DAZZLING SPECTACLE AT SOFIA OPEN DANCE FESTIVAL 2019
Ivana Stoyanova
The fifth edition of the Sofia Open Dance Festival 2019 took place, bringing together couples in dance and ballroom dancing from 14 countries. The spectacular performance took place at the Marinela Hotel at the end of October, thanks to the support of MARS ARMOR and the Plamen and Gergana Tashkovi family. The hosts of the event were Ivan Dinev-Ustata and the charming Gergana Doncheva, dressed in a dress by fashion house “Blink” with designer Radoslava Lazarova.
Representatives of England, Wales, Italy, Austria, Germany, Israel, Poland, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Greece, the Republic of Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria competed for the title in Latin American and Standard Ballroom Dances in the World Amateur League. Over 200 couples took part in the festival, which for two days delighted fans of dance art with their original performances.
This year the Sofia Open Dance Festival celebrated its fifth anniversary with a series of events within its program. For the first time in Bulgaria the show program of the event was entrusted to the world superstars of Standard Ballroom Dance - Arūnas Bižokas and Katusha Demidova (USA) - ten times and undefeated world champions for professionals. During the gala evening, the couple presented a special performance in three parts.
The results of the main finals - LAT (Latin American Dance) and CTT (Standard Dance) for amateurs, were determined by a professional panel of judges of the World Dance Council, headed by Robert Belinger. The winners of the Latin American Dance (Amateur) Competition are: 1. Peter Daskalov - Zia James (England) 2. Nikita Bespalov and Antonina Norvatova (Ukraine) 3. Angelo Serena and Natalia Norvatova (Italy) 4. Matheus Sverchok and Magdalena Bandelevich (Poland) 5. Alexander Hodenko and Rositsa Atanasova (Bulgaria) 6. Istvan Novak and Daniela Sabesi (Hungary). In the Standard Dancing (Amateur) category, the following were distinguished: 1. David Kokram and Rosi Ward (England) 2. Nikola Caporuso and Ivanka Georgieva (Italy) 3. Oliver Kurting and Aida Agoli (Austria) 4. Ivan Hristov and Yovita Georgieva (Bulgaria) 5. Flavio Sgaramela and Acri Noemi (Italy) 6. Nicolas Di Tacio and Miriam Calderone (Italy).
A great success for the Bulgarian representatives of the festival is their first ranking in the final in both categories. Dance couple Alexander Hodenko and Rositsa Atanasova (Bulgaria) in the LAT finals and Ivan Hristov and Yovita Georgieva in the STT finals. This edition also had a record number of Bulgarian participants - over 80 dance couples from over 10 cities: Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Haskovo, Stara Zagora and more.
The festival program ended with a workshop on LAT and STT, with the following speakers: world champions for professionals - Arūnas Bizokas and Katusha Demidova.
Photos:
1. Gergana Tashkova together with the host of the event Geri Doncheva.
2. Hosts of the event - Ivan Dinev - Ustata and Geri Doncheva.
3. Moment of the competition.
4. World superstars in standard ballroom dancing - Arunas Bizokas and Katyusha Demidova.
5th - 6th Sofia Open Dance Festival 2019 Awards.
7. - 9. World superstars in Standard Ballroom Dance - Arunas Bizokas and Katyusha Demidova. 10. Prof. Lubomir Stoykov is with the world superstars in standard ballroom dancing - Arunas Bizokas and Katyusha Demidova (USA) and this year's permanent dance champions David Kokram and Rossi Ward (England).
Read: 1298 times © Fashion Lifestyle Magazine, issue 104, December 2019
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