Duesbury Aldred Dance Centre Blog

Easter usually means chocolate eggs, bunnies and a long weekend but it also brings the Southport Sequence Festival.

In action this year were Dawn & Andy, Carla & Neil, Grace & Josh and Andrea & Stuart. The first event in which we had some interest was the Dancer of the Year in which Carla & Neil were placed 3^rd and Dawn & Andy 6^th, a good start to the weekend. In the Senior Modern Sequence event Andrea & Stuart were placed 3^rd and Grace & Josh danced their first competition in the “Amateur” grade, having moved up following their successes last year. This was the event which Liam and Alex won last year and although they have now retired from Sequence competitions it was nice to see them in attendance throughout the festival supporting their fellow competitors. Grace & Josh gave a good account of themselves but unfortunately they didn’t get a recall on this occasion.

In the over 35 years Classical Sequence event Dawn & Andy turned the tables on Carla & Neil finishing 3^rd and 4^th respectively. The Latin sequence events followed and this usually creates some interest and excitement with both dancers and audience since this is one of the few places which puts on such events. This year we had separate events for both under 35 years and over 35 years. Carla & Neil won their event with Andy & Dawn 2^nd and Grace and Josh came 2^nd in their event. The finale of the day was the Pro-Am event, which replaced the usual team match, in which Alex & I were placed 1^st. A great overall team performance then after which we retired to the bar where “Liam and Alex” could be seen tucking into a picnic and a few glasses of wine.

The next day began with Dawn, Andy, Carla, Neil, Grace and Josh all in action once more. In their two dance event Carla and Neil secured 3^rd and Dawn and Andy 4^th whilst in their four dance event Grace and Josh gave a much more assured performance but unfortunately did not make the final. However, Grace looked lovely in her new dress and Josh very suave in his new tail suit. I am sure that these will be performances to build on for the future.

All too soon it was the final evening of the festival and all our dancers were in action once more. Andrea & Stuart, once again, were placed 3^rd in their event whilst Carla & Neil excelled themselves with a 2^nd place in their Modern Sequence event followed by Dawn & Andy in 4^th place in the same event. Grace & Josh again performed well in their Modern Sequence event but progressing to the final was always going to be difficult especially when only five were recalled. Another successful day then for the team and afterwards we retired back to the hotel to relive some of the highlights of the weekend of which there were many.

Roll on next year!!

Thanks to all of you who posted a guess and the mystery blogger was in fact Craig. Many of you guessed correctly and after careful consideration Hazel has been declared the winner. Your prize is on its way.

Thank you to Craig for his lovely article and roll on our competition in June when another mystery blogger will be invited to share their thoughts on the day.

The Mystery Blogger reports on from recent event, but can you guess their identity???

Competition time again but this Sunday it was on our doorstep and run by our very own Robert and Louise, along with a great many selfless volunteers. With such a wondrous sense of community and support at this event, it easily makes it my personal favourite every year. All of our competitors were dressed to the nines with the boys suited up and the girls looking as elegant as always and wearing their diamonds. We had a few new competitors joining us for their first competition who provided some incredible entertainment and equally fantastic results which only added to the atmosphere during proceedings.

Starting with the adult sequence first and the dances chosen for this year were the Liberty Two Step and Tango Serida, which are both hard dances to perform with very sharp and precise movements. This section consisted of around an hour’s worth of hard-fought competition before the final rounds were completed. Everyone partnering for our school barely had chance to catch their breath before being delightfully recalled to the next round, either for themselves or their respective partners (of which I had two). A partner who definitely deserves an honourable mention is Karen Hoskin who I don’t think anyone saw off the floor for the entire day, I’m sure all of your partners are incredibly grateful.

Magnificent results were achieved in spades throughout all sections, from sequence to ballroom and all the way through into the later latin events where everyone still gave their all. The raffle tickets were sold by our trusty team and later drawn throughout the day. One of my supporters is definitely a big fan of the raffle and luckily won one of the fantastic prizes.

My personal highlight of the day has to be watching the 6 years and under walks and points. In this event all of the future stars spaced themselves out and put on a fabulous performance winning the hearts of all the crowd. Even more so when the spacing seemed to vanish and it gave the appearance of a formation dance with Robert leading them around the floor!

Speaking of stars, S club’s reach for the stars made its regular appearance and ended the day on the high note upon which it began. I look forward to dancing with everyone again for our second Dancesteps competition of the year in June!

Your mysterious blogger.

Yesterday saw us all making the short trip to West Park for the first of our two annual competitions. A report on the day will follow shortly from our mystery blogger but just a few headlines and thanks to give.

Firstly, as always, everyone was immaculately turned out and the support was terrific. We had 44 competitors including some dancing with us for the first time: Andrew, Kathryn, Heather, Shanae, Ellie and Charlotte Brightwell. Of these Ellie, Kathryn and Charlotte won one of their events so congratulations to all of you. We had 40 first places overall as well as some stand out performances where people perhaps exceeded their expectations. There were just too many to mention you all by name however, but well done to you all.

In the couples events there were some first time partnerships who also won their events so congratulations to Isobel & Grace S and Molly & Miriam.

We had some new additions to the Bears Brigade, who were magnificently attired for the occasion and thoroughly enjoyed their first outing.

In the final analysis it was just an all round great team effort, the dancers, supporters, teachers and helpers. There was a great atmosphere and it wouldn’t happen without you. Thank you all and don’t forget the next competition is on 11^th June followed closely by our own event on June 25th. Make sure you don’t miss out.

p.s. Boris has asked me to let you know how very proud he is to be associated with you all and looks forward to the next outing!!

Yesterday was a sequence only Blackpool qualifier competition. The event we usually call Whitwick but this year the venue changed to West Park, Long Eaton. This meant we were on home ground and also that we had an extra 15 minutes in bed (nice).

We had a strong turnout both in quantity and quality. In the Juvenile event, Grace S won, Chloe was 2nd and Isobel was 4th. They were all amazing but special mention must go to Isobel who has worked so hard to be ready for her first sequence three dance event and on the day rose to the challenge and performed way beyond expectation. She also looked lovely in the new dress she’d had for the occasion.

In the Junior event, Molly won, Olivia was 2nd and Jack was 3rd. They all looked great and importantly have now qualified to dance at Blackpool.

In the under 35yrs event we had seven dancers. Josh and Grace had the added challenge of partnering each other and should be pleased they secured both 1st and 2nd spots. Emily came a very satisfying 3rd, with Libbie, Craig, Paul and Karly coming in close behind.

In the over 35yrs event there were only four entries. So our team of Karen, Serena, Neil and Chris were responsible for putting on the show. Today Karen turned the tables on recent results, proving how close everyone is and how such minute details and adjudicators personal preferences can change a result.

In the over 50yrs event we had nine dancers. Carla maintained her winning form and came out top again, closely followed by Dawn, Christine, Andy, Sue and Dennis.

This event has more spectators than our usual competitions and we were very proud of the display you all put on for them. As we were such a large team today, lots of partners had to the drafted in. Huge thanks to Luke, Liam, Alex and Ruth who came especially to partner and also to Josh, Karen and Molly who partnered as well as competed.

After the competitions, Liam and Alex treated us all to a super demonstration of classical sequence dancing. Showing us why they are the four times reigning undefeated British amateur champions. Alex looked beautiful in her white dress and Liam rather dapper in his tail suit. They performed a medley of classical waltzes, gavottes, saunters and two steps. I could see the audience trying to keep up with the long list of dances being displayed.

Liam and Alex bear were immaculately turned out to support their namesakes. In fact our family gathering of bears was so large today they needed their own table, a chair will no longer suffice. They all watched on attentively although we had a few tears at the end as one poor little bear was sadly left behind. Boris is currently providing support and hopefully he will be reunited with his owner soon (unless of course he decides it’s more fun to stay with Boris).

So there we have it. Another successful day. Next week we are off to Pudsey hoping for more Blackpool qualifying slips to be secured.

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!

This year’s Strictly George Spencer was bigger than ever with fourteen participants, four staff members and ten students. They had the usual ten weeks of training along with two Saturday sessions and they all performed really well on the night.

The event was a sell out as always and the enthusiastic crowd encouraged all the dancers to performances they didn’t know they were capable of. It was a tough decision for the judges, Claire Hall, Andrew Field and Michelle Webster, with many deserving contestants but in the end they selected seven lucky finalists who got to perform one routine once more.

The judges scored these performances and they  gave Harry a maximum score of 30, closely followed by Hymke on 29. However the ultimate winner is chosen by the audience and this year they selected Hymke. It is the first time we have had a female winner and the first staff member to win so a double first. Well done to Hymke partnered by Liam, although everyone performed brilliantly.

Once again it was a fantastic evening and there are many people who contribute to its success. Chris Haggett does a tremendous amount of work pulling it all together assisted in particular by Debbie and John, both of whom have been former contestants.

Thanks also to our partners in giving up their time for both rehearsals and on the evening: Luke, Liam, Alex, Karen, Paul, Josh, Grace, Lydia, Andy, Stuart, Molly, Emily, Craig and Olivia.

It is a real team effort and we couldn’t do it without all your support.

Roll on next year for Strictly Reunited!!!!

We recently held our NATD examination session over last Saturday and Sunday, due to the volume of exams being taken. It was terrific to see everyone so well turned out and all danced their very best. The examiner was very impressed and complimentary about the overall standard.

Well done to everyone for their hard work and dedication and thanks to Ruth for her assistance over the weekend. The presentation dance will be Sunday 29th January so make sure you get your tickets.

Next up we have Strictly George Spencer which promises to be another exciting evening followed by the annual Christmas Party. Look out for further reports.