Spectators, amateur and
professional, take to the floor
to dance the night away.

Elegant standard dancer
couple Benedetto Ferruggia
and Claudia Koehler in front of artistic Chinese "dance"
character (pronounced as
"wu").

After their public appearance,
the four hot dancers came to
the KOC offices.

Benedetto Ferruggia and
Claudia Koehler showing their
skill and style.

2009 World Games Countdown

Text & photos by Robert Huang　Translated by Sho Huang.

International standard dance sport couple Benedetto Ferruggia and Claudia Koehler, both Germans, and Latin dance siblings Gabriel Goffredo and his elder sister, Antonia Goddredo, made a special feature appearance on the evening of December 3 at the Kaohsiung Culture Centre's centre court. They were attending the "Dance With the World; World Games in Kaohsiung" special event and were invited by Ms. "Little Chili" Ling-Jiao Wang, Chairman of the Kaohsiung Dance Sport Committee, to provide an interactive and spontaneous opportunity with everyone in Kaohsiung.

These Standard and Latin dance couples helped Kaohsiung count down 590 days to the World Games 2009. The crowd's loud and clear encore requests made the black dome of the Kaohsiung sky completely sleepless. Before coming here, Ferruggia and Koehler had scored 1,449 points, the second highest in the world-ranking chart. Although born in romantic Italy, Ferruggia was raised in Germany where he met his dance partner. However, to strive for better a ballroom dancing education, the couple moved to Italy and now travel between the two countries.

The Goffredos are by far the top Italian dancers in competitive Latin dancing (Latin dance includes: Samba, Cha-Cha-Cha, Rumba, Paso and Jive).

To be dance floor participants at the 2009 World Games, couples must be in the Top 100 in standard world rankings and Top 100 in Latin world rankings. Among the Top 100, only the best 24 dance couples will be able to compete. Another aspect of this selection process is that, each country can only have one pair of dancers. It is tough competition and only through this tough, tight selection process will the Kaohsiung 2009 World Games guarantee spectators the best of the best.

Competitive Dance Sport will be held in the newly-built stadium Kaohsiung Dome, on Boai 2nd Rd.

The 2009 Kaohsiung World Games will take place in between July 16-26 all around Kaohsiung city and county.

Left: Latin dance couple Gabriel Goffredo and elder sister Antonia Goddredo.
Right: Little Chili with Chairman Chang of the Kaoshiung Education Bureau.