| Adjudicators and Officials | ||
| Sandra Fortuna | Adjudicator - Haddon Heights, NJ NDCA+USA Dance+WDSF - A+ B+ C+ D+ E+ |
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Sandra Fortuna is a former professional ballet dancer, a certified fitness instructor, holds a BA in Dance from Butler University, Jordan College of Music, many top teacher awards and pro/am tiles, including 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place Top Teacher in US Top Teacher Championship, 1st place Top Female Teacher in NADOA Challenge of Champions. Sandra was former Vice-President of USA Dance Chapter 3012, past Secretary of the USISTD. Sandra was awarded the prestigious NDCA Community Service Award in 2008 for her work in developing, supporting and promoting, Wheelchair DanceSport. She is author of the copyrighted technique manual WheelEaze, written to describe in full the feet, wheel work, and leads for wheelchair dancing. She is an original founding member and Artistic Director of American Dance Wheels Foundation. Her dance students include national 10 dance finalists, national amateur Latin runners-up, winner of Pro-Am A Latin and Pro-Am A Rhythm Championships at USBC, several successful dance school owners, successful professional candidates for USISTD certification, professional dancer on DWTS hit TV show, popular UK dancer and choreographer, and star of West Ends 2009 production of Burn the Floor, Brian Fortuna. Sandra has appeared on TLC production, Dancer with the Tiny Legs, and on Dancing On Wheels.
Formal Education: Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance from Butler University, Indianapolis, IN Quintuple Fellow National Association of Dance Teachers of America Quintuple Fellow United States Terpsichore Assoc. Examiner Dance Visions Professional Assoc. Successful trainer for professional certifications, Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing WDSF licensed judge Judging Experience: United States Dance Sport Championships Ohio Star Ball, America Ballroom Challenge Canadian Amateur Championships Manhattan Championships North American Championships WDC World Pro-Am Championships North East Championships Eastern United States Championships Yankee Championships USA Dance Championships La Classique Championships |
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| Andrey Dragunov | Adjudicator - | |
| Vladmir Karpov | Adjudicator - | |
| Alla Kocherga | Adjudicator - | |
| Ara Mkhoyan | Adjudicator - Armenia WDSF - A+ B+ C+ D+ E+ |
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Ara Mkhoyan has been teaching and training dancers for the past 40 years. In 1972, he became one of the founders of ballroom dancing styles in Armenia and has won the championship of Armenia twice. In 1987, he founded the first specialized studio of sport dance in Yerevan, Armenia. He is a lecturer, associate professor, and author on the subject Pedagogy of Dance. He is currently the chairman of the Judges Council of the Dance Sport Federation of Armenia, Vice President of the Armenian Dance Sport Federation, and Member of the Board of the National Dance Union of Armenia (NDU). He is licensed WDSF Adjudicator A and Professional Division (PD). | |
| Patti Panebianco | Adjudicator - New York USA Dance+WDSF - Chair+ A+ B+ C+ D+ E+ |
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Pattis dynamic energy & charisma has allowed her to become a sought after adjudicator & invigilator for numerous NDCA & USA Dance competitions as well as being the former treasurer & national committee member for the US Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. She is the recipient of numerous championship titles in both Intl Latin & American Rhythm styles. She has choreographed & performed in various stage, TV & movie productions, throughout the world including A Tribute to Gershwin, Wallflowering, Marconi Brothers, All my Children & YoYo Mas Soul of the Tango.
Working with children brings joy to her soul; she is a former Teaching Artist & Educational Liason with Dancing Classrooms Long Island. And has recently volunteered her time judging The Colors of the Rainbow Team Match for DCLI. She holds licentiate certifications in all styles of dance and is a popular trainer for professionals & amateurs for their national certifications with the U.S.I.S.T.D For the Past 17 years she has been the founder & owner of NY Dancesport Centre on Long Island where she currently resides with her husband Anthony and her two rescue cats Dolly & Puca. She enjoys touring the country coaching, adjudicating & sharing her joy & knowledge of Ballroom dance. Patti is a passionate fundraiser encompassing such causes as Ballroom Barks! & Roll Call Wheel Chair Dance |
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| Robert Porch | Adjudicator - | |
| Lesya Sinitsa | Adjudicator - | |
| Salvatore Todaro | Adjudicator - | |
| Lev Vesnovskiy | Adjudicator - Brooklyn, NY USA Dance+WDSF - A+ B+ C+ D+ |
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Lev Vesnovskiy is a Licensed WDSF `A` and USA Dance Adjudicator who has been teaching and training dancers for the past 30 years. His students became Russian Youth Latin National Champions and USA Youth and Under 21 Standard National Champions.
Lev became one of the first certified professionals and the first invigilator in the Asia region of Russia. As an adjudicator, Lev has judged many esteemed National and International competitions. He started his dancing career in 1978 in Russia and competed in all major European and North American championships as amateur in Standard, Latin and 10-dance and professional in Standard. Parallel to his dance career he graduated the Novosibirsk State University with Bachelor in Physics and Master in Computer Science. With his wife and dance partner Lev has founded and led the first in Russia ballroom choreography faculty in Novosibirsk University of Performing Arts and became the first lector and examiner in the region. He has published few books about ballroom dancing including the Russian version of Technique of Latin Dancing approved by Mr. Walter Laird himself. Since 2001, Lev has been the owner and instructor of Atlantic Ballroom Dance Studio in Brooklyn New York. Organizer of Metropolitan DanceSport Championship in Brooklyn, NY |
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| Yelena Vesnovskiy | Adjudicator - New York USA Dance+WDSF - A+ B+ C+ D+ |
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Yelena Vesnovskiy is WDSF `A` and USA Dance A+, B+, C+, D+ certified adjudicator.
As an adjudicator, Yelena has judged many esteemed North American and European international competitions including WDSF World Championships and WDSF World Open competitions. Yelena has been teaching and training dancers for the past 40 years. From the age of seven she studied ballet, folk, modern, and contemporary styles of dance in Russia. At age twelve she discovered ballroom dancing, which quickly became her primary style of dance. As a dancer, Yelena has competed in all major European and North American championships. She has achieved S-class in Standard and Latin as an amateur dancesport athlete and continued as a professional competitor specializing in Standard. Yelena has trained with the top coaches and trainers in the world. Yelena graduated the Performing Arts University in Novosibirsk, Russia, with degrees in Choreography and Ballet Mastery. Shortly after the graduating, Yelena became the founder, executive manager and professor of the Ballroom Dance Department at the Novosibirsk University of Performing Arts. Many of her college students became coaches and dancesport club owners in different regions of Russia and even other countries. Yelena has published books, teaching materials and has been cited in numerous technique and development publications. Since 2001, Yelena has been the owner and primary instructor of Atlantic Ballroom Dance Studio in Brooklyn New York. In Atlantic Ballroom, her main focus has been to raise dancers to be determined and passionate competitors. Her education and experience from Russia and the United States create a strict and diverse curriculum, which imbeds into the dancers fundamentals that are necessary for success. Her students became Russian Youth Latin National Champions.Her couples in the USA have also reached many heights, such as Junior, Youth and Under 21 Standard National Champions, who represented USA at WDSF World Championships. Yelena has organized the Metropolitan DanceSport Championship in Brooklyn, NY since 2016. |
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| Egle Visockaite | Adjudicator - | |
| Katusha Wilder | Adjudicator - New York USA Dance - A+ B+ C+ D+ |
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Russ (Ruslan) and Katusha Wilder started dancing at the age of 6 & 7 in St. Petersburg, Russia. After their marriage in 2002 they continued their dance career together. Since than they have acquired many various top titles in US and around the world in Dancesport Industry today. Some of the titles include:
2012 US Representatives to the World Professional Standard (Ballroom) Championships US Representatives to the World Professional 10-Dance Championships World Professional 10-Dance Championship Finalists US Professional Rising Star Standard Finalists Together they have performed shows for such stars as Steve Wynn, Aprille Millo, Nigel Lythgoe and have been features performers for TV networks such as ABC, NBC, FOX, TNT, CNN. |
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| Konstantin Yakunin | Adjudicator - California USA Dance - A+ B+ C+ D+ |
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| Konstantin Yakunin has been in the dance world as a working professional for over 30 years. He is an adjudicator, instructor, choreographer, coach and Pro/Am competitor. He is a former competitive Ballroom and Latin dancer who competed extensively in Russia and was regional 10 Dance Champion from 1987 to 1993 in Russia. He has extensive experience as coach, choreographer and trainer for Formation Teams, which annually competed in Russian National College competitions. Konstantin has received many honor certificates and awards from the Russian Federation Professional Union of Ballroom Dance, and has been an invited lecturer for Russian Regional Seminars at various competitions. | ||
| Jeffrey Garza | Adjudicator - | |
| Judge ZZ | Adjudicator - | |
| Daniel Calloway | Chairman - Bethesda, MD USA Dance+WDSF - Chair+ A+ B+ C+ D+ E+ |
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* WDSF World Championship, Grand Slam and World Cup Adjudicator
* WDSF Chairman of Judges * WDSF A Adjudicator * WDSF PD (Professional Division) Adjudicator * Chairman of Judges: North American and United States Championships * Professional of the Year and Top Teacher Dan has been competing professionally, coaching and judging for over 40 years. In 1985 Dan was the youngest dual fellow in the world with highly commended fellowships in the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, the London-based society, which embodies the worlds acknowledged leaders of the dance profession. Dan is also the DanceSport coach for the competitive DanceSport teams at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland, as well as serving as guest coach at numerous other universities, congresses, and dance camps, including moderating the professional discussion panels at key events in the United States. Dan has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Religion and a Master of Arts degree in English Literature. |
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| Tiffany Bouquet | Deck Captain - | |
| Ruslan Wilder | Emcee - New York, NY USA USA Dance+WDSF - A+ B+ C+ D+ |
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Ruslan Wilder started dancing at the age of 6 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Had a successful dance career as amateur in Russia with a few other partners prior to moving to US in 1997.
After getting married to Katusha in 2002 they continued their amateur and professional dance career together. Since than they have acquired many various top titles as amateurs and professionals in US and around the World in Dancesport Industry today. Some of the titles include: Owner of Hudson Dance Studio Owner of Championship Dance Camps Owner of Independence Day Ball Dance Camp Multiple Time United States Professional 10-Dance Finalists Multiple Time World Professional 10-Dance Finalists Multiple Time US Representatives to the World Championships North American Ballroom and Latin Champions United States Professional Rising Star Standard Finalists US Open to the World Professional Rising Star Standard Finalists Top 24 British Open Professional Ballroom 2012 US Representatives to the World Professional Standard (Ballroom) Championships Together they have performed shows for such stars as Steve Wynn, Aprille Millo, Nigel Lythgoe, and have been featured as a star performers for Capezio 125th Anniversary and major TV networks such as ABC, NBC, FOX, TNT, CNN. In addition to teaching at their studio: Hudson Dance Studio, judging, coaching and performing shows Worldwide, Ruslan and Katusha Wilder are Owners of Championship Dance Camps and Organizers of Independence Day Ball Dance Camp which takes place annually on July 4th weekend in Washington, DC. |
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| Todd Wakefield | Music Director - USA Dance - Scrutineer |
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Todd Wakefield discovered his love for dance as a freshman at BYU.He met his wife Alison when they were set up as partners. They competed in 10-dance but mostly focused on the Ballroom style, where they were Amateur Championship finalists. They were members of the BYU Ballroom Touring Team for 4 years. Todd graduated from BYU with a degree in Statistics and is a Consumer Insights consultant. He is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Utah Valley University
Ballroom Dance department. He is also a board member of the non-profit ballroom dance organization Danzinskule, a certified scrutineer for USA Dance, a music director, and co-organizer of a few competitions.In his 25+ years of dance experience, he has competed at the amateur championship level, directed college and high school teams, coached a US National Champion couple and choreographed routines for all levels of dancers. In the rare event that he has some free time, Todd enjoys just about anything that gets him outside, especially biking, skiing, golf or climbing...and even better if he can get his kids to do it with him. He and Alison have4 children and currently reside in Pleasant Grove, UT. |
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| Samantha McGurk | Registrar - | |
| Joe Huesmann | Scrutineer - Maryland USA Dance+WDSF - Scrutineer |
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Joe started dancing in 1995 while attending grad school at the University of Maryland. For the first year he was purely a social dancer; until the ballroom club coaxed him into entering their inaugural DC Dancesport Inferno competition, and he was hooked. He soon gravitated to International Standard, and focused on that style for many years.
As part of the organizing committee for the Mid-Atlantic Championships NQE in Bethesda, MD from 2009-2022, he performed technical setup for O2CM and acted as online registrar. In this capacity he became familiar with O2CM, scrutineering, and running dancesport competitions. After scrutineering college competitions for a few years, he passed the scrutineering exam in 2014. After he and his partner qualified for and danced at the world championships in 2015, she retired from competition. He elected to do the same, to focus on scrutineering and life off the comp floor. |
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| Daniel Calloway | WDSF Chair - Bethesda, MD USA Dance+WDSF - Chair+ A+ B+ C+ D+ E+ |
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* WDSF World Championship, Grand Slam and World Cup Adjudicator
* WDSF Chairman of Judges * WDSF A Adjudicator * WDSF PD (Professional Division) Adjudicator * Chairman of Judges: North American and United States Championships * Professional of the Year and Top Teacher Dan has been competing professionally, coaching and judging for over 40 years. In 1985 Dan was the youngest dual fellow in the world with highly commended fellowships in the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, the London-based society, which embodies the worlds acknowledged leaders of the dance profession. Dan is also the DanceSport coach for the competitive DanceSport teams at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland, as well as serving as guest coach at numerous other universities, congresses, and dance camps, including moderating the professional discussion panels at key events in the United States. Dan has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Religion and a Master of Arts degree in English Literature. |
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