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!
vimeo.com/ondemand/2015gslatinhelsinki
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
The GrandSlam Standard Helsinki held everything that it had promised. It turned into the year’s first gathering of all the best couples. Only four in the top 20 of the World Ranking didn’t make it. It saw pretty much the same semi-finalists and finalists as the last two major competitions of 2014 – the World Standard in Vienna and the GrandSlam Final in Shanghai – and it produced results that were in line with those of the World Championship. The two top finishers, Simone Segatori – Annette Sudol, GER, and Dmitry Zharkov - Olga Kulikova, RUS, came within a few decimal points of outright duplicating their total scores.
Only one ten made it to the scoreboard during the final: it was awarded to Segatori – Sudol for Movement to Music in the Quickstep. That was the dance that could have gone either way as Zharkov – Kulikova were only seven hundredths behind the Germans in the finally tally of points awarded for the four component.
“It’s time to show our emotions and our feelings inside,” said Olga Kulikova just prior to the final. “Everything is already rehearsed before,” said Annette Sudol, "we’re just enjoying the final now.” Are these different words conveying an identical message? We let you be the judge. Watch the two couples as well as the ten others dancing in the semi-final and final of the 2015 GrandSlam Standard Helsinki.
vimeo.com/ondemand/2015gsstandardhelsinki
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 the three medallists (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
Here is the trailer for the 90-minute video-on-demand programme with the full-length semi-final and final of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki plus exclusive interviews. US$ 2.95 for a 30-day streaming period!
Available soon from vimeo.com/ondemand/2015gslatinhelsinki!
Aniello Langella - Vera Bondareva, ITA, dance the Jive in round 2 of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki on 8 March.
Gabriele Goffredo - Anna Matus, MDA, dance the Rumba in round 3 of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki on 8 March.
Armen Tsaturyan - Svetlana Gudyno, RUS, dance the Paso Doble in round 3 of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki on 8 March.
Yury Simachev - Anastasia Klokotova, RUS, dance the Cha Cha Cha in round 3 of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki on 8 March.
Charles-Guillaume Schmitt - Elena Salikhova, FRA, dance the Cha Cha Cha in round 3 of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki on 8 March.
Timur Imametdinov - Nina Bezzubova, GER, dance the Samba in round 3 of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki on 8 March.
Pavel Pasechnik - Marta Arndt, GER, dance the Cha Cha Cha in round 3 of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki on 8 March.
Pavel Pasechnik - Marta Arndt, GER, dance the Cha Cha Cha in round 3 of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki on 8 March.
Gabriele Goffredo - Anna Matus, MDA, dance the Samba in round 3 of the 2015 GrandSlam Latin Helsinki on 8 March.