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Nine-time professional world Latin champions Donnie Burns and Gaynor Fairweather demonstrated technique so far ahead of the pack that even today — more than two decades later — it stands up as beautiful dancing.

But what made them magical to watch wasn’t just the fluidity and technical quality but the way they danced together, working with, for and off each other to create an artistic effect that I haven’t seen as strongly represented in any couple since. This video is from a midnight show they gave at the ARD Masters Gala in 1992.

In case you’re wondering about the distorted proportions, it seems that this clip was captured from a European PAL format video, which has pixels that are a different shape from the NTSC format used in North America. Converting PAL to NTSC is extremely challenging and usually doesn’t work very well, even when using YouTube. Despite the distortion, I’m so glad that this was uploaded for all of us to enjoy, distortion or not.

George Pytlik

Author George Pytlik

Before turning pro, George achieved impressive results as an amateur competitor, holding the Senior (30+) Latin championship in BC, Canada for 7 consecutive years with his wife Wendy. The couple twice achieved a top-3 Canadian ranking in Senior Latin as well as a 3rd place Canadian ranking in 30+ Ten Dance. Today, George and Wendy are professional teachers with a vision of growing a strong dance community in Delta near Vancouver, BC.

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