Midland Masters 2010

Midland Masters took place on Saturday 22^nd May at Kings Hall, Stoke-On-Trent. The day kicked off bright (very bright) and early for the team at around 08:00. The sun was beaming down all day long meaning the hall looked glorious with slits of sun shining through the window illuminating the dance floor.

Queues were forming as early as 08:45 and by doors opening time there was a queue of at least 200 people waiting to enter. With music playing, sun shining, and everybody in high spirits it looked like it was going to be a great day.

Warm-up for Pro-Am kicked off at 11:00. Unfortunately due to the heat, by the end of warm-up time our dancers and the Pro's were already sweating!! 

Judges for the day were Competition Director and Head Judge Nicola Lafferty, Jodie Seedel, Charlotte Macari and Apprentice Judging was Division 1 Dancer Lauren Forsyth. Scoring for the day was Head Scorer Sam Robins, assisted by Paul Rhoades, with Jamie Whalley as the wonderful DJ. Making up the team for the day were John and Elizabeth Lafferty on the door with Zoe Powell as floor coordinator. A well oiled machine if we do say so ourselves!!

Into the competition it was clear that the day was going to get even warmer inside the hall. Pro's led their dancers around the floor with amazing style, flare & grace. Our dancers and Pro's coped well with the heat; from Newcomer to Advanced, everyone danced fantastically.

With the Pro-Am over it was time to move to the Line Dance divisions. A small break was given for the judges and dancers to get in a final practise before donning costumes and preparing themselves for their 1^st Dance. Amazing. The standard and effort didn’t falter all day. Through to Dance 2 and 3 everyone gave it 100%. A special mention has to be given to our Primary Novice Female, Newcomer Junior Female & Division 4 Junior Female Divisions who had to dance in heats, some dancing as many as 9 times!

After a long dance of dancing it was time to hand out the awards. Lots of surprises and happiness brought the day of competition to a close. But it wasn’t the end of the day. The evening brought about a social with Charlotte Macari & Jamie Whalley. They kept everyone dancing right through the evening with teaches from both Charlotte & Lee Easton. Charlotte taught her own dance "In This Life", a 32 Count 4 Walls Intermediate dance to In This Life by Collin Raye, followed by Lee teaching his own dance “Telephonic” , a 32 Count 2 Walls Intermediate/Advanced dance to Telephone by Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce. This was loved by everyone, very fast & energetic.

New & old dances sat side by side. New favourite “Faith & Desire” followed by “The Beast” is just an example of the variety. The night was finished off by a good ol’ favourite, “Islands in the Stream” with Charlotte & Jamie performing on stage!

We hope everyone had a great day as we know we did. Congratulations to all of our dancers for your continued effort & dedication.

South African Masters 2010

The South African Masters headed its preparations with a good start when Sam arrived 4 days before the event for a little sightseeing. As Wednesday came around it became apparent that our Head Judge, Nicola Lafferty, might not be getting to the event due to that horrible Icelandic volcano so Sam and Event Director Nadia began putting together the contingencies.

Thankfully Nicola managed to get on a flight on Thursday (after getting a free upgrade to Business Class!) and arrived in sufficient time to make the event work as if nothing had happened. Thankfully Nicola still managed to get a full suitcase of costume donations out South Africa. Thank you to everyone who has donated to the cause - everything has been put to great use.

As Friday came along it was time for the first Judging Examinations using the new World Dance Masters Judging criteria. We are very excited to say that South Africa now holds the first ever Level I and Level II World Dance Masters qualified judges. Congratulations to everyone who took them and passed.

The Friday evening social started nice and early at around 6pm with over 100 dancers clearly enjoying the opportunity to dance away to all types of dances. When we say this event caters for every type of dancer it truly does; from absolute beginners to more advanced dancers. We knew from this point the South African Masters was going to be an event that was wonderful to behold.

Nadia Coen and her team went to the hall bright and early on Saturday morning to start with set-up and open registration. Nicola, Sam and Caryl Cusins arrived at around 10:00 to start their preparations for the days judging assignments. The competition started with the events ‘Classic’ divisions (social divisions). What a wonderful experience this was. Over 35 children attended from Broadlands Primary School, a school situated close to the venue, and a dance school in Bela Bela (Limpopo province situated about 250km from the venue), and all danced in their relative age divisions. Learning their dances in between their breaks at school just three weeks prior to the event, the kids were aged between 5 and 13 and all did an amazing job!

At around 12:00 we did the award ceremony for the Classic Youth division so they could go home if they wanted to. Its safe to say that all the dancers were happy with their certificates and awards and we hope to see them back next year!

At 13:00 we started with the rest of the ‘Classic’ and ran straight into the ‘International’ divisions (standard Masters divisions). The standard of competition was wonderful to watch and amazing for a country that doesn’t have access to the best professional tuition like the UK does. Nicola, Sam and Caryl all had their work cut out for them as the dancers showed such an amazing ability. At 18:30 the awards commenced and all the new South African Masters Champions were crowned.

After the awards Nicola and Sam did three well-received demonstrations and after this was completed the breakdown started and everyone began to make their way home.

With the competition complete and all our dancers satisfied, Sunday started with a day of intense technical workshops held by Nicola and Sam. The opportunities for new technical information to be absorbed by the South African dancers are few and far between so they make the most of the time they have with the visiting Judges. After another fantastic day the event was officially over but the fun had only just begun for Nicola & Sam.

On Tuesday they were both treated to 24 hours of South African culture. Starting off at the Monkey Sanctuary, Nicola, Sam and Nadia were treated to a tour of the area by Sarah the Spider Monkey. Being so up-close to these wonderful animals was an experience Nicola & Sam will never forget. But it wasn’t over yet. Next a trip to the Elephant Sanctuary. Another incredible experience. Riding the elephants and even being kissed by them (an utterly disgusting but strangely gratifying experience), the day ended watching the sunset over the mountains from the sanctuary’s sunset point.

On Wednesday they were treated to (or terrified by, in Sam’s case) a Canopy Slide across the mountains. Drifting 140m on a zip-wire across to mountainous caverns 300ft above the ground is something that everyone should do if they get chance.

After a truly amazing experience, Nicola & Sam boarded their flight back to the UK on Wednesday evening and proceeded to get back to reality.

For anyone wanting to experience any World Dance Masters International events who have some spare money and want a holiday at the same time, the South African Masters will give you a lifetime of memories (while getting you one of your qualifying points for Worlds). Check the new website (launching 14th June) for details on next years event, we will make sure that anyone serious in attending gets all the help they need in booking all the activities available to them.

German Masters 2010

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.