Riccardo Cocchi (born December 7, 1977, Terni, Italy) is a 10-time undefeated Latin Dance Champion, with his partner, Yulia Zagoruychenko. Currently, he resides in and represents the United States of America. When not busy competing, Riccardo is available for coaching.
History
Riccardo began his dancing career at the age of 6 at his parents’ dance studio. His first partner was Barbara Mancuso. At first Riccardo appreciated International Ballroom (or Standard) more than Latin. Later he competed for many years in amateur divisions with different partners. When Riccardo started dancing with Joanne Wilkinson, from Australia in 1998, he switched over to Latin completely. Riccardo and Joanne were two times World Amateur Latin Champions, ten times Italian Amateur Champions, Professional Italian Latin Champions, and Professional Grand Finalists at the UK, British and World Championships. He continued dancing with her for ten years until 2007 when the partnership split. Soon afterward Riccardo had the opportunity to dance with Yulia Zagoruychenko. Cocchi and Zagoruychenko won their first World Latin Dance Championship in 2010, and earned their second title in 2011. They are ranked #1 in the world for Professional Latin. They recently won their 5th consecutive National Professional Latin Champions title at the US Open Dance Competition. Apart from active participation in competitions, Riccardo and Yulia take part in shows all over the world.[1] From April 2012 they have been performing in «Dance Legends» in New-York. These days they continue performing as guests at events like Shining Star Cup 2023.[2]
2008-2019 U.S. National Professional Latin Champion
2016-2019 British Open Professional Latin American Dance Champion (Blackpool Dance Festival)
2012, 2015-2019 Winner of the Elsa Wells International Dance Championships
2008-2014 U.S. Open Champion
2008–2011, 2013-2015 DWC Disney Champion (Paris, France)
2008-2019 Dutch Open Champion
2010-2016 Asian Open Champion (Tokyo, Japan)
2013, 2016 Asian Open Champion (Korea and China)
2010–2014, 2016 Asian Open Champion (Taiwan)
2010-2012 Asian Open Champion (Indonesia)
2010-2014 Asian Open Champion (Macao)
2010-2012 Philippine Star Ball Champion
2009, 2012, 2013 German Open Champion
2012, 2016 Asian Pacific Champion
References
^"les si magistrales et oniriques démonstrations de Riccardo Cocchi et Yulia Yagoruychenko", Hallier ou l'Edernité en marche, Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Neva Editions, 2018, p. 80. ISBN978-2-35055-247-7
