Issue 2013/06: WDSG 2013 | Shows and Suprises

The much awaited face-off between the winners of the 2013 World Champions in Showdance Latin, Charles-Guillaume Schmitt - Elena Salikhova , FRA, and last years champions, Vladimir Karpov - Mariya Tzaptashvilli, RUS, lived up to everyone’s expectations. And it surprised quite a few experts as well. Particularly the choice of routines by both couples!

After Charles-Guillaume and Elena had won last week’s World Championship in Beijing, CHN, with a routine inspired by the award-winning movie “The Artist,” they chose to dance their old routine – “The Statues” – shown a year ago at the World Championship where he came in second.

“We just felt a little bit better with the old one,” says Charles-Guillaume after the final, “and we found that it matched our current mood to perfection. Maybe ‘The Artist’ was a little bit too cold to be performed here.”

The insiders also expected to see Vladimir Karpov and Mariya Tzaptashvilli with a routine that received raving reviews in Stuttgart, GER, during the recent German Open Championships. But the two opted for an all new show: Ebory and Ivory.

“Our show is based on the concept of duality, of the good and the bad moods within the same person,” Vladimir describes the message that was very well reflected in the attire too.

In the final tally, the Russian couple prevailed and won the first World DanceSport Games gold medal with 43.69 out of the perfect 45. First runners-up were Charles-Guillaume Schmitt - Elena Salikhova, FRA, only 1.01 point behind.  Third place went to Pavel Pasechnik - Marta Arndt, GER, who had finished fourth in the World Championships one week earlier.

Contact the WDSF Communications team in Kaohsiung for rights-free high-resolution photography and for broadcast quality HD video footage of the WDSF World DanceSport Games 2013.

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