Diamond Days
by Jonathan McKee
Sequence dancing seems to terrify competitive types; of course it does, where else would your every move, position, step, hold, transition, timing, etc be scrutinised against the benchmark your peers set at exactly the moment you dance it?
There were no shortage of experts, however, at the 60th annual Blackpool Sequence Dance Festival 2009 held on 17th – 20th October, which brought people from Australia and Japan and all points between to the Empress Ballroom, a stunning space with perfect floor (the venue puts the tired and grotty Rivoli to shame). It was great to see both young and old enjoying their dancing, if ‘enjoy’ is quite the right word for those in the competitions!
Saturday started with the under 16s, the juveniles performed to exceptionally high standards, and looked great all neat, groomed, and well behaved (why aren’t all children like this?!).
However, the juniors were stunning, and I was not the only one who thought the standard the juniors set was higher than the under 21s and the amateurs. There was more interest here than in the adult groups and the place was packed with dancers and their supporters. Same sex couples were all female, though for those without partners, there were solo competitions as well –where many entrants of both sexes displayed their talents and impressed the crowd with perfect choreography.
Social dancers danced a huge number of rhythms and styles, few of which I had come across, there must have been over 50 dances most of which were new to me, and you cannot help love their names –Wattle Bossa Nova, Saunter Reve, Casbah Cha Cha, Birmingham Blues, and Mambo Marina to name a few. Once demonstrated, 150 couples would leap to the floor after the third sequence, another 100 couples joined in after that, bearing in mind it takes me weeks to learn a new routine, we were impressed to note that most couples dancing the social dances were over 50.
Callam and Sophie Thomson, winners British Amateur Classical
The most noteworthy trend was that the young were not interested in the Latin, ballroom was popular, but classical was far and above what they wanted to do. Then again, you can barge your way around the floor with elbows flying in ordinary ballroom, and anyone can wriggle and writhe to Latin rhythms, but you need to be very lean and fit to do classical, so show off while you can! Many seemed to be quite rough and ready before they got dressed up (you would have crossed the street to avoid some of the boys, girls too for that matter) but the transformation into dancing attire was stunning.
A bit of sports psychology was employed by winning junior couple Adam Bynert and Emily Hayworth –they stayed in full dress the whole time, looked stunning on and off the floor, and danced the classical waltz, Stardust Saunter, Tango Magenta, and Kensington Two Step. The latter was a real hit, and took real energy and agility; I’ll have to get Ansell to teach us that one. Adam took an easy lead and the judges gave them first, though it was hard to separate the remainder (though at least all the couples knew the steps, unlike the judge of the sequence competitions at the Rivoli recently –not the fault of the winners, but how come the only two couples who knew the steps didn’t win?).
The under 21s and the amateur classical sequence competition was one by brother and sister Callam and Sophie Thomson. Having danced all their lives together (it helps to have parents who are dance teachers) they made the Waltz, Stardust Saunter, Tarantella Tango, and Premier Two Step look light and effortless, whilst presenting themselves flawlessly (it also helps if you are young and blond).
Finally, you heard it here first, the next new dance is the Serenata Saunter. This beat 16 other dances in the classical sequence heats to select a new dance for 2009. And for the future, the festival is booking to 2015, but the most exciting development for what was a very English dance form, is that the first World Open Classical and Modern Sequence Festival is to be held in Paris in December 2010.
Adam Bynert and Emily Hayworth, winners Junior Four Dance Open Classical
