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!!!!
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
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!
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