2015 World Standard

Here is the trailer for the Vimeo programme covering the 2015 World Standard that was danced on 5 December in Vilnius, LTU. From the afternoon of Friday 11 December, the programme will be available at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/2015worldstandard

US$ 3.75 for a 90-day streaming period!

This clip is set to the theme from 'Game Of Thrones' Ballroom Diamonds. From the WDSF Music Partner www.casa-musica.de.

The blog on the 2015 World Standard is about to get archived. I hope we were able to transmit at least some of the emotions that this championship generated along with the outstanding performances on the floor.

In fact, you should have been able to see much of both in the 86 videos and the 300+ photographs already. But the best is still to come on Friday, 11 December, when we release the Vimeo on Demand programme (US$ 3.75 for a 90-day streaming period; pre-order here).

Just like we do, many of the protagonists in Vilnius will fly to China and take up from where they left off on Saturday. The "Showdown in Shanghai," the GrandSlam Final at the Luwan Stadium, will be their last encounter of the year. Follow it on the next blog. And enjoy a LIVE STREAM from the 2015 World Latin Formation in Vienna, AUT, on 12 December!

It was on a fifth of December in 2002 that Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova started dancing together. 13 years later - to the day - they were crowned World Champions Standard in Vilnius, LTU.

It was an emotional moment for the two dancers when they got onto the highest echelon of the podium on Saturday. Even though the scope of the whole thing had not yet fully sunk in then. In the video below we show you part of the interview that we recorded with the couple right after the dance of honour.

Watch the full quarterfinal, semi-final, final plus many other interviews at US$ 3.75 for a 90-day streaming period. Pre-order here!

Uploading of the backlogged clips from rounds two and three to DanceSport Total and the gallery here is in progress and should be completed very soon. New photographs taken by our colleague Helmut Roland during the quarterfinal have been added to the photo gallery above.

Post-production on the Vimeo on Demand programme that features the semi-final and final in full length has also started. The interviews that the dancers gave us before and after the final will provide you with unprecedented insights into the motivation that pushes them and makes them perform at this incredible level. It's a must see. US$ 3.75 for a 90-day streaming period. Pre-order here!

As the members of the WDSF Communications team make their way back from Vilnius they try to wrap up the coverage on yesterday's World Standard. Two new clips were added to the video gallery above, more should follow later this afternoon.

The production of the 90-minute video-on-demand programme starts tomorrow. It will become available on Friday here.

It will contain great backstage footage plus truly remarkable interviews with the protagonists. Plus: the quarterfinal is provided as a bonus feature!

Challengers Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova, RUS, staged the upset over defending World Champions Simone Segatori and Annette Sudol, GER, and claimed the world title after an amazing final.

How much surprise can a DanceSport competition generate, you are asking? We believe even more than just the outcome of a final as the one yesterday. Being perennial champions should be very close to mission impossible in a sport where multiple factors have great influence on how these are determined. And no, it is not the composition of the panel of adjudicators we are referring to! Daily form and other, similar, variables should be reflected in the number of points that each couple is awarded in the four components. Nothing else!

Having said this, it is hard to grasp that the difference in points between winning one day and losing the next could be as much as the margins we have seen in the last two encounters between the two best Standard couples in the world.

We at WDSF Communications are already looking forward to the next match-up: Dmitry and Olga vs. Simone and Annette... The "Showdow in Shanghai" is only one week away. You can be there too ... Our "Live from Shanghai" blog gets launched on Friday 11 December.

Let's keep the surprises coming!

Here is the standing prior to the fifth and last dance of the final in the 2015 World DanceSport Championship Standard. As you can tell: there is an upset in the making.

Defending Champions Simone Segatori and Annette Sudol coming back from almost four points down is an option, but it is remote. Challengers Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova looked very good all day.

We have been at this for quite some time, reporting on major events in DanceSport for a few years already, but we have never seen as much tension built up in the dancers as prior to this World Standard final.

We came across some of the finalists in a backstage area and saw each and every one of them fully absorbed by his or her concentration. While on the other side of the curtain the last round of the World Open was danced: with the new World Champions Gabriele Goffredo and Anna Matus, MDA, on the floor - and the Fire Dance Band producing heaps of decibels.