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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, February 5, 2015 | 38 Mail carrier dances into first place on world stage by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff N o one would think a natural talent for recreational dance mixed in with three months of daily practice and a torn ACL would be the recipe for a world Latin dance championship win. But that was exactly the case for Oakville's Roberto Quaresma and his partner Daria Novoselova, of Burlington. The pair began dancing together at the Mississauga-based Latin Energy Dance Company three months before attending the World Latin Dance Cup in Miami on Dec. 13, 2014. They placed first in the Salsa Amateur Couple on One category -- the term "salsa on one" refers to the first step of the male/ lead partner. "We went crazy. We went up against (couples from) Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, countries where culturally that (Latin dance) is their lifestyle... and here we were the only competitors from Canada," said the 37-year-old Quaresma, who works fulltime for Air Canada loading planes and Canada Post, as a letter carrier. "Especially because we weren't expected to win, that's what made it all the better. This was the first time we competed (at that level), I had a torn ACL, we had only been training for three months -- I mean, there were couples there who had 10 months on us." Novoselova, who works for TD Bank fulltime, echoed her partner's reaction, say- Below, Oakville Canada Post carrier Roberto Quaresma and his partner Daria Novoselova, a Burlington resident who works for TD Bank, took first place in the Salsa Amateur on One category at the World Latin Dance Cup in Miami on Dec. 13, 2014 -- their first international competition win. The pair dance with the Mississaugabased Latin Energy Dance Company and had only be practising together three months prior to the event. Quaresma, who also works for Air Canada loading planes, competed with a torn ACL. Above, Quaresma and Novoselova in the ending pose to their dance in the finals. | photos by Ricardo Tellez ­ special to the Beaver ing she couldn't believe they kept coming in first in the qualifiers, the semifinals and then finals. "It was unbelievable, honestly," said the 27-year-old. "I was in such shock because we had not been practising for too long, compared to everyone else. But we were working very hard, General $8.50 | Children & Seniors $6.50 | All seats Tues $5.00 every day." At the world stage, another pair ShOWTiMES fOR fEbRuARy 6-12 of dancers from Latin Energy took OpEninG ThiS WEEK: ThE SpOnGEbOb MOviE: first in the Salsa Amateur Couple on SpOnGE OuT Of WATER And JupiTER ASCEndinG Two category, while the Latin Energy team placed second in the Bachata The SpongeBob American Sniper (14A) category. Movie: Sponge Out of Fri - Thu: 3:15, 6:40, 9:20 But the good news didn't stop there. The Imitation Game (PG) Water 3D (G) Fri: 1:15, 6:50 SaT - Thu: 1:15, 6:50, 9:15 Fri - Sun: 5:10, 9:45 Mon - Thu: 4:00, 9:45 Jupiter Ascending 3D (PG) Fri - Sun: 12:30, 7:10 Mon - Thu: 1:30, 7:10 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (G) Fri - Sun: 12:15, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00 Mon - Thu: 1:10, 7:00 Jupiter Ascending (PG) Fri - Sun: 2:20, 9:10 Mon - Thu: 3:20, 9:10 Strange Magic (PG) Fri - Thu: 1:00 Paddington (G) Fri - SaT: 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 6:30 Sun: 12:30, 2:30, 6:30 Mon - Wed: 1:00, 3:15, 6:30 Thu: 1:00, 3:15 The Theory of Everything (PG) Fri - Wed: 3:45, 8:30 Thu: 3:45, 9:00 171 Speers Road, Oakville (at Kerr St.) | 905-338-6397 (MEWS) www.film.ca Performing at Toronto Pan Am After returning from their victories, Quaresma and Novoselova learned that Latin Energy had been asked to perform in the opening ceremonies for the upcoming Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games on July 10 with Cirque de Soleil. "Well, let's just say I'll probably be more nervous for this than the world cup," said Quaresma. "This is going to be on a giant stage, televised... this will probably be the most nervewracking. I don't usually get nervous... It's going to be intense, but I can't wait." Quaresma has been dancing with Latin Energy for six years. Before that, his only experience was salsa dancing at nightclubs with his wife, Natalie. "I never took professional classes when I was a kid. I played soccer for Oakville my whole life, that's why it's such a crazy story," he said of the dance world cup win. "Naturally, I guess, I know how to dance. All I need is someone to show me roughly how it's done. I pick up things pretty fast." Novoselova has been Latin dancing for three years (the past two with Latin Energy), returning to it after giving it up for school when she was a child. She took it up again when she could afford to, after moving to Canada from a town near Moscow. In the months leading up to the world competition, the pair would practise between one to three hours every day. Quaresma said he was lucky that his torn ACL did not need surgery because his muscles were strong enough to hold off, or else he wouldn't have been able to compete. The lifelong Oakville resident said the experience in Miami was definitely a nailbiting one. "In Toronto, when you compete, you somewhat know who you're going up against. There are people you recognize -- you've seen them in the dance scene before," he explained. "But when you go to the international level, you have no idea who you're going up against, what they have... it's pretty intimidating." Quaresma noted his years of experience playing competitive soccer did help him stay focused on his and Novoselova's ultimate goal. "My mentality was, `Don't worry about what everyone else is doing. We're here to have fun, do our best and that's it,'" he said. "And really that's what it came down to. Something just came over us... we were hungry for the win."