Month: January 2017

Yesterday was the annual NATD medal presentation dance. Unlike, most of our Sunday outings, it was a nice civilised 1pm start and an even more welcome 4pm finish.

During these three hours there was lots of time for general dancing, displays, charity raffle and presentation ceremony. Not forgetting, of course, fitting in time for a cup of tea and homemade cake.

The children (both young and a little bit older) provided the cabaret. Firstly, our younger dancers took to the floor to display their work in the Waltz, Tango, Cha Cha Cha and Rumba. Thanks to our more experienced dancers for partnering them. It was then the turn of our competitive junior and youth dancers to display their talents. Whilst we were chilling out over the Christmas vacation, Robert was choreographing the routine and cutting music for the four minute display. The dancers then had four, one hour classes to learn and perfect the work. All I can say is that it’s a good job they are all a quick study. Congratulations to you all for a super presentation. You all looked delightful.

The raffle raised a magnificent £140 for Treetops Hospice. Thank you to all who bought raffle tickets and also donated prizes.

The presentation of awards was a marathon task with a record number of medals to present. From the examination session in December, the examiner, Mr Page, commented on how well everyone was dressed and the dedication in which everyone presented their work was clear for him to see. There were no straight passes, with him awarding everyone at least Commended and the majority of results being Highly Commended. Within this there was a range of marks from 85% to 99%. The elusive 99% being awarded to three dancers across four examinations.

The school award, this year, was awarded to someone who has been with us since 2008. Taking part in all NATD and ISTD examinations and wherever possible all competitions and outings. The highlight of this time being at last year’s ISTD Grand Finals, where they won both their ballroom and Latin American events – well deserved congratulations to Geraldine Wilkes.
Thanks must go to the FRoGS for providing lovely homemade cakes and refreshments. Also, to Chris for enabling us to use George Spencer.

All that remains is to record our thanks to everyone –  dancers, parents, grandparents, supporters and friends for their continued hard work, dedication and support – you all make an amazing team.

It’s the start of a new year and the journey to qualify to dance at Blackpool begins again. As usual the first stop was Kettering although unusually we did not encounter any snow this year. It was all in our minds during the week but come Sunday all was clear for the trip.

The day started with the children’s section and recalls in the ballroom section were recorded by Kaitlyn, Chloe, Grace S, Leila and Molly. With Grace S recording a 6th in her quickstep and Molly a 3rd in her quickstep. In the Latin section recalls were achieved by Kaitlyn, Jack, Leila, and Molly. With Jack making his rumba final and coming 3rd whilst Leila came 7th in her cha cha cha. In the children’s couples events, Olivia & Molly came 4th and 5th whilst Jack & Leila came 6th and 3rd in ballroom and Latin respectively.

It was then the turn of the adults. There were numerous sterling performances and final places achieved. Wins were recorded by Hazel in her quickstep, Chris & Serena in their waltz and Craig & Emily in their cha cha cha.

Particular mention should be made of the sequence section. There are five age groups in this section and we are proud to record that we won all five sections. Grace S in the under 12yrs, Molly in the 12-15yrs, Grace P in the under 35yrs, Serena in the over 35yrs and Carla in the over 50yrs. This is a very notable team effort and well done to you all. Also to Chloe, Leila, Josh, Karen, Neil, Chris, Andy, Karen C, Dawn and Hazel for securing crucial final placings.

Thanks must as always be recorded to those who partnered Luke, Liam, Alex, Josh and Molly.  Without you it simply could not happen.

Whilst we had many familiar faces amongst the team we also had a few new faces. Whilst Peter & Carol dipped a toe into competitions last year they have now signed up for the full Blackpool journey. Also, we welcome Alexander, who has moved back to this area of the country and joined us after catching the dancing bug whilst away at university.

Crucially, we also said hello to four new team mascots. They are distant cousins of Boris and are called Zoe, Mannie, Alexandra and Liam. As you will see from the photograph, Alexandra came fully prepared and dressed for her role whilst one or two of the others were a little underprepared for their role. But, I’m sure they will have learnt greatly from this experience and will be fully prepared for their next outing!

Overall, it was a long day with very tough competition. This is all very crucial practice for the Blackpool weekend and as always we were proud of how dancers, partners and the all important supporters performed on the day.

Next we have some light relief with the Medal Presentation Dance at the end of the month (remember to purchase your tickets if you haven’t already) and then we have the sequence qualifier, which this year has moved from Whittwick to Long Eaton. So we’ll all get an extra half hours sleep!