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WDC Vs. WDSF Amateurs

by Laura Fan on 09/03/14

It's an exciting scene and yet a sad situation at the same time out in the ballroom world.

The war among WDC, WDSF and in its own league Blackpool Dance Festival, has gotten to the point that the good old days of all top competitors dancing on the same floor is indeed gone.

This is most unfortunate. Today, I'll dedicate the blog to the amateur scene. I'll name 2 of my favorite couples from the 2 organizations:
Evaldas Sodeika & Ieva from WDSF (currently 3rd place)
Marek Kosaty & Paulina from WDC (currently 1st place)

IMHO, Evaldas & Ieva can anytime outdance the current front runners of WDSF Simone Segatori & Annette and Dmitry Zharkov & Olga. The footage of the recent German Open Final is online & you can judge for yourselves.

Both couples, Evaldas/Ieva & Marek/Polina have the fluid movement with Evaldas & Ieva having the more unique and special body abilities & fluidity and Marek/Polina having the more pure swing/classic movement.

I'd have love to see both couples on the floor going head to head against each, dancing at their best.

This unfortunately is not possible in the current situation between WDC & WDSF. Furthermore, I would even venture to say that it's a sad situation that some of these couples cannot even dance their best or their true abilities & preference in the current organization that they have chosen.

I'd honestly say that about Marek Polina. I have put 4 clips of their dancing for you to view & analyze. Their Waltz & Tango Show Dance Vs. their 2014 WDC German Open competition.
Waltz Show
Tango Show
Waltz Competition
Tango Competition

It's clear to me that they've got their own unique, fluid and dynamic style when they are dancing showcase Vs. in competitions. It's unclear to me why they'd choose to dance differently in competitions as the way they would dance their shows was superb.

Evaldas & Ieva, on the other hand, I've seen their demo in Fabio's lecture and competitions. They danced not only consistently but totally free of inhibitions despite competition pressure. They're just a pure joy to watch.
Waltz Competition
Tango Competition

I know many of my colleagues (both in professional and amateur divsions) and I are quite tired with politics. All of us have invested countless hours and exorbitant amount of money in our dance training. It's time for us to express ourselves on the dance floor the way we prefer, instead of having to dance a certain way (or worse yet combining many ways) to please the judges in hopes of getting "results"!

Comments (2)

1. Anna Samek said on 9/4/14 - 07:25AM

Thank you for bringing up this subject. Could you also tell us more about the differences between Blackpool Festival and WDSF? Is one more "artistic" and the other more "athletic"? One more classical, the other more modern? And if each organization has its own world champion, who is really the champion couple? Do Bizokas/Demidova ever talk to Valeri/Kehlet? :)

2. Laura Fan said on 9/4/14 - 10:31AM

Hi Anna, One could generalize WDSF being athletic & WDC/Blackpool classical. But as you could see the 2 couples I picked from either organizations are both artistic & athletic. However, the approach of Marek/Polina are more classical whereas Evaldas & Ieva are more "modern". WDSF couples also have more unconventional choreography. In order to execute the complex choreography, the body usage & training are different between the 2 organizations. I especially admire Evaldas & Ieva's unique body abilities, the elasticity between the couple without any visible force/tension which I feel still exists a lot among the top WDSF couples (pros or amateurs). In any case, both Marek/Polina, Evaldas/Ieva are of World Champ qualities IMHO. Would be interesting to see all the good couples dance on the same floor again. BTW - Emanuel & Tania danced in Blackpool as recent as 2012 :) I sat next to Mirko Gozzoli in 2013 International Championships, a competition he didn't take part any more.

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1.	Anna Samek said on 9/4/14 - 07:25AM
	Thank you for bringing up this subject. Could you also tell us more about the differences between Blackpool Festival and WDSF? Is one more "artistic" and the other more "athletic"? One more classical, the other more modern? And if each organization has its own world champion, who is really the champion couple? Do Bizokas/Demidova ever talk to Valeri/Kehlet? :)
2.	Laura Fan said on 9/4/14 - 10:31AM
	Hi Anna, One could generalize WDSF being athletic & WDC/Blackpool classical. But as you could see the 2 couples I picked from either organizations are both artistic & athletic. However, the approach of Marek/Polina are more classical whereas Evaldas & Ieva are more "modern". WDSF couples also have more unconventional choreography. In order to execute the complex choreography, the body usage & training are different between the 2 organizations. I especially admire Evaldas & Ieva's unique body abilities, the elasticity between the couple without any visible force/tension which I feel still exists a lot among the top WDSF couples (pros or amateurs). In any case, both Marek/Polina, Evaldas/Ieva are of World Champ qualities IMHO. Would be interesting to see all the good couples dance on the same floor again. BTW - Emanuel & Tania danced in Blackpool as recent as 2012 :) I sat next to Mirko Gozzoli in 2013 International Championships, a competition he didn't take part any more.