TUESDAY MORNING 10AM
Only half a dozen waiting the door to open, so as to obtain entry to the famous ballroom for a practice session. A fantastic time to try out the floor… get rid of nerves and enjoy environmental perfection. All for experiment, and changes are made. It is interesting to see how ballroom events have escalated the body positions and lines from head to foot but the base area changes are merely the introduction of more exotic and balletically orientated ideas. The use of feet and ankle are still paramount and those who nurture those aspects will receive just rewards. For example more marks at Blackpool. I can feel a reincarnation in my mind, as it travels back in time in the scale of human existence and allows the thoughts from me. To see ideal kinetics, to feel myself dancing a 1-3 natural turn in waltz… the feeling is absolutely stupendous… All you need to do is see within your memory a magnificent natural being danced by yourself and then allowing your mental capacity to re-create that on the dancefloor… very interesting indeed.
Courtesy of Mr Williams and Mrs Hayes, I was able to visit the new conference centre, which has been added to the Winter Gardens complex. Within the new centre there is a ballroom space the same size as the Empress Ballroom, and there are facilities for private lessons and or practice, within this fantastic floor space. The fee at the moment to be able to use the new facilities is £25 per hour and this can be for practice or to have a lesson from a coach. The floor only allows a total of 15 couples at a time and you have to book space prior to usage. You can book online or by visiting the centre and there is a manager who will take your details and arrange your space time. THIS IS A MOST WELCOME AND VALUABLE ADDITION TO THE FESTIVAL and when I visited, the floor had the 15 couples practising and so enjoying the freedom of space. It is rather like an National/International dance centre. Congratulations must be beamed to those responsible, whose minds implemented the ideas, and had them carried out. When I receive the “Get back to your youth pill” I will be first in the doors to relish the environment and hopefully improve my natural turn. Just imagine a lesson at Blackpool with a top rated coach in such an environment… Wowee bring it on.
UNDER 21 BALLROOM CHAMPIONSHIP
Sixty of the best youths in the world at Blackpool and here are some of the very quickly scribbled notes.
No.1- Nathan Zaytsev and Alisa Bankova- excellent stance and control too, with a way of cutting through the crowd on the floor, which was made to look very easy but certainly is not easy at all. Usually it is called floor craft and it's the facility earned through many events danced and quick minds to incorporate. 33- Arthur Sugonajev and Tulip Wellman-Riggs- dance a lovely throwaway overdsway with nice musicality and some nice unusual nuances were a delight to see. 60-Victor Qiang Zi Lun and Edita Yang Ya Ting- very mature and good body tone, coupled also to style maintenance. 48- Jakub Gedlek and Maja Wieckowska- move body weight marvellously well and they are reminiscent of Jonathan Crossley with Lyn Marriner… Lucky couple.
FOXTROT I see many swoops, swirls and runs and no 10- Mykhailo Bokii and Ivanna Tymczyszyn- have a style and substance too. They are tall and very much with it. 40- Maciej Wiorek and Wiktoria Gawrych- show an impeccable style, man could add a little to collar height to improve the look even more. 28- Micheal Deng and Michelle Li- ahh they show lovely floor articulation and this is vital. 2- Benjamin Turner and Lilia Fleming- nicely different backward steps using an almost stalking action with a lilting expressiveness… very different and so nice too. 56- Max Draper and Sofiia Tyshchyk- Some very nice use of foxtrot timing which was impactive. 59-Mark Chilcote and Madison Ingoldsby- a class act surely instantly marked to be seen at later stages.
TANGO hardly any man changes the silhouette structure, and many dance what seem to be quickstep actions… Makes me shudder. 19- Zheng Qiao and YuChen Wang- extra maturity shown. This pair should appear in later stages if they maximise their present understanding.
Many couples show lovely rise and fall… Perhaps it should go back to where it came from or be eradicated… There is much vivid acceleration on show… They may well hire Ferraris. 56-Max Draper and Sofiia Tyshchyk- nice vertical body lines and maintain too. This young man has an excellent right hand placement for tango. In QUICKSTEP now and my aunt Lizzie would be dizzy watching this… Me too. 26- XUANYU JIANG and YUFEI SONG- show a very good look on the floor and they retain stance so well… No panic in this nice pair. 59- Mark Chilcote and Madison Ingoldsby- good use of structure, with clean lines and moving like the wind. 56- Max Draper and Sofiia Tyshchyk- developing stance well and showing improvement in all respects. Dance demands a calm attitude conveyance and this pair produce and retain this quality, and they are very consistent which means the pair of them have practised assiduously, to create the shapes and musicality. They just need more time to further develop and they will be very impactive.
Youth ballroom 3rd round.
No.1-Nathan Zaytsev and Alisa Bankova- show evident talent at times the young man has his shoulder weight just a trifle too far back, and this transmits tango rather than the waltz being danced. They maintain great purposefulness and show much promise for time to come. Mark Chilcote and Madison Ingoldsby- show a clean and correct stance and a silhouette which transmits very well. They show good motion plus emotion too. 56-Max Draper and Sofiia Tyshchyk- There are major improvements in this couple, which is clear to see, and they have evidently worked very hard to slot them in. Mark Chilcote and Madison Ingoldsby- Show a great feeling for waltz and also in tango and they capitalise aspects of desirability... they appear to have excellent future prospects. FOXTROT 24-Shaun Li JingShuai and Shirley Sun Na Chen- Are as cool as cucumbers from the firdge and show an ecellent flow action! Slight backweightedness causes the young man's collae to lose visual height in this dance but they understand and convey many of the pnciples and should have a bright future. 20-KYRYLO SAMSONOV and POLINA NEMYRO- Show one of the best silhouettes on the floor and they stay cool, calm and concise, no overdance was seen..it was so elegant. 38-Savelii Valyn and Bozhena Turchyna- flashing dexterity and good motion, if a trifle overdone at times. 59 - Mark Chilcote and Madison Ingoldsby - tendency to overdance as they cant help it.. they are so young and so talented. TANGO no.1-Nathan Zaytsev and Alisa Bankova- fabulous vertical posture over the feet and they maintain this as a wise asset indeed. Using the outside perimeter of the floor very well, and unafraid at times to be still prior to take off.
59 - Mark Chilcote and Madison Ingoldsby- unleash progression from static motion for a very short time on a contra check then off they go again, always performing challengingly. At some pauses the young man uses a very high foot almost to tip of toe and this doesn't transmit tango. They show power, picture and personalities too and it showed up instantly.
SEMI FINAL
18-Kosei Sotome & Eika Sotome- are very positive but they retain fluency in their motion action. 5- Kyrylo Novikov and Tallulah Wilkinson- calm and concise and very cleverly producing the dance well. This entire event was crackingly nice to see, and the dancers were so beautifully desperate to show their prowess.
In time gone by, there was a young ballroom exponent called Byron Charlton and he was first and foremost full of talent, and desperate to do well, which he eventually did and he became eminent in championships all over the world. He never-endingly applied himself to be, first of all, a competitor who studied and used functionality to produce his dance prowess and he eventually became a renowned coach and adjudicator. In his early days, he had a window cleaning round and this allowed him to take time off, which he required, in order to practise and take lessons... All he wished to do was to dance, dance and dance. He said he climbed up his ladder in a special way so as to develop his leg muscles and he used his chamois on windows in both hands, to strengthen his arm muscles....all for dancing of course.
In the events so far it is clear that the normality is now girls right arms being almost straight or straight, and the majority of girls have adopted this, mainly because if they didnt, then they would never be able to reach the mans left hand as they are held so wide by the men of dance. In one practise session I see a lovely young dancer doing rumba walks all the way round the floor and there was a remarkable picturisation transmitted as she had such a good understanding of the principles involved, and of course the ultra famous Donnie Burns with his fantastic partner Gaynor used rumba walks as the base of rumba, and practised it all assiduously for years, so as to "command" the gazes of spectators and judges and they most certainly succeeded.
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