With clouds of ash from Iceland, it seemed unlikely that any of our Masters team were going to make it to the German Masters event! Dancers Lee Easton and Fabienne Henshall were stranded in LA and it was doubtful that Sam Robins & Nicola Lafferty were going to make it either; luckily the air space was reopened and Sam & Nicola were able to make their flights. German Instructors, Jasmin Oetzel and Joachim Armbruster were on hand to step into the shoes of Lee & Fabienne, so the event was able to go ahead.
Arriving at the venue in beautiful Florsheim (only 10 minutes from Frankfurt airport), Friday afternoon was spent preparing the hall and competition paperwork and having a quick practise of the demos for the show before joining the new BFCW team for an Italian meal. Josip, Jurgen, Tine, Sabine, Robert & Anke had done a great job of organising the competition and helping Sam & Nicola learn a few words of German! Although Sam studied German at school, he was exceptionally rubbish at remembering any German words and proceeded to instruct with his poor English accent (sorry everyone!!).
Saturday started with a wonderful welcome from the new President of the BFCW, Josip Miolcic, and an introduction to the Masters team. Nicola started the day with an easy, fun workshop, teaching ‘Swingin’ The Lead’, which then led into the competitors meeting and the competition, starting with the Newcomer and Intermediate divisions. Joachim Armbruster then took to the stage to teach his dance ‘Oopsy Daisy’ which was very well received, to a fabulous track by the same name sung by Chipmunk. Jasmin Oetzel then taught the Masters Newcomer Dance ‘Rockin’ Robin’ and Sam & Nicola taught some basic couples West Coast Swing, followed by Sam teaching the line dance ‘Parachute’. At this point all the dancers were undoubtedly 'workshoped' out. The ballroom shut down for dinner break and a small show practice.
Saturday evening opened with a cool mix of social dancing from the DJ’s and then it was time for the show. There were solo demos from Nicola, Sam & Joachim, couples from Sam & Nicola and a couples routine from Sam, Joachim, Nicola & Jasmin to Lady GaGa’s ‘Telephone’. This was definitely an experience to behold....in a reversal of positions, Joachim turned into Lady GaGa with Sam taking up the role of Beyonce!! After the team had had a small recovery (and a small amount of beer) Joachim taught his fun contra dance ‘Homo Dance’ which went down wonderfully (with a large amount of laughing). The dancing continued until 12.30am and then it was time for bed.
Sunday started with some more workshops. Jasmin taught ‘Take your Time’ and Nicola taught ‘Kiss & Tell’. Competition then started for the day with the Novice and Advanced dancers taking to the floor. Another great display of dancing from our competitors! Throughout the Sunday more workshops took place, including ‘Absolutely Positively’ and ‘Faith & Desire’ as well as recaps of all the dances taught over the weekend. The day finished with the awards ceremony as all the competitors from both days of competition waited to see how they had placed. Awards over and dancers from all over Germany, Holland and Switzerland began to pack up to begin the long journey home.
Masters would like to thank the BFCW for running the event and to all the staff and helpers. A special thanks to Tine Knisel who had to organise the event with very little time (including all the stress of placing the contingencies) and to Jasmin and Joachim for stepping in at such short notice and for doing such a wonderful job. The event couldn't have taken place so successfully without these people and Nicola and Sam can't thank them enough!
Keep checking the website and Facebook for updates on when and where the Masters event will be next year! We are definitely looking forward to it. We hope to see you all there too.
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