The pro show — performed in four different segments during the finale night between competitions — was a major highlight of the 29th Annual Heritage Classic DanceSport Championships held March 1-5 at the Omni Grove Park Inn in North Asheville.

Featured were the dazzling Karina Smirnoff and Slavik Krysklyvyy, former United States professional Latin champions. Smirnoff also is a regular on the popular television show “Dancing With the Stars.” Krysklyvyy, who was her pro partner in dance competitions for years before they went in different directions, recently reunited with Smirnoff. 

“They’re very artistic and their technique is wonderful,” Kitty Williams, a competitor at Heritage, told the Daily Planet in a March 11 interview. “They have a very good partnership — they make a good team.”

WIlliams, a full-time nurse at Mission Hospital, said she loves to help teach the group dance classes and the beginners at the Asheville Ballroom.

Williams added, “Karina’s outfits were great... They did a lot of spectacular lifts” in the pro show that had the audience oohing and aahing. She then noted that “the professionals on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ came up through ballroom” dance competitions.

Williams competed at Heritage and said, “I was very pleased with my progress. It’s a journey.” 

In response to a reporter’s question, Williams noted that from a news standpoint, “there were no deaths or major injuries” at the competition, although there were the usual occasional minor collisions among the dancers. As for “wardrobe malfunctions,” she said, “sometimes someone’s shoestrap breaks loose... Those dresses stay on pretty well. (The dancers keep a spare pair of shoes near them, but off the dance floor, during competitions in the event of a problem with a shoe.)

An unexpected twist at Heritage was that the winner of the Pro/Am Smooth “A” division  — Yulia Rudenco (dancing with her father Andrei Rudenco)  — “did not have a single crystal” on her gown...  I’ve never seen that before in 21 years,” said JeanAnn Taylor, an amateur competitive ballroom dancer from the Asheville Ballroom, who sat in with her friend and fellow dancer Williams for part of the interview. (Taylor has been a volunteer runner at the event for 21 years. A “runner” is a person who gathers the judges scorecards and takes them to the scrutineer, who tabulates the results off-stage.). 

Rudenco’s dress with no crystals “will set the trend,” Taylor said. “Whoever wins sets the trend. It was pink chiffon, flowing and ethereal. It was magic.”

In the ballroom world, Taylor added, the mantra is “the lady is the picture and the gentleman is the frame.” 

When a reporter paraphrased, “So the woman is the picture and the man is the frame?” Taylor, with a smile, said evenly, “No, the ‘lady’ is the picture and the ‘gentleman’ is the frame,” emphasizing the ballroom culture’s preferred genteel phrasing.

Regarding the meaning of that mantra, Taylor said that women are the colorful, sparkly attention-getters in their slinky, sometimes-skimpy outfits, while men serve as a counterpoint and are relegated to mainly wearing black — with the occasional colorful tie and pocket square — and are there to make their partners look dazzling.

Typically, Taylor noted, the female dancers have “bling” all “over their bodies,” accented by “crystals on the dress.” She added, “Swarovski crystals are hand-glued to the custom-made dresses.” There is “bling galore” on the women dancers, whose gowns begin at $3,000, with $5,000 as an average cost, and going up to $10,000 and beyond.

In further discussing the dresses, Williams noted, “They’re all hand-made. They’re all one-of-a-kind-created. They’re very expensive. If you don’t wish to purchase one, you can rent one for several hundred dollars a day” versus spending thousands to own one... The dresses hold their value very well.”

Another option is to buy a used dress, which she said, “averages $1,500-1,800 — and up.”

Upon questioning, Williams said — with a laugh — that  the female dancers usually do not gain weight, partially because they have such big investments in their dance wardrobes and also because they practice incessently. “Most people (competitive dancers) practice several hours a day, seven days a week,” including her.

“If you dance all the time, it will take a lot of weight off” of anyone, she noted. New dance students can “lose an average of 10 lbs. in six months. I’ve seen widows come in (to begin dance lessons at the ballroom) ... looking ‘plain.’ Six months later, they’ve got a (fancy) dress on, bling on, hair fixed up — and they’ve made friends to go out with.”

Williams also said that the phenomenon known as “dance fever” truly exists. She said new students often become “addicted to dance — you have the music, you have the partnership — it’s fun.”

Regarding men’s attire, Williams said they wear predominately black outfits and it is much less expensive for them. However, some have crystals on their outfits and sometimes touches of color to match their partners’ dresses.

Williams said women dancers spend at least an hour per day on hair and makeup during competitions.

She noted that there are long lapses during the day between competitions, where she is “in” her hair, makeup and bling, and needs to run errands or eat. With a smile, Williams said that, except at Earth Fare alternative grocery store, she draws much unwanted attention. But “if you have to run an errand to Earth Fare, you’re okay in your bling. They don’t bat an eye.”

Williams also told of “a friend, who knew a dancer at a hotel — with her hair and makeup — talking with a guy at the bar, who turned out to be an undercover cop. He was going to bust her because he thought she was ‘something else.’”

However, the dancer mentioned in passing that she was in the ballroom competition, at which point “the cop laughed and told her he thought she was” a prostitute. “They all had a good laugh.”

As to what Williams likes so much about dancing, she said, “It’s fun. Good exercise. I like the music. I like the friends I make.” With a laugh, she added that she grew up shagging out of Spartanburg (S.C.).”

Williams later said that she only recently began ballroom dancing. “Four and half years ago, my son wanted me to dance at his wedding reception. I took private lessons and learned the waltz and foxtrot. So I got completely hooked within three weeks. Within a year, I started taking instructor training.” But her life is not totally enmeshed in ballroom dancing, as she described herself as “a lady who still likes to shag — and play poker.”

Meanwhile, Williams said that, “a big deal for Asheville (at the Heritage Classic) was that the Asheville Ballroom won the top large studio (award) for the second year in a row. 

“We (the Asheville Ballroom) had two instructors who were top instructors again — John King was second (he was first last year) and Zeki Maviyildiz won third (place) for the second year in a row. (King is Williams’ instructor and dance partner with her in competitions.)

“They take the amount of entries, but then you have to place,”  Williams said, in explaining how the top large studio award-winner is determined. 

Taylor added that “the Asheville Ballroom has competed — as an entity — for three or four years” in the Heritage Classic. She also said that the ballroom’s instructors are independent contractors.

Among the Asheville Ballroom instructors, Maviyildiz  had 11 students, King, three; Kem Overby, five; Ted Ross, one; Amber Nicole, one — a 14-year-old male who competed in the juniors category; and Katherine Wu, who had one.

“We have really high-caliber instructors,” Williams said. “People drive here (from distant locales) for the instructors.” Marveling at the talent at the Heritage Classic and other such competitions, Williams said, “When I go into that world, I’m an amateur — or a student. “

There were four general categories of dance competition at Heritage: American Smooth, American Rhythm, Standard and Latin. Also, there were theater arts and solos. These categories were represented with Pro-Am and Pro-Pro.

For a list of the winners, visit www.theheritageclassic.com.