by Steve "Xtreme" Ace
The Mayan was not its usual self last night for it being a finals night. With this year's competition having less hype than previous years, the vibe at the Mayan was more out of curiosity than excitement. A lot of "main" competitors were not present for this year's competition, which, in my opinion took a lot of wind out of the competition. Martin and Esti, last year's winners, did compete due to personal reasons. Abel and Zulmara, whom are rumored to either have already qualified for World's this year or will attempt to qualify, as well did not participate in this year's Mayan competition. And of course, the person for whom the Mayan is known for, Alex DaSilva, decided not to compete and possibly regain his status as top competitor at the Mayan. As to reasons why Alex did not compete this year? Rumor has it that he has "retired" from competition to concentrate on his team, performances, and other business ventures.
I strongly believe that this year's Mayan competition lacked so much because of those 3 key figures, and as well as the format change that took place this year. Organizers at the Mayan decided that, this year, they would make the "International/Out-of-State" couples qualify and compete in the finals ALL in the same night! This did 2 two things; 1) It put those couples in the that category at a disadvantage, because they would have to perform TWICE with only 1 hour's rest. And 2) It left no time for a salsa band. That's right, for the first time, and for as long as I can remember, there was no band playing last night. Which made some people unhappy because, the DJs were playing a lot of music that wasn't salsa. In the end, the format was completely unnecessary because, since there were only 3 couples that signed up in this category, they ALL automatically qualified into the FINALS. So, the Mayan organizers, being who they are, still had the 3 couples perform at 9:30pm, and then again, at 11pm. Those 3 couples did not have to do that inconsequential performance and the Mayan could have kept the live band.
The competition itself was a good one. The ladies' costumes were just phenomenal. All of them looked excellent and all were shining like diamonds on the stage. Going into the competition, I had Christian and Diana, as well as Jose and Sandra as my top 2 couples. As I stated a few weeks ago, I was still looking as to who would come for the "International/Out-of-state" category and give these 2 a run for the money. I was surprised and delighted to have seen Isidro and Sheila, from San Fransisco, on the screens during the "backstage" footage. Upon have seen them, they were my front runners. Theses two have become crowd favorites at the ESPN World Salsa competition, and which a lot of people felt they could have won at last year's World competition in Florida, but a mistake in the finals cost them dearly. So, with them in the competition, I had my 3 favorites in place. Well, 11pm took a while, but it finally came around, so here are my commentaries in order.
Christian Olviedo and Diana Sanchez (131 pts.- 3rd Place)
First off, I want to tip my hat off to Diana. She has never looked better on stage. Her dress was perfect for her and she completely made that dress SHINE! Her level of dancing has been taken to a whole new level this year, with her being far more technical and damn near precise in her execution. Christian was great as usual. I was a little fearful, because he has built a reputation of struggling and not being able to execute in the final round at the Mayan. This was not the case this year.
As with nearly all of Christian's routines, they got the crowd into immediately with high energy music. They started off really strong, but about 30 seconds into their routine, they went into Diana's "windmill" spins and disconnected for a bit. It took them a few seconds to really get back into the groove, but they managed to do and finished the rest of the routine very strong! They really set the bar high for the rest of the competitors. I was very pleased with their performance, which was a definite top 3 routine.
Isidro Corona and Sheila Zepeda (112)
As I stated, these were my pick were give the LA couples a run for their money. They used their routine that they used for the World's competition last year, which, if you've seen it, you know it's fast and extremely technical. Sheila, has an amazing stage presence. She looks to be right at home on that stage, and I loved it! Their routine was executed fairly flawlessly and was well received by the Mayan crowd, even though they had no ariels. Isidro and Sheila came and did what they wanted to do. I thought there routine was a definite top 3 finisher, but the judges thought otherwise. With a score of 112, they stood no chance. However, I disagree. Their style of dancing, which according to ESPN Mundial, has been adopted from the LA style. WRONG! They have a very strong On2 presence in their On1 routines. Their patterns are complicated and very well put together, so that they flow. No other couple on that stage last night, could do what these 2 did. I mean, their touch and gos are simply amazing to watch and their change of speed in an instant is uncharacteristic of any LA couple that I know. I'm sorry, but had they done what they did last night at last year's world's, they could have beat Abel and Zulmara. But, as I stated before, a fairly major mistake in the final cost them. This coming after a solid semi-final routine, which put them in first place over-all heading into the final round.
Raul Santiago and Sergia Anderson (132 pts.- 2nd place)
All the way from New York, these 2, if I'm not mistaken, have competed in the World's competition as well. Sergia is very graceful and extremely flexible, which they made very good use of. The routine was very technical with a lot of floor usage, and many speed changes. They also made very good use of her excellent spinning abilities, with her doing a lot of one footed spins. The routine itself wasn't all that difficult, just very clean, smooth, and graceful. Was it worthy of 2nd place? I don't think so. Watching this routine had me feeling like I was watching a performance at Congress. Simply for show and not for competition. At the Mayan, "crowd response" is one of the categories that the judges are judging on, and I didn't hear all that much from the audience until the routine was over, and even then it was a modest response, at best. Again, as technical and graceful a routine, it did not have that WOW factor for a competition of this nature. But, I guess they gave the judges what they wanted.
Luis Aguilar and Liz Lira (122 pts.)
Luis and Liz chose to go with different music for their final routine, which I did not like. Reminded me of a Lou Bega song. As with any Liz Lira routine, a lot of stretching and flexibility was used, which for the most part, was nice. But the dancing, just wasn't there. Their attempt to mix in some Latin ballroom elements went pretty much unnoticed by the audience. As was to be expected, their stage presence was unmistakable and probably the strongest of all the couples. This was no more evident than when Liz could not execute her signature handstand, because her arms were extended too far out in front of her, but she got right on up and regained ownership of the stage as is nothing happened. This is something that every performer needs to take note of. Liz showed her many years of experience after that moment, by not letting her effect her at ALL. However, as much as they recovered, I think that one mistake was their veritable "nail in the coffin". Had Liz executed that move, I think they could have placed.
I got a chance to speak to her after the competition for a good 10+ mins. She made it very clear that she and Luis did this for mere pleasure and that the outcome would make no difference about their feelings towards the competition and their reasons for competing. But, overall she had a great time working with Luis and their collaboration.
Jose Chavarria and Sandra Gallegos (120 pts.)
This was probably the most bitter-sweet performance of the night for me. As I previously stated, these 2 were amongst my favorites to place. About 30 seconds into the routine, the clip/pin that was holding Sandra's top together in the center of her chest came undone. Other than that clip/pin, there was nothing else to keep her breasts from being exposed. Although, Sandra kept going with the routine, surprisingly flawlessly, she just could not keep from holding her top in place, which took pretty much all the focus away from the routine. I really do have to commend her for keeping her composure under such a distressful situation. However, from a professional standpoint, she should have done all that was necessary in order to prevent something like this happening. If they had a dress rehearsal, which I hope they did, but don't really think so, I am pretty certain that the movements alone would have brought some concern and call to the need of securing that area down; especially with her choosing not to wear a bra top. It is pretty well known, amongst professional female dancers, that when a bra is not being worn, then you MUST tape/glue your outfit to yourself. Barring the "wardrobe malfunction", they could have easily placed.
Jorge Gutierrez and Karla Viana (96 pts.)
I think the music editing for these 2, pretty much summed up their routine; CHOPPY. The music sounded like it was edited on a tape deck; rough transitions and no sign of a flow. Although, they did have a couple of pretty good elements, the routine was just not well put together.
Omar Munoz and Sandra Gasca (116 pts.)
The intro was very nicely put together. The performance was very well done, but just didn't have any kick to it; fairly streamlined. This routine has great potential and with Omar and Sandra being such good dancers, they definitely could do a lot!
David Nieto and Charlene Rose (138 pts.- 1st place)
The intro was very "Paso Doble"esque. It had many dramatic elements and fairly good aerials. It really got the crowd hyped. However, I was let down after the into. David and Charlene took elements from various couple's routines from last year's competition. The first being Esti's "Stop on a dime" free spins; which the crowd barely reacted for Charlene and David. The second being Alien and Alex's "Ice Skating" heel stretch spin. And lastly Pepe and Christina's (actually came from Al "Liquid Silver" Espinoza) "Piano Keys"; which did it for me. Their routine was clean the whole way through and I would venture to say mistake free. But, the originality was blatantly thrown out the window when it came to choreographing this routine. Had this been done last year, GREAT! But, it was more like a tribute to last year's competition. And why the judges disregarded that, is beyond my comprehension. I guess David and Charelene felt that their routine that they had been using since their 3rd place finish last year at World's was letting them down this year. Whatever the reason, I didn't buy into it.
Troy Rowtham and Plezhette Martinez (104 pts.)
Troy and Plezhette did really good, with little to no mistakes. The music was good, but the only problem with the routine was that the choreography did not match the music all that well. For the most part, it felt "sluggish", as if they were struggling keeping up with the music, or at times, the combinations weren't suited for the music. The routine could have definitely benefited from more complex combinations and more technicality. But overall, a good showing.
Well folks, as much as I should be working on a report for grad school, that is due tomorrow, I just couldn't keep myself away from what I enjoy doing. As much as I feel Isidro and Sheila got robbed and how David and Charlene lucked out, it wouldn't be the Mayan otherwise. But, if you ask me, here's the top 3 IMO:
1. Isidro and Sheila
2. Christian and Diana
3. David and Charlene
yes...I meant Charlene. 
luis, not so much. 
and as for that lady Fabia 
