Drum rolls please as we soon introduce the participants of the prestigious WDSF Standard Grand Slam into the arena of the Beethoven Hall of the Kultur & Kongresszentrum Liederhalle. Stuttgart, Germany is the locale that all dancers dream of attending, the place to show off all of the hard work put into the passion and lifestyle that they all believe in, dream, eat, and sleep. It will be a battle like no other.

This Friday, August 10th, 2018, FloDance will be live streaming this fourth leg of the WDSF Standard Grand Slam series. We anticipate much competition and exuberance from this arena, as the entire stadium hall will be packed to take part in experiencing the energy and atmosphere of the top Standard dancers in the world competing at the 32nd year of the German Open Championships! What a spectacle it will be!

Who to Keep Your Eye On

#1 in the World: Dmitry Zharkov & Olga Kulikova

Three time WDSF World Standard Champions, Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova of Russia will make their attendance here at the German Open Standard Grand Slam. First in the WDSF World and Grand Slam Ranking Leaderboards, this couple will be the showstopper of the event. Many Juvenile, Junior, Youth, and Adult dancers look up to these champions for inspiration and motivation to move further in their own personal competitive careers. With Dmitry and Olga in the limelight, this will be one unforgettable evening.

Madis Abel and Aleksandra Galkina (Estonia)

The dangerous duo of Madis Abel and Aleksandra Galkina of Estonia is coming to Stuttgart! Ranked sixth in the World and fourth in the Grand Slam ranking leaderboards, they are one of the youngest couples to be in the finals of most major WDSF competitions in the Standard division. 

While Madis and Aleksandra are only in their early twenties, many dancers reach the final top six closer towards their late or mid-twenties - sometimes even their early thirties. From this perspective, this Estonian couple truly lives up to such high quality attained at such a young age for this industry. They have caught the eye of all those who compete, adjudicate, and witness any WDSF competitions or training events that Madis and Aleksandra attend. To reach such heights at such an early age in the competitive DanceSport arena is truly incredible, and usually very rarely happens. We will make sure to keep our eye out on this fresh, young couple and see how they will place at this Grand Slam.

Evaldas Sodeika & Ieva Zukauskaite (Lithuania)

VS.

Francesco Galuppo & Debora Pacini (Italy)

Make sure to catch Evaldas Sodeika and Ieva Zukauskaite of Lithuania battle Francesco Galuppo and Debora Pacini of Italy for pedestal placement. Before we dig in a little further into their rivalry, let us look at the WDSF World and Grand Slam leaderboards below.

Grand Slam Ranking

Looking at the above Grand Slam Ranking list, we see that Francesco and Debora rank second with 3,135 points while Evaldas and Ieva trail behind in sixth with 2,166 points. Because Evaldas and Ieva did not attend the WDSF Standard Grand Slam of Rimini in the previous month, their Grand Slam ranking fell way behind. On the other hand, Francesco and Debora have attended all three legs of the Grand Slam series hosted so far this year. For this reason, they are ahead in the Grand Slam Rankings. 

World Ranking 

The competition is a little more stiff when looking at the world ranking list above. Both couples are neck and neck, taking second and third place in the World. The Lithuanian couple holds 5,722 points, while the Italian couple, 5,538 points. 

The rivalry of these competitors will be top notch at this prestigious event this coming Friday. The first thing that couples of such high level make sure of, is that they do not give up the spot that they have already attained. If already the Champion, you must work twice as hard as everyone else to keep that spot as the Champion. Otherwise someone else will take it. For those who are not yet the Champion, the goal is to always attain a higher position. If third, you reach for second and essentially first. If vice-champion, you strive for the Champion spot. We see this instance in the case above. Francesco and Debora are those that aim and strive each performance to make it to the very top, not just keep their sport as third in the World (a rather great achievement nonetheless).

Over 270 couples from 38 countries. The floor during the WDSF Standard Grand Slam of Stuttgart, Germany will surely be on fire this coming Friday, August the 10th as the top Standard dancers of the World DanceSport Federation come together under one roof. Make sure to see the incredible dancing of all these competitors, live here on FloDance.

Watch WDSF Stuttgart live on FloDance.