• Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova
• Pro Rhythm Pro Rhythm
•  

The one not in doubt, at least from the judges’ perspective, was the Open Rhythm won by Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova. Nazar & Irina won all dances with a heavy majority of 1st places including perfect 15 first places in cha cha and mambo. Irina sported a new hair design that left us in some doubt, but obviously it did not affect their dancing. Clearly 2nd in all dances were Andre & Natalie Paramonov who we thought had a good night. We thought they might have scored better in some dances. Danus Jaksevicious & Yuki Haragouchi were likewise clear in third place in all dances. These three took most of the top scores in this final. 4th and we thought clearly challenging the top 3 were Igor Ustymovich & Briana Santiago 4,4,4,4T,4. A very good night for this couple. With 5,5,5,6,4, Aaron & Iryna DeSotto were 5th and closing this final in an event that started with a quarter-final were Ivan Dishliev & Marietta Nedyalkova 6,6,6,4T,6.

But if the winner of the rhythm was clear, it was not so in the Ballroom and Latin. Denis Kutepov & Lesya Sinitsa appeared delighted with their win in the Ballroom. They placed 1,2,2,1,2. Neither they, nor any other couple, had a majority of 1st places in any dance. Denis & Lesya offer a musical interpretation of the dances with less emphasis on movement around the floor and this found overall, the most favor from this panel of judges. 2nd tonight went to Iaroslav Bieliel & Lilly Gladiuk 2,1,1,3,3. This was somewhat of an unlucky result for them as they had the most 1st places in the waltz (7, just 1 less than the majority), but they had some judges placing them in the bottom of the final and this cost them the dance. 2 judges in particular showed them little favor; Amanda Reyzin placed them 6th in all dances and they picked up other random 5th and 6th placements. With 3,3,3,2,1, Andrey Begunov & Anna Demidova were 3rd and obviously picked up their share of 1st places in all dances. Interestingly, in the QS every couple in the final received at least 1 first place. Oscar Pedrinelli & Lenka Kovalcikova were 4th 4,4,5,4,4; Igor Mikushov & Ekaterina Romashkina were 5th 5,5,4,5,5 and Stefano DiBrino & Bianca Zubrowska were 6th in all dances, but were placed 1st in all dances by Ron Montez.

• Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova
• Pro Ballroom Pro Ballroom
• Denis Kutepov & Lesya Sinitsa Denis Kutepov & Lesya Sinitsa
• Pro Latin Pro Latin
•  

The Latin was equally contentious. Going in we would have considered Mykhalio Bilopukhov & Anastasia Shchpilina to be the favorites and although they did have the most 1st places in all dances except the rumba, they only managed to win one dance, the cha cha. With 1,2,2,2,2, they placed 2nd overall. So that meant with 2,1,1,1,1, Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova were the winners tonight. Once again this result came about because a few judges were scoring Mykhalio & Anastasia in the lower half of the final while Artur & Anastasia’s scores were more consistently in the top 3. In truth we felt Artur & Anastasia had a very good night and when they are on form this is an exciting couple to watch. Also receiving a high number of 1st places (more than the winners in 3 dances) were Francesco Bertini & Sabrina Manzi who placed 3rd in all dances. As with the runners-up, Francesco & Sabrina’s chances were spoiled by some judges scoring them in the lower half of the final. Andrey Voloshko & Kateryna Kyrylenko were 4th 5,4,4,4,5; Igor Kvashyn & Olga Ginzburg were 5th 4,5,5,5,4 and Tykhon Zhyvkov & Anastasiia Kuzieva were 6th.

• Amateur Ballroom Amateur Ballroom
• Amateur Latin Amateur Latin
•  

We also saw the Open Amateur divisions in Ballroom and Latin tonight and the ballroom brought out a couple of the big guns, perhaps warming up for next week’s US Amateur Championship in Provo, UT. Defending US Champions, Andres & Veronica End were the easy winners losing only 1 first place mark in the whole competition, a 2nd in foxtrot from 15. Second in all dances were Angelo Gaetano & Clarissa Morelli. They received that 1 first place and 2 fourth places, the rest of their scores were all 2nd place. 3rd in all went to Brandon Perry & Gioia Reni; 4th to Robert McShinsky & Peyton Munson 5,4,4,4,4; 5th Jonathan & Hannah Baily 4,5,5,5,5 and 6th to Collin Williams & Ciara McCurdy.

The runners-up in the U/21 Latin from Friday, moved up to the winning spot in the Open Amateur. Giulio Ferrante & Lidia Martinez Espinosa won all dances. 2nd Hai Tran & Stacey Chuang 2,2,2,2,2; 3rd Robert McShinsky & Peyton Munson 3,3,3,3,5; 4th Tyler Adler & Makayla Bezzant 5,4,4,4,3; 5th Max Kalmanovich & Danielle Rayzberg 6,5,5,5,7; 6th Clayton Noyes & Kaila Bradley 7,6,6,6,4; 7th James McShinsky & Chanel Kostich 4,7,7,7,6.

• Open A Smooth Open A Smooth
• Open B Smooth Open B Smooth
• Open C Smooth Open C Smooth
•  

The Pro-Am Open Smooth Global Scholarships that started the night were some of the strongest of the week.

The Open A was taken by Melonie Krumer w/ Max Sinitsa who easily won all 4 dances. 2nd was Susan Sidman w/ Gleb Makarov 2,2,2,3 and 3rd Natalie Crandell w/ Decho Kraev 4,3,4,2.

The Open B was a Rule 11 tie for 1st place that went in favor of Susan Sidman w/ Gleb Makarov 2,1,1,2. This time it was teacher Max Sinitsa this time with Sirinda Sincharoen who took 2nd 1,2,2,1. 3rd place went to Sophia D’Angelo w/ Ilya Reyzin.

Michiko Cantor w/ Evgeny Malko won all dances in the Open C. Sophia w/ Ilya was 2nd this time also in all dances and Sue Eldred w/ Igor Ustymovich was 3rd 4,3,3,3.

• Paul Holmes & Mikal Watkins Paul Holmes & Mikal Watkins
• Paul Holmes & Mark Weiss Paul Holmes & Mark Weiss
•  

The evening ended with a great party in the refurbished Cat House restaurant complete with the “Brent Mills” Band augmented by organizer Mikal Watkins on guitar and organizer Paul Holmes on vocals. Paul was joined on vocals by judge Gary McDonald in an unforgettable rendition of “You Know How I Feel.”

The Judges were “Gangstas!”

Regardless of how the competitors actually felt about there scores, there was no doubt that the judges certainly looked like gangstas last night at Vegas Open!!

• Michael Chapman, Heather Smith, Rufus Dustin & Toni Redpath Michael Chapman, Heather Smith, Rufus Dustin & Toni Redpath
• Denis Rogers, Wayne Eng & Stuart Cole Denis Rogers, Wayne Eng & Stuart Cole
• Toni Redpath & Michael Mead Toni Redpath & Michael Mead
•  

Well that’s because it was gangsta theme night of course!

• Mazen Hamza & Izabella Jundzill Mazen Hamza & Izabella Jundzill
• Pro Smooth Pro Smooth
•  

The gangstas certainly had their work cut out for them in the featured event of the night, the Open Pro Smooth. What a great event!! The night fell to Mazen Hamza & Izabella Jundzill and they won all dances, however, they had the majority of 1st places in waltz & foxtrot only. Taking nothing away from Mazen & Izabella who were superb as always, we thought that the top 3 couples were outstanding and we were not at all surprised that between them they took almost all the available 1st, 2nd and 3rd placements from the judges. With 2,3,2,2, Nick Cheremukhin & Viktorija were the runners-up and we thought they had a better night here than in more recent outings. They received 6 first placements in VW, just 1 less than Mazen & Izabella. Taking 2nd in the tango and 3rd in the other dances were Max Sinitsa & Tatiana Seliversotova who continue to wow the audience. This is a very exciting new partnership, Tatiana, a former 10-Dancer is really coming into her own in this style. Only judge PJ Navarro scored them consistently out of the top 3.

Kyle & Allie Spinder were 4th in all dances, Evgeny Malko & Anna Shabazyan were 5th in all and Jean Paul & Lana Rossi were 6th.

Toni Redpath will have a report on this division for Dance Beat.

• Pro Cabaret Pro Cabaret
• Eduard Sargsyan & Inga Demetryan Eduard Sargsyan & Inga Demetryan
•  

The Pro Cabaret had 7 entries and most were very interesting indeed. We loved the winners, Eduard Sargsyan & Inga Demetryan who showed a delightful mix of balletic toe work and effortless adagio. However, not all the judges felt as we did. They received only 4 of the 9 first places and received 2 fifth places. We must say that the judges were not in agreement on any of their placements tonight in this style. 2nd with a totally different approach were Aaron & Iryna DeSotto, channeling Elvis for a fast-paced rhythm showdance. They received 2 first places for their efforts. 3rd were Ivan Berkovic & Dena Anne Weiner. They did not receive any 1st places but had 6 scores of “3rd or better.” We thought that this was the best we have seen from this duo who are quite inconsistent. Tonight all their high-risk maneuvers worked for them. 4th were Kyle & Allie Spinder with a traditional Theater Arts piece. They had 2 firrst places but also picked up a 6th. 5th were Sai’len Jaeger & Emily Slayter. We have never seen them before. The young man was shirtless and he had every right to be, if you know what we mean! The lift work was unusual and acrobatic but lacked fluidity. Perhaps with more exposure to the ballroom world this couple will be greatly improved. Alejandro & Luceilia Falcon took 6th place and Jonathan Davis & Ekaterina Murray were 7th.

• Stephano DiBrino & Bianka Dubrowska Stephano DiBrino & Bianka Dubrowska
• Pro RS Latin Pro RS Latin
•  

We also had 2 excellent RS pro divisions, both starting with semifinals. Stefano DiBrino &Bianka Zubrovska won 4 of the 5 dances to take the RS Ballroom. Christian Radvan & Kudelko won the VW and took 2nd in the other dances and Youriy Nartov & Sarika Hudson were 3rd in all dances.

In the RS Latin Francesco Bertini & Sabrina Manzi won all 5 dances with strong majorities. Runners-up, Andrey Voloshko & Kateryna Kyrylenko took 2nd in all 5 and Tykhon Zhyvkov & Anastasiia Kuzueva placed 3,4,3,3,4 to take 3rd.

• Amateur Smooth Amateur Smooth
• Senior I Ballroom Senior I Ballroom
• U/21 Latin U/21 Latin
•  

There were several amateur events held tonight also. The Open Smooth was dominated by couples from Utah but produced some very mixed results – perhaps those judges really were gangstas! Take a look at these scores: 1. Nugent/Zenger 1,1,2,4; 2. Williams/Nixon 2,2,3,2; 3. Holden/Ray 4,3,1,1; 5. Podzikowski/Johns 6,5,5,6; 6. Rallison/Hobbs 5,6T,6,5; 7. Ward/Ruffell 7,6T,7,7.

Hans & Ans Stork won the Senior I Ballroom winning all 4 dances. 2nd went to Ian Sharp & Victoria Lawrence 2,2,3,2 and 3rd to David Getchell & Allison Gonzlaez 3,3,2,3. Hans & Ans also won the Senior II with David & Allison moving up to 2nd and Doug Priest & Stephanie Au taking 3rd.

Only 3 couples contested the U/21 Latin and the winners were Dmytry Dmytrenko & Nadia Kireyko.

• Open A Rhythm Open A Rhythm
• Open B Rhythm Open B Rhythm
• Open C Rhythm Open C Rhythm
•  

The pro-ams had a full day of Rhythm and the Global Open Scholarships opened the night session. Sophia D’Angelo w/ Ilya Rezin was certainly on a winning streak taking both the Open B and Open C scholarships and winning all 10 dances. Congratulations!

In the Open A Scholarship Natalie Crandall w/ Decho Kraev was the winner 1,1,1,1,1. 2nd went to Susan Sidman w/ Gleb Makarov 2,2,2,2,2 and 3rd to Marinda James-Heskett w/ Jeremy Pilling 4,3,3,3,3T.

2nd in the Open B went to Susan Sidman w/ Gleb Makarov 2,2,2,2,2 and 3rd to Elena Cormio w/ Edwin Torres 3,4,4,3,3. In the Open C, Lyn Magnesen w/ Vard Margaryan was 2nd 2,2,2,2,2 and Quin Bommelje w/ Misha Vlasov was 3rd 3,3,3,3,3.

 

Throwing a 7 in Vegas!

The Vegas Open Challenge is underway, right here in the entertainment capital of the USA, Las Vegas, NV, and it’s back at the Luxor Resort. Organizers are Mikal Watkins, Maria Hansen & Paul Holmes.

• Lauren LaPointe Lauren LaPointe
• Nightclub Night Nightclub Night
• Nightclub Night Nightclub Night
• Jonathan Roberts, Toni Redpath, Mikal Watkins Jonathan Roberts, Toni Redpath, Mikal Watkins
•  

We had a great start to the competition on Wednesday night. The competition began with the “nightclub session” – something becoming very popular in today’s competitions – but this one had a difference – it actually was in a nightclub! The organizers secured the use of Club LAX, the Luxor Hotel’s famous club. This created a great ambiance and many of the contestants and competitors donned 70’s style gear to really enhance the flavor of the night. What a great way to start the weekend!

Somewhat unusually, the Vegas Open puts on the pro-am international style divisions first and they were all danced throughout Thursday day and night sessions.

• Open A Ballroom Open A Ballroom
• Open B Ballroom Open B Ballroom
• Open C Ballroom Open C Ballroom
•  

It was a great night for professional, Denis Kutepov as his students won both the A & B Open Global Scholarships. Vinnie Miller won all dances in the A taking all dances. 2nd with 2,2,3,2,3 was Irene Lee w/ Iaroslav Bieliel and 3rd went to Susan Sidman w/ Simeon Stoynov 4,3,2,3,2. Julia Zhao was the winner of the B and again won all dances. Jill Bradford w/ Andrea Stefano took all the 2’s and Brynda Insley w/ Martin Reinbold was 3rd, 3,4,3,4,3.

Lisa Lowery, now competing with Peter Perzhu, won the Open C Global Scholarship placing 1,2,1,1,3. As you can see this was a tight competition and infact there were 2 Rule 10 tiebreaks in this final. One of them was between 2nd and 3rd and the decision went to Lisa Liao w/ Iaroslav Bieliel 2,3,2,2,2 and that left 3rd for Sally He w/ Enzo Zappia who nevertheless won 2 dances, 3,1,3,3,1.

• Open B Latin Open B Latin
• Open C Latin Open C Latin
• Open A Latin Open A Latin
•  

In the Latin divisions, Michelle Brecker w/ Igor Ustymovich was the winner in the Open A 1,1,1,1,1T. Melissa Fielding w/ Vartan Zakhariants was 2nd with 3,2,2T,2,1T and Sophia Montanez w/ Daniel Vasco was 3rd 2,3,2T,3,3.

Che w/ Mikulich was the winner in the Open B Latin 1,1,1,3,1. The winner of the rumba, Marotto w/ Oleksiy Lytvyn was 2nd overall 2,2,2,1,3 and Cindy Mishlove w/ Vartan Zakariants was 3rd 3,3,3,2,2.

Rhonda Lynch w/ Stephen McCann won all dances in the Open C Latin. Lynn Magnessen w/ Tykhon Zhyvkov was 2nd 3,2,2,2,2. A strong 10-dancer, Sally Ye w/ Enzo Zappia took the 3rd spot 2,3,3,3,3.

• RS Rhythm RS Rhythm
• RS Smooth RS Smooth
•  

We also saw 2 Professional Rising Star divisions last night both in the American Style. The Rhythm was the larger and was won by Jean Paul & Lana Rossi the current US 9-Dance Champions. They won all dances and had comfortable majorities of 1st places. Equally clear in 2nd spot were Ricardo Papi & Sabina Moretti, 2,2,2,2,2, and Ryan Lockhart and Danelle Newman were 3rd 3,3,3,3,4.

Surprisingly to us, there were only 4 entries in the RS Smooth and the easy winners were Slava & Valeriya Kostaniets – again in all dances. 2nd went to John Campbell and Jackie Brockman, 2,2,2,2 and 3rd to Jason Rivers & Elisa Seja.

• The Mrs Paul Holmes Booth The Mrs Paul Holmes Booth
•  

Those interested in the fashion world got their first glimpse at the new line created by Fuki Holmes and named after her husband and an organizer of the Vegas Open, Paul Holmes. The line is called Mrs Paul Holmes (MPH) and is on display here at the competition and is sponsoring some prizes for the competition.