Boris completed his last official engagement before the summer break yesterday with the summer dance at the studio. It was a great opportunity for everyone to come along, catch up with friends they haven’t seen for a while and enjoy an evening of social dancing. It also served as the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the official opening of the studio, where did those five years go!
Of course we also had our ISTD exam session last week which was attended by many of you. Everyone looked fabulous as always and danced their best under the very experienced and watchful eye of Miss Jill Bush, an examiner many of you will remember from previous occasions. All seemed to go well but of course we now await the results to see what was good and what can be improved upon. As always Boris was present to oversee proceedings and enjoyed watching the progress everyone makes with each outing.
We now take a short break over the summer and Boris will make his regular trip back to Bearmuda to recharge his batteries before the busy autumn term.
Things kick off straight away with our sequence competition at Chesterfield before things hot up with The British Sequence Championships in October and Grand Finals in November.
Enjoy your summer and we look forward to seeing you all back, fully recharged and raring to go😎
Once more we find ourselves in Blackpool, where else? It was the NATD grand finals and so most of our team were in attendance eager to pit themselves against some of the countries top dancers in this field.
Sadly a few our those who were supposed to be attending couldn’t make it through illness and their contribution was missed but we wish them a speedy recovery and look forward to their return at future events. However, on a happier note the weekend began with a celebration as it was Karen’s birthday on the Friday so of course we needed to have a cake!
At this event children and adults dance on both days and Saturday started with children’s Latin and adult ballroom. We didn’t have any juveniles with us this year and so it was a leisurely start for us all, since the juniors began late morning. Brooke, Megan and Sophie were representing the school today and with three heats to navigate from their first round for them all, we knew things were not going to be easy. They all danced better than on previous visits and Brooke made the quarter final whilst Megan made it all the way to the final finishing 8th overall. A great result to set the tone for the weekend.
Brooke and Megan danced the couples events and although they didn’t get a recall they put on a good show but with five heats in the first round it was always going to be tough going.
The adults began their campaign with Heather, Alison T, Kathryn and Angela all getting recalls and Charlotte and Stephen being recalled to their finals finishing 5th and 6th in their respective events. Craig, Allison, Chris, Hazel and Karly danced in their finals and were placed 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, 5th and 3rd. We then had our first winner of the weekend with Lisa, having had two recalls to her final, taking first place.
The adult couples followed and we had a few impromptu partnerships: Paige & Karly, Rebecca & Fearn and Hazel & Kathryn alongside the regular partnerships of Chris & Lisa and Stephen & Angela. Craig & Charlotte paired up in Emily’s absence but had had no prior practice and were dancing in the highest grade. All the couples danced well and, like the juniors, there were three, four and even five heats in many of the events. Rebecca & Fearn were recalled in one of their events and Steven & Angela made the semi finals of their events. Craig & Charlotte went one better and made the final of one of their events being placed 3rd whilst Chris & Lisa made both of their finals, claiming our second first place of the day in one of their events and 2nd in the other.
After grabbing a quick pizza back at the Arabella it was off to bed to prepare for day two.
Another leisurely breakfast and it was off to the ballroom once again for day two which was essentially a repeat of day one but with the children’s ballroom and adult Latin. It was clear that it was going to be no easier today and so it proved. Megan achieved a recall in her event but Brooke and Sophie were disappointed not to get the chance to dance again. Next came the couples and this Brooke danced with Megan, taking on the lead role in competition for the first time. They danced extremely well but like the Latin there were four and five heats in the first round so were delighted with a recall in one of their events and reaching the semi final in the other.
The adult Latin followed and recalled to the finals this time were Paige, Stephen and Lisa. Paige finishing 4th, Stephen 6th and Lisa completing a double win in her event. Also dancing in their finals were Karly (2nd), Craig (2nd), Hazel (3rd), Allison (3rd) and Chris who won. Whilst some events had more entrants than others nobody danced on their own and the standard was still high in those that were straight finals.
Just when most events are finishing we began the couples and with the same partnerships as in the ballroom we were determined to finish on a high. Rebecca & Fearn were pleased to get a recall in their rumba, Rebecca only having learnt the routines recently and taking lead for the first time. Hazel & Kathryn and Karly & Paige  danced well but were in tough grades and didn’t get recalls. Stephen & Angela rounded their weekend off with a final in their rumba event finishing 6th whilst Chris & Lisa retained their winning streak with a first place in their samba and a 6th in their rumba. Craig & Charlotte continued their mystery tour of the dance floor not always knowing what they were doing themselves let alone each other, but somehow managed to give a convincing performance to reach the semi final of the open rumba and were placed 3rd in their paso. It kept us all entertained however and ensured a great finish to the weekend.
Not having left the ballroom since we started it was then back to the hotel for food and festivities. Of course a few games are traditional at this point and Kathryn’s knees may never recover!
Boris was of course in attendance throughout but many of his chums didn’t make it this time which was a great disappointment, however he is hoping for a full turnout in November. It was still good to catch up though and watch everyone’s improvements. McKenzie and Morag came prepared for a weekend at the seaside although Boris wondered if they would find the time to go to the beach! Nevertheless they thoroughly enjoyed their weekend watching every step taken and sharing all the highs and a few lows that always come with events such as this. He looks forward to the next team outing.
As always we need to thank our assistants, Luke for partnering, Ruth as the clipboard queen and Julie for keeping us supplied with tea. The support from you all was amazing, as always, although we did miss Rob for his enthusiasm and were slightly down on volume!
We have ISTD exams next and the summer dance before we disappear for the summer to recharge our batteries for the autumn term which is always a very busy one.
