You guys are sick. Leave them alone! Do you know them!? NO! So dont make assumptions if you are not sure that they are true! Thats why they started this string anyways! Val and Diana are close friends of mine and it really upsets me to hear what you guys are saying about them.

If any of you would ever want to know what a good friend is, you can look at both Val and Diana.

If you want to know what teamwork and dedication is- look at Val and Diana.

If you want talent and strength- look at them again.

These two amazing people also happen to be great dancers, but unfortunately because of envious competitors the topic of Val & Diana very often are in the center of rumors. I know how hard they worked to accomplish all that they did and I must tell all of you who are reading this now- THEY DESERVED EVERY TITLE THEY EVER EARNED!!!!

For Val & Diana...

You are both truly talented dancers and people.
Watching you has been an inspiration and pleasure.
Knowing you personally has been even more rewarding. And for peoples' harsh comments and remarks I am sorry.

Thank you for your wonderful dancing and best of luck in the future for BOTH of you.

It is with great love for my two friends and USA's greatest dancers I wrote this..

Sarah

So much for Val's (stated) intentions of avoiding harmful gossip regarding his breakup with Diana by posting here...

Ithink, as far as inferring that Val did the breaking up by simply posting this message, I don't recall Diana ever posting here. However, I do recall Val posting several times in the past.

Yes, give the poor kids a break! It's probably hard enough on them that they broke up and now we're hammering them with all sorts of negative comments and criticism. It's positive feedback and encouragement they need!

Val, Diana, don't listen to our rubbish (we criticize but we're no better ourselves). You, two, are a gazillion times much more talented than we are (My, I wish I had a quarter of your talent!) . Keep up the good work!

Best wishes,

tango

ps: Diana, you're a beautiful girl not just with a lot of talent but a lot of class as well. Don't let anyone make you feel any less than you really are.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tango:
[QB]now we're hammering them with all sorts of negative comments and criticism. It's positive feedback and encouragement they need!

Val, Diana, don't listen to our rubbish

OOPS, I thought the whole purpose of this disucssion board was to be negative, gossip, criticize and write rubbish!!

yea!!!! Go, Sarah!!

Please people, lets not criticize what wasn't said...

Noone said Val and Diana are bad dancers. In fact, both are undisputedly amazing dancers, especially at such a young age. Comments saying they need encouragement are well and good but no one was discouraging them in the least! Comments praising their friendship-well those are just beyond the scope of anything that was said. They are irrelevant...

Now as to what was said... The assumption that whoever posted the message about the breakup did the breaking up is not at all out of left field because had it been mutual, the poster could have signed both names to the message, if the intention was really to prevent starting any gossip (Anton and Erica, another well known young couple, are registered together on this site to forestall just these kinds of assumtions). That wasn't done. If a choice is made to discuss a private relationship, be it a partnership, a friendship or whatever, assumptions by the audience will be made. Two solutions exist to resolve this problem: 1) don't start the discussion at all, as I think should have been done because preventing gossip in the ballroom community is impossible; 2) say everything there's to say, i.e. who broke up with whom, what were the reasons, who are your next partners, etc. This should be done if the intent is truly to prevent gossip... If all the relevent information is out, that and only that will prevent gossip. This message started more gossip than any anonymous post saying Val and Diana broke up would ever have. When you decide to set the record straight and choose a public forum to do it in, you'd better make sure you don't leave things out. Or else, don't say anything at all.

Now, for those people who can only post ad hominems (if you are 15, don't know what this means, but love defending your friends anonymously by insulting others, this may apply to you), a warning: no part of this post insults Val and Diana's dancing, ability to befriend others, ability to type, ability to use Dancescape forums or any other ability for that matter. It does question Val's ability to stop gossip by posting 3 sentences about his personal relationship on a public forum.

Who do you think Diana should dance with now???

I think that Sandra wasn?t the right choice for Valentin, they are two completely different dancers ? he is quick and sharp, and Sandra is slow and soft, and this partnership will probably won?t exist for a long.

~ Fan