Two young hopefuls for this year's European championships take the floor
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A ballroom dancing revival has hit St Petersburg, which has been invited to compete in a 33-country mammoth festival in Shanghai in November.
St Petersburg is also in the running to host next year's European Championships.
Of course Russia has been no stranger to this popular international dance form. In the first half of the century the ballroom was made popular by Snezhina -- a Mariinsky Theater soloist -- whose talented students Nikolai Koshkin, Dimitri Belski and Vladimir Hatski continued her noble efforts to spread what was considered the "dancing of the elite."
World War II, which had brought Russian troops to the coast of the Atlantic and reintroduced them to European culture, proved to be a tremendously influential factor in the revival of ballroom dancing in Russia.
It was well known that reformist Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was a fan and stimulated the interests of the Russian people in what were previously considered "bourgeois dances," a feudal vestige of 19th century European aristocracy.
Said Yuri Simonov, President of the St Petersburg Association of ballroom dancing, "We wore tailcoats and tuxes at dances in the sixties, and it became popular to look elegant."
The first official ballroom dancing competition in the former USSR took place in 1957. This was followed by the first-ever Russian Federation Ballroom Dancing Championships in 1964, and subsequently competitions for the whole USSR were organized in 1972.
Soon after the Soviet Union collapsed, professionals and amateurs united together and formed the USSR Association of Ball-room Dancing, and a regional association was set up in Leningrad.
Today, the St Petersburg Regional Association's program usually consists of two parts -- Latin (cha-cha, samba, rumba, jive and paso doble) and Modern (slow waltz, tango, quick-step, foxtrot and Viennese waltz).
The dancers have to work hard to reach the higher levels of this art-form, training four or five evenings a week to reach world-class standard. You can start learning from the age of four and there is no upper age limit. Even pensioners, providing they're sprightly, can try their fortunes in ballroom dancing.
The judges look closely at the dancers' rhythm and tempo, then at dress, style and technique and of course there are special rules and requirements for judging ball-room dancing as in any sport or dance form.
Since it is a mixture of sport and art, ballroom dancing requires not only strong muscles, but also grace, charm, artistry and most importantly money.
Ballroom dancing, as in the West, doesn't come cheap and the materials needed to create a lady's ball-gown can cost from $500-$1,000. The men's tailcoats aren't a dime a dozen either.
Last April ballroom dancing was accepted as an exhibitional demonstration event by the International Olympic Committee and could conceivably become a regular sport similar to figure skating.
Yuri Simonov said, "That is very important for the future development of ballroom dancing in the world and in Russia in particular. Russia already ranks third in the world after the United Kingdom and Germany in ballroom dancing. This interest on the part of the Olympic Committee can only be good news, as it will attract more sponsorship to this beautiful and elegant art-form."
Already the St Petersburg Association of Ballroom Dancing has a number of sponsors and advertises their products at its televised events.
Simonov said that he hopes the association can get big sponsors interested in advertising in time for next year's European Championships which will be hosted in St Petersburg if enough funding can be found.
In the Shanghai competitions in November, St Petersburg will be represented by four dancing couples. And plans are afoot to stage an international competition next year as part of the White Nights Festival.