When to Make the Transition from Amateur to Professional Dancing
Stas from Moldova and Marketa from Czech Republic were in search of new dance partners and they were introduced to each other via mutual dance friend in Denmark in 2017. The chemistry and connection had already commenced.
Stas, started dancing at the tender age of six, won the first competition he entered which gave him a desirable flavour to become a winner on the dance floor. Marketa from a musical creative family was born to dance, at five she started with ballet and at seven years of age chose Latin dancing as her future.
Stas and Marketa were successful early in their partnership in the Rising Stars UK, International and at Blackpool Dance Festival and they decided to move to London to become a significant part of the UK dance world. They had a good introduction to the amateur dance circle placing 13th at the 2019 World Championship.
As they both had spent years on different styles of Latin dancing it took time to establish, grow and match together to adjust and create their own style. In which there are no short cuts.
Then of course in 2020 the world was struck by Covid-19. Due to logistics and circumstances they both went back to their families in Moldova and Czech Republic. Stas and Marketa emphasised and took the challenges this incurred and danced on zoom.
After Covid they reunited and changed their choreography and style of dancing. They wanted to freshen up their routines and began to reassess their future. Their hearts lay in the world of the professional category. Although it was against the grain to transition at their stage in their dance life, they felt like it was the right choice to make the leap of faith.
With the guidance of one of their teachers they evaluated how they see dancing, and after much assessment and discussions they knew deep down what they liked was closer to the professional latin style than the amateur. With the aftermath of Covid was a new start for everyone and they did not achieve the results in the amateur competition they anticipated. They love to explore artistic movement. Trend and style of professional dancing was closer to their hearts. As they knew a dancer’s career is limited, the question therefore was where would they like to spend their next ten years? In amateur or professional? Then came the joint realisation they wanted to grow in professional and pursue that path.
It was contractive to the trend as Latin couples usually tend to spend their time in amateur but with the support of their teachers, they embraced the leap of faith and have since embellished every dance.
Their 1st UK Championships gave great incentive and results on being placed in the semi final of the Rising Stars & 31st in the UK Professional Latin Open. Since then they became the Rising Star Dutch Open Champions, achieved two Rising Star finals (International and Blackpool), and the semi final of the World Pro Latin Championship.
Stas and Marketa are now based in Poland teaching at the Polish Club Dance School in Warsaw.
Stas and Marketa embraced the incredible atmosphere on the professional dance floor. They have truly focused mentally, physically, energetically and artistically into their next competitions.
Anita Flavina is proud and honoured to be part of their journey both growing together and supporting each other. To celebrate this with you we introduce our recent photo shoot which you will see more over the coming months.
Every dancer’s journey is unique and it is important to be honest with oneself and each other’s feelings and desires. What is right for one partnership is not right for all partnerships. It is nice to learn other dancers’ journeys and take inspiration and different view points on how to achieve similar goals.
