Carolyn looked at the remainin rounds of Under21 Latin.
STOLEN MOMENTS
OMG, numbers number and numbers… All I see is numbers now when I can actually fall asleep. So I watch the couples during the day, come back to the hotel and write about the couples and when I go to sleep I see the full competitions again. Now that is dancing 24 hours a day. Thank God I am a fanatic on dancing, to be more precise… A TIRED FANATIC and it is only Monday!!!
So her are my STOLEN MOMENTS during the competition, which was amazingly great from the 24 on.
The MUSIC gives off so much inspiration for the couples and the audience. THANK YOU ASHLY.
27 29 32 33 34 36 40 41 43 54 60 61 62 64 68 73 75 77 88 94 99 107 111 121 130 131 135 147 152 156 166 172 179 181 184 194 195 197 199 202 203 204
27 Alex Pritchard and Chloe Hewitt from England
Girl looking a little heavy in the earlier rounds today but still good, dress change (?) was she not in red before? Very British approach compared to the other couples and improved the boy. Clear, clean cut and no risks. I think that is one of the reasons why they won the competition today and the fact that the other couple made a few wrong decisions for the final. AJ does a very nice jump in the air in Paso. Girl's dress in the semi and final was the best for her, thousand times better. Jive, nice and ticky but AJ I find a little too high with his weight. Find the beginning of the Samba very interesting but would like it not to pop up and down too much, if they could keep more ground it would look amazing. They were in my list for the top 3 placings.
29 Artemiy Martynov and Darya Frolova from Russia
Boy does a very nice batucada. Boy is very good at leading and manipulating the lady, but would like him to loosen up his centre more. Girl looking very classy.
32 Michal Bartkiewicz and Natalia Glebocka from Poland
Could work better in the back rocks, not enough movement at the right time and place. In Paso would like to see more shape, as too many times they just do the choreography without giving a clear definition or direction.
33 Nazariy Blagyy and Michelle Kurpas from USA
The boy exaggerates over the top.
34 Silvio Antonio Anselmi and Maryna Starchenko from Italy
Too aggressive approach for my liking, beginning of timing in Samba is ahead of the music
36 Arturs Voicehovics and Albina Gorbachevskaya from Canada
Doing walks and lock from long side to short side. Weight too far back and not using the standing leg but moving legs just shoots forward and struggling to move. Girl has nice legs but needs to learn to use them better. Boy need to learn to control his body, he nearly lost balance on his spins in Rumba.
40 Evgeniy Sveridonov and Angelina Barkova from Russia
Very very good and cool looking. Very striking look and approach, just somethings I feel they do not open enough during the performance and the positioned themselves not always to their advantage.
41 Hong Wei Zheng and Zheng Ya Xin from China
This couple caught my eye principally because of the OVER THE TOP dress. Two black and halo circular feather on her “B SIDE”. It looks so cool when she was walking, as it was very animated but a distraction when she was dancing. Great for a show but not a competition.
43 Jing Dong Shang and Wang Yuan from China
The boy is very good at leading and the girl have very nice feet. Great Paso for such a small couple
54 Pavel Tischenko and Anastasiya Samuylova from Russia
Great approach right from the beginning. The both have so much talent. I would like them to design and explore more their bodies, as they could go from good to amazingly good. Have improved so much. The boy has to control his top line more, pleased to make the semi.
60 Maksim Bodnar and Elyzaveta Vnuchkova from Ukraine
I love their outfits today. Maksym, I really enjoy his dancing, the girl I still find very closed and not extrovert, would love the girl to be more open, she keeps most thing to herself, very introvert. Man has a very clear style and great top line.
61 Vladislav Grigin and Galina Voitenko from Russia
Has potential to be good, but the girls attitude for me is wrong. Looks as if she is having a war with everyone who is near. If looks could kill well she could actually eliminate the whole heat!!!! Dancing has to be a please to who is dancing and for who is watching.
62 Giacomo Ballarin and Lucrezia Lando from Italy
Very elegant couple, the boy could work better through his standing leg, which makes look weak and not solid.
64 Vlad Kvartin and Anna Mária Prokopovicová from USA
Girl trying to do Bob Fosse movements like Anna Melnikova (Sweat Charity). Looks weak, I am sure she does not know where it comes from and has just copied. Not constant enough for me. On and off.
68 Denis Kazakov and Polina Odd from Ukraine
I very much like the boy, got talent even though some times he exaggerates too much.
73 Chaochen Yan and Liu Yutong from China
Lovely promenade runs. Compact and dynamic Paso, well controlled. Beautiful position at the beginning of their choreography. Cool couple. Nice shaped twist turn in Paso
75 Ilya Kashirkin and Sofya Shmukler from Russia
Nice rhythmical carioca's, they has a very fluid hip movement and flexible body. Very mature approach in Paso, great control. Challenging for the final.
77 Sander Daamen and Mélissa Manders from Netherthands
Nice outfits, red stoned waist coat and red dress. Nice energy together but the man has to more grounded as he pops up and down particularly in Cha Cha. Girl needs to do the swivels better in Rumba, she got the idea but missing the technique and concepts to coin them. Careful with one part of the choreography where we could get the wrong message, the girls does a beautiful body wave/ripple but her face finished in the mans crotch, mmmmm?
88 Wei Li and Ting Zhou from China
Really striking outfits in grey, nice strong boy.
94 Vladislav Salnikov and Yulyya Chernysh from Ukraine
Too ahead of the music in Samba locks. Could learn to use his back and centre better, looks stiff in Rumba.
99 Andrey Boldyrev and Anastasiya Fedoseeva from Russia
Great feet when they stay attached on the floor, unfortunately she constantly lifts them up nearly on every step. So un attractive. Boy looks down too much, maybe he has lost something, makes his neck look heavy. Nice and fluid most of the time, but the boy when hitting his lines becomes ridged though his back. Very attracted to the shape of her feet but a detraction of how bad she uses them. In the earlier rounds a very strange situation with their directions in Paso which was rather confusing, they literally done a small square, never going anywhere apart from back tracking themselves. Not very intelligent approach, judges could easily miss them
107 Davide Fabbrico and Alessia Turrini from Italy
Still looking to individual and unbalanced. They are two good dancers but not yet a couple. Paso is not their best dance.
111 Brian Dibnah and Sarah Nolan from New Zealand
Very small boy but surprisingly with a very manly approach. I would like a little more space in the top line at the end of Paso, looks tight and sacrificed
121 Daniil Dozorov and Darya Loginova from Russia
Very expressive girl and very good dancer. I find the boy needs a clearer idea where he is going with his body, I feel as though there has not been enough though into what and who he is doing something, but has talent
130 Yang Yang and Jiaxin Yao from China
Great approach. They have SOUL in their Rumba. The boy keeps a good frame in Paso, the girl gets easily flustered when something goes wrong. Has to be more compact in the Paso during their travelling zig zags.
131 Vito Ottomano and Alessia Altieri from Italy
Exaggerated in approach and the the boy popping up and down in Samba.
135 Alessio Manni and Giulia Antonelli from Italy
Happy to be in the semi. Greatly improved. They had a wonder day today, everything was in the right place and challenging for the final, only when they reached the semi, they looked too relieved and the concentration went, so they lost that sharp edge they had to get there. Pity.
147 Li Mingyang and Jun Lin Liu from China
I love this boy and his masculine approach. Good leading and doing everything a man should do the create the perfect situation for the lady. No, I am not saying it is perfect but, on the right road to being an excellent couple. His shirt is amazing. In the earlier round I though this couple would be in the final. Amazing boy, great control and design at the beginning of his Samba. I have an idea he likes Stefano Di Filippo. Great presentation in all dances. Love the boy in Paso, control and a great body awareness. A lot of power in the Paso, does not look Youth but more Amateur
152 Francesco Garofalo and Magda Strzesnicka from Italy
Francesco is a very good and talented boy but i find the girl is an accessory, a nice accessory, but I prefer that all firs should be saying something important with their dancing. I see only good sufficiency but that is both enough for me at this level. Looking happy to be in the semi, they should be.
156 Anton Lam-Viri and Anastasiya Savinskaya from Russia
An amazing performance from these two talented and beautiful people.They are going to be ICONS one day. Mesmerising performance from the beginning to the end. Challenging for first place and giving every other couple a a hard time rightly so. Great jump from Anton in Paso. They were the only couple who changed in the final who changed for the better and not for the worst. Would have easily placed them first or second.
166 Daniel Hustiuc and Martina Zuccarello from Italy
Having problems with the timing in Samba and the girl looking heavy and not using her feet well at all.
172 Vadim Shvidanenko and Valentina Yakimenko from Ukraine
They look so much like a taller version of Justin and Anna but weaker and less concepts. I find they are dancing not really on form during Blackpool. I really expected more from them but they did not deliver the performance I thought they could do. So what happened?
179 Austin Joson and Nino Dzneladze from USA
Love their entry in to the rolls in Samba. Super girl Nino, she is one of the ONLY girls on the floor, or maybe THE ONLY girl who has good feet and actually uses them in the correct way and talks with them. That is poetry to my soul. So refreshing to see. Boy is a good leader and manipulates the lady well in Rumba. I though from the beginning it would have been a two hours race between them and Anton and Anastasiia. They have charisma and look very free and easy on the floor. I just think they really made a mistake when they changed their outfits for the final. Austin is not a big built boy, and black makes him look solid and strong, which makes him look small and weaker, the girl has a womans body on her and in the black it looked sensual and slimmer but the red dress made her more bigger than she actually is so they gave an unbalanced look about them and I am sure that is one of the reasons they did not win the competition. Pity. Also this couple for me one day will be the new ICONS of the future.
181 Emil Hallberg and Mona Pietilä from Finland
Looking untidy in Samba, it looks all over the place. The word definition is missing in this couple.
184 Oskar Dziedzic and Wiktoria Omyla from Poland
Nice strong Paso. Would like the boy to be more dominant and solid.
194 Przemyslaw Figurski and Natalia Prylowski from Poland
Looks very stressed? not relaxed but having a stiff look. Really trying to find some basic concepts within the 4 dances and I am having problems finding any. If they just calm down and do not exaggerate if might become better.
195 Yun Zhe Li and Ye Xin Yuan from China
Love the dress with the butterflies at the back, nice voltas in Samba. Congratulations to the boy, in the earlier rounds he really used the ART of floor craft and managed to take the lady in the drag potion and move out of the way to find space. Hallelujah, there still could be living this dying art.
197 Ignatiy Malkov and Taisiya Chalbasova from Russia
Great presentation and soft fluid approach.
199 Hao Jiang and Guo Yang from China
Girl could do with less tan, has the Midas look which detracted from the dancing, quite robot look, not good, nice legs and feet but unattractive because of the tan. When she does a sit line tends to keep her legs open, not giving a lady like look.
202 Luke Miller and Laura Robinson from England
Paso for me is his worst dance. In the semi liked very much their entrance to Rumba. I ver much like Laura, I just feel they are for the moment a little unbalanced as a couple, but with maturity and specific work to do, they could improve more and fill up a gap between them. They have greatly improved over the year, but Luke has to work more to have a more solid approach as it is sometimes too loose and flimsy. Thought they were lucky to be in the final. One good thing they have which many couples are missing, freedom of performance but but the inner quality is still missing.
203 Adam Hathazi and Morgana Lakatos-Hayward from Canada
I am normally a fan of this couple but right from the beginning I found them both weaker than normal. It was not their best performance to date. At the International I though they were amazing. The girl tends to keep her weight constantly on the outside edge of he foot which is a distraction for me at this level. Nice stationary Samba walks. What really disturbed me to day was their approach and the bad attitude from the girl all the war through the rounds. And I think that this is the reason they did not win today. On episode, in the 48 when Anton and Anastasiia were already standing in positioned on the floor on the short side, Adam and Morgana just walked up and stood literally beside Anton cutting off space and blocked them. Now, what is the point of that? Intimidating a couple only screws up your own dancing. WOW, not very competitive. It does not finish there, also in the final they dance into a couple in Rumba, as if in the final at Blackpool there is not enough space for 6 couples to dance. They could have just easily move away. Last but not least, why did Morgana have to push the American girl in the Jive final? Just for that gesture I would have immediately given a 6th place. True champions do not need to do this at all. Hope I never see them doing it again. One final comment they really made a mistake by changing the dress, they looked amazing groomed before and screwed it up when they change the outfits to white which made them look weaker.
204 Gabriele Crocicchia and Simona Danese from Italy
Far too much energy, falling around in Paso, why?
GENERAL THOUGHTS AND NOTES
WHY WHY WHY OMG WHY... Question: do the hotels have mirrors in the rooms here in Blackpool? As there are so many couple with bad streaky dirty make up, and over shiny lacquered, gelled hair, and I am only talking about the men and the competition has only just started, just think when the couples pass the various round and trying to correct the uncorrectable?! A NIGHTMARE! Now lets go on and talk about the tanning... Can someone maybe publish a manual with the instructions on how to put tan on the body correctly without looking as if they have not washed for years, and without it going streaky! And another thing, both boys and girls REMEMBER TO WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER THE APPLICATION OF THE TAN. The palms of your hands should not be DARKER (black) than the rest of your body.
DIRECTIONS and FLOORCRAFT... lets talk about it again. The couple have to be educated on getting around the floor, i will repeat GETTING AROUND the floor and NOT going against the line of dance, cutting in front of other couples and basically having respect for others and yourself. The thing is, and I am not defending the couples, but, if they do not know how to be educated humanly on the floor, well then who ever is teaching or coaching may probably not be giving out his information. SO PLEASE PLEASE and PLEASE all couple should learn how to get around the floor with ease and learn to avoid other couples and under no circumstances hit, punch or kick other couples, it is not sportive and it is certainly NOT CIVIL.
Last but not least, it was very nice to see many couples from the WDSF here competing and standing up for their rights that they CAN DANCE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. FREEDOM TO DANCE!!!!!!
Happy dancing
Carolyn Smith
P.S. will try to get some sleep, hopefully.
The views and opinions expressed above are those of Carolyn Smith and do not necessarily reflect the views of dancesportinfo
