***BREAKING NEWS***
Christos and Susan Waltz Away as
USA DANCE National DanceSport Silver Standard
Champions!
The country's best athletes assembled in Los Angeles, California, recently,
where Susan Sassaman, of Havre de Grace, and Christos Serdenes, of Essex, were crowned National Champions at the USA Dance National DanceSport Championships held April 4-7, 2013 at the JW Marriott at LA Live. The Championship is recognized by the World DanceSport Federation, a 90-member organization of the International Olympic Organizing Committee. Ms. Sassaman and Mr. Serdenes are an International-style standard ballroom dancing couple, who have been dancing together for five years. At Nationals, they placed first of 18 couples from across the U.S. dancing the waltz, foxtrot, and quickstep in the Silver Standard Senior II division. Ms. Sassaman and Mr. Serdenes hold the distinction of being the only couple in the semifinal round to earn every one of the seven judges' votes advancing them to the finals, which means that even on a packed dancefloor with 12 other couples, the pair stood out from the crowd. The pair was also awarded the third place medal in the 14-couple Silver Standard Senior I division.
The couple, known as Christos and Susan on the dancing circuit, only started competing in September 2011 and since then have compiled an impressive record in sanctioned competitions. To dance at the National level, they had to have placed in the top 75 percent of USA Dance amateur athlete couples in National Qualifying Events (NQE). The couple qualified for Nationals at their first NQE of the season, in North Carolina, which is exactly how it happened last year. The couple went on to finish fifth and sixth in the country in the Bronze Standard Senior II and Senior I divisions, respectively, at the 2012 National Championships held in Baltimore.
Christos and Susan specialize in the over 35-years of age Standard Ballroom category, namely Senior I and Senior II Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Tango, and Viennese Waltz and are trained by U.S Professional Dance Finalists, Emanuele Pappacena and Francesca Lazzari, at the Passione Italiana Ballroom in Delaware.
(photo credit: Carson Zullinger)
where Susan Sassaman, of Havre de Grace, and Christos Serdenes, of Essex, were crowned National Champions at the USA Dance National DanceSport Championships held April 4-7, 2013 at the JW Marriott at LA Live. The Championship is recognized by the World DanceSport Federation, a 90-member organization of the International Olympic Organizing Committee. Ms. Sassaman and Mr. Serdenes are an International-style standard ballroom dancing couple, who have been dancing together for five years. At Nationals, they placed first of 18 couples from across the U.S. dancing the waltz, foxtrot, and quickstep in the Silver Standard Senior II division. Ms. Sassaman and Mr. Serdenes hold the distinction of being the only couple in the semifinal round to earn every one of the seven judges' votes advancing them to the finals, which means that even on a packed dancefloor with 12 other couples, the pair stood out from the crowd. The pair was also awarded the third place medal in the 14-couple Silver Standard Senior I division.
The couple, known as Christos and Susan on the dancing circuit, only started competing in September 2011 and since then have compiled an impressive record in sanctioned competitions. To dance at the National level, they had to have placed in the top 75 percent of USA Dance amateur athlete couples in National Qualifying Events (NQE). The couple qualified for Nationals at their first NQE of the season, in North Carolina, which is exactly how it happened last year. The couple went on to finish fifth and sixth in the country in the Bronze Standard Senior II and Senior I divisions, respectively, at the 2012 National Championships held in Baltimore.
Christos and Susan specialize in the over 35-years of age Standard Ballroom category, namely Senior I and Senior II Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Tango, and Viennese Waltz and are trained by U.S Professional Dance Finalists, Emanuele Pappacena and Francesca Lazzari, at the Passione Italiana Ballroom in Delaware.
(photo credit: Carson Zullinger)