Professional Carriers Lucchese Giacomo and Berardi Francesca currently teach ballroom dance in Boston, Massachusetts. They recently contacted USA Dance about representing the United States in the professional division. Because USA Dance is the national governing body for DanceSport in the United States and a member of the World DanceSport Federation, professional athletes are able to join USA Dance and represent the U.S. in the World DanceSport Federation – Professional Division.
Lucchese Giacomo and Berardi Francesca
As members of USA Dance Lucchese and Berardi along with other professional athletes can interact with and support other athletes at USA Dance events and work with their local chapters to use their experience and talents to promote ballroom dancing in their communities. Professional athletes can also compete internationally in the WDSF – PD circuit, and that’s exactly what Lucchese and Berardi traveled to Stuttgart, Germany to do.
The couple competed at the WDSF – PD Super Grand Prix and Open competitions. The competitions were huge, with thousands of dancers from various divisions gathered together from around the world, but everything ran smoothly for the duration of the competitions. Every event had a large crowd in attendance. “In the main ballroom,” Lucchese said, “the orchestra would start to play, and with the lighting in the room, and with all the people, it created an amazing atmosphere and a wonderful feeling for all of us competitors.” That wonderful atmosphere may have contributed to the couple’s incredible performance as they walked away from the competitions placing 7th in the Super Grand Prix and 3rd in the Rising Star categories. By Michael Mecham Photos Courtesy of Ken Richards
32 DanceSport