International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso IDSF report emsbs

Swiss International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso 2004:

A Fabulous Event in a Perfect Setting

Two IDSF International Open competitions and two IDSF Open competitions, International Open competitions for all grades including Professional Standard, 650 participants from 23 nations, 45 adjudicators from 14 nations, professional organization, an ideal setting - these are just a few facts about the fabulous Swiss International Dance Sport Festival held in Chiasso.

Event: Swiss International Dance Sport Festival 2004

Place: Sports Hall "Palapenz" Chiasso, Switzerland

Date: 17th / 18th April 2004

Organizers: Dr. Gino and Svetlana Di Paolo, Club Magic Dance Ticino, Switzerland

Chiasso is an ideal place for a great dance festival: situated right at the Italian border, only a few kilometers away from the Swiss Lugano-Agno Airport (15 km) and the Italian Milano-Malpensa International Airport (60 km), right beside of one of Europe's main motorways, the E35 (Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Basel, Chiasso, Rome), and the international railway; it is easily accessible from everywhere.

The setting was as always perfect: 600 sq meters dance floor, separate warming-up space, non-stop catering, shops for dance supplies, etc.

The disc-jockey, Federico Costanzi, deserves special mention: to the delight of both the dancers and spectators he provided us all the way through with well-chosen and romantic music.

Apart from open competitions for practically all grades the main events were:

IDSF International Open Modern & Latin
IDSF Open Senior Modern & Latin
International Open Junior Modern & Latin
International Open Youth Modern & Latin
International Open Professional Modern

In addition there were very attractive International Open Competitions in the Caribbean Dances (Mambo, Salsa, Merengue, Bachata) for both Professionals and Amateurs.

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

Gabriele Bocchino and Barbara Altrui, Italy

Although there was a date collision with the European Amateur Latin Championship held in Denmark on the same weekend (17th April 2004) the IDSF International Open Competitions attracted 106 couples from all over the world, in fact from 23 different nations from 4 continents:

Austria, Australia, Croatia, Czech Republik, England, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA.

The IDSF International Open Competitions were each judged by 13 adjudicators from 13 different nations. This and some of the facts mentioned above allowed the couples to collect many points for the IDSF world ranking list.

Most heats consisted of not more than 8 couples. This was very much appreciated by all. It guaranteed plenty of space for the dancers, more time for the adjudicators to compare the couples and much more pleasure for the spectators and photographers.

Not only the organizers, Dr. Gino and Svetlana Di Paolo and their team, but also the presenter, Signora Gabriella Cavalli, and the IDSF supervisor, Mr. Milan Tomasovic, did a very good job!

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

Organizer Dr. Gino Di Paolo and presenter Gabriella Cavalli

IDSF International Open Modern

1st Paolo Bosco / Silvia Pitton, Italy
A convincing win for Paolo Bosco and Silvia Pitton from Italy for the third time in succession! They are actually placed 4th in the IDSF World Ranking List. Apart from their elegant and professional appearance and their exquisite basic actions (feet perfectly closed e.g. on a Chasse from P.P. or after half a Natural Turn in the Waltz) they impress most with extreme light and shade. Their speed combined with complete control and stillness in lines etc. must be seen to be believed. Very impressive and deserved winners!

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

2nd Benedetto Ferruggia / Claudia Köhler, Germany
- new partnership from Germany, a very promising couple

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

3rd Luca Bussoletti / Tjasa Vulic, Slovenia
- very stylish and harmonious

4th Misa Cigoj / Anastasija Novozilova, Slovenia

5th Andrzej Sadecki / Karina Nawrot, Poland

6th Marco Cavallaro / Joanne Clifton, England

Full results

IDSF International Open Latin

In the ballroom section there was a dominance of the Italian dancers (four gentleman dancers out of the six finalists were of Italian origin). In the latin section the Russians dominated the top three although the winners were an English-Russian partnership:

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

1st Kevin Clifton / Anna Melnikova, England
- very dominant, good technique

2nd Nikolai Voronovich / Maria Nikolishina, Russia
- what a feeling and expression

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

3rd Grigory Boldyrev / Anna Elnikova, Russia
- another super couple with everything +

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

4th Misa Cigoj / Anastasija Novozilova, Slovenia
- unique style, very sympathetic

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

5th Guy Rosen / Viktorya Fadina, Luxemburg
This 5th placed couple needs a special mention: they danced on Saturday (17th April) in the European Amateur Latin Championship in Denmark and on the following day, Sunday (18th April) in the IDSF International Open Latin in Chiasso. What dedication! In previous years they also had very good results in Chiasso: 4th in 2002, 3rd in 2003. Well done!

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

6th Jan Kliment / Laura Hafner, Switzerland
A new partnership. Jan is from the Czech Republik, Laura comes from Switzerland. They both have already been very successful with their previous partners. Chiasso was their first outing in Switzerland and their 4th international competition. In all these competitions they have reached the grand finals, finishing 4th in Paris, 4th in Antwerp, 5th in Copenhagen and 6th in Chiasso. Very promising indeed!

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

7th Gregor Rebula / Lisa Darby, England
- just missed the final

Full results

International Open Professional Modern

1st Stanislav Bekmametov / Natalia Urban, Russia

2nd Roberto Orru / Orsola Iuliano, Italy

3rd Michele Boschi / Barbara Grifoni, Italy

4th Dalmazio Carrara / Daniela Tabai, Italy

5th Nunzio Mariano / Gilda Argenziano, Italy

6th Carlo Oliva / Julia Parthenis, Greece

7th Nicola Zucarello / Anastasia Rachuba, Ukraine

IDSF Open Senior Modern

1st Stefano Bernardini / Stefania Martellini, Italy
- fabulous dancing, deserved winners!

2nd Rene Ewals / Ymke Lemmens, Holland

3rd Hideyuki Yoshikawa / Hisae Yoshikawa, Japan

4th Guido Pelligrini / Angela Petrini, Italy

5th Roberto Giannelli / Angela Chialeri, Italy

6th Fabio Pilon / Maddalena Merelli, Italy

International Dance Sport Festival Chiasso

10th Massimo and Rie Fersini, Switzerland - well done!

Full results

IDSF Open Senior Latin

Full results

International Open Youth Latin

Full results

International Open Youth Standard

Full results

International Open Junior Latin

1st Mark Popkov / Svetlana Guggenbuehl, Switzerland

2nd Ivan Kananenka / Anna Buglova, Russia

3rd Mitja Huter / Tamara Sommer, Switzerland

4th William Pfaeffli / Ioulia Arnet, Switzerland

5th Mirco Beltrame / Greta Toniolo, Italy
What a great success for Switzerland with 3 out of 5 finalists including the winners coming from the host country. Well done!

Full results

International Open Junior Modern

Full results

The name of the organizing club "Club Magic Dance Ticino" could not have been better chosen: the organizers, Dr. Gino and Svetlana Di Paolo and their team, provided us with a really outstanding event with many magical moments. Thank you very much indeed!

Michael Scherer