Davide Corrodi/Maja Kucharczyk won their fifth Swiss ten-dance championship title in Geneva-Vernier. This year's semi-finalists from the Tanzsportclub Zug won all ten dances and fully lived up to their role as favourites. The places of honour went to David Büchel/Flavia Landolfi (Ticino Dancesport Club) and Ivan Hadarah/Antastasiia Fedchenko from Ukraine. In the senior category, Felix Locher/Silvia Nater (Turniertanzsportklub Zürich) won by a razor-thin margin ahead of the locals Pierre-Yves Richoz/Audrey Etter from the Geneva KapDanse Club.
The Salle des Fêtes in Avanchets-Salève, a district in Geneva-Vernier, turned out to be the ideal venue for this year's Swiss Ten Dance Championships. The two organising Geneva clubs, Ballroom Dancing Club Genève and Geneva KapDanse Club, which had dared to organise the event again after many years and were supported by STSV, gave the location a worthy setting. The well-attended championship was framed by competitions of the Geneva Dance Cup, where beginners could also gain their first tournament experience. And the spectators, many of whom probably saw dance sport at a high national level for the first time, were inspired to dance for the audience several times during the evening.
Corrodi/Kucharczyk superior
The absolute highlight of the evening was the convincing performance of this year's World Championship semi-finalists Corrodi/Kucharzyk. The most versatile Swiss couple in recent years has been dancing together since the summer of 2017 and this time they already won their fifth ten-dance championship title. They left no doubt from the start, winning all ten dances with aplomb. Unfortunately, they missed out on an exciting comparison with Kasilov/Dreier, with whom they had danced at the World Championships Standard in Rimini a week ago. The potential ten-dance debutants from DUZ had to cancel at short notice due to health problems.
Büchel/Landolfi, a top Swiss pair for about a decade, came second. In a direct comparison with the Ukrainians Hadarah/Fedchenko, who were appearing in Switzerland for the first time, they started a little cautiously with two third places, but then turned up the heat in an impressive manner and had their younger challengers well under control.
Locher/Nater in the last dance
A very close decision was made in the seniors' competition. The local heroes Richoz/Etter, who were heavily involved in the organisation of the tournament and were occupied with various tasks from early in the morning until 6 p.m., fought a duel on equal terms with the four-time champions Locher/Nater in the evening. After nine dances, the two best senior couples were tied, and only the final Quickstep could set the course. Marco Mailand/Irene Mailand of the Happy Dancers Baden were also happy to win their first SM medal.
In the three junior competitions, three different clubs entered the winners' lists. Mikhail Pikulin/Eva Pikulina (TTZ) won the youth competition, Arjan Steurer/Aroa Martin (TDC Frauenfeld) the junior competition and Yuri Dubrov/Viktoria Romanova Timokhina (Dance Sport Academy Ticino) the student competition.
Versatility pays off
It is obvious that fewer couples tend to enrol in ten-dance championships than in Latin and standard championships. All five decisions were only held in one final because the number of participants remained relatively low. Nevertheless, compared to the previous year, a small upward trend could be noted, which hopefully can now be continued.
It would be desirable for young dance couples to first acquire a broad base in Latin and Standard and only specialise later. And as the example of Corrodi/Kucharczyk shows, a versatile and hard-working Swiss dance couple can even make it to the top of the world.
By Martin Zinser (text) and Roman Schneuwly (pictures)
