|
The
Cambridgeshire Area Dance Sport Competition
An
uncharacteristically foggy morning made travel to this new competition
a little slower than usual, but once inside everyone moved up a gear
as they changed and rehearsed for the day's competitions. This was one
of the last opportunities to qualify for the Grand
Finals in November and with a good number of entries, everyone was
keen to dance their best. The panel of adjudicators were Jill Bush,
Lorraine Kuznik and Pat Woor, with the very efficient Nicky and Phyllis
Miles, the scrutineers.
Both
the Under Six and Under Eight events were well supported and some lovely
Cha Cha Cha was shown from these very young dancers. With their confident
looks belying their young age, they danced so well, showing a really
good start to both rhythm and technique.
The
Pre Bronze competitors had Jive as their dance and this was obviously
a popular choice, as everyone danced with real enthusiasm and enjoyment.
At Bronze levels, the inclusion of Samba gave teachers the opportunity
to use our new technique to great effect, there was interesting choreography
shown with sound use of the various rhythms.
In
the higher grades, dancers competing at Silver Medal standard were able
to develop their Cha Cha Cha through the use of the additional, higher
grade figures, while dancers at 'Gold' performed the Rumba with beautiful
and tasteful choreography, allowing them to show superior lines and
excellent leg action. Paso Doble, the chosen dance for Gold Star, gave
the opportunity for competitors to demonstrate both the shaping and
characterisation of the dance that our new technique encourages.
The
Couples events were well supported with the Jive once again proving
a popular choice. Later in the day it was the turn of the Adult competitors.
There was some really good dancing shown in Jive at Pre Bronze levels,
with good foot and leg action developing. Once again, the Bronze competitors
showed varied and interesting choreography in Samba, with promising
work developing at Silver and Gold levels in Rumba and Paso Doble.
Lower
entries in some of the events were more than made up for by the keenness
and effort of the dancers taking part. Perhaps, if you are reading this
and haven't thought of encouraging your pupils to 'have a go' at taking
part in medallist competitions, you should! The Social and Pre Bronze
Tests give pupils growing confidence and taking part at area medallist
competitions gives them the impetus to train harder and enjoy their
dancing even more.
Of
course, it is so much easier to dance well in the right setting and
we were lucky to have within this new venue a super wooden floor and
lots of natural light. With performances being lifted higher by the
beautiful music played by Lee Williams, our thanks also go to our adjudicators,
who faced a very difficult task. Lastly, thanks also to Nicky and Phyllis
Miles for all their hard work in helping to make this first Cambridgeshire
event a great success with dancers and spectators alike.
Marion
Lane
|
