The Russian pair feinted and shook at each other, expressed themselves with a raised eyebrow or a come-on look, then combined and broke away, the spotlight following them, flying across the dance floor as if they were on wires, he with the grace of a gymnast and she with the polish of a ballerina.
Their encore dance -- a theatrical innovation of the Argentine tango -- was the climax of the night. Elegantly decked-out ladies in diamante held their faces in their hands and ooed at their companions as he, dressed in a sailor's costume slashed to the waist, prowled the dance floor like a tiger, full of fire and poise. She was in a dress that seemed glued to her frame, and as she moved, so did everyone's eyes.
Though Dmitri Timokhin and Anna Bezikova were undoubtedly the biggest stars of the night at the 12th Freedom Cup International Dance Sport Championship in Taipei at the Asiaworld Plaza Hotel, on Sunday night, they were not the only ones. Hundreds of couples strutted their stuff throughout the course of the evening, all sumptuously dressed, often in minimal and daringly thin fabrics. Couples duetted and dueled with the country's top dancers in a series of competitions, framed by banqueting tables at which people dined and toasted.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
Whatever they paid Timokhin and Bezikova, it was worth it. Their performance was -- as would be expected of the world's number three professional Latin dancers -- in a different class. Afterward they were mobbed by the best young dancers in Taiwan, who can only dream of being as good. The difference between the Russian and local dancers is exemplified by their stories.
At the age of 13, Bezikova moved from her home in Siberia to practice full time with her future dancing partner, Timokhin. He was 14. They became the world's amateur champions and turned professional last year. They usually finish in the top eight in international competitions and have won one major professional championship. At 26 and 27 they are at the height of their powers and should be able to compete at the top level for up to 10 years if they maintain shape. Rumored to have been boyfriend-girlfriend, "We now try to spend time with other friends," Bezikova said, as she fought with her partner over a namecard. "We're like brother and sister, cat and dog. He's the cat and I'm the dog."
She then said their partnership was like a business, but Timokhin immediately disagreed. "It is more like two spirits together that understand and feel each other. I very much care for and adore Anna, so it's not just like a business because we are not selling someone else's products, we are making it ourselves."
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
Of the ballroom dancing world's recent name change to dance sport and its rebuffed bid for inclusion in the Olympic Games, Bezikova admitted that, "It would have been great to have been considered for Olympic competition, but now we think that it would be boring just to prepare for one thing.
"Only the old look to the past, the foolish look to the future, the wise think of the present. So now we have turned to a more artistic way forward. We want to do more performances to show people our sport and make them enjoy it more, like ballet music, or ice dancing, to express this beauty and freedom."
She said that one of their recent performances in Moscow pulled in an audience of 12,000 people and was watched nation-wide on TV. This compares with the situation in Taiwan where crowds number in the hundreds.
"There are also cultural differences," said Tony Hsu (許民財), dancer, teacher, dance studio owner and organizer of the Freedom Cup, with his wife Betty Chang (張碧連). "In Russia they have this whole idea of ballet dancing, it's very popular and for parents this is a way for their children to do well. So they start young.
"In Europe there is a lot of dancing, not so much in America, Canada and Australia and Asia. In Moscow competitions they have 4,000 couples, in Italy and France 2,000, so this is why Europe is so dominant. In the West, it is like a business and they [Timokhin and Bezikova] have a partnership."
He said in the past, ballroom dancing in Taiwan was sometimes confused with "social dancing," which was a traditional way for Chinese and Taiwanese businessmen to treat their guests -- sometimes to female company or favors.
"This was not really allowed and for this reason the public thought maybe ballroom dancing was strange," Hsu said, adding he was inspired to dance by watching a couple perform samba on TV and found a teacher when he was an 18-year-old student at university. He paired up with Chang after three or four months at dance school and married seven years later. Chang said it was not love at first sight. "We were partners for five years and when Tony had to go to the army, I thought this man is a very good man, I better get him."
"In Asia it is different, it is more usual for partners to be married because they can spend all their days together practicing. If they are not man and wife it is maybe possible that their real partners cannot trust them, because it takes so much time and you have to be so close to be good," Hsu said.
Tony You (游晴翔), 26, and Joyce Tsai (蔡家華), 24, are the top dancers of their age in Taiwan and won the domestic Latin dance prize on Sunday night. Both started dancing aged 18 at university and were introduced at Betty and Tony's studio because it was thought they would pair well. Their partnership is professional and since the financial rewards are low (NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 for first prize), they compete for the fun of it.
When he dances, You also seems to command the dance floor and has an easy and confident relationship with the audience, not unlike Timokhin. But without the years of practice and the singular determination that being the best in the world requires, You knows he will not be able to attain this level. He has finished his bachelor's degree in law and is now studying sports management. Tsai has finished her degree, is working and can practice only three times a week.
"Here, it would just not be possible to do what Anna and Dmitri did," You said. "We have to go to school and learn math and English and all these things." When told that Timokhin said he knew he would be a dancer before he was 11 years old, You said, "It is amazing but I believe that it is probably true and though I might have wanted to do the same, it was not possible."
While Timokhin and Bezikova were whisked to a restaurant and in the morning, to the airport and the next performance, You and Tsai were found after the Freedom Cup ended, getting a taxi and a motorbike home, holding a small cup and flowers. Though both couples are stars in their fields, Taiwan's field is evidently smaller. It will not be until more young Taiwanese enter competitions and attend dance school that we will see local dancers the like of the Russians.
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