2016 European Latin

Gabriele Goffredo and Anna Matus, MDA, won their first European title in a spectacular final. Runners-up were Marius-Andrei Balan - Khrystyna Moshenska, GER, who left last year's European Champions, Armen Tsaturyan - Svetlana Gudyno, RUS, narrowly behind them in third place.

Get the 6-camera production in High Definition covering the decisive stages of the 2016 European Latin for US$ 3.75 for a 3-month streaming period! The programme is made up of four parts: the full-length semi-final, interviews with the finalists, the full-length final and interviews with the medallists.

2016 European Latin (available in HD from 18:00 CEST on 15 June 2016).

We have added 200 photographs that Helmut Roland has taken during the 2016 World Senior III Standard last Sunday. To see them, please go to the Gallery! Together with the videos of the finals of the WRRC Acrobatic Rock 'n' Roll Masters Main Class they round up our extensive coverage of some of the events that took place in Rimini, ITA, during this year's edition of Sportdance. Go to the Rock 'n' Roll Masters playlist!

The videos of the semi-final and final of the 2016 World Senior III Standard are on the WDSF YouTube channel together with those of the 2016 European Latin and the World Rock 'n' Roll Confederation events held in Rimini, ITA.

Access the World Senior III STD playlist here.

The European Latin that was danced on Saturday 9 July in Rimini, ITA, is being talked about everywhere. Our YouTube clips of the top couples accrue record number of views and comments.

But the best is still to come. The 90-programme on the decisive stages is currently in post-production and will be released next Friday 15 July through Vimeo on Demand.

Get the 6-camera production in High Definition covering the decisive stages of the 2016 European Latin for US$ 3.75 for a 3-month streaming period! The programme is made up of four parts: the full-length semi-final, interviews with the finalists, the full-length final and interviews with the medallists.

2016 European Latin from DanceSport Total Plus.

Michael Lindner and Beate Lindner, GER, retained the World Champion title they had won for the first time in 2014 in Madrid, ESP, and successfully defended last year in Antwerp, BEL. That's three consecutive wins in Senior III. Add to this another three World Championships that the couple had won previously in Senior II and you end up with one of the best records in all of DanceSport.

What made yesterday's championship stand out was the fact that it was the biggest ever held in any age group: 345 couples entered and danced for 16 hours until the winners were declared. Behind the Lindners in first, two Finnish couples were first and second runners-up: Jouko Leppala - Helja Leppala and Jari Redsven - Anne Redsven. The other three finalists were all Italians. Host country Italy fielded the largest contingent with well over 250 couples.

We will upload videos from the decisive stages of the biggest World Championship ever held in DanceSport after our return from Rimini, most likely tomorrow.

Sportdance is about as diverse an event as one can think of. All week long, different DanceSport disciplines were showcased concurrently in eight pavilions at the Rimini fairgrounds. On the last day, too, classic DanceSport is complemented by another dance style. While the round of 48 is about to start at the World Senior III Standard in the "Tricolore" pavilion, the Boogie Woogie final of the WRRC Masters is only minutes away in "Grige."

Follow it all on the WDSF YouTube channel DanceSport Total!

Since 8 a.m. the 2016 World Senior III Standard is being danced at the pavilion "Tricolore." It is one of the closing acts to Sportdance 2016 together with a Boogie Woogie Master and several other Rock 'n' Roll competitions held in other pavilions.

What can be said of this World Championship already: it is the biggest ever held in all age groups. 345 couples entered in the end (404 were expected). It is 4 p.m. and the couples are dancing round two in 17 heats ... There are six more rounds to go until the champions are crowned just after midnight!

We will be able to show you semi-final and final of this mega-event later tomorrow or Tuesday

Our 2016 European Latin galleries, the one with videos and the one with photos, are starting to fill up. In terms of the still photogaphy, we have uploaded a selection with more than 300 of the best pictures taken by our colleague Helmut Roland. Through his work you can take a closer look at some of the things that made yesterday's championship so memorable. From Anna Matus' coiffure to the stunning dresses worn by the dancers!

When it comes to moving pictures, we should get close to 80 clips that were recorded by Ferran ready for viewing by the end of the afternoon. At the same time, we're recording (and photographing) what's happening right now at the "Tricolore" pavilion: the 2016 World Senior III is currently in round two!

It was a stellar moment for Giacomo Lazzarini and Roberta Benedetti, ITA, when they made their first final in either Adult championship or GrandSlam. Their sixth-place finish in Rimini is the best championship result since they came third in the 2014 World U-21 Latin in Calvià, ESP.

Their surprise success came to the detriment of other couples considered to be more shoo-in finalists by the majority of the experts. Most affected should be Andrea Silvestri - Varadi Martina, HUN. They placed seventh. Below we see them dance their round 2 Samba to "H Comme Hippies" from the Casa musica playlist that is online here!

Armen Tsaturyan - Svetlana Gudyno, RUS, could not revalidate the European Latin title they had won in Aarhus, DEN, in 2015. In the hotly contested final last night they even fell behind runners-up Marius-Andrei Balan - Khrystyna Moshenska, GER, for the first time ever. Nevertheless, when we talked to them immediately after the awards presentation, they expressed to be satisfied with their dancing here in Rimini. "The rest," Armen says, "is not up to us!"

Next time we will see them go up against the couples that placed ahead of them in this European will be in Stuttgart, GER. And as we remember, they won the GrandSlam there last year!

Gabriele Goffredo and Anna Matus, MDA, won their first European title in a spectacular final staged in front of a capacity crowd at the "Tricolore" pavilion of the Rimini fairgrounds. Runners-up were Marius-Andrei Balan - Khrystyna Moshenska, GER, who left last year's European Champions, Armen Tsaturyan - Svetlana Gudyno, RUS, narrowly behind them in third place. It was a final that will be remembered not only for great dancing by all six couples, but also for the high-decibel atmosphere that was generated by the supporters of the couples.

Over the course of today we will continue to upload clips of the earlier rounds to our YouTube channel and this website. The full-length semi-final and final - and great behind-the-scene pieces - will become available next Friday 15 July through Vimeo on Demand. Click here!

"Al vostro segnale scateniamo l'inferno!" That is what the fans of Gabriele Goffredo and Anna Matus are chanting: on your signal, we raise hell! They were the most vocal group of supporters last year in Vienna, AUT, when their couple conquered the world title, they're by far the loudest here.

Is that an omen? Gabriele and Anna came in second to Armen and Svetlana in last year's European Latin in Aarhus, DEN. But since their Vienna win last November they are undefeated.