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.
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