The Wrap
2013 Diamond Jubilee Championships
by Andrew Howlett
For the second year in a row, CIDA produced the Diamond Jubilee DanceSport Championships at the beautifully appointed Hilton on the Park. The ballroom has a sensational ceiling and mirrored walls which really give the event a special feel. A great venue for a ballroom event.
With good numbers in both the medalist events, registered and Pro-Am events, the day was well supported by all areas of DanceSport. Medalist, Juveniles and Juniors were presented early which was welcomed so that those families with young children could leave early.
The Adult Open Ballroom title was taken out by Andrew Nolo and Alexandra Vladinivov winning four dances and tying in the Viennese Waltz. Andrew and Alex produce some beautiful lines and well controlled actions that is very characteristic of ballroom. It really does emphazise the importance of action over choreography. Taking the runners up spot was Gino Cello and Shannen Clarke. There two seem to have settled well together and even though they have only been dancing together a short time, they do look quite comfortable with each other and are poised to make big strides in the ballroom style.
The Adult Open Latin American was fight between Andrew Nolo & Alexandra Vladinivov and Igor Ifliand & Carmille Webb. Both of these couples have a fantastic man / lady balance, both produce great action and line. Andrew and Alex did win all five dances, but after reviewing the results, it shows that this was a very close contest. A great situation to encourage dancers to continue to improve their dancing as either the chaser or the chased.
Daniel Moloney and Anna Edwards took out both the Masters 1 Open Standard and Masters 1 Open New Vogue titles at this event. This was the first time that Daniel and Anna had beaten their main rivals, Joe Guan and Helen Xu, in the Standard style, winning four dances and coming second in the quickstep.
Paul Zaidman and Cheryl Smith dominated the Masters 1 Open Latin American only dropping five first placings of a total forty five. A great achievement for these two. These two are heading over to the Czech Republic in a few weeks as one of two Australia couples representing in the WDSF World Masters Latin American Championships, so the very best of luck to you guys.
Pro-Am events contained good numbers, with less rounds than last year which I think was welcome to the smooth running of the day session. It is great to see Professionals and DSA Coaches alike embracing this rapidly growing area of DanceSport. Certainly an important area for the future of our industry.
DanceSport as a whole is changing with new areas continuing to open up. Firstly the medalist area development and now the Pro-Am area. These are great steps forward in the solid future of DanceSport here in Australia and I'd hope welcomed by everyone.
The early finish of approximately 9pm was welcomed by everyone, particularly on a Sunday night, this enable those that were working in the morning to go home at a reasonable hour and those of us that don't have to work early in the morning a little extra time in the bar downstairs. So really a win-win for everyone.
Congratulations must go to Don, Lorraine and the CIDA team for producing another successful DanceSport event.
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