by the Sports Commission Judges Selection Committee
3. The names of all Adjudicators and the Chairperson must be published on the WDSF website not less than 42 days (6 weeks) prior to the event.
4. For proper management and monitoring, all entries to the World Open must be submitted through the WDSF CRS (Competition Registration System) or through API system which has been approved by the WDSF Technical Committee.
5. The number of participating couples has been reduced to 42 (Youth and Adult) from 10 different countries instead of 48 as a qualification to host subsequent World Opens. Couples competing in WDSF Senior categories can participate but will not be taken into account for the total number of competing couples to qualify for application for a World Open by the NMB.
In the second part of the Series of WDSF Competition Series we will find out about the New Sports Series. Stay tuned!
