It is fascinating to observe the changes that happen in the competitive dance industry. And this recent news, indeed, shall bring some hype into the World Dance Sport arena. On February 3rd, it has come to everyone’s attention that Kirill Belorukov – 2014 WDC AL Eastern European Champion, and Polina Teleshova – WDSF Youth Standard, Latin and 10 Dance Medalist, will now be representing Russia in Professional Latin Division…
First and Foremost … PROPS TO THEM for going against the system!
It is not news, that a “political war” between the two governing dancesport federations WDC & WDSF has been going for a long time. There was a lot of speculation that, if two dancers, who have decided to partner up, were competing in opposite federations, their competitive results might “not be accurate”. The most recent case could be seen with Nino Langella & Anna Melnikova.
But, let’s take this opportunity and look back at Kirill and Polina’s past competitive dancesport experience.
Strong with Elvira, and a Strong Come Back with Ekaterina…
Kirill Belorukov, with his partner at the time Elvira Skrylnikova, have been seen in the finals, or at least coming pretty close to it at the time, of the world championships since 2007. Their first major result was getting Silver at 2007 Blackpool Dance Festival in Rising Star Amateur Latin. Results have escalated since then. From winning Youth U21 to being a steady runner up in Blackpool’s Amateur Latin, there were just inches away from taking the gold. Until, unfortunately, Elvira’s decision to discontinue due to health issues. Although, perhaps, the reason for the split was not ‘just’ the health issues?..
Kirill does not to wait for Elvira’s recovery, and proceedes to look for another partner. In April of 2015, he partners up with Ekaterina Nikolayeva, with high intentions to keep his placement in the world’s Amateur Latin rankings. And, indeed, he stayed there. Their one and only competition together was the same year at Blackpool, where they placed 3rd. However, right after the competition, the couple had decided to end their partnership.
Great results in just 2 years with Vyacheslav Samokhin
Talking about dancing a lot, Polina, with her previous partner Vyacheslav, have competed in Latin, Standard and 10 Dance Events in both Youth and Amateur divisions. Smaller competitions showed great results and strong placements in the finals, but open to the world WDSF championships left them without medals. Vyacheslav and Polina, after two years of partnership, have entered 92 competitions (based on dancesportinfo.net) together, equivalent to appx. 1 competition every weekend.
So What Now?
Now, we wait and see… Would Polina be able to adjust to the artistic approach of the WDC vision, or would Kirill step up his athletic game of the WDSF? And, how is it all going to look in the Professional division?
Good luck to both of them, and we can’t wait to see them on the dance floor.
Exclusively for Dance Comp Review