German Open Championships 2024

A quick glance of the competition through the eyes of Anastasiya Lendel & Denys Kulakovskyi

The German Open Championships are one of the most prestigious and important competitions in the WDSF for all dancers. Being held in Stuttgart, they put thousands of athletes together to dive into the atmosphere of dance, performance, and applause. The competition is more than fierce, with some categories containing up to 300 registered couples. A challenging time for all participants as they have to go through 5 days of early wake-up calls, makeup, styling, endless heats, sweat, tears, falls and victories. This is the competition that sets the tone for the new dance season, so it is worth taking a closer look at what happened in Stuttgart this August.

The 2024 German Open Championships unfolded from August 13th to 17th, allowing couples to demonstrate their dancing expertise across multiple age divisions. The event attracted almost 4,000 participants from 59 different countries, and the panel of adjudicators consisted of 69 judges representing a variety of nations across Europe and Asia.

During GOC 2024 we witnessed some changes in the finals of the Adult categories: the renowned couple Marius-Andrei Balan and Khrystyna Moshenska from Germany, who won multiple World and Grand Slam championships in the Adult category, have announced their transition to the Professionals division after winning their final World Championship in Wuxi.

This shift has led to a change in standings, with Charles-Guillaume Schmitt and Elena Salikhova representing France now being recognized as the champions (before they were always ranked second after Marius and Khrystyna). Winson Tam and Anastasiya Novikova from Hong Kong entered the GOC Grand Slam Latin final for the second time in their career. Last year this couple was placed 8th, right after Konstantin Gorodilov and Polina Figurenko, whom they surpassed in this year’s event. A couple formed in 2023 - Jakub Lipowski and Teresa Kucerova from Czech Republic, participated in the German Open Championships for the first time and were placed 9th, after Artur Balandin and Anna Salita securing their 8th place. Another strong competitor of the Grand Slams series and championships - Moldovan Paul and Tatar Kristina from Romania, missed this year, opening space for the Israeli duet Alexey Korobchenko and Liana Odikadze in the semifinal.

Marius-Andrei and Khrystyna didn’t take part in this year’s Professionals competition at the German Open Championships, but instead captivated the audience with their sensual rumba show.

The Grand Slam Standard category has its long-standing champions Alexey Glukhov and Anastasia Glazunova (Moldova), whose dedication and effort has paid off with this significant achievement and rewarded them with leading positions in the Standard division for two years. On top of a win, they wowed the crowd during their showdance, as Anastasia’s dress lit up at the culmination of the song.

Cojoc Rares and Matei Andreea (Romania) took second place, which had the whole crowd cheering, followed by Tomas and Violetta Fainsil (Germany) taking bronze. An unfortunate change in results happened for the Latvian couple Vadim Shurin and Anastasia Meshkova, who finished one step behind the final this year (placed 4th in 2023); and for Dmitri Kolobov and Signe Busk from Denmark, whose ranking went from 3rd last year to 8th in 2024. In 4th place we had Dariusz Mycka and Madara Freiberg (Poland), followed by Yuan Shaoyang and Qi Chongxuan (China) in 5th. Closing out the finals were Marco Bodini and Kristina Charitonovaite (Lithuania), who made an appearance in top-6 of the Grand Slam for the third time.

We shouldn’t forget about the other age categories, especially Youth and U21, where there also happened a fierce competition for the places at the podium. This year, the Italian couple Luigi La Rocca and Marika Maria Scerra won U21 Latin, warming our hearts with their emotionally charged embrace and tears after the winner’s announcement. In 2023, they were placed in the semi-finals at GOC, taking 8th place. It is also important to note the vice-champions - Demid Anisimov and Giuliana Domingues da Silva, representing Germany; they were able to surpass their result, as they took 5th place last year. In the U21 Ballroom, a couple from Romania Butnaru Luca Teodor and Bidica Julia Denisa won the champion’s title, after being third last year which is an admirable jump in placings. The biggest jump in results occurred for the vice-champions from Kazakhstan - Maxim Zhilenkov and Alua Kargabaeva, who moved from 8th place in 2023 to silver this year.

In the Youth Latin category, Vladimir Vyrleev and Maria Proshletsova (Kyrgyzstan) were named champion after taking bronze at the 2023 GOC, and the second place went to Dmitrii Kalistov and Luna Maria Albanese, representing Germany, who took 4th place last year. It is worth noting that these 2 couples are close to each other in terms of results and are trying to get ahead of each other. In the Youth Ballroom, Parnas Mitkus and Juste Janciunaite representing Lithuania won the champions title. The vice-champions were the couple Jaime Martinez Ibanez and Emmi Brener from Israel, who also won silver in this age category in 2023.

German Open Championships historically give a good start for the new dance season, and this one promises to be a saturated one as it leads into the World Championships for all categories. Two more GrandSlams before the winter break, one will be held in Belgrade in October, and another in Shanghai in December. We wish all athletes good luck for the next competitions.

This year’s German Open Championships are going to be remembered by beautiful shows, outstanding dancing of the participants, charming music, and by elephant Rumbo - the mascot of the event. Attending GOC just once is likely to leave you with a desire to return to it next year. To fully immerse yourself and amplify the experience, consider extending your stay for at least one day to explore the historic city of Stuttgart. The deep connection between this prestigious event and the city seems almost serendipitous, making their association all the more special.

Instagrams of the competitors:

Marius-Andrei Balan - @marius_balan

Khrystyna Moshenska - @kristinamoshenskaya

Charles-Guillaume Schmitt - @7char_leshmitt__

Elena Salikhova - @sweetheartlena

Winson Tam - @tamwinson

Anastasiya Novikova - @novikovaanastasia

Konstantin Gorodilov - @gorodilov.konstantin

Polina Figurenko - @polya_figurenko

Jakub Lipowski - @jakublipowski

Teresa Kucerova - @lipowski_dance_official

Artur Balandin - @artur_balandin7