The fifth and concluding Latin GrandSlam of the World DanceSport Federation has officially finished for the year of 2018, the top Latin WDSF couples will make their way to Shanghai this December for what is known as the GrandSlam Series Final.  Let’s take a look over what has happened here at the Russian Open Championships just yesterday.

This GrandSlam was the major competition that pursued the WDSF World Latin Championship that took place just earlier this month. Armen Tsaturyan and Svetlana Gudyno of Russia became the current World Champions and have come back to take the first place Gold at this GrandSlam on home territory. However, the most nerve-wracking moments of the night came in watching the battle between our Silver and Bronze Medalists of the evening.

Intensity Between Russia & Germany

The final began with the first dance of the Samba being danced as a solo presentation by each of the couples. Andrey Gusev and Vera Bondareva, representing the hosting country of Russia, took on a score of 37.918, beating their competitors Timur Imametdinov and Nina Bezzubova of Germany who had placed with a 37.834. This was a shock to all that witnessed this occurrence, and the anticipation did not end there!

The Rumba followed, danced by all couples together on the dancefloor. The Russian and German couple then scored in a way that had them tied in position for second place with 75.75 points each! The battle was very close all the way throughout the final. As the final solo dance of the Jive was performed, Timur and Nina took the clear second position. You could see on their faces a sigh of relief for their confirmed Silver. Russia took third, followed by Charles-Guillaume Schmitt and Elena Salikhova of France, Andrea Silvestri and Martina Varadi of Hungary in fifth, and Edgar Marcos Borjas with Alina Nowak concluding the final in sixth place.

A Wonderful Achievement in the Semi-Final

The semi-final also packed a punch! Winson Tam and Anastasia Novikova, representing the country of Canada, made their second Latin GrandSlam semi-final of their entire career! Here at the ROC, they became 12^th, making this semi-final with a 0.084 lead ahead of Artem Semerenko and Valeriya Kachalkowith of Kyrgyzstan! A 0.084 lead! Winson and Anastasia’s last GrandSlam semi-final was in Hong Kong in July of last year. They might have very well just began a new streak in advancing their competitive careers. A job well-done.

A Truly Breathtaking GrandSlam

Overall, the arena hosting the 2018 ROC, the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Center in Moscow, Russia, was just miraculous! The arena was breathtaking in both size and presentation. The arrangement of audience placement was very well laid out – on three sides of the dance floor risers where available for the audience members. To fit that amount of dancers, adjudicators, and audience members so effortlessly show true quality in competition organization.

On one of the short sides of the dance floor, the adjudicator panel was placed as well as an orchestra that played live music during the final, accompanied by two singers performing classics of Ballroom Dancing music. Everything came together here at the ROC Latin GrandSlam, from the lighting, dancefloor, orchestra, supportive audience, and, of course, the outstanding dancing that we get to witness.

Out of 242 couples, only one couple can become the Champion couple. The adrenaline that comes from competing in the DanceSport world is a feeling of inexplicable and incomprehensible understanding. There is something about the rush before that first step onto the dancefloor, the support of the audience, the connection with the music and a partner that constitutes dance as something truly out of this world. In their own way, the dancers that we are able to watch share this exact same feeling with us at each of their performances. They are our connection to their beautiful world of DanceSport. A big congratulations to all of the competitors performing for their passion. You are our inspiration.

We now await the results of the Standard GrandSlam here at the Russian Open Championships. Stay tuned as we keep up with the latest news of this intensifying competition!