Heart of America 24

Leaving the hot San Antonio weather we navigated to rainy Kansas City for the Heart of America Dancesport Championships.

The venue nicely rested across from the National WWII Museum/Memorial and the Union Station, as well as the Pierpont’s at Union Station – a women owned fine dining establishment, for all the steak lovers.

The welcoming energy of the organizers, made everyone feel like home as the event commenced with its Rhythm day, followed by the Hot Summer Nights nightclub. It’s wonderful witnessing the growth of the nightclub participation, as not only the top guns in attendance join the party.

The Pro-am events were great throughout the weekend, especially American Smooth, with some fantastic semifinals.

Of course the highlight of the weekend was the Saturday night with all the Open Professional and Cabaret events.

The Professional Latin had four couples present. First and second place was tightly contested between overall winners – Dmitrii Chopenko and Valeria Khrapak (22111) and the runners up Evgeny Likhachev and Maria Levina, who had a great start yet lost their energy along the way (11222). Third in all dances went to Nazar Zakharchenko and Anastasiia Rozdabara. Fourth – Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Rachel Sayotovich.

The Ballroom was the smallest with just two couples in attendance. Winning all dances were Nazar Batih and Mariko Cantley, leaving second for Jaren Hopkin and Enxhi Fundo. Both couples danced with good energy, producing a lovely performance.

The Smooth was a semifinal with six couples recalled to the final. The easy winners were Travis and Jamie Tuft. Second went to Lukas Spisak and Eva Tibenska, with a lovely performance. These two have really found the style that suits them. Alexandru and Stephanie Munteanu were third, losing only V. Waltz to Dmytro Pohybil and Alona Kushnir, who were also the winners of the Rising Star Smooth the night before. Solid fifth went to Oleksandr Kremenchutskyi and Alexandra Babenko. Her new look was very striking and kept catching one’s attention, even at times taking away from the dancing. Completing this final were Joseph Lettig and Madalina Varlam Lettig. These two had shown much improvement in the recent
months, but on the given night it wasn’t their best performance, looking almost too tight and not finishing actions.

The Rhythm was another great event. The winners with perfect score were Andrew Escolme and Asta Sigvaldadottir. These two were on fire, playful and simply on, definitely stealing the hearts of the Kansas City audience. Solid second went to Shane and Shannon Jensen, losing only a couple of second place marks in each dance from Michael Mead and Ray Rivers. Third in this final went to Mateusz Dorot and Maysen Wilder – a beautifully groomed couple, catching one’s eye; however, they need to work on their partnership skills and balance, as Maysen looked off her feet way too often for a couple of their level. Alexey Smirnov and Daria Smirnova from Florida took fourth. Their marks were all over the place, from second through sixth. Joseph Lettig and Madalina Varlam Lettig were fifth. These two had a much better night, especially in Rhythm and could have placed higher. Jai and Brittany Knighton were sixth with Anthony Kantin and Olivia Card completing this final.

The Cabaret originally had nine couples, but after a few cancellations turned out to be a six-couple event, with performances for all preferences, from sensual to dark, etherial to Broadway entertainment. The winners were Shane and Shannon, whose performance looked seamless and absolutely effortless on the given night. Second went to Anthony Kantin and Olivia Card with a beautiful and well executed number. Nazar Batih and Mariko Candley received a well deserving third for their entertaining Caberet number – “Money makes the world go round.”The Rest of the final was a follows: forth – Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Rachel Sayotovich, fifth – Alexey Smirnov and Daria Smirnova, sixth – Jaren Hopkin and Enxhi Fundo.

We must acknowledge the audience in this city who were absolutely incredible. They cheered the dancers, felt with them, and partook in their journey, which made such a difference for the couples. Their energy fed the dancers and vice versa and through this reaction, a magical environment was created for a few minutes of each performance. Also a very special and unexpected event of the evening was the social dancing throughout the entire evening session. As competitors and judges we often forget that our pure love of dance takes a second to marks and competition. The Hudson’s with their warm and friendly personalities made sure we all enjoyed countless social dancing during the evening with a ballroom packed with people in ballroom hold or tighter embraces with nothing but smiles on their faces. A perfect touch to a wonderful event! Congratulations to Eric and Michelle on a fantastic year and much success for the future!