One of the most beautiful moments I’ve seen in 2013, is the standing ovation received by World Smooth Champions and undefeated American Smooth Champions Slawek Sochacki & Marzena Stachura as they announced their retirement from competing after breaking 1st place records in the ballroom Dancesport field.
In their years of dancing American Style Smooth, they have not only won every competition, but also every dance since 2009. Many will miss seeing the beauty that they brought to the dance floor while others will revel in the opportunity of getting trade secrets by being coached by them.
Their OFFICIAL FACEBOOK GOODBYE READ:
“It is very hard to decide when to say good bye.
It feels like yesterday that we decided to go back on the floor in a completely different style of dance, American Smooth. These last 5 years have been the most amazing in so many ways. Our son, Lukasz, was born. Plus, we were able to do what we love the most: dance with each other with passion and love while also experiencing amazing success.
We feel so honored and proud that we have been able to learn and compete in this amazing style while sharing the floor with incredible dancers. Dancers that we respect, dancers who respect each other while still competing fiercely with one another. Most amazing is that we all enjoy special friendships. We want to thank all of them for making these years so memorable.
We want to send special thanks to our Loving Families and our son Lukasz, who have travelled to over 70 competitions, plus many shows and coaching trips. Without their sacrifices, love and support our success wouldn’t be possible. For the last 5 years they were living our lives—taking time away from theirs—so we could practice and compete. We will be forever grateful for every moment that we spent together, as a family, traveling around the world. Those memories are priceless and will stay in our hearts forever.
Thank you to our amazing sponsors:
– Ballroom Playlist for inspiring music
– Dancelife USA for shoes
– Park West Photography for many amazing memories
– The Winning Look for our beautiful tans
– Boyko and Company for stunning hair and makeup
– Dr. Sten Kervin for keeping our bodies healthy and in shape
– And LeNique for their truly amazing vision and their creations that will be never forgotten.
There are people that have changed our lives for the better and we can’t forget about them:
– Alan Dixon and Stuart Cole who gave us a new start in our life in the United States at Vivo Dancesport Center
– John DePalma for teaching us the business values that have helped us and changed our lives forever
– Pat West and the Londance staff for the most amazing work experience and for so much help with our son during our first year of competing in American Smooth
– our amazing Students who have been willing to adjust their schedules to ours.
– and our fans that were making us to dance to our maximum.
There are 2 ladies that could not be forgotten. We were never sponsored by them but definitely their help could not be unnoticed
– Mary Tweedle for so many amazing pictures
And Cassandra Valeria for all the help with shoes
We would like to thank all of the coaches that have shared their knowledge and passion with us over the last 17 years. Especially: Irena Stachura, Mariusz Smolenski , Graham Oswick, Stephen Hannah, Nadia Eftedal , Michael and Vicky Baar, Julie Fryer, Rufus Dustin, Stuart Cole, Linda Dean, Mariusz ‘Mario’ Olszewski , Brian and Sue Puttock, Sharon Savoy , Michael Mead, Max Winkelhuis, Tony Meredith and Richard Porter (not only for 9 years of training but as well for giving us opportunity to come to the U.S.).
Our special thanks to Nick Kosovich and Kosovich Lena for not only their knowledge, passion and friendship, but for being the most amazing sponsors a couple could ever have.
Our deepest thanks goes to our Amazing Dream Team. This is the Team that had the biggest impact on our success. Every sportsman and dancer should find a team of coaches that not only provides knowledge, but shares their passion, who you can trust, who believes in you, and who, most importantly, allow you to grow as individuals. Our Team has been by our side from 2009 and a couple of them were with us from the beginning of our journey in the United States back in 2002. They have inspired us in so many ways and they have become more than teachers. They became our friends. We would like to take this opportunity and acknowledge the five members of our “Dream Team:”
– Olga Foraponova Wright
– David Hamilton
– Wolfgang Opitz
– Heather Smith
– And special thanks to “Head Hunter” Toni Redpath . If not for her, we would have never discovered our love and passion for American Smooth. She was the one that saw something in us. By asking us for only a 1-year adventure, she became the one who opened so many new doors for us. We will never be able to thank her enough for the opportunity that she gave us.
We can only hope that we have inspired, touched and helped to move American Smooth to a higher level. We want to wish continued success in this process to all our fellow competitors.
Sincerely,
4-time United States and 4-time World reigning and undefeated Open American Smooth Champions
Marzena Stachura and Slawek Sochacki”
I can’t wait to see what the world of Dancesport has in store for 2014.
Can’t meet them in person but still want to learn from the best, check out videos from DanceVision.
Hello Everyone,
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