Slavik Kryklyvyy

Slavik Kryklyvyy (Vyacheslav Kryklyvyy, Ukrainian: Славік Крикливий, Вячеслав Крикливий) (born 1976 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union^[1]) was a professional ballroom dancer specializing in International Latin. Born and raised in Ukraine, he is currently residing in New York City, United States.

He and Joanna Leunis were amateur world champions in International Latin. In 2000 the couple took first place in the IDSF World Amateur Latin Championship, the British Open (Blackpool), the ARD Masters Gala (Germany), and the IDSF European Latin Championship.^[2] Slavik and Joanna were the first World Amateur Latin Champions in the new millennium.

After becoming a professional dancer, his reputation was getting even bigger. His longest and therefore most successful partnership was with Karina Smirnoff with whom he became the second best couple in the world behind the legendary Bryan Watson - Carmen partnership. Slavik and Karina split up in 2005.^[3]

Kryklyvyy and then partner Smirnoff were featured in the film Shall We Dance?. Slavik was credited as the current Blackpool partner of Paulina (Jennifer Lopez) and as dance instructor.^[4]

Following the partnership with Karina, he paired with Elena Khvorova. They won second place in the 2006 and 2007 World Championships, however, their results were not as good as Slavik's previous placements with Karina; his former partner, Joanna started to beat them with her partner, Michael Malitowski. It had never happened before and probably it led to the couple's split.^[3]

He next had a short-lived partnership with Hanna Karttunen. Hanna was already retired after her successful career with Paul Killick. They were second behind Bryan and Carmen and in front of Slavik and Karina until their retirement. In 2008 Hanna confirmed that she will be back on the floor with Slavik but the UK Open Championship in 2009 was a huge disappointment for both of them. The couple finished 6th while the winners were Michael and Joanna.^[3]

In 2009-2010, Slavik Kryklyvyy partnered with Anna Melnikova, then amateur Latin champion, representing Russia in the international arena. Slavik and Anna were guest competitors as Show Performers.^[5] The couple were the subject of a feature documentary "Ballroom Dancer", directed by Christian Holten Bonke & Andreas Koefoed.^[6]

It was a huge challenge for Slavik and probably his last chance to reach the top but he and Anna could not manage it together. They became 3rd in the European Professional Latin Championship and finished 5th in Blackpool and the UK Open.

After they split up in 2010, Slavik started practicing with Daria Chesnokova, but they did not manage to introduce themselves on a competition.

In the fall of 2012 it was announced that Slavik would be dancing with Ekaterina Lapaeva, and their debut was announced to be at the UK Championships in January 2013.^[7] However, on November 22, Lapaeva announced that she was retiring from professional dancesport.^[8]

In April 2014, Kryklyvyy reunited with former partner Karina Smirnoff to perform in Dance Legends.^[9] Since then, the couple is occasionally performing on different events and shows.

References