It was the first ISTD qualifier for over two years and also a new venue. Usually this event takes place in Kettering in January but this time it was May and the destination was Lutterworth. It was not as busy as normal but the weather was better than it often is in January and it was nice to be home whilst it was still light! For Jack and Hazel this would be their second event of the weekend having already attended an NATD qualifying event the day before (dedication indeed).
There were some people joining the ISTD Team for the first time, we had Tabatha, Brooke, Kathryn, Lisa and Irina. Along with everyone else they were hoping to secure a place in the Grand Finals event in Blackpool in November.
The Juveniles were the first to take the floor and we only had two dancing today, Tabatha and Kaitlyn. Both won their ballroom events and came fourth in their Latin events. In the couples they came second in ballroom and 4th again on Latin. In the sequence unfortunately they were the only competitors but they danced well, unfazed by having the floor to themselves. In the end Kaitlyn, having more experience in these, events came out the winner.
In the Juniors events we had Chloe and Brooke dancing. Brooke doing these events for the first time won both her ballroom and Latin events. Chloe was third in ballroom and then fifth in Latin. In their couples event they finished with a second in ballroom and third in Latin. In the sequence events there are no grades, so they were in the same event and this time Chloe took first place and Brooke was runner up.
Many of the adult events were straight finals today but nevertheless there were still some good dancers to be beaten to achieve a win. Two of our new adults, Lisa and Kathryn made the finals of both their ballroom and Latin events, with Lisa winning the Latin section. Both had to dance a round in order to make a final. The only other individual event with a recall to the final was the over 50 years in which Carol and Peter both made the final finishing second and fourth respectively in both events.
Winners today in the individual ballroom and Latin events were Paige, Lisa, Rosalind, Emma, Chris, Hazel, Grace P, Josh, Carla, Dennis, Jack, Serena, Allison and Karen. In the couples events there were also wins for Craig & Emma, Peter & Carol, Josh & Grace and Paul & Karen.
We had the monopoly on the sequence events today filling both the Under 35 years, Over 35 years and Over 50 years finals. Josh, Paul and Carla winning their events. We also had the inaugural Over 65 years sequence event and Dennis had the honour of being the very first winner of this event.
Of course we had a full turnout of bears for this important outing including a new addition to the team who said she was made to feel most welcome by the others. They rather liked the chairs since they didn’t fall through the back of these.
We had a number of people taking on the responsibility for partnering others today alongside competing themselves; Grace P, Josh, Craig, Emma, Emily and Jack. Thank you all for your help on the day and coming along to lessons to practice. Thank you also, of course to Liam for his partnering on the day and being available for lessons with those he was partnering.
The next ISTD qualifier is in June so make sure you have the date in your diaries.
