Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
July 3rd - 4th 2024
The inaugural HK Open will no doubt be talked about around the world for being an astounding success. Two days of incredible competitions covering all categories, huge entries and a fantastic panel of international expert adjudicators already promised a great event, but with a fantastic setup and attention to detail, the delivery of the competition was truly incredible.
On a personal note, it was such a pleasure to see an international competition back in HK, and for it to have such a professional layout and be so well organised was truly was amazing. The whole of the HK dance scene must be truly grateful to the organiser Mark Robertson and Power Productions, having already redefined and elevated event production in HK they have taken it to a new level with this competition, and huge congratulations goes out to them.
All in all everything was set for the dancers to deliver incredible performances culminating in the major events on the evening of July 4th, and they certainly did not disappoint.
The final of the Amateur Latin was hotly contested by an international field including some of the best couples in the world. The overall level of dancing was on an incredible level already from the first round and the adjudicators selected the following couples for the final.
1st Salvo Sinardi - Sasha Kondrashova (1,1,1,1,1)
Already major champions, having won Blackpool, International and the World Championships, they dominated the competition and won all 5 dances with all firsts from the adjudicators. The way they control energy and particularly Sasha’s excellent sense of action gave them a maturity and set them apart from the rest of the field on this night. Personally, I wish they would add more nuance to their work, particularly coming from partnering, but they are already great champions and gave the audience a fantastic performance.
2nd Tang Yiming - Bobbie Huang (2,2,2,2,2)
Tang and Bobbie have gone from strength to strength over the last year and followed up a great result in Blackpool with another strong performance tonight. They are able to deliver by far the most intricate and fast choreography of all the couples in the competition and they seem to have boundless energy no matter what the occasion. This combination has made them the most successful amateur latin couple of all time to have come out of China, and the leaders in a group of incredibly talented couples that will continue to develop over the next few years. To improve further I think now might be the time for Tang and Bobbie to look for a more individual expression and the emotional content of their dancing while still working on the foot and body timing.
3rd Adam Hathazi - Julia Kowalczyk (3,4,4,3,3)
Adam and Julia are incredibly striking and have the most amazing physiques. Adding this together with immense talent and clear desire for dance it is impossible to miss them on any floor. Sometimes their desire to create changes of speed and feel causes an over physicality both individually and certainly between them. This leads to timing issues and affects the harmony in their dancing. They are still a relatively new couple together, and with their talent I am sure this will improve soon and they will be ready to challenge even further.
4th Marco Yongkun Long - Victoria Jiani Cheng (4,3,3,4,4)
Must have been very disappointed tonight missing out on third place by just one single mark. After a few very indifferent performances I thought they really turned it on tonight. Victoria is a very unique dancer and has a personal approach to dancing and performing that is totally her own. This is supported strongly by Marco who seems to have immense pride in showing her off. Over the last few years they have come very close to major finals and perhaps the disappointment and slight desperation over not making it has taken them a little away from their own individual path. My hope is that they will find themselves again and go back to delivering their unique performances. This was certainly a big step on the way.
5h Aimadi Zhang - Haoyue Jia (5,5,5,5,5)
Such incredible personalities with flair and positivity radiating from them every single second. They have had great results by virtue of their talent and personalities and now with added maturity they are clearly working to include more quality in their performances. I have seen a clear change over the last year and I am convinced this is the exact right direction for them, so I hope they will stick to it.
6th Taha Batu Cosar - Aleksandra Povsun (6,6,6,6,6)
Making this coveted final and beating a group of great couples, I am sure they must have been very happy. They are both very talented dancers and particularly Taha seems to be very good at finding a balance between power and quality. I feel that measuring action, timing and partnering should be their focus and that once they have these aspects more under control they will discover a whole new sense of freedom.
Image Credit: CedricPhotography
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