Riccardo Cocchi
Italian-american latin dance champion
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The basics
Quick Facts
| Intro | Italian-american latin dance champion | |
| Places | Italy | |
| Gender |
| |
| Birth | 7 December 1981, Terni, Province of Terni, Umbria, Italy | |
| Age | 43 years | |
| Star sign | Sagittarius |
The details
Biography
Riccardo Cocchi (born December 19, 1977, Terni, Italy) is a six-time 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. Сocchi 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 Julia take part in shows all over the world. From April, 2012 they have been performing in «Dance Legends» in New-York.
Famous coaches
- Barbara McColl
- Sammy Stopford
- Espen Salberg
- Hans Galke
- Shirley Ballas
Latest titles
- 2010-2015 World Professional Latin Champion
- 2009 World Professional Showdance Champion
- 2008-2015 U.S. National Professional Latin Champion
- 2012, 2015 Winner of the International Championships
- 2008-2014 U.S. Open Champion
- 2008-2011, 2013-2015 DWC Disney Champion (Paris, France)
- 2008-2015 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