David Trueman reports on the British Open Over 50 Ballroom Championship
Last evening was simply a wonderful night of high quality dancing and in the lyrics of the famous song by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons “Oh What A Night”
There were three great dancing highlights for the Worlds most knowledgeable audience of dance to see tonight, namely the British Open Over 50 Ballroom the British Open Under 21 Latin and of course the Greatest Team Match on the planet, “the Invitation Professional Team Match”.
The Team Match and the Under 21 Latin reports will be covered by Barry Peinke and Alex Wei Wang respectively, so keep a check on the web site.
This report is for the brilliant Over 50 Ballroom which was a great competition indeed, culminating in a truly fabulous final round.
All of the couples that took part in this championship must be congratulated on some superb dancing right from the very first round.
Champions tonight, after producing one of their best performances to date were Phil Holding and Melina Harrison. They never let their dancing slip for one moment during the final and were justly rewarded with, first in Waltz, second in Foxtrot, first in Tango and second in Quickstep. To win the British Open, dancers must have all areas of technique and fundamental awareness in total operation and on full view. Tonight it was all there for this winning couple.
Runners up Slawek Lukawyck and Janine-Nicole Desai this was a terrific defence of the title they won last year. They finished second in Waltz, first in Foxtrot, third in Tango and first in Quickstep. One can see just how close they came to yet another British Championship victory. The performance was solid in execution and full of drive and shape and they seemed very comfortable with their performance, which added so much for them in the way they danced with great freedom.
3rd Shousheng Wang and Zuanhong Liang Their final analysis was 3,3,2,3, and what a display they gave this evening. There was such a fabulous look of controlled movement and the delivery of structured posture was clear at all points within the choreography. They were simply having a ball too and it showed in the relaxed styling of the arms.
4th Thomas Yim and Kelly Cheng 4,4,5,5. They gave a wonderful performance and it came with that all important smooth action and style, resulting from a correct use of the legs and feet and the required postural development. The lady is so impressive in the way she monitors their movements and enhances it all with a wonderful array of upper body action.
5th Domenico Mazzaglia 5,5,4,4. Here we have a couple who clearly set about their challenge for a competition with a visible feel for each and every dance and rhythm. The hold is structured superbly to offer that all important quality of silhouette and with this excellent platform shape is used to great affect by both members of the partnership.
6th Richard Leclerc and Martine Lambert 6,6,6,6, They both produced a superb look on the dance floor and the Lady was without doubt really enjoying herself, especially in the way she portrayed each dance beautifully with a softness of dance flare. There was also a considerable amount of accurate musicality on display too.
This has been a terrific final round and below are the names of the couples who danced the semi final, all of which danced quite brilliantly.
They are listed in numerical order.
(21) Stefano Maraboli and Laura Donati
(22) Kai Li and Bo Zheng
(52) John Townsend and Sabin Kuntze
(58) Guiseppe Trappolini and Roberta Alessi
(74) Zbigniew Sulminski and Anke Sulminski
(83) Andrey Ivanov and Anna Ivanova
Today is the conclusion of the Amateur Ballroom and Latin Rising Stars, stay connected everyone, it promises to be a real “Super Sunday”