The
Imperial Professional Latin American Championships
In
the Winter we had an excellent report on the Imperial
Open to the World Amateur Latin Championships by Marie
Christiansen. Today Jukka Haapalainen gives a great
report on the performance of the finalists in the Imperial
Professional Latin American Championship Open to the
World.
1. Andrej Skufca & Katerina Venturini (Slovenia)
In
the situation where the top spot is vacant and a possibility
for victory is apparent, Andrej and Katerina seemed
to dance under considerable stress and produced an uneven
performance. It may have been difficult to time the
condition perfectly to be able to manage two brilliant
outings within a week with International approaching
and a similar possibility for the highest honour being
a reality. Some things looked rough and uncomfortable.
Usually they are the most consistent couple but tonight
we saw them differently. They placed themselves in corners
and in darkness as if looking for comfort from the proximity
of the audience. During good moments they were still
of the highest level and therefore clear winners of
this championship.
2. Paul Richardson & Olga Rodionova (USA)
Olga
danced with dazzle and confidence, apparently being
provided with the highest level of partnering by Paul,
who is a very trustworthy male partner. They offer a
very consistent physical approach to their performance
but to my taste lack in emotion department with every
dance being delivered with the same level and with high
dose of outwards energy. It may be worth considering
that sometimes the delivery of accentuation is in collection
and holding of the energy rather than in outbursts or
the same.
3. Santi Mandolini & Victoria Martin (Ireland)
This
couple was by far the most improved in this competition.
Victoria has been one of my firm favourites since she
was a juvenile and we are now beginning to see fruition
of her talents in this professional field. Santi had
added a new level of delivery to his approach. He was
very much more versatile both physically and emotionally
and the chemistry between the two was definitely there.
I look forward to their future outings.
4. Maurizio Chigiarelli & Manuela Andracchio (Italy)
This couple danced an energetic competition with consistent
input. They contribute and seem genuinely to be happy
to show their dancing. They are likeable and do not
offend, but need a more personalised approach to each
of the dances. Certain finesse of character in different
rhythms is lacking leaving the whole performance with
the air of monotony.
5. Danny Zhao Liang & Daisy Qu Yahn Fei (China)
Danny and Daisy are one of the young Chinese couples
with so many good things on offer. They both have the
most natural way of movement and a good understanding
of fundamental actions. Uncluttered dancing is married
with inherent sense of charisma and drama. They are
soft, sometimes leaving you wanting to see more bite
and attack, an almost funny thing to say when a lot
of the couples are almost only delivering aggression.
I am confident that with time and maturity this couple
will be entertaining us with many class acts and the
results will follow
6. Igor Volkov & Ella Ivanova (Ukraine)
Ella is a lady dancer of highest calibre with an agile
body and pleasant floor personality and she is partnered
with a man who allows her to sparkle. They are very
easily noticed on the floor and justify their place
in the final.
Jukka
Haapalainen
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