Rheinsberg competition to gather world’s best dancers

An exciting field of wheelchair dancers will gather in Rheinsberg, Germany, for the Rheinsberg Rohlstuhltanzfestival from Saturday (2 May), which has attracted some of the world’s top ranked couples.

The duo Latin class 2 will see the first meeting of the season between Ukrainian world and European champions Nadiia and Ivan Sivak and Russia’s 2014 world No.1 pairing of Aleksandra Berdnik and Sergey Antonov

The Sivaks, who celebrated their wedding anniversary on Wednesday (29 April) on the International Day of Dance, finished 300 points behind Berdnik and Antonov in the rankings last year.

Poland’s Joanna Reda and Pawel Karpinski won bronze in the event at the 2014 IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships, and will also grace the dancefloor at the Rheinsburg.

Reda and Karpinski, Austria’s Brigitte Kroell and Werner Kaiser and Russians Irina Gordeeva and Dmitry Torgunakov are amongst the top five couples competing in the duo standard class 2.

Gordeeva and Torgunakov finished on top of the rankings in 2014, followed by Berdnik and Antonov, the Sivaks, Kroell and Kaiser and Reda and Karpinski.

The combi Latin class 2 will see Italian world No.8 finishers Martatonia La Forgia and Emilio Bargiacchi and Great Britain’s Paula Moulton and Gary Lyness, of Britain’s Got Talent fame, dance the five high-paced disciplines.

A team of six German dancers will compete at home including Birgit Habben-Kober and Reiner Koberand and Eva Birken-Sperl and partner Anton-Johann Kaschuba in the combi standard class 1.

Headlining for the hosts in the singles events is German European champion Erik Machens in the men’s class 2.

Euros bronze medallist Sanja Vukasinovic will represent Austria in the women’s singles class 2.

Over 30 dancers from 11 countries will compete at the Rheinsberg Rohlstuhltanzfestival on Saturday (2 May) and Sunday (3 May).