Here is an excellent interview with Eugene and Maria taped this year. They talk about competitive ballroom dancing as sports, art and also as entertainment. They also talk about why they turned professional. “Winning” and “improving” seem to be always in their mind. They remained as an amateur champions for a whopping 11 years and decided to turn pro in early 2008. As a new professional couple, they did an outstanding job. At Blackpool 2008, they made it to the final for jive, getting the 7th place in jive.

Eugene Katsevman & Maria Manusova at America's Ballroom Challenge

The clip is originally posted by Eugene and Maria’s official website. You can tell that they are very mature, emotionally grounded and mentally strong, which is probably one of the reasons why they could reach at the level where they are now.