Wednesday 26 October 2011

Swedish Dance Masters 2011

Great weekend at the Swedish Dance Masters - Over 300 social dancers of all levels - 3 line rooms covering all levels - And a Swing Room too - Thanks to Goran, Asa and their team - And thanks to everyone for the awesome hospitality & friendship. A great crowd cheering on the competitors, while the social dancers finished off a great weekend of dancing doing recaps in the workshop room.

The choreographer team did a great job:

Rachael - Footsteps, a brang new catchy Swing/Charleston dance - Also Domino & Free Fallin' - And Mr. Mysterious (Quite a crowd already doing that one but lots wanted to learn it too), Purr Kitty

Niels Poulson - Love 2 Dance (Out of York) & Dirty Dancer (Out of Chicago)

Guyton Mundy - This City - Also Jump In Da Line - And blasts from the past Shake & Playa

Will Craig - Without You - Also 2 Nite - And Soul Food by request
 
Nicola Lafferty - Life Could Be A Dream, Looking Good & All Or Nothing - Great Improver dances that Intermediaties enjoy too.
 
With Will, Jamie, Dave & Sam DJing it was none stop dancing.

The social dancing with a big crowd brought a wider mix - Lots of dancers all levels Beginner through Advanced - The most popular dances were something like as follows :


Easy:
-Something In The Water
-Make This Day
-Danza Kuduro
-My Pretty Belinda
-I'm No Goodll
-1234
-Knee Deep
-Don't Drink The Water
-Wonderland Waltz
-Hello Dolly
Notably Toes, Crazy Foot Mambo, Tennessee Waltz Surprise, Bosa Nova, Go Mama Go, Gambling Man, Rhyme Or Reason, Little Red Book, Walkaway Joe, Blue Night Cha & Rub It In a still floor-fillers - Many more too. Others on the up included Lazy & Crazy Girl - Check out a fun catchy dance called A Minute Away From You - Been around a year or more apparently but first time for me - Awesome track :-)

Intermediate Mainstream :
-Move A Like
-Alabama Slammin'
-Rolling In The Deep
-Party Freak
-The Flute
-Chicken Walk Jive
-No No No No No Not So
-La Luna
-Haba Haba
-Bumpy Ride
Notably Bittersweet Memory, Everything I Do, Burlesque, Playing With Fire, Jesse James, Broken Heels, Amame, Drip Droppin', Irish Spirit, Knocking On Heavans Door & Mojo Rhythm still floor-fillers - Many more too, Craig's waltz Know Me By Now very popular. Others on the up included Devotion, Rock Your Body, Mr. Mysterious, Melon Heart, Lonely Again, Wet, The Stomp, Fundamental Things, Bright Lights, Wet & Remember Me.

Newline:
-Perfect/My Motivation
-Lady Luck
-That Kinda Lovin'
-2 Nite
-Talkin' To The Moon
-Raise Your Glass/Papi
-Don't You Remember
-Won't Let Go (Malene & Jannick's)
-Throw The Dice
-Still Got The Blues/Blue Sky
Notably Let It Be, You're Amazing & SOB still floor-fillers - Many more too  - A Walk On The Wildside is really popular too more so than the UK - A great dance :-) - Check out a cool looking catchy/funky dance called Stealing Apples - Looks great :-) Others on the up included Meant 2 Be, Start Over, Be A Little Selfish, Down With The Trumpets, Descarada, Prejudice, Never Enough, Show Me The Love, Soul Food, Not Drunk Enough & Freak A Little More

As ever loads of classics too :-) Favourites included Somebody Like You, Chill Factor, Have Fun Go Mad, Doctor Doctor, Live Laugh Love, Break Free Cha & Stitch It Up - On Saturday night in keeping with the theme we did an 80's style Islands In The Stream & Black Coffee too !!! :-)

The competition was well attended with loads coming out to support those competing, with Guyton having everyone in stitches laughing as he Emceed, and the Duo's being a particular highlight! :) Shows on the Friday and Saturday included: Rachael & Guyton performing their winning 2011 Line Dance Showdown routine for the first time since they won; Rachael performed Speechless; Nicola & Sam danced a 2-Step & NC2 Solo & Couples medley; Guyton, Will & Niels performed a dance to Where do We go From Here by Pitbull.

As ever the food at the Stenungbaden Yacht Club was fantastic and the staff ever-so helpful. Many thanks to the Event Directors, hotel, SDM Team and attendees for making it such a fantastic event.

Changes to the Competition Structure at Some World Dance Masters Events


To create a greater atmosphere and provide a much improved service to our competitive dancers, their families and spectators, World Dance Masters will be implementing a revised structure for some of their events.

World Dance Masters will offer an enhanced Awards Ceremony at specified events. This new ceremony will help to create a far more memorable occasion for our competitors and their supporters, making each event a special night to remember. By starting events slightly later in the day, the competition will run until late afternoon. After the competition has finished, a break will be given for dancers to go and eat and prepare for the evening Awards Ceremony.

On return, the Awards Ceremony will be transformed into a bigger spectacle, including a more carefully constructed ceremony, demonstrations, social dancing and a little party once the awards are finished.

By changing this aspect of some of our events, we hope to encourage a more exciting atmosphere during our awards and during the evening. We feel that breaking up the awards ceremony with demonstrations and social dancing, will provide a more enjoyable event all round. Finally, finishing off with a Celebration Party will give competitors, families and spectators time to let their hair down and enjoy the company of all the friends that they meet at our events.

This revised structure will be introduced on a trial basis and will be reviewed after a short time, taking into account customer feedback. Please note only events that state via their respective Facebook and WDM website pages that they are adopting the new structure will be included in this trial, so please ensure you check. The first event to use the new structure will be the UK Masters 2011 in Blackpool Tower Ballroom (10th December)

If you have any direct questions regarding this release, please email our Communications Director Jamie on jamie@worlddancemasters.com.

Tuesday 16 August 2011

World Dance Masters 2011

World Dance Masters 2011 really was a spectacle. With newly added choreographers and a HUGE prizes added to the Choreography Competition on our social side / increased prizes, new staff additions and a huge increase in competition on the WCS side / new renegade, mum & dads dance off, and higher representation of international competitors on the competition side, it was a truly magnificent weekend. Plus of course the launch of our SOLO STYLE® initiative.

In total across the event we welcomed dancers from 17 Countries (Austria, Australia, China, Columbia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, Wales)

WARM UP PARTY
Over 250 attended the Warm Up Party in Copperface Jacks on the Thursday before the event started. People boogied the night away until nearly 2am and took part in the Pre Event Quiz, with the eventual winner Catriona Cameron from Scotland winning 2 bottles of Champagne and £25 cash.

SOCIAL
The social side of WDM 2011 consisted of hours of social dancing and lots of workshops from some of the most popular choreographers on the circuit. With DJ's Big Dave Baycroft, Ireland's Tommy Weafer in the Competition Room and from the USA Louie St George who did stints in both the Competition & WCS Room plus the late night slot until sunrise in the hotels Copperface Jacks club, it was an eclectic weekend. Each day kicked off with a Zumba® workout to get everyone warmed up for the day to come.

We had 3 great days of workshops - focusing mainly on New Releases with something for everyone:

Joey Warren
Throw The Dice - a phrased ADV fucky dance that was a huge hit
Descarada - Joey's recent US hit

Kate Sala
Love On Top - a lovely smooth 64/4 INT to Beyonce (great track)
Easy LA - Kate's recent release

Shaz Walton
Not Drunk Enough - a 32/4 HIGH INT Pop Cha
Hold On! - another lovely smooth Pop Cha

Johanna Barnes
Let It All Out - a beaty fun 64/2 INT funky Pop Mambo (a big hit)
Meant 2 Be - a 48/2 HIGH INT waltz to Pink (an even bigger hit)

Robbie McGowen Hickie
Feel Alright - a 64/4 INT Cha
The Stomp - a really cool and different Pop Cha

Rob Fowler
Breakthrough - a neat 32/4 funky West Coast
Whiskeys Gone - a classic and catchy Country Polka

Joyce Plasket (WDM 2010 Choreography Competition Winner)
Dance Like A Freak - a 64/3 INT to a great track by 'Mo'.

Rachael McEnaney
Free Fallin' - a wow ADV West Coast (John Mayer - Live version). No sheet for this as it was hot off the press - A HUGE HIT

Dee Musk

Craig Bennett
Under My Skin - a funky West Coast
Love Don't Run - a country Nightclub

Scott Blevins

The WDM International Choreography Competition on Saturday Morning, with MC Rob Fowler, Head Judge Dee Musk and judges Johanna, Joey, Shaz, Kate, Craig and Robbie - a good crowd enjoyed close to 50 entries across 3 categories - and the winning 3 dances were genuinely all incredibly popular. The Category winners were:

Beginner/Improver
Midnight Mix by Sandra Speck [UK] (Video)
32/4 IMP to a Paul Bailey track [Beaty Country Cha]

Intermediate
Haba Haba by Helena Jeppsson [SWE] (Video)
Phrased/4 EASY INT to a Stella Mwangi track [catchy Pop Cha/Samba]

Advanced
Monster In The Mirror by Kirsten Matthiessen [DK] (Video)
a 64/4 ADV to Usher [Funky Pop West Coast]

Monster In The Mirroe was the eventual 'Grand Champion', so you'll see Kirsten on the staff at World Dance Masters 2012 in Blackpool, and the Line Dance Showdown 2012 in Boston which was part of her prize! All submitted scripts can be downloaded from our website by clicking here.

As ever it was a very diverse range of dancers in attendance leading to many current/classic, modern/traditional, improver to advanced, funky/pop/country, competition/social requests, with people from all over the World enjoying lots of dances. Some of the most popular current social dances over the weekend regularly filled the floor including:

The Flute / Rolling In The Deep / All Of Me / Gambling Man / 1234 / Lady Luck / Still Got The Blues / Only Girl / Perfect / My Motivation / On The Edge / Born This Way (and Don't Be A Drag) / Party Freak / Beyond Your Eyes / Wrong Side Of The Road / Dirty Bit / Party Rockin' / Telepathy / Talking To The Moon / Hurts Instead / California King / Midnight Swing / Soul Food / Wobble / Let It Be / Raise Your Glass / Papi / Bittersweet Memory

So many more classics, old and new, the these were the current floorfillers. Some of the more recent dances on the up being danced too included:
Mr Saxobear (Daniel) / Alabama Slammin' / Mr. Mysterious / Somewhere With You / That Kinda Lovin' / More A Like / 2 Nite / On The Line / Dr. Flame / No Scandal / How Your Burlesque.

WEST COAST SWING
World Swing Masters was more fun than ever before. Lee nearly exploded on Monday Morning when Louie St George played the last song at 7am, but breakfast, and straight into airport runs!

The social dancing was plentiful with DJ's playing a wide range of classic & new WCS music until dawn every night. The shows were a real spectacle (see later in the blog).

Our workshops for the weekend were from Arjay Centeno, Jennifer DeLuca, Samantha Buckwalter, Robert Cordoba, Deborah Szekely, Lee Easton, Fabienne Henshall, Brennar Goree, Torri Smith, Matt Oakley & Leeanne Oakley, Ronnie Debenadetta, Brandi Tobias and included:

Friday
Beginner Track Part 1 / Arjay & Jen's signature style / Building off your Basics Learning to 2-Step / Working The Slot
Saturday
Shag in your Swing / Beginner Track Part 2 / Build it from Scratch / Keep it Simple, Keep it Leadable / More 2-Step / Fun Musical Play with Arjay & Jen
Sunday
Miracle Whips / Beginner Track Part 3 / The Floor is your Friend / Everybody 2-Step / Choreography

WCS competition really has developed at WSM and what a turn out we had for Novice (Tier 3 for the girls) and a very strong Advanced division. Congratulations to all that entered, we were so happy to see so many of you participating, especially those that were new and from overseas. We gladly awardsed nearly £2000 in prize money as well as trophies, and passes to some of the coolest events around. Results were as follows:

Jack & Jill Novice
1 Damien Favier & Elizabeth Redfearn
2 Kevin Town & Lauren Carter
3 Levente Friesz & Jacoulet Maella
4 Miguel Ortega & Bella Scholtze
5 Ekow Oduro & Susan Minor
6 Joachim Armbruster & Patricia Rogan
7 Graham Nimmo & Virginie Duplay
8 Rob Lawrence & Coleen Man
9 Rob Day & Danielle Rowe
10Pim Van Grootel  & Tiina Aaalto
11 Juho Paivonen & Stephanie Chivers
12 Fabrice Beaux & Hannah Day
13 Joe Foster & Rachel Martin
14 Ross Carlin & Agnieska Maczka
15 Gerry Burke & Andree Mullings

Jack & Jill Intermediate
1 Stanley Seguy & Kate Lovegrove 
2 Stanley Seguy & Fabienne Henshall
3 Thomas Escaravage & Naomi Hulbert
4 Alexandre Biesse & Sydney Smyth
5 James McLaughlin & Michelle Fletcher
6 Olivier Duplay & Virginie Escaravage
7 Olivier Duplay & Rachel Martino
8 James McLaughlin & Laetitia Blanchet
9 Thomas Escaravage & Caroline Pillar
10 Alexandre biesse & Carole Stroud

Jack & Jill Advanced
1 Steve Hall & Heather Mcphearson
2 Lee Easton & Jo Jephcott
3 Arnaud Perga & Celine Sully
Paul Harris & Sarve Didar
5 Eric Alhomme  & Sue Lambell
6 Steve Hunt & Dora Alhomme
7 Neil Crosbie & Caroline Amblard
8 Peter Fradley & Johanna Barnes

 Novice Strictly Swing
1 Favier Damien & Amandine Biesse
2 Ekow Oduro & Lauren Carter
3 Kevin Town  & Agnieska Maczka
4 Rob Day & Rachel Martin
5 Christophe Boyer & Christine Chen
6 Fabrice Baux & Katherine Ledger
7 Levente Friesz & Susan Minor

Open Strictly Swing
1 Steve Hunt & Sarve Didar
2 Steve Hall & Kate Lovegrove
3 Alexandre Biesse & Jo Jephcott
4 Stanley Seguy & Laetitia Blanchett
5 Thomas Escararage  & Virginie Escaravage
6 Arnaud Perga & Maelle Jacoulet
7 Neil Crosbie & Heather McPhearson
8 Olivier Dulpay & Virginie Duplay
9 Peter Fradley & Michelle Fletcher

Our Champions Jack & Jill didn't run as planned.... BUT our Pro's got together and put on one hell of a Jam for us. Starting with a random partner dance, onto double trouble and finishing with 4 way steals - it really was amazing and showed the standard we are all working towards. See a video here.

This years WSM event was also our first year as an International Member event of the AANCE Tour - we are the exclusive UK event! Good Luck to our AANCE Tour qualifiers.


COMPETITON
Well, the World Dance Masters Championship part of the event really was the best we've had. Dancers from across the globe competed, many for the 1st time at a Championship event, for a World Title. With dancers from UK, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, France, Germany, Netherlands, Columbia, China it was the most international competition we've hosted to date.

Friday brought around Pro-Am & Solo heats with our Pro's James MacLachlan, Fred Whitehouse, Sam Robins, showing our competitors off in style. Solo heats meant some of our dancers had to dance several times bringing our Novice division down from nearly 20 dancers! Our dancers were also treated to a Samba masterclass with UK Latin & Ballroom champion and professional dancer Crystal Main. Friday evening had a new addition - the Mum's & Dad's dance off! Such fun to watch our often spectator only parents really get to strut their stuff on the floor. Our winners were:

Saturday's competition kicked off with Pro-Am finals and Couples leading into Solo Semi-Finals, followed by Duos/Quads/Teams & Cabaret. This really showed our dancers creativity in choreography and musical interpretation. It is always a joy to see this, and our Senior & Showcase Duo's got a huge round of applause from our audience who were extremely entertained.

Sunday was Finals day - with our Solo competition coming to a climax. You could feel the tension in the air as our dancers fought it out displaying great passion. The atmosphere in the dressing rooms and staging area was electric. During our Sunday Finals we held our first Solo Open Freestyle Renegade Division. The idea - each competitor who wishes to enter pays a £5 entry fee - A mix of 3 tracks is played and the dancers get 1 listen before they have to get on the floor and freestyle. The eventual winner voted for by the judges takes all the money taken. Our 2011 winner was Emma Daly who took home £100 Cash!

Following our Finals we closed the ballroom for an hour whilst we prepared for our awards, but not before a final show, the Division 1 Allstars Medleys! This has become a staple of the Sunday at WDM, showcasing our top dancers ability to entertain and interpret a mix of musical genres along a theme - 'The Movies' for our Juniors, 'The Songs of Queen' for our Adult Males, and 'The Songs from Burlesque' for our Adult Females, what a great show.

Onto our competitor parade, we brought every one of our competitors out on to the floor to celebrate in a confetti filled ballroom. And then came the award ceremony. There were tears of joys, lots of smiles and camera flashes! Congratulations to everyone.

EVENING SHOW
Friday
First up for our show were Torri & Brennar performing a Shag routine - very very fast stuff! Next was Robert & Deborah with a lead & follow WCS, something they do so well! Third was our own Sydney Smyth dancing a Solo routine. This lead us to some special guests - the Quan Jian Line Dance Group all the way from China - it was their first time at the event or in the UK and it was a privilege to have them at the event and perform. Finally Ronnie & Brandi danced an impressive Swing routine bringing our show to a close.

Saturday
Our Saturday WDM Circus kicked off with a stunning WCS performance from Arjay Centeno & Jennifer Deluca who wowed the crowd with an energetic and acrobatic routine. Closely followed by Brennar Goree & Torri Smith performing their winning US OPEN Classic Routine. And finally the Masters Elite Circus Show Team! This was an amazing routine choreographed by our own judges Jodie Seedel and Crystal Main. The team had all in all around 6 hours to get the show together from the start of the weekend, in between competing, judging and working. We think you'll agree it was spectacular. Check out our website or Facebook for videos

A huge thanks to everyone who attended and supported the event, and to our staff, volunteers, dancers, and parents. We look forward to seeing you next year back at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool [17-19 August].

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Midland Masters 2011

Midland Masters always takes place in the fabulous Kings Hall in Stoke-on-Trent, a 100 year old venue of grandure. The team have now got setting up for our day qualifiers down to a fine art, so we all arrived and set up in record time.

The queue was already forming outside at 08:40am, even though doors weren't to open until 10am! The team for the day were Judges Zoe Powell, Sydney Smyth, Fabienne Henshall, Nicola Laffferty & James Maclauchlan with Leigh Welch apprentice judging, Scorer Sam Robins, DJ Jamie Whalley, Floor Co-ordinator Abbie Ingram, and on the door Elizabeth Lafferty. A special thanks to Charlotte O'Connor for being the photographer for the day.

As we entered our Pro-Am divisions the light flooded into the hall. The days Pros were Lee Easton, James Maclachlan, Sam Robins and Gemma Harrison-Watkin. It was great to see our dancers circumnavigate the floor,  obviously they are getting excited for World Dance Masters 2011 in August as the standard is forever increasing.

On to the solo divisions and we had heats. Some of our youngest dancers had to dance up to 4 times (so thats 12 dances) to get to the final. It was incredibly difficult for our judges and this was apparent on their faces. Finals progressed and were stunning. We have to say a big WELL DONE to 2 of our newest dancers who were not only competing with World Dance Masters for the 1st time, but competing at all for the 1st time! They did fantastically :)

Nicola did a quick teach of the fun and novelty dance 'The Wobble' to Wobble by V.I.C. This dance has taken the USA by storm so if you can, try it out.

Following all the dancing and awards were went into our evening social, with competitors and families sticking around and dancers travelling from the local area and sounding counties! We danced til late with requests galore, and with sure a diverse mix of dancers it was such a delight to have so many differing requests. Golden Oldies, Top Ten, Competition dances, REALLY Golden Oldies (Jamie's been dancing for 18 years and these were the 1st ones he learned!) and more.

A big thanks to all who attended. Don't forget the upcoming German Masters, Irish Masters and East Coast Masters and make sure you're attending World Dance Masters 2011 - the best value for money event of the year!

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Bon Accord Masters 2011

Our most Northern event in the UK is the Bon Accord Masters which is Peterhead (above Aberdeen for those of you who don’t know). We arrived at the Palace Hotel – no not the same one as Worlds :p – in plenty of time the day before the event started.



On the morning of the competition doors opened at 10:00am to a stream of customers. Nicola was partaking in a little fundraising for St Vincent’s hospice, raising money for a sponsored Zumbathon (See the bottom of this blog)!!! We also had merchandise on sale – limited edition World Dance Masters hoodies! (If you’re interested in purchasing one, contact jamie@worlddancemasters.com to see if we have any left in your size )



We started the day with warm ups as everyone got settled in for the day, kicking off with Pro-Am at 11:30am. Our Pros for the day were Sam Robins & James McLachlan. The rest of our event staff: Judging Pro-Am were Competition Director Nicola Lafferty, Fabienne Henshall & apprentice judging Abbie Ingram, who were joined by James for our Solo Divisions with scorer Sam Robins, DJ Jamie Whalley, floor coordinator Shirley Taylor, photographer Catriona Cameron & Iris Stein on the door. Our dancers of all divisions wowed the room, dancing Waltz, Cha-Cha, WCS, 2-Step & ECS.



Following the Pro-Am divisions we went straight into our Solo finals. There’s a great warm, friendly & relaxed atmosphere in the ballroom at the Palace Hotel and this showed with lots of smiles on everybody’s faces. We finished Dance 1 for a short break for dinner, starting again at 2:30pm for Dance 2 – Waltz or Nightclub.



Again a short break after Dance 2 in which Nicola taught her new dance to a great WCS track – “Stuttering” by Loick Essien featuring N-Dubz, that was very well received and led straight into Dance 3 – Funky or Showdance. This is the division that lights up the room and brings everyone alive, clapping and cheering.



Jamie then taught a novelty dance called “Kabouterdans”. Some old skool dancers might remember this from around 2002/3 – such a laugh to be had, especially if you move places during the chorus. That led nicely into our Junior and Teen Duos who impressed us greatly. Onto the Awards and this really REALLY was a close competition. In one of the divisions, 3 dancers essentially tied for 1st place! Great job everyone



After a short break for dinner we resumed with our evening social at 8:00pm, keeping everyone dancing until 11:30pm. A pleasant mix of classic & top 10 dances, competition dances, and party tracks kept everyone entertained, whilst both recapping “Stuttering” and “Kabouterdans”.



The WDM Team would like to thank all our event staff & volunteers, our competitors, parents and dancers & the Palace Hotel Peterhead for their hospitality. Remember to check out Stuttering, and most of all please give whatever you can to Nicola’s fundraising efforts. Contact the fundraising team on 01505707635, email lorraine.valentine@svh.co.uk or check out the Zumbathon Facebook Page.

Wednesday 23 March 2011

European Dance Masters 2011


Well, what can we say except WOW?! The event, the photos, the videos, the competition, the dancing, the Flashmob, the feedback; European Dance Masters 2011 was a resounding success all round.

Before we go any further, we'd like to thank each and every person who supported our event - it really does mean the world to the WDM Team.

Now to the nitty gritty - the event itself!

General Setup
We began to set-up the hotel on Thursday morning, double checking rooming lists, bringing all equipment into the venue and generally just getting in the correct frame of mind for the weekend ahead. Alongside us was the ProDanceFloors Team preparing to lay the fantastic dance floors. Due to the design of the Britannia Adelphi Hotel, each panel of flooring has to be brought up a flight of stairs, through a corridor, down a ramp and down more stairs to be laid - PHEW. The PDF boys did a fantastic job ensuring that the floors were down in time for the start of the event - thanks boys :)

After an evening of Sam double and triple checking everything, Friday arrived. Airport runs, lost luggage, eating arrangements and more! No sooner had Friday started was it 18:00 and time for wristband collection and competition registration to open. People began arriving in a steady stream to get their band in time for the big kick of at 20:00.


Friday Evening
Friday at European Dance Masters is a relaxed but exciting warm-up and welcome to the event. 2 rooms open - WCS with Euro Swing Masters in the Lobby and Beatlefest 2 social dancing in the Ballroom. At 22:00 Lee Easton and Fabienne Henshall taught the Flashmob routine to 'DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love' by Usher and Pitbull. This has been taught at several of our events and follows on from our performance in Blackpool at last years UK Masters and Xmas Party. The plan was to perform it in Liverpool City Centre the following day. The workshop was very well attended with everyone, even if they weren't familiar with WCS, having a go. It was great to see the interaction and crossover between our competition, social and WCS dancers :) Following the workshop we continued into a relaxed night of social dancing and requests with the Beatlefest room open until 02:00 and the Euro Swing Masters room staying open until 03:30!

Saturday Daytime
Saturday morning was the first time all 3 rooms of the event were open, and everyone came together for a little warm-up. MORNING ZUMBA! Our Competition Director Nicola Lafferty led everyone in a warm-up to get the blood circulating and everyone pumped for the rest of the day.

In attendance for the weekend was photographer Jay Brooks taking some promotional shots for WDM. Jay has photographed, amongst others, Kayne West, JLS, Ellie Goulding, Little Boots, Simon Pegg, Daft Punk, The Bafta Awards, Danny Dyer and Kings of Leon! Our event photographers were Jacqui Fowler and Jamie Whalley.


European Dance Masters Championships
Our European Dance Masters Championships were represented by 9 countries this year and the dancing was a magnificent sight to behold. Our dancers excelled themselves as usual showing that the standard of our competitions really is the highest in the industry.

Competition DJ for the weekend was Jamie Whalley with Sam Robins as scorer. Our judges for the weekend were World Champions and Internationally recognized judges: Jodie Seedel, Rachael McEnaney, Sydney Smyth, Emily Drinkall, IDTA Professional Zoe Powell, Competition Director Nicola Lafferty and our special guest judge - Strictly Come Dancing Showdancer, UK Latin/Ballroom/Ten Dance Champion Crystal Main!


Saturday began our Pro-Am competition with our Professional dancers Sam Robins, Lee Easton, James McLauchlan and Fred Whitehouse - they showed off their students who, in turn, demonstrated their incredible abilities. Following the Pro-Am competition were the solo heats, followed by Duos and Quads. Again, and we never tire of saying this ever, the standard is simply incredible, especially from our younger dancers who show a maturity and talent far beyond their years. We had a break for 30 minutes to go out of the venue into Liverpool City Centre to perform the Flashmob - See Below.

We held our Pro-Am, Duos and Quads awards on Saturday evening so everyone didn't have to wait until Sunday for their results (Sam's super efficient at scoring now!). 

Beatlefest 2
As with a lot of the events he does, DJ Big Dave stayed at the decks the entire weekend, making sure everyone was catered for. In our social and workshop part of the event, held in the Lobby, Choreographers Rob Fowler, Guyton Mundy, Craig Bennett and Rachael McEnaney taught some great dances:
"Love Your Flavour" to Baby Get Down by Tomi [Link to Follow]
"Mmm Dada" to Turn Around 5 4 3 2 1 by Flo Rida
Perfect to Perfect by Pink
"Born This Way" to Born This Way by Lady GaGa
"Raise Your Glass" to Raise Your Glass by Pink

As part of the social weekend we had a Magical Mystery Game. At the end of each workshop a question was read out and once all had been answered a room would be revealed. The first person to get to the room would win a bottle of champagne and a Beatles box set worth £250!!!! Read on to find out who won. Social Dancing was only interrupted for everyone to take part in the Flashmob (See Below)


Euro Swing Masters
Euro Swing Masters 2011 welcomed Pete Green (of Where's Westie fame), Elizabeth LaGue, Sean McKeever and Courtney Adair from the USA [Minus their luggage for the 1st day] as well as UK favourites Lee Easton, Fabienne Henshall and James McLauchlan, teaching not only WCS but a little Country 2-Step and Nightclub 2-Step as well.

Saturday Workshops included 'Playing Footsie with your Partner', 'Shaping Your Swing' and 'Connection with Direction'. J&J and Strictly Swing prelims were held on Saturday evening following the Flashmob - See Below.


Flashmob
If you weren't in attendance or haven't seen it - check out the video on YouTube here! We attracted a great crowd who were all intrigued and excited to see what was going on. If you have any videos of the Flashmob, you can send them us so we can make a compilation. Go to www.wetransfer.com and upload your video(s) sending to samuel@worlddancemasters.com.


Saturday Evening
Saturday night was social dancing in 2 ballrooms, again with our Swing dancers taking over the lobby and social dancers and competition dancers taking over the Ballroom. 

The climax of Saturday evening was the show - An incredible display of talent, dedication and performance. First up was our Competition Quads who danced their own choreography to United State of Pop by DJ Earworm.  This was followed by Pete Green and Liz LaGue who performed a WCS Lead and Follow. Next to take to the floor was Division 1 dancer George Hodson who performed a Street Dance routine, closely followed by Lee Easton & Fabienne Henshall dancing a beautiful Nightclub routine. Superstar World Champion and Masters Judge, Emily Drinkall, took to the floor to perform a Samba line dance.  Next to take to the floor were Sean McKeever and Courtney Adair who danced a classic WCS routine. Finally the WDM Elite Show Team featuring Crystal Main. WOWZERS! You can check our videos of all the performances on our YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/worlddancemasters.
 
Following the show, social dancing and freestyle continued until 3am in the Ballroom and 430 in the Lobby. 

Sunday Daytime
Following a late night it was time for an early start for our dancers! Again it was time for MORNING ZUMBA this time with Sydney Smyth who not only led the routines but got involved on the floor and had everyone running around the room.

European Dance Masters Championship
Sunday brought with it what we'd all been waiting for - the finals of the solo divisions. These divisions were unbelievably hard for our judges as the standard and talent on show was beyond belief. For finals day we were treated to 4 different Emcees - Rob Fowler for dance 1, Craig Bennett for dance 2, and both Lee Easton and Guyton Mundy for dance 3! Interspersed between the 3 dances both Nicola and Rachael taught 2 new competition dances in anticipation of the new dance releases coming up (see website for more details). And if that wasn't enough our dancers were treated to a Cha Cha technique workshop from Crystal Main - a highlight of the weekend for many. Following a short break it was time for awards, announced by a lady who worked tirelessly all weekend and took numerous different roles, Rachael McEnaney! There were smiles and happiness all around as we crowned our new European Champions!


Beatlefest 2
Dances taught on Sunday, which were all well received were:

'Messy Little Rain Drops' to Messy Little Rain Drops by Cheryl Cole
'Can't Handle Me!' to Club Can't Handle This by Flo Rida
"Renegades" [Link To Follow]
"Whole New Thing" [Link To Follow]

The Magical Mystery Competition Winners were Carol Baker and Chris Atkinson winning a bottle of champagne and the Beatles box set worth £250!!!!

Euro Swing Masters
Sunday’s Swingtastic workshops kicked off with Pete and Liz 'Use after Function', followed by 'Seamless Transitions' and 'Let the music be your guide'. The Jack & Jill and Strictly Swing finals took place on Sunday evening.

Sunday Evening

Closing Party
Following the close down of the Competition and Swing ballrooms, it was time for our favorite part of the event - the closing party. Now it's not our favorite because it's the end of the event, that couldn't be further from the truth. It's our favorite because everyone is simply so relaxed, at ease, and enjoying themselves. 


All attendees mixed on the same dance floor, maximising floor splits and really having a great laugh. Dave and Lee kept everyone dancing for hours and hours and hours, including line dances, WCS, party tracks and novelty songs and even more of the same again. Finally it was time for bed at 04:30am!

What a weekend. Again, we’d like to thank all the staff mentioned above in this blog as well as our Event Sponsor ProDanceFloors (www.prodancefloors.com), Door Staff and Security John, Elizabeth, Laraine and Andy, vendors ProDanceFootwear and Tynedancer, the Britannia Adelphi Hotel and finally you!

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Southern Masters 2011

This year we had a change in venue for our annual Southern Masters competition. The newly renovated Old Regent Ballroom in Stanford-le-Hope, run by the incomparable Frankie Cull & Shawnee Young, was our destination.  With the World Dance Masters (WDM) Team based in different locations, we travelled from all around the country from Blackpool, Manchester, London and Glasgow to reach our destination.

On arriving at the venue (once we’d found it due to Sam’s rubbish SatNav), a lovely entrance invited us upstairs to a very impressive space, just perfect for our competition. Frankie & Shawnee were very accommodating to the team, helping in every way they could.

We opened the doors at 10:00am to a stream of waiting guests outside who soon made themselves very comfortable – the venue is great with a large dance floor, superb lighting and a friendly and fun atmosphere. If you haven’t had chance to visit, we strongly recommend you do.

The day started with a Zumba warm up from our Competition Director Nicola Lafferty who had our dancers (and even a few mums, dads and grans) up getting a little out of breath with a fantastic 3 track warm up routine. Everybody was now fully ready to take to the floor. Our team for the day were judges Nicola Lafferty, Jodie Seedel, Fabienne Henshall & apprentice judging Leigh Welch, with MC Lee Easton, Scorer Sam Robins & Jamie Whalley doubling up as DJ and photographer.

The competition started with our Pro-Am dancers taking over the floor and showing what they had to offer. Some amazing dancing skills from Newcomer to Advanced were displayed. Next up was dance 1 of our solo competition, and if you’ve never been to a WDM event before, the competition really does have to be seen to be believed. Our Rugrats & Primary divisions are often more closely fought than our top Allstars division, and Southern Masters was no exception, with our youngest dancers excelling themselves.

Following dances 1 & 2 we had a West Coast Swing workshop with Lee & Fabienne. This was to teach the Flashmob WCS routine to ‘DJ Got Us Falling in Love’ by Usher and Pitbull. If you haven’t seen the Flashmob, or indeed West Coast Swing then take a look at www.worlddancemasters.com, our Facebook page (Search for World Dance Masters) or YouTube to see what it’s all about.

After a short break we went into dance 3 of the competition, Funky and Showdance. This is always a joy to see as everyone, dancer or spectator is really pumped up. The atmosphere was electric. With all the solo competition over it was time for our Duos. ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’ by Bette Midler, and ‘Canned Heat’ by Jamiroquai were the songs used for our competitors to showcase their own choreography – a real treat.  Our awards ceremony wrapped the competition up nicely with everyone winning a trophy & certificate and qualifying for the Euro Dance Masters 2011 Championships in March, and completing one of the required two qualifiers for World Dance Masters in August.

A short break in the early evening for the team to enjoy a nice curry (yum yum) and onto the  evening social hosted by Frankie himself. The night started off with some great golden oldies including the likes of ‘Swing It’ (Nicola’s very favourite dance ever), ‘Smooth Criminal’ and ‘MJ Moves’ with Jamie in his element remembering practically all of them! The social had a fantastic mix of beginner to advanced dances, partner & circle dances, a little west coast swing and even more of the latest top 10. 

The WDM team then took to the floor to perform a show – a west coast swing routine from Lee & Fabienne, a Duos routine from Hannah Day & Danielle Louise Rowe and finally the Masters Elite Show Team medley that they performed at the Crystal Boot Awards in January. The atmosphere was electric the whole day long, helped by the lighting, acoustics and feel of the venue – Frankie really has excelled himself. It was a great evening. To find out more of the venue visit their website www.theoldregentballroom.com.

The World Dance Masters Team would like to thank Frankie & Shawnee for making us so welcome, all our competitors, their friends, parents and families for attending and supporting the event, and every social dancer who attended the evening party.