Guest Blogger – Long Eaton

Apologies for those who have been waiting to read the report from our own competition which was delayed for a number of reasons and thank you for “bearing” with us. Needless to say it was a fantastic day with a great atmosphere and support throughout. Thank you to all those who helped in any way. Luke and Ruth for partnering along with those of you who partnered as well as competed, Andy on the music, Paula for helping with the scrutineering and Maria, Beverley, Anita and Janet for helping with the door and raffle.

As a special treat we have a report from a guest blogger (do you know who it can be?)

“As the sun rose on the longest day for the revellers at Stonehenge, our dance school made their way to one of the best competitions of the year. Long Eaton was the destination and West Park leisure centre was the venue. Following on from a slightly extended warm up (which everyone was grateful for) the shoes were brushed, the tans were glowing and all the outfits finished ready for the competition to begin. From the moment the first dancers took to the floor the lively and supportive crowd cheered on all of the competitors and on occasions sang like a (slightly out of tune) choir to a fantastic range of music. It was nice to hear so many new songs played at the competition and was a real pleasure to dance to this really exciting selection.

This competition is always a good one for a range of competitors and it was great to see so many starters taking their first steps. For more experienced dancers grouping the competitions by age ensured the chance for recalls and for less experienced dancers to nip at the toes of some of our more experienced dancers. Everyone danced well, with this blogger’s highlight being the duels between Paul and Karen and Lydia and Josh and also the Viennese Waltz selection. John Williams’s Harry Potter theme tune is such a lovely song to do this dance to and there was some real magic on the dance floor throughout the day.

The day was also nicely broken up by the raffle (I won nothing) and a barn dance managed to wake the room up and stop the thoughts of the post chicken mid afternoon snooze. As the sun began to set and the nights begin to draw in again our dancers left with smiles on their faces and bags which were slightly heavier due to all of the trophies making their way home. Well done everyone!”

Thank you for that ………????

There were many highlights of course but here is the Hall of Fame of our winners and finalists:

Couples Winners and Finalists:

Jack and Leila – winning all their events

Emily and Madeleine – winning three out of their five events

Josh and Lydia – winning their ballroom events and being placed 2^nd in their latin events

Paul and Karen – winning their latin events and being placed 2^nd in their other events

Dennis and Sue – winning their ballroom event

Andy and Dawn – winnng their sequence event

Serena and Allison – winning their latin event

Grace P & Olivia – winning the Viennese Waltz

Individual Event Winners:

Luke

Miriam

Leila

Molly

Allison K

Rebecca (entering her first competition)

Individual Finalists:

Fearn

Grace S

Eleanor

Grace P

Olivia

Sarah D

Karly

Craig

Sarah S

Karen C

Serena

Chris

Geraldine

Keshni (finishing with a 2^nd and 3^rd in her first competition)

Debbie

In many cases our finalists were only beaten by other team members from the school. Well done to everyone it was a great day. We now take a small breather before the final Blackpool Qualifier at Pudsey. Don’t miss it!!