The Fourth of July fireworks were not the only thing making sparks fly this past week! The Manhattan Dancesport Championships took place this at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott and if you weren't there, you missed a magnificent event. Read all about it below!

This year was the 20th anniversary of the this prestigious event. Besides the competition being outstanding by itself, it was enhanced by amazing performances. Friday night was headlined by world professional ballroom champions Arunas Bizokhas and Katusha Demidova. Katusha has won the professional ballroom title for 20 years of the competition (with two different partners!) and decided to give up her title this past weekend by not competing, at least at this event that is. They received a standing ovation and their show was truly spectacular.

Another fun part of "Showtime" were Gary and Diana McDonald, the organizers, performing on Friday as well as Saturday. Friday night they did their famous Michael Jackson showcase with Diana in a spicy red and black dress and Gary dressed like the King himself. Of course both wore Aida Dance shoes! Saturday night they did a sexy rumba and both nights got a standing ovation. Gary and Diana may have retired a few years ago, but like true dance legends, they made their routines seem effortless. it looked like they had never left the floor!

Our Aida couples were like firecrackers on the floor and did phenomenally! 

Thursday night were the Rising Star Events, which were super competitive. Smooth and latin both began with a quarter final. Our Aida champions showed their great skills and precision and did extremely well during these events. 

Professional Rising Star Smooth

3rd - Ilya Abdullin and Tara Barakov

Professional Rising Star Latin

1st - Ivan Kudashev and Ksusha Sokolova

3rd - Vlad Astafiev and Annie He Xiao 

Friday night were the professional latin and professional smooth events. Both finals had many Aida champions in them! 

Professional Latin

2nd - Mykhailo Bilopukhov and Anastasiia Shchypilina

6th - Manuel Favilla and Natalia Maidiuk

Semi-Final

- Alexey Karaulov and Vlada Semenova 

- Nikita Malakhov and Nadezhda Vlasova

- Andrey Voloshko and Kateryna Kyrylenko 

Professional Smooth

1st - Nick Cheremukhin and Viktorija 

4th - Sergey Samchinsky and Yulia Besarab 

Semi-Final

- Ilya Abdullin and Tara Barakov 

Saturday night was the Professional Rhythm and Standard as well as the Amateur Latin. Our couples did not disappoint in any of the events! The largest event of the evening was the Professional Ballroom which started from a first round.

Amateur Latin

1st - Alexander Chernositov and Arina Grishanina 

2nd- Pasha Stepanchuk and Gabrielle Sabler 

Professional Ballroom

Semi-Final

- Christian Radvan and Kristina Kudelko

- Nazar Batih and Mariko Cantley

Professional Rhythm 

Semi Final

- Alberto Garcia Cortes and Jessa Mae Briones

- Ilya Abdullin and Tara Barakov 

This event proved once again to be fruitful for all of our couples and we sincerely enjoyed vending there as well. A stable traffic of loyal customers, good security, and well organized event made this event a pleasure, just like last year and the year before then. Congratulations again to Gary and Diana on their 20th anniversary and may all events be as great as yours!