The International 2005
An impression by Peter te Slaa from Amsterdam
One of the highlights on the dancing calendar are the "International
Championships". As always these competitions are danced in The Royal Albert
Hall in London.
Jonathan Wilkins &
Katusha Demidova Travelling to London several questions were on my
mind. One of them was "what will London be like after the bombing of the
underground in July and will there be any effect on the competitions?". Notably
it still had some effect: both London and the atmosphere on the night were
still a bit subdued, but life goes on in London and the wounds are healing.
Regarding the competitions there were far more questions, "Who will win the pro
Ballroom" for fierce battles are fought since the "Open British". William Pino
& Allessandra Bucciarelli have beaten Mirko Gozzoli & Alessia
Betti both in Italy as well as abroad and will Timothy Howson &
Joanne Bolton be able to defend their title. What will happen in the
pro Latin, which couple will come in second (as Bryan Watson & Carmen would
clearly be winning when competing).
Domenico Soale & Gioia Cerasoli
To those who have not been fortunate to watch these competitions I'll explain
the way these championships are danced. On the night there are 4 championships:
both amateur Ballroom and Latin as well as Professional Ballroom and Latin.
There are 4 panels of 18 adjudicators each. Each panel will be adjudicating
every discipline only once and then "move on" to the next discipline in the
following round.
The first competition of the
night is the Amateur Ballroom: 48 couples dance in 3 heats. A few of the
"stars" immediately show some of quality they need on this floor: floor craft. Dominco
Soale and Gioia Cerasoli move around this rather smallish floor with
such a skill to avoid collisions. And still they stand out, presenting
themselves as champions. For some couples the battle has already started, they
made it this far but can they make it to the next round, as only 30 couples
will.
In the Amateur Latin it is clear who will be the winners, the newly crowned
World Champions from Italy, Ricardo Cocchi & Joanne Wilkinson. But
will take Peter Stokkebroe & Kristina Juel-Stokkebroe take revenge
for their result: 5th place in the World Amateur Latin Championships. One of
the couples missing are Klaus Kongsdal & Viktoria Franova, but hey..
they are listed in the pro section of the programme. 
Peter & Kristina Stokkebroe Latin is far more expressive than
Ballroom, but to my opinion some couples are a bit over the top to my opinion.
I feel that a girl should still be "classy" on the floor and not coming across
as "cheap" as a few ladies did, despite their expensive outfits. Unfortunately
this distracts from the great standard of dancing they showed and it may have
cost them the points they needed to get to the next round. Should there be vote
for the classiest Latin lady of the night, to my opinion this title would have
gone to Anastasija Kraitor from Lithuania. Dressed in a black and orange dress,
she was superwoman and still maintained a lot of class. The couple did not make
it to the semi-final, but I think they might in the future.
Andrej Skufca & Katarina Venturini
From the first bars of the professional Waltz, it was clear that the battle for
the title be between Howson-Bolton, Pino-Bucciarelli and Gozzoli-Betti. All 3
couples were in shape, although Timothy Howson showed some stiffness in his
shoulder line due to the tension the couple showed in their overall appearance.
William Pino showed his usual cool and displayed floor craft as only he can.
Just like Soale-Cerasoli the couple Pino-Buciarelli is one of the smaller
couples, but also one of the fastest moving couples on the floor.
From Professional Ballroom it
was on to 1st round Professional Cha Cha: Bryan Watson & Carmen were not
competing, and since both Slavik Kryklyvyy & Karina Smirnoff and Dmitri
Timokihn & Anna Bezikova had split, 3 places in the final were up for
grasp. And even a 4th place since Matthew Cutler & Charlotte Egstrand were
missing. Rumour has it that they also split, but that is just a rumour. The
battle for 1st place would now be done between Michael Malitowski & Joanna
Leunis and Andrej Skufca & Katarina Venturini. Joanna Leunis
came on the floor looking like one of those classic movie stars. She and
Michael have improved tremendously since Blackpool. Their dancing went from
depth to depth, never hurried, never bothered by any other couple.
Matej Krajcer & Iwona Golczak
From round 1 to round 2 and onto the semi-finals, in each discipline battling
grew fierce. Some couples started to do battle in the earlier rounds, whilst
other (the more established) couples increased the intensity of their battle a
bit later, knowing that they can save the best for later.
Compering for the night: mr Bill Irvine M.B.E. presented the Ballroom
competitions in a way that reflects Ballroom dancing: very distinguished.
Whereas Ms Karen Hardy was doing her presenting in a more outgoing way e.g.
"asking" the audience which couple was their favourite and thus reflecting the
expressive nature of Latin American.
At 9 p.m. sharp, it was time for the first semi final of the night, the Amateur
Waltz, immediately followed by the semi final Amateur Cha Cha. From this stage
on, the ballroom and Latin semi-finals and later on, the finals, are danced
alternating. And from that moment on, jive and Viennese waltz are also added to
the competitions. This stage of the competition allows the audience to "study"
the couples a bit more, Matej Kracer & Iwona Golczak showed a more
mature and confident way of dancing than they did in Blackpool; they could be
included in the final.
Tony & Amanda Dokman
In Amateur Ballroom I noticed that the couple representing England, Warren &
Kristi Boyce, bumped into quite a few couples in the earlier rounds.
Since they are ranked among the best couples in the world, I was surprised
about this. Their dancing came across as being on auto pilot, somewhat lacking
their usual aura of pleasure. But still of world class standard.
Semi final Professional Ballroom: battle was done also, but since all of the
usual finalists were present, I felt it would be rather unlikely that one of
them would be toppled. Although it may have been close for some. Somehow Tony
& Amanda Dokman, beautifully groomed in a glamorous dress with long
boa feathered sleeves are not able to make it to that final stage.
Marat Gimaev & Alina Basiouk To me it seems that they lack a bit
of the killer instinct that is shown by Jonathan Crossley. But it can always be
possible for luck to take a turn into Tony & Amanda's direction.
The semi-final pro Latin was the hardest fought semi final of the night: 3
places were "open". Who would make it through? Klaus Kongsdal & Viktoria
Franova joined the professional ranks after their 2nd place in World
Amateur Latin Championships and already a success: they were included in this
stage of the competition and clearly enjoying every step without being bothered
by any stress. Also included was the new partnership of Robin Sewell &
Nicol� Cutler. In the first round Robin showed a bit of stress, but as
the competition progressed, he was clearly feeling at ease and allowing Nicol�
to show what qualities she has. To my opinion a partnership with potential but
not for tonight's final. Also in the semi final were Ian Waite & Camilla
Dallerup, they looked a bit ruffled tonight, clearly not their best
night to my opinion.
Time for the first final of the night: Amateur Waltz. New to this year's final
was the couple from Russia Marat Gimaev & Alina Basyuk.
Warren & Kristi Boyce I guess it
could have been almost any couple among those 14 lucky ones in the semi final.
Although Arunas Bizokas & Edita Daniute must have given the couple
Soale-Cerasoli a good run for their money, it was clear that they would not win
tonight. Maybe due to the collision in the first round, but the couple lacked a
bit of their usual potential and posed no actual threat. Maintaining their
level were the German couple Sacha & Natascha Karabey.They seem to
approach dancing less as an athletic sport and more as an artistic sport, thus
showing softness in Waltz and Foxtrot, while having a crisp tango. With only
six couples on the floor Warren & Kristi Boyce now enjoyed all the
space they needed, and the final was clearly their best round. 
Sacha & Natascha Karabey Another couple enjoying this round
clearly were Paolo Bosco & Silvia Pitton. Clearly improved in all
dances since Blackpool, they showed what their dancing is all about. It may
take some time still, but they will be challenging for top honours in the
future. Clearly winning tonight were Domenico Soale & Gioia Cerasoli, the
smallest but fastest moving couple on the floor. Using every bit of space on
the floor, they showed why they are simply the best. Softness and swiftness
were they are needed, tango as tango should be and their quickstep "fast and
furious".
The second final of the night was the Amateur Latin. 7 couples were included.
Rightfully included in this final were Matej Krajcer & Iwona Golczak.
A long time since Matej made it to the final, but he presented his partner well
and the hard work the couple must have put into their dancing paid off. There
was no doubt that Ricardo Cocchi & Joanne Wilkinson would win.
Battle was done between Peter Stokkebroe & Kristina Juel-Stokkebroe and
the American couple Eugene Katsevman & Maria Manusova. The American
couple as always dressed in black danced with confidence, but it lacked
something on the night. Maybe it was fatigue since they must be the couple
travelling the most as non-European couple.
After these finals it was on to an interesting one: the professional Ballroom.
No real surprises, since it was the same final as in Blackpool. However, having
watched the earlier rounds I wondered if Howson-Bolton would have overcome the
stress their dancing showed.
Eugene Katsevman &
Maria Manusova The answer was a clear "no", still their top was a
bit stiff and they could not produce their usual quality. Gozzoli-Betti were
giving it their best shot, Alessia had changed into a white dress and it gave
their dancing even more depth. This couple always produces softness in their
dancing, something you don't often see in Italian couples and is very enjoyable
to see. Although keeping his usual cool William Pino seemed pushing a bit too
hard. At times it looked like Alessandra was not allowed to completely finish
what she danced. Thus this couple seemed hasty. A pity, for any of these 3
couples could have won this competition.
Christopher Hawkins and Justyna came fifth in this final. To me it
seemed that Justyna was not able to keep up with the speed he dances with. They
are a relative new couple (competing for almost a year now) and in this field
they do quite well.
Christopher & Justyna Hawkins
Last of the finals was the most exciting one of the night: professional Latin.
The title was up for grasps so which couple would take it, Michael Malitowski
& Joanna Leunis or Andrej Skufca & Katarina Venturini?
Michael & Joanna showed confidence as never before and took their dancing
to an even higher level. They never showed any sign of stress, totally relaxed
and very much enjoying themselves. Clearly tonight's winners. First competition
as professionals and first major final: Klaus Kongsdal & Viktoria Franova.
really superb performance and a promise to the future.
The prize presentation showed no real surprise in the Amateur Ballroom. During
the presentation of the Amateur Latin results there was � at least to my
opinion � some element of surprise: the couple representing England came in 4th
and the Danish couple had beaten the Americans. In all, the results were
different from the World Championships.
Maybe the differences between the respective
couples are not that big after all... While Riccardo Cocchi & Joanne
Wilkinson were crowned champion, it was announced that this was their
last amateur competition in England. Effective from January 2006 they turn
professional.
In the Professional Ballroom the places 6, 5 and 4 showed no surprise. And as
number 3 was announced tension mounted in the Hall, would it be, could it be? Timothy
Hawson & Joanne Bolton came in 2nd and Mirko Gozzoli & Allesia
Betti were crowned champions. In a few weeks' time the World
Professional Ballroom Championships will be danced and then the results can be
different.
Riccardo Cocchi &
Joanne Wilkinson
The results of the professional Latin, the places 6 to 3 were as could be
expected. But who would be the winner of this valued title? Announced as
runners up were Andrej Skufca & Katarina Venturini. Understandably a little
disappointed Andrej came onto the floor collecting his prize with Katarina.
Winning the International Championships 2005 were Michael Malitowski &
Joanna Leunis, to my opinion clear winners from the first round.
Michal Malitowski & Joanna Leunis
Another "International Championships" had come to an end and I am already
looking forward to next year's. And a question has already come to mind: will
the Chinese couples be dominating then? In the Amateur Ballroom section I
counted 15 entries from China on a total of 241 couples listed and 11 Chinese
professional Ballroom couples out of a total entry of 115 couples. Let's just
wait and see..... but I feel that in the (near) future China will be a force to
be reckoned with.
The results of the International can be found on
this website.
The photo gallery from then International of more than 2300 photographs by
Peter Suba and Dancesportinfo.
Peter te Slaa (dancingpeter).