2015 WDSF GrandSlam Latin Helsinki

In the recent past, there hardly was another Latin competition as eagerly awaited as the inaugural leg of the 2015 GrandSlam Series in Helsinki, FIN. After two high-profile partnerships were dissolved in the wake of last year’s World Championship in Ostrava, CZE, the international Latin community had started to wonder: “Will they be back? Who with whom, when and where …?"

Aniello Langella and Khrystyna Moshenska – the perennial dominators who won three World and two European titles, plus 14 GrandSlams altogether – decided to go their separate ways. Marius-Andrei Balan and Nina Bezzubova, finalists in all major competitions since 2012, ended their partnership at precisely the same time.

What followed were two months of speculation and two more legs of the 2014 Series: Moscow plus the final showdown in Shanghai. Armen Tsaturyan - Svetlana Gudyno, RUS, who were second in Ostrava, won Moscow but lost the “finalissima” to Gabriele Goffredo - Anna Matus, MDA, just before Christmas.

It was also then that facts started to replace rumours and that three new partnerships were officially announced: Nino Langella with Vera Bondareva for Italy, Khrystyna Moshenska with Marius-Andrei Balan for Germany, and Nina Bezzubova with Timur Imametdinov, also for Germany.

The GrandSlam Latin Helsinki was the first big international outing for two of the new couples. Watch them as they go up against those who held the powers while they were realigning their careers! “For sure, it will be interesting to see the new couples,” said Gabriele Goffredo. “But nothing changes in the end: we need to focus on us.” No surprise that the competition was tighter than ever before!

A 6-camera production with full graphics plus interviews with the protagonists! The 90-minute programme is made up of four parts: the full-length semi-final (1 · no commentary), interviews with the finalists (2), the full-length final (3 · no commentary), the interviews with two of the medallist couples (4).

© 2015 World DanceSport Federation - WDSF | All Rights Reserved
Produced by the WDSF Communications team in collaboration with Videpe Oy and the Finnish DanceSport Federation

Music: Dave Benton and his Perfect Band

WDSF GrandSlam Partner SWAROVSKI crystals.swarovski.com