This June our beloved Sponsored Gold dancers Craig and Evgeniya Shaw announced on Social Media that they had made the decision to retire. We have dressed Evgeniya in Chrisanne Clover Ballroom and Smooth dresses for many years and it is with a heavy heart that we will no longer see them on the competition dance floor…
There comes a moment in one’s competitive career when you feel it’s time. This decision didn’t come easy to us but we are happy to say we got here fulfilled.
***Henceforth we have decided to retire from the competitive floor***
Dancing was always about growth for us:
we aimed to push the boundaries, we wanted to create, to constantly seek for new ways of improving, moving forward no matter the cost.
That’s why we went everywhere - from America to Asia- and we competed without fear!
We feel blessed to have had our diverse dancing journey and feel even more blessed to be able to have a team that stood by us through all the ups and downs along way.
Back in 2013 being fierce and committed competitors we decided to have a baby and come back to the floor as soon as possible not knowing what was on the cards. We just knew we had to follow our hearts ♥️
It was truly amazing to be able to go on the most incredible journey after having our baby girl. She inspired us and motivated us from her first day on this Earth.
We continuously pushed our dancing and we are proud to say that we were able to achieve Professional Ballroom European finals and World Semifinals.
It is after we had her that we felt that life became richer and choices - bolder.
Hungry for the creative growth we found the Showdance genre that we fell in love with and felt it was so close to our understanding of dance.
2 years in we were honoured to have become World Champions!
However the soul was still longing for more and that’s when we got brave enough to learn a completely foreign style for us at the time.
It felt like biting a forbidden apple. The whole new world of emotions and expression became available to us.
For that we will be forever grateful to our coaches and family who have encouraged us!
It was our absolute honour to have made 2 Blackpool finals and become the First European Professional American Smooth Champions!
To my partner: Thank you for being my 8-in-1.
You are my world, you are the most intelligent, smart, kind, loving guy I have ever met. You are the father of my child. Writing just these lines says it all really: dancing with you and reaching for the stars was as emotional as it gets. Thank you for everything.
To our parents: Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your limitless love and support, thank you for always being there allowing us to chase our dreams.
To our coaches: Thank you for being more than coaches, thank you for being invested emotionally, thank you for caring, being honest and going that extra mile when we needed you the most. Thank you for believing in us and teaching us from your hearts. Moreover thank you for being our friends!
To our teachers: Thank you for your knowledge, expertise and scrutiny eye. Thank you for pushing us and never letting us be satisfied!
To our students: Thank you so much for being such a big part of our lives. Thank you for your trust and choice and for making us better dancers and teachers. Every day we learn from you!
To our sponsors: Thank you for your generosity, devotion and limitless support.
To Chrisanne Clover: I can’t express how grateful we are that we have been sponsored by you from the very beginning of our journey. Thank you for your trust, belief and encouragement to determine and develop our style. I will be forever grateful for our fruitful collaboration ❤️ Working with you was just as important as competing for me!
To Freed of London: You have been nothing but a delight to work with. We can’t thank you enough for being so flexible, creative and forward-thinking. Really thankful for all of your support and loyalty.
To Brackley’s of London: Tony, thank you so much for keeping my man on top of his game for 24 years. Thank you for never letting us down even when we wanted a yellow morning suit ?
Last but not least:
We would like to say that we feel proud to have represented our country with dignity and sincerity across the world stage for 10 years.
Thank you for the opportunities offered.
We are very excited for the next chapter in our lives and looking forward to keep growing in all the directions available to us.
Adieu,
We’ve got to go,
Evgeniya Shaw
‘It is with a full heart that Evgeniya and I are finally ready to hang up our competitive dance shoes and move on to new horizons.
Together these past 10 years have been the best third of my life. (Just under ?)
When we first met I knew within weeks that you were the girl for me in every way.
The girl that would push my young relaxed English ass into a new gear and show me new levels of work ethic. You were also the person who taught me fulfilment and what it means to enjoy the journey along the way and don’t be solely focused on the result.
Never in a million years did I think when I was watching the Professional Ballroom Championships as a youngster in Blackpool, 1995 that I would one day be gracing that floor in finals both nationally and internationally.
To when I saw the gladiators in the Royal Albert Hall dancing to then having our name being called from underneath the floor to dance in the semi final of the International Championships.
So many fond memories to look back on from all over the world but the two that stick out the most for me are becoming the first ever Professional Smooth European Champions and winning the World Championship in Ballroom Showdance with our story and song that's ours forever to keep.
On behalf of Evgeniya and I we would like to thank our coaches for all their words of wisdom and guidance along our journey and also a big thank you to our students. For us our students were and are such a vital part of our dance journey as relaying and sharing new information allows us to develop greater understandings and grow this wonderful genre of dance.
A huge thank you goes to our sponsors who collectively helped us create our brand and persona both on and off the floor.
To Ronnie and all at Chrisanne Clover we thank you for your continued support and for making Evgeniya look a million dollars every time she stepped out on the floor. We cant wait to share the road ahead with you and collaborate on new and exciting projects for years to come. (Always a family ?)
To Freed Of London and our tough but gorgeous Katherine., thank you for allowing us to be a part of the brand and to promote and be ambassadors for the greatest shoe out there.
And to Tony and Brackleys who've been fitting me out in my suits since I started dancing 24 years ago. From my first tailsuit to my last one you've always been there and for that I'll be forever grateful.
Lastly but by no means least we would like to thank our family and friends. Without you much of our success would not of been possible.
To our parents, who allowed me and Evgeniya to get back on the floor 11 weeks after giving birth to our beautiful baby daughter. Amongst a million other things you have been truly incredible and all our success is your success, we love you so much.
We are looking forward to our new venture as mentors and coaches and to share all our experiences with our students new and old. Craig Shaw
Evgeniya how are you both feeling after your announcement?
We are very well, not sad at all. We feel accomplished and fulfilled with our dancing journey.
We came round full circle.
Our decision came naturally to us. We are excited to find out what the future holds for us.
It’s important to leave on a high and at the top and Blackpool was exactly that for us.
The most loved and exciting competition of the year.
This year at the British Open we competed in American Smooth only as we felt we were able to express our style the most through this genre.
We would like to take our careers further in a more creative way therefore we have decided to step away from competitions.
When you know you know!
We had some amazing moments in our career:
Becoming World Champions in Professional Ballroom Showdance was absolutely magical.
I will never forget the mixture of emotions we went through.
Making the American Smooth Professional British Open Final and being the only English couple in the final was extremely humbling and truly a huge moment last year for us. Confirming this result again this year only with more flare and flow was even more magnificent.
Also becoming the first ever American Smooth European Champions was a huge honour and an absolute dream come true!
Making the Professional Ballroom World and International semi-finals and making the final in the European Professional Championships was also very special to us.
And last but not least we were very close to becoming British National Professional Ballroom Champions winning Quickstep and marginally missing out on the other dances but we felt like the People’s Champions that night and that’s more than any artist can wish for.
We are very much looking forward to more family time.
Our daughter will be 5 in a few days. It is a very exciting age and we don’t want to miss a thing.
We have many exciting projects in development and we’ll be updating you very soon. You’ll be the first to know all about our future endeavours!
Thank you so much for being such a wonderful supportive family to us. We will be forever grateful for our special relationship ♥Evgenia Shaw
Thank you for the memories Craig and Evgeniya and we wish you the very best of luck for the future...
Watch their dance video here...
Listen to Craig's podcast with Chrisanne Clover here...
Read their profile HERE > | Read about their Smooth European Championships HERE > | Read about American Smooth HERE > |