8:29 PM
Salsa Circuit
Glenfield's salsa stars are sashaying their way to the top.
National champions in three countries, Giancarlo and Masha Johansson of Latinissimo Dance Studios in Glenfield are setting their sights on world domination.
The duo are gearing up for the World Salsa Open in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in July.
It will be the first time New Zealand is represented at the event.
"We know the competition there's really, really tough," Mr Johansson says.
But they have beaten the odds to win not only the New Zealand championship, but the Swedish and Australian ones as well.
"Gaining first place in Australia is very difficult, they are already five-time world champions so the standard is very high."
The couple had to compete in Australia to qualify for the world champs, and had previously competed in Sweden which is where Mr Johansson's father is from.
The Johanssons put their success down to "lots of hard work" along with running their dance school.
They have been practising since the start of the year on their own choreographed piece and as much as they can for a required freestyle piece.
The freestyle is "scary" because competitors don't know what piece of music they will be dancing to until the last minute.
But the scariest thing was not knowing if Mrs Johansson would make it through the competitions due to an injury.
"I was really scared because we couldn't rehearse the last three days before we left," Mr Johansson says.
"But her adrenalin got her through it."
Source MICHELLE ROBINSON
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