Month: April 2015

Boris and the Bears were all looking forward with great anticipation to their annual outing to Daventry. Not only are there the usual competitions but also the team match and keenly contested Ragtime Swing competition.

We kicked off with the ballroom events and Luke and Fearn were first into action. There were three heats in the first round and after five rounds, Luke made it to the final finishing 2nd overall. This was a great achievment since he had just moved into the 6-8 year category for the first time. Next came Grace S who won both her ballroom and latin events closely followed by Leila and Miriam who were placed 1st and 3rd respectively in their ballroom events and 2nd and 4th in the Latin. The Juniors continued the winning trend with Molly and Olivia taking 1st and 3rd in their ballroom events and tieing for 4th in the Latin, then Grace P and Emily S took 1st and 3rd in their balloom with Grace P also finishing 6th in the Latin.

The pressure was then on the adults but they didn’t disappoint, Craig, Chris, Carla,  Josh, Andy and Neil all took 1st place in their ballroom events, Andy and Neil adding to this with 1st place in their Latin events also  and Allison completing the hall of fame with 1st place in her Latin.  Karly had 2nd in both her ballroom and Latin events in only her second competition with us, whilst Debbie and Tony were placed 3rd and 4th in ballroom and 4th and 5th in Latin in only their second ever competition. In fact out of the 13 ballroom events we contested the team finished up with 10 first places, a great acheivement.

We then came to the eagerly awaited Ragtime Swing events which are run annually in memory of Jean Johnson, a greatly respected teacher, promoter and ambassador of dance. There is one event in each age division, Juvenile, Junior and Adult and the first time these events were run in 2011 we managed to win all three trophies, would history repeat itself today?

The Juveniles were first up with Leila and Miriam and Luke and Grace S in action along over 30 other couples. After four rounds, both couples made the final which was terrific and Leila and Miriam emerged victorious. The pressure was then on the Juniors with Molly and Emily S and Grace P and Olivia taking up the challenge, again both couples made the final and Grace P and Olivia were placed 1st with Molly and Emily S 3rd. Two down one to go. The pressure was then on the adults and again there were over 30 couples in action. Represeting us this time we had Josh and Lydia, Andy and Dawn, Neil and Carla, Craig and Karly, Chris and Alison, Allison and Serena and Jean and Hazel. Josh was particularly keen to do well as he had won this event with different partners every year since its inception, first as a Junior and then as an adult. After four rounds we reached the final with Chris and Alison having made the second round and Craig and Karly reaching the semi-final. Josh and Lydia were announced the winners with Neil and Carla 4th, Andy and Dawn 6th and Allison and Serena 7th. Fantastic results everyone you made us all very proud.

The Team Match followed and we were represented this time by Leila and Miriam, Molly and Emily S and Josh and Lydia. There is always a great atmosphere during this part of the day with each school cheering on their representatives. Only the winners are announced and unfortunately it was not us on this occassion but nevertheless our team gave a brilliant account of themselves and no doubt ran the winners very close.

The couples events rounded off the day and again we had many successes with Leila and Miriam taking 2nd in the Juvenile All Girls CCC, Grace P and Olivia taking 5th in the Junior All Girls CCC and Serena and Allison taking 4th in the All Ladies CCC. In the Adult Man/Lady Samba Andy and Dawn finished 6th and Josh and Karly, who hadn’t really danced together before came 2nd.

It was quite a long day, as they often are, but your hard work and dedication is appreciated and the rewards were well desreved. Thank you once again to all partners as well as family members and supporters, together we make a great team.

Next up is the ISTD exam session and then we have a busy June in store. Boris will be kept busy but will be ready for the challenges that lie ahead!!

Following the recent spell of warm sunny weather we had high expectations for our trip to Whitby and had thoughts of paddling in the sea! In the end however it turned out to be wet and windy, just as well really since most of the day would be spent inside the lovely Pavillion ballroom. We were only a small contingent, Dawn and Andy, Dennis and Sue and Craig and Lydia for whom it was their first outing together at this event.

The adult events seemed to have the highest entries of the day, unusually, and all of our couples had several rounds in each of their events. Whilst we may have been few in number, it did not diminish our haul of trophies. Craig and Lydia had an exceptional day making all five of their finals, taking three 4th places, one 3rd place and a terrific 2nd place in the the under 35 ballroom event. Dawn and Andy took three 1st places, a 2nd and a 5th in the open Salsa event (a new addition this year). Dennis and Sue had two 2nd places a 3rd and a 4th with some particularly good results in the open events.

Following the days activities we ended with our traditional visit to the Magpie Cafe for fish and chips, some might say the best bit of the day! Well done to everyone involved, we hope Daventry proves to be as sucessful in a couple of weeks time.

It’s Easter so we must be at Southport for the annual Easter Sequence Festival. Over the three days of competitions we had five couples competing this time. For three of them it was only their third time at this event but all knew better what to expect this time and were ready for the challenge both mentally and physically. Friday saw Andy and Dawn, Dennis and Sue and Neil and Carla all in action with all being recalled to the semi finals with Andy and Dawn making the final.

Saturday saw everyone in action with Andy and Dawn again making the final of their event and Dennis and Sue and Carla and Neil reaching the semi final. Stuart and Andrea were placed 3rd in the senior modern sequence event and Liam and Alex came 2nd in the Latin sequence event.

Sunday was the main day of competitions and once again all couples were in action. Andy and Dawn made the finals of all their events, Dennis and Sue made the final of the modern sequence and intermediate events and Carla and Neil also made the intermediate event final. Stuart and Andrea finished 4th in the Senior Classical Sequnce Championship and Liam and Alex completed a great set of results by winning the Amatuer Classical Sequence Championship once again. Congratulations to you all, you all showed great improvements over last year both in technique and performance.

With the serious business out of the way it was time for the annual Team Match. This year’s theme was “Famous Families” and we were the Von Trapps. Our team consisted of Louise and I, Liam and Alex, Stuart and Andrea and Neil and Carla and we were up against the Adams Family and the Royal Family. It is always a fun way to end the festival and of course the entertainment is more important than the winning, but of course we all wanted to win and so we did. Again it was a great performance by everyone in the team who entered into the spirit of the event with great enthusiasm.

As we bask in the afterglow of our successes and contemplate what is next we rest assured that next year we will aim to do even better and look forward eagerly to next Easter.