Month: February 2020

It was going to take more than Storm Dennis to prevent our intrepid team of dancers from attending the ISTD qualifier at Castleford, especially since it was the last opportunity to qualify for the ballroom and Latin events. For some there was much work to be done to gain the all important qualifying slips whilst others could relax a little more in the knowledge that they had already qualified at Kettering.

The children as always were first to take to the floor and it was good to welcome back the Stanley family into the team once more. Boris was especially keen to catch up with some of his cousins again as it had been such a long time since he had last seen them.

With all of the children needing to qualify in some of their events everyone needed to be on top of their game and so it proved to be with everyone making both their ballroom and Latin finals and Chloe, Grace S and Paige all making the sequence finals as well. There were first places for Isobel (winning both her ballroom and Latin events), Paige and Chloe. Paige and Grace S also managed to win both of their couples events. A great start to the day then and one which laid down the challenge to the adults.

The adult sequence came first and these are always the toughest events here. Nevertheless Grace P and Josh both made their final finishing third and fourth whilst it was first second and third for Paul, Karen and Chris in the over 35 years section. In the over 50 years category Andrew, Carol, Dawn, Allison and Peter all made the final with Andrew continuing his winning form from Kettering.

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The ballroom and Latin events followed and whilst numbers were down there was still some qualifying to be done and pleasingly everyone who needed to managed to secure their place at Blackpool. There were wins today for Jack, Peter, Grace P, Hazel, Paul, Allison, Josh, Karen, Andrew, Olivia, Carol with double wins being recorded by Grace P, Hazel, Paul, Allison, Karen and Andrew.

The couples followed and the winning form continued with Craig and Emma, Peter and Carol, Andrew and Dawn in the ballroom and then Jack and Olivia, Peter and Carol and Andrew and Dawn in the Latin.

There is a little more work to be done for some in the sequence events in order to qualify but with the events in March and June this should be achievable for everyone. Of course as always we must thank our teachers, partners and those who partner each other who are always ready and willing to step up to the mark and come along to events and lessons to practise both on the day and beforehand: Liam, Ruth, Grace P, Josh, Emily, and Craig.

Next of course we have our own event on March 1st and this gives those who want to have a go at a competition the chance to dip their toe in the water for the first time. Whilst it is a competition of course the main aim is to have an enjoyable day out with like minded friends and we have a few new faces who will be coming along this year to join in for the first time so make sure you are there!

One of the highlights of the year for many people is the medal presentation social dance at the George Spencer Academy. Over one hundred dancers together with their family and friends joined in for an afternoon of dancing and fun, in a relaxed environment. It was a chance to get together and renew acquaintances with other like minded people who we may not see at other events.

As usual the children gave a lovely display to show what they have been working on recently, partnered as always by the younger adults, many of whom themselves started with us at a young age. 

The younger adults then treated us to a demonstration based on Classical and Sequence dances set to music from Les Miserables, which was extremely well received by the audience. Many remarked that it was one of their favourite numbers. The routine was quite challenging this time and the participants only had about six weeks in which to learn it therefore doing incredibly well. We also had to contend with injuries and absences for various reasons which meant that we only had the opportunity for two rehearsals with a full team. Well done to everyone who took part.

The school award this year proved to be a difficult choice as we had two couples who had both been winning their respective sequence events all year culminating in wins at the British Sequence Championships in October. On this occasion we therefore decided it was right to make two school award presentations so congratulations to Craig and Emma and Neil and Carla for your hard work, dedication and success.

Boris was pleased to see some of his cousins in attendance and he says that he always looks forward to this event not least because of the delicious cakes provided by the FroGS. 

Our next couple of events are the ISTD qualifier at Castleford where there is some work to be done, for some people, in order to qualify for Grand Finals in November and then following this on 1st of March will be our own competition at Kirkby in Ashfield. This is a good opportunity for first timers and non regular competitors to dip their toe in the water and is usually a friendly and fun event. Make sure that you don’t miss out.