For the first time, team competitions were held at the Vitebsk Snowflake. Belarusians won
The tournament, which took place last weekend in the "Vitebsk" concert hall, featured dancers of various age categories: children, juniors, youth, and seniors. Competitions were held in two programs: European and Latin American, and young couples presented combined programs (standard + Latin).
Outside the window, January snowflakes were waltzing, while passionate rumba and energetic jive ignited the audience. The strongest passions flared up during the performances of couples in the WDSF International Open nomination. "Vitebsk Snowflake" is one of the prestigious competitions of the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), and the results shown by the couples here are included in their world ranking.
– This year, "Vitebsk Snowflake" cannot boast a wide representation of countries, as a large number of tournaments and national selections are taking place these days. However, there is an innovation – we held international team competitions for the first time, similar to relays in athletics, – explained Natalia Tovstashova, the chief organizer and mastermind of the competition.
Each team consisted of four couples from the "Youth" (16-18 years old) and "Youth-2" (up to 21 years old) categories, performing in the European and Latin American programs.
Each team prepared a "showcase." The final result was determined by the sum of several dances, and spectators could see intermediate scores. The Belarusian team was represented by the trainees of coach Andrey Sabansky – the Minsk club "Modern Style." It included couples who successfully competed in the past season at the European and World Championships. They were among the favorites and took first place in the team standings.
The World Ranking tournament also featured young dancers up to 21 years old. These were the brightest couples from Belarus, Poland, Germany, Italy, Georgia, Israel, the Czech Republic, and other countries. The largest number of participants was registered in the "Children" age category, where primarily Vitebsk dancers performed.
By the way, our Formation team from the exemplary ballroom dancing ensemble "Fest," currently the only one in Belarus, participated in the World Championship for the first time. The championship took place on December 1-2 last year in China, and our team was the youngest at the prestigious tournament.
The best result in the current competition was achieved by Vitebsk seniors Alexey Kirillov and Natalia Karpil, who took first place in the European program. Our juniors Sergey Romanenko and Diana Ogrizko became second in the European program and third in the Latin American program. Savelyi Serzhan and Anfisa Karchevskaya also took third place. Vlad Ugolev and Arina Shevchuk, representing "Youth D Class" in Latin, reached the second step of the podium.
For a long time, there were debates about whether ballroom dancing is a sport or an art. Today, it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee, and the word "ballroom" has been removed from tournament names altogether. However, based on the beauty and grace that couples demonstrate on the dance floor, ballroom dancing can certainly be classified as high art.
This was mentioned at the opening of the Vitebsk competition by the chairman of the Belarusian DanceSport Alliance, First Deputy Director of the "Directorate of the II European Games 2019" Fund, Anatoly Kotov.
– In June of this year, our country is hosting the second European Games, which will feature 15 sports, 23 disciplines, with athletes from 50 countries competing. And I am very pleased to announce at "Vitebskaya Snezhinka" that the board of the Belarusian DanceSport Alliance has decided that DanceSport will be included in the cultural program of the II European Games, – emphasized Anatoly Kotov.
"Vitebskaya Snezhinka – 2019" has danced its farewell waltz and scheduled a meeting for next year.