And the main event of the 2018 German Open Championships has now concluded. What an unexpected evening in more ways than one can recall! The audience was enraptured last night by the performances of the DanceSport elite. The final was a true must watch, filmed beautifully. The live stream truly conveyed a wonderful experience that revealed the energy of what the audience in the Beethoven Hall of the Kultur & Kongresszentrum Liederhalle felt at the moment of the live dancing. It was quite surreal.

The Champions

Let us dig into looking over how the fourth leg of the WDSF Latin GrandSlam series concluded last night. Marius-Andrei Balan and Khrystyna Moshenska took the highest step on the podium! What a victory for this couple, especially since they were dancing on home turf. For Khrystyna, this is her third gold victory at the German Open Latin GrandSlam in Stuttgart. Previously, she had won this event with ex-partner Nino Langella in the years 2013 and 2014. It has been a struggling fight for her to reign again, but with the fire in her eyes and the determination and love for this art and sport instilled in her soul, she reached the stars once again. 

After the event concluded, Marius stated in the couple’s interview that when he was a child, he witnessed the German Open Championship in 2004, the first year that it was being held in Stuttgart after being moved from the Rosengarten in Mannheim. He dedicated this victory to all of the children who have a dream. He had a dream that he would be on that floor, dancing that GrandSlam, one day. Now, he is the Champion of the German Open Latin GrandSlam – a true dream come true.

Who Did the Audience Favor?

Timur Imametdinov and Nina Bezzubova – what power and pure joy they were to watch on the floor last night. They truly killed each and every performance they put on, with standing ovations throughout their final dances. Even though they ended up taking the second position on the podium, it was quite evident who the audience favored. When announcing the results, as Timur and Nina were called as the Vice Champions, the entire population of the audience gave rise. It was so unexpected for these two beloved dancers, and a true joy to watch how honest professionals give way on the floor. With such amiable personalities, FloDance also filmed an interview with them as part of the “All Eyes on You” segment. The standing ovation, they stated is truly all that dancers may ever wish for – what they strive for. People all over the world stand for how you perform. In the end, the result won’t matter, but the feeling inside that those watching you applaud you with happiness, tears of joy, and emotion that touched them by your performance is all any dancer can truly yearn for. For this reason, Timur and Nina truly won the heart of the 2018 German Open.

An Interesting 2018 German Open

It was quite a successful night for the hosting country of Germany, its two highest ranking Latin couples taking home the GOC Champion & Vice-Champion titles. Armen Tsaturyan and Svetlana Gudyno of Russia did not show last night – the highest world ranking couple of the WDSF in the Amateur Latin division. For many it was a disappointment not to see them on the floor last night. On the other hand, it gave a chance for others competing to truly shine in the limelight as the competition was spiced up a bit by the Armen and Svetlana not attending. This will make things quite intriguing with the approaching World Championship this coming October.

Even though the German Open let go of its live orchestra this year – tear, tear – the Latin GrandSlam was on fire! The final concluded with Andrey Gusev and Vera Bondareva taking third, over Charles-Guillaume Schmitt and Elena Salikhova of France, who were leading in third after their strong performance of the Paso Doble, but losing the Jive and losing the pedestal placement as a result. Andrey and Vera ended up with a total of 185.831 for their final, while Charles and Elena scored a 185.768. In all technicality, Andrey and Vera won by a 0.063 lead! Andrea Silvestri and Varadi Martina of Hungary performed incredibly – showing some of their strongest dancing yet, placing fifth. Finally, in sixth, we have Edgar Marcos Borjas and Alina Nowak of Poland. 

If you haven’t had the chance to watch these incredible dancers take the floor at the 2018 German Open yesterday, it would be a wonderful experience to see the recap here at FloDance. The Latin GrandSlam brought a strong end to this prestigious event – we shall be waiting for it again next year!