View Full Version : Favorite Smooth Couple
Meagan
06-03-2010, 11:23 PM
I tried searching old threads for this but failed miserably. I'm trying to find some good open smooth videos and was wondering if anyone could recommend their favorite couples (or even videos)? Or maybe point me to a thread where this has already been listed...
Preferably it would be a video of one couple (like a showdance) cause I frequently find it difficult to focus when its a whole smooth final/semi~just too much going on for me. It's a somewhat new interest of mine so I'd appreciate any help :p Any open will do (this all started with me trying to find a vid of an old amateur couple I liked so amateur/pro/pro-am doesn't matter)
Thanks! :D
I think that there are some nice comp videos of Larinda with one of her students who is a DF member, so not sure if his real name is "outed" or not. Searching for her name on youtube should bring them up.
latingal
06-03-2010, 11:39 PM
you could search youtube for the america's ballroom challenge smooth segments and show dances...
you could search youtube for the america's ballroom challenge smooth segments and show dances...
Great idea! Unfortunately, so many of the smooth show dances weren't smooth. :( But there should be enough for a starting point. And with any luck, the related videos will be to the same smooth couples!
Terpsichorean Clod
06-04-2010, 02:40 AM
It's a mix of smooth and latin, but Marzena and Slawek's showdance is one of my favorites. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdO8uptltiY&fmt=37
Terpsichorean Clod
06-04-2010, 04:35 AM
There are some great videos here (http://www.youtube.com/user/dancer2468). ;)
TinyDancer109
06-04-2010, 09:44 AM
i love how ben and shalene ermis dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VNMWAHDI-I). Don't mind Tony Meredith's mistake in saying they start out with a social foxtrot :rolleyes:
It is a social, laid-back rock or two to set the mood, much like foxtrot, and does well in entering the dance. What else would you call it?
Larinda McRaven
06-04-2010, 09:59 AM
That is such a sad interpretation of that showdance. The camera angles totally cut off the story line... which was her taking off his competition number from his back in the beginning and putting it in his pocket. At the end she removes it from his pocket and drops it on the floor... It was there retirement dance.
Meagan
06-04-2010, 10:56 AM
This performance was truly beautiful and touching in person!! A shame the video couldn't capture it all (but I suppose videos never really do).
Thanks for all the recommendations :) and thanks to those that shared their favorite couples~would love to have some of people's favorite current couples so I can keep my eye out for them in the future as well!!
sambanada
06-04-2010, 11:58 AM
Mikhail and Galina are really graceful.
bowman500
06-04-2010, 01:07 PM
OK, I have to comment on this thread. I have to say my darling daughter Stephanie Michelle and her new partner Matt Brown from Laguna Niguel.... Only because I'm the mom. They will be dancing for the first time together at San Diego Dancesport Championships. woooohoooo.
Then Toni Redpath and Michael Mead!!!!! would come in a close second.
Ray Sison
06-04-2010, 01:09 PM
OK, I have to comment on this thread. I have to say my darling daughter Stephanie Michelle and her new partner Matt Brown from Laguna Niguel.... Only because I'm the mom. They will be dancing for the first time together at San Diego Dancesport Championships. woooohoooo.
Then Toni Redpath and Michael Mead!!!!! would come in a close second.
bowman, Yeah, Michael and Toni aren't bad, I must say! ;)
middy
06-04-2010, 01:50 PM
JT and Thomas, and Mayo and Michelle are lovely.
Lorelei
06-04-2010, 01:57 PM
Christopher Allen and Elona Bets
there were some old videos of them on MIT website, around 2004-05
she wore a purple dress
singndance
06-04-2010, 03:06 PM
That is such a sad interpretation of that showdance. The camera angles totally cut off the story line... which was her taking off his competition number from his back in the beginning and putting it in his pocket. At the end she removes it from his pocket and drops it on the floor... It was there retirement dance.
Wow, Larinda, I have watched that showdance about a hundred times -- knowing this makes it all the more special!!!
singndance
06-04-2010, 03:11 PM
Mikhail and Galina are really graceful.
Agreed, I love them too!
dancedanceevolution
06-04-2010, 04:31 PM
I suggest keeping an eye on a hot new couple winning a lot of rising star and pro events, Kirill Gorjatsev and Olga Chekhova. I am totally biased. :D
TinyDancer109
06-04-2010, 04:49 PM
What else would you call it?
A rock or two? ;) lolz... idk, i think bronze step-step-step together when i think social foxtrot. but i guess thats just me.
Larinda, thanks for the insight! i never knew that... i guess that's what happens when you dont get to see it in person. :(
tanya_the_dancer
06-04-2010, 05:01 PM
That is such a sad interpretation of that showdance. The camera angles totally cut off the story line... which was her taking off his competition number from his back in the beginning and putting it in his pocket. At the end she removes it from his pocket and drops it on the floor... It was there retirement dance.
I was at OSB that year and watched it live. It was beautiful.
Larinda McRaven
06-04-2010, 05:24 PM
Watching it now still brings tears to my eyes.... literally. This couple is the ultimate in class and honesty.
They are the hardest workers this industry has ever known. They ran a studio, danced pro and became the champions, danced pro-am and created champions, won top teacher awards at every competition they have worked. Made a family. And all of it with a smile on their face and NEVER a negative word.
As a woman in this business I have always looked to Shalene as a role model... proving that women teachers do have a clear and positive role in QUALITY pro-am, and that it is a wonderful place to work after pro retirement. She also danced all the way through her pregnancy and returned to the dance floor almost immediately afterward. Her Mother is in the picture now, traveling with Ben and Shalene to help raise Alana, who is a shining Light of Joy the moment she enters the ballroom in her little pink outfits.
That is one amazing dance family.
Shalene and Ben always look so proud of their students. You see the pictures on Supershag, or see them in person, and they just beam with pride. They just truly look like they love what they do. It's really inspiring to see people who have such joy in their work.
j_alexandra
06-04-2010, 07:41 PM
It's worth it to watch competition videos, ime, even with the distraction of other dancers when I want to focus on just one couple.
FWIW, I enjoyed the dancing of Paul Cloud and Borbala Bunnett, and was very sorry when they ended their partnership. Many videos of them in competition on YT; the channel is SmoothDancerBKB. They are mostly competition semis and finals, but there is at least one showdance irrc off the top of my head.
I had the good fortune to watch Mayo Alanen and Michelle Officer earlier this year at a comp, doing a showdance, and wow, was that a pleasure.
etp777
06-04-2010, 07:46 PM
LOVE Ben and Shalene. And it's not just their pro-am students they're obviously proud of and care for either, have seen way they help pro couples they coach too, and they care just as much about them. Great people
wonderwoman
06-04-2010, 08:01 PM
Really liked Paul and Barbala too.
jump'n'jive
06-04-2010, 09:18 PM
when did paul and borbala end there partnership?
jump'n'jive
06-04-2010, 09:19 PM
Watching it now still brings tears to my eyes.... literally. This couple is the ultimate in class and honesty.
They are the hardest workers this industry has ever known. They ran a studio, danced pro and became the champions, danced pro-am and created champions, won top teacher awards at every competition they have worked. Made a family. And all of it with a smile on their face and NEVER a negative word.
As a woman in this business I have always looked to Shalene as a role model... proving that women teachers do have a clear and positive role in QUALITY pro-am, and that it is a wonderful place to work after pro retirement. She also danced all the way through her pregnancy and returned to the dance floor almost immediately afterward. Her Mother is in the picture now, traveling with Ben and Shalene to help raise Alana, who is a shining Light of Joy the moment she enters the ballroom in her little pink outfits.
That is one amazing dance family.
larinda i have to agree 110% with you. i have always looked up to them and wanted to be like them. such role models. :cool:
Larinda McRaven
06-04-2010, 09:33 PM
when did paul and borbala end there partnership?
Emerald. Paul want to spend more attention and time on his family.
fascination
06-05-2010, 12:01 AM
for me...I confess that I have always loved shalene b/c of her power and commitment ...she is a dancer I feel I can relate to and strive to emulate...likewise, I adore Borbala and it has nothing to do with associations...I adore the integrity of her dancing..I beleive her and think she has deserved better marks...lastly, omg, michelle officer makes it so difficult to watch anyone else
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