New Organizer Joins Maryland Team

Report by Keith Todd
Photos by Ryan Kenner Photography
The mother/daughter team of Glenis Dee and Andrea Ringold, were joined at he helm of the Maryland Dancesport by veteran pro-am competitor and industry professional, Blake Kish.  With over 6,000 entries this also coincided with the largest event in the competition’s history.

"Dancing: the vertical expresion of a horizontal desire legalized by music."

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WDSF Final Grand Slam in Shanghai China

Report by Renata Shvarts

Every December for the past 5 years Shanghai graciously hosts the grandest and the most prestigious WDSF event in the world.

"Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor." 

The Final Grand Slam invites the top 12 couples based on their performance scores through the year at the other 5 Grand Slam events.  In 2013 the 5 countries that had the honor of hosting Grand Slam competitions were: Spain, Hong Kong, Germany, Beijing and Moscow.  The biggest difference between Grand Slam events and traditional competitions is the judging system.  Created especially for Grand Slams, this system strives to take subjectivity out of judging. It is modeled after the system used in judging figure skating.  The vision is of course is to perfect it in order to, one day, use it in The Olympic Games.

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Boston Cup Junior II Latin

Report by Bill Sparks

1st place couple Kristers Smite & Sophie Shvartsman - Good Winners. They danced everything quite well with nice chorography, and controlled body actions. I would have liked to see a bit more body dynamics and energy as well as finishing off their movements for an even stronger floor presence.

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DANCE LIFE COACHING
A Column To Help Dancers Journey In Life
By Susan Silva

“COPING WITH STRESS”

As I sit here and write this article, I am once again snowed in and cannot go out or do very much.  I can choose to stress over this, since there are many things I needed to accomplish or just take a deep breath and let the stress go.  As children most of us were happy when snow came, no school and we could play.  But as adults with a busy life, especially in the Ballroom Dance Industry, snow is not good.  For instance this weekend is a competition in Boston, where many people need to travel to, and may not make it because of the weather. 

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“Wow!”  It’s the only word! Wow, is the word to describe Saturday night at this year’s Vegas Open.  Great dancing, great atmosphere, great live music and to top it off, a fabulous party!

Check out the videos of the professionals by clicking our video link on the home page! (SuperShag)