01:06Russia: Moscow sees the twirls of twists of Ballroom Championship
Russia: Moscow sees the twirls and twists of Ballroom Championship
Fifty-five couples from 30 countries twirled and twisted in Moscow on Saturday at the Ballroom World Championship. Couples duked it out on the dancefloor in five different dances: waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, tango, and Viennese waltz.
While the Russian capital has previously played host to the world championships in Latin dancing, this was the first time it has held the top event in Modern Ballroom. The World Dance Council (WDC), the world's leading authority on professional ballroom dance competitions, decided to host the championships amid the glittering backdrop of the Kremlin after lobbying from the Russian Dance Union.
Says Stanislav Popov, Russian Dance Union President: "This time we have more than the Ballroom Championship...it is difficult to get that title from the World Dance Council. We applied for several years, and finally five years ago we got the permission and now we are running that. It's a big privilege, and it's really interesting and an honour for us."
Modern ballroom dancing traces its roots back to early nineteenth century England, becoming a competitive sport around the turn of the twentieth century. Each dance number in a competition earns a couple a certain number of points from scorekeepers, known as 'scrutineers'. The couple with the most points wins.
01:06Russia: Moscow sees the twirls and twists of Ballroom Championship
Fifty-five couples from 30 countries twirled and twisted in Moscow on Saturday at the Ballroom World Championship. Couples duked it out on the dancefloor in five different dances: waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, tango, and Viennese waltz.
While the Russian capital has previously played host to the world championships in Latin dancing, this was the first time it has held the top event in Modern Ballroom. The World Dance Council (WDC), the world's leading authority on professional ballroom dance competitions, decided to host the championships amid the glittering backdrop of the Kremlin after lobbying from the Russian Dance Union.
Says Stanislav Popov, Russian Dance Union President: "This time we have more than the Ballroom Championship...it is difficult to get that title from the World Dance Council. We applied for several years, and finally five years ago we got the permission and now we are running that. It's a big privilege, and it's really interesting and an honour for us."
Modern ballroom dancing traces its roots back to early nineteenth century England, becoming a competitive sport around the turn of the twentieth century. Each dance number in a competition earns a couple a certain number of points from scorekeepers, known as 'scrutineers'. The couple with the most points wins.