Professional Competition Star Championship Italy 2018

The past one month has been an incredibly busy time for us. Now that things are more settled, we finally have an opportunity to write about our trip.  4 weeks ago, we participated in the very physical and mentally demanding 4 days of preparation camp. We woke up at 5:30 to start our 12 hour day. Every day we did hours of dance training in the morning followed by physical strengthening activities for the rest of the day.  By the end of the camp, we were physically exhausted but feel a sense of accomplishment. We were quite proud that we kept up with dancers who are in their twenties.  

Immediately after the camp was the biggest competition of the year, the Star Championship. We made our debut in Professional division Master Class.  As the only couple who made the finals of both Master 1 and 2, we had to dance semi finals (10dances) then two finals (10 Dances) in a row with no break. We ended up dancing back to back all on semi-finals and finals in one hour.  With very little or no breaks in between dances and rounds, our physical and mental strength was being put to the test. We were proud to be the only couple that makes both finals and our coaches were happy as that was the best performance they have ever seen from us.  This competition reminded us of the time when we first started competing in Europe and how far we had climbed the ladder. There is always still much to learn and to improve on.  We are excited and looking forward to this new chapter of our career.  

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World Championship 2017

Snowball 2017

It was an unforgettable end to our amateur career as we made the finals in the Adult category for the first time at the Snowball Classic. For us, it wasn’t just another competition. We knew going in that it was to be our last competition as amateurs. In the finals, we danced two solos and competed with couples about 20 years younger! We were very proud to receive both the Top BC Couple Award and Sr 1 champion title for the 5th consecutive year. It was a perfect finale to our 10 year amateur career together and we have had so many wonderful memories and are truly grateful for what we have achieved. 

Thank you to the organizers, volunteers, and officials. This competition would not be possible without your tireless work and commitment. We are deeply touched by everyone who has sent us messages and talked to us following our announcement to turn professional. Thank you for taking the time to share with us. Each and every one of you has made an impact in our lives and we are better for knowing you. Thank you to our students for your continued support. Our story will continue in the Professional Division...

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IFB 2017

Happy 25th anniversary to IFB and congratulations to the organizers and volunteers for hosting another successful Provincial Championships. We've had many wonderful memories there, including being the first and only couple to win both the Adult and Sr 1 Championship in 2014. We repeated that accomplishment this year, and are also proud to win our 8th consecutive Sr 1 title. 

We are full of gratitude. There is nothing more to prove. Maybe there never was. Maybe it was only to prove to ourselves that there is no substitution for persistence and determination, and that is enough to accomplish anything. We feel truly blessed that we have been able to continue to dance and do what we love. We have been training non-stop and we can now finally take a break and enjoy spending time with our family and friends. Then it's back to training as we prepare for the World Championships in September!

Canadian Champions!!! 2017

We have dreamt of this moment for a very long time. We remember our first National Championships in Montreal 8 years ago. We made the finals and finished 5th and dared to dream of what we could achieve. Since then, we have finished 5th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, and 2nd last year. We almost gave up countless times along the way, but we were determined to try just ONE. MORE. TIME. After 10 years of our journey together, we are finally Canadian Champions.

Standing on top of the podium filled us with many emotions. Like last year, we were fighting back tears, but this time it was not from disappointment. It was from triumph and from overcoming the years of self doubt and thinking we were not good enough. Our legs were weak from the gravity of the moment and we could barely stand. We wonder if we will wake up and realize it's all a dream. It became real when we connected to the smiling and crying faces in the audience. It tugged at our hearts to know that these people have shared our journey and know how long and hard our road has been. We were trembling wth emotion and could barely keep it together for our honour dance. It was a moment we will never forget.

To be honest, it still feels very surreal after what seems like an eternity of climbing this mountain. It has been a long, slow, uphill. How long would you climb a mountain, not knowing if you will ever reach the top to enjoy the view? The prize was never the view from the top, because that doesn't last and you can't take it with you. The prize has always been the journey. It has been said many times, but to experience it is to really understand what life and happiness means. We have grown from when we started our journey over a decade ago. We are grateful for every obstacle that tested our resilience and reminded us of how badly we wanted something. We have been asked if this has been worth it, when it fact, it has been priceless.

We did not do this alone. This would not be possible without our amazing coaches, Paolo and Silvia. Thank you for your guidance and for pushing us to achieve more than we dreamt possible. You are forever our inspiration and we look up to you in every way. Our heartfelt thanks to Domenico and Marco, and the rest of our team in Molinella! We love you! We'd also like to acknowledge Denis Tremblay, our first coach and a Canadian Legend.  We have learned so much from you and continue to learn from you. We hope we have made you proud.

Thanks to our sponsors for your support over the years. You are the best at what you do, so we can be the best at what we do. #EvoSportTherapy, #NaturesEssence, #Tzafora, #NoscheseDancing.

From all our training and travels, time lost with our dear family and friends was our biggest sacrifice. We hope that you know that you were ALWAYS with us no matter where we were. Your unconditional love and support made this possible and we are so thankful to have you in our lives. We had wanted this moment to come earlier but it came exactly when it was suppose to, and it could not have happened any better. Words can not express how touched we are to be surrounded by our family, friends, and students while we realized our dream. Thank you all for sharing this special moment with us.

Dream big. Be positive. Don't give up. Most of all, enjoy the journey.

Bucharest open

Canada is on the podium this weekend in Bucharest, Romania!!  Last year at the Dance Masters, we had a podium finish and we were able to do it again this year with a 3rd place finish!  We arrived at the competition for registration at 1:30pm and finished dancing at 9pm. It was a long day but we had an amazing time and were happy with our dancing.  The Venue was very spacious and the floor was very nice to dance on.   The final events were televised and each couple was introduced onto the dance floor by their names and country individually.  It was a very proud moment to hear our names and "Canada" being announced to a stadium full of spectators and the audience watching at home.  We have a very busy competition schedule planned.  Next week we will be at the Helsinki Open.  We are looking forward to it as it will be the first time in Finland for both of us!

Thanks to our Sponsors #EvolutionSportTherapy #NaturesEssence #Tzafora for your continuing support.  We are proud to have you as part of our team!

Prato 2017

Our first competition in Europe this year was in Prato, Italy.  Since there was no Senior 1 Open, we decided to compete in the WDSF Adult over 16.   With couples in the top 48 in their twenties or late teens, we finished 32 out of 108 couples!  We were very happy with our first result back in Europe! 

It was an 18 hour competition day for us, which was not easy while we were still recovering from jet lag but we were proud we did it.  We woke up at 6:00 am to do hair and make up, then drove 2 hours to Prato.  We didn't finish competing until 8:15pm!  We drove home and was finally in bed shortly after midnight.

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