#stefano

New Post has been published on http://dancecompreview.com/dance-sport-with-a-sibling-yay-or-nay/

Dance Sport With A Sibling - Yay or Nay?

Recently Ballroom Dance Tube posted a video of Yuriy Simachev & Anastasia Klokotova’s rumba with a tricky question “Brother & Sister’s Dance of Love?” and it created an outrage in the comments on their end, and since we frequently repost their videos, it had also sparked some conversation on our Facebook page. Some were for, and some, of course, were against these type of partnerships. If you’re not sure which video it was, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0ccVkQm8bw

Yuriy & Anastasia have been dancing together since 2008 and showed great result in WDSF’s Amateur Latin. Due to several circumstances, they had recently changed the federation, which evidently changed their style of dance.

I’m not here to pick sides or anything. Actually, the opposite – I would like to bring a few more rather interesting examples to this subject, since siblings competing together is more common than you think. Here are a few memorable brother-sister duets:

Steffano & Annalisa DiFilippo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4s7xCL7YHE

Back in 2000s when I started dancing, this brother and sister duet definitely got me thinking that I, one day, would also be able to dance with my sister. Steffano and Annalisa danced together for 6 years (according to DanceSportInfo) and placed well in the finals of numerous major competitions of the year of 2006. I wonder what happened after?

Gabriele & Antonella Goffredo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdjg1KCU288

Before Anna Matus, Gabriele also danced with his sister – Antonella Goffredo. By that time, I already knew that I won’t be dancing with my sister, as we would most likely kill each other before we get on to the competitive floor, but the duet of Gabriele and Antoanella had done reaaally well, placing Top 6 at all major WDSF competitions in 2010.

Slava & Valeriia Kostianets

https://youtu.be/g2VIE4PpXrg?t=2m25s

This sibling dance sport duet are representing the International Standard and American Smooth division. It is unknown to me how long Slava and Valeriia have been competing together, but they certainly are showing some amazing results in both categories.

My Conclusion

Rumba, I think, is the only dance that throws people off. It is a “Dance of Love” meant to be danced between two people who (hopefully) are in a romantic relationships. It is a dance that shows the true colours of partnership and the communication between dancers, exhibits their connection, and occasionally shows a spark, which can only be seen with certain duets. But, we – the ballroom dancers, are a slightly different set of people. We are performers and actors! We play our role of “lovers” and tell our story through movement and expression, even if we’re dancing with a sibling.

Do I, personally, cringe a little when I see two siblings dance rumba and make it look like they are in a relationship?
– Yes.

Do I understand the fact, that it could be easier to go through competitive, placement obstacles and reach the common goal with someone you’ve known for years?
– Not in my case, but YES!

So, it works for some and it doesn’t for others. But, let’s say, if you didn’t know they were siblings, would you judge their dancing differently?

Author:Egor Shalvarov
Photography:Marius Mutin
Exclusively for Dance Comp Review