Fiesta Mediterranea 2005

Fiesta Mediterranea Catalonian Style!

Report by: Didio Barrera

Barcelona Spain, home of two of the most prestigious artists the world has ever seen Picasso and Dali, plus the living testament to the revolutionary architecture of Gaudi, has now become a home to one of Spain's must prestigious DanaceSport competitions - the Fiesta Mediterranea held July 9th through the 10th at the five-star Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I.

The competition was organized by Joe and Katia Vanone and Daniele and Nadia Tondon of Italy with the help and support of many of the Spanish Dance Organizations.

Joe and Katia, promoters of dance throughout the world, could not have chosen a more perfect setting for a competition of this caliber and stature. Barcelona became part of Spain by the marriage of Ferdinand of Spain and Isabella of Aragon during the 15th Century and for a time was the center of the Catalonian Empire that dominated the Mediterranean as far as Greece. It began its life as an important port during the Roman Empire. (As you can see, I took the history tour!) This city if full of history, culture, beautiful architecture, great food, great nightlife and for me must important, art. For my personal review of this exciting city, click on The Spirit of Barcelona. You can also view an overall video of the competition and this wonderful city. (modem | broadband)

Fiesta Mediterrane had two full days of competitions in both Latin and Standard styles. Juniors, seniors, youth, Pro/Am alike all participated and battled it out to become number "one." With many of the events being IDSF approved and sanctioned we saw some terrific dancing, with couples participating from around the globe some from as far way as Russia and the USA, plus of course great Spanish participation. As far as the quality was concerned, I thought almost all the competitors, even the pro/am especially in the standard division, were of a good level and skill. Having said this I must add that no divisions compared to the IDSF Grand Slam Latin when it came to excitement and anticipation, held Sunday night. The Grand Slam is the most prestigious series the IDSF has to offer with very high rewards going to the winner. At this event alone the prize to the winner was 8000.00 Euro.

As an American citizen I'm proud to announce that America took the cup home as Eugene Katsevman and Maria Manusova took first in all dances. On a personal note, I must add that this Grand Slam event will forever be imprinted on my mind as a great memory not only because America won, but because I was honored with the hard task of representing America as a Grand Slam adjudicator. Words cannot describe what a privilege, but yet what a dark task it was to see so many brilliant, talented young couples, all in one room from the first round and yet be forced to make a choice and pass crucial final judgment. I have written many critiques and articles from such events as Blackpool and the World Championships, some of them at times very critical of competitors and competitions. I have always appreciated the amount of work that goes into dancing, so it has not always been easy to criticize. But to literally pass judgment and affect the outcome of a comp of this level is another story and one that I would like to share in my article entitled "Truth or Dare." You can also read a full review with video on this event by one of Latin American's must distinguished personalities Shirley Ballas, former Open British Champion by clicking on her name.

As expected the IDSF Standard competition was also of great caliber with some fantastic talent in attendance. Domenico Soale and Gioia Cerasoli from Italy took first place with very little challenge in my opinion and as I have said before in my past writings, they are looking quite comfortable in the job of "first couple of standard dancing in the World." The waltz this couple presented as an honor dance during the farewell gala was superb. You can take a quick look at this couple by clicking Domenico Soale and Gioia Cerasoli Dance. The hard task for the judges during this IDSF Standard competition was what to do with the remaining five couples. You can read my take on this event in my article entitled "If it's not broken why fix it?" You can also read a review of this event by Lasse Odegaard, Former Standard World Champion, by clicking on his name and watch the videos to go with it.

We will be commenting on more events (you can see the list below) but to conclude this article I would like to thank Joe and Katia Vanone for the invitation to attend and the phenomenal dinner gala we were treated to at the end of the competition, Sunday night immediately following the Grand Slam. In the spirit Barcelona, where a dinner reservation is made for 10:30 or 11:00 PM, we were seated at about 12:30 AM. Half the judges were about to pass out from starvation but it was totally worth it. The banquet hall was perfectly decorated, the food was delicious and the entertainment superb. A flamenco show was presented while we had appetizers and them the champions came, firstly Domenico and Gioia with a quickstep then Eugene and Maria with a cha cha. We then saw Domenico and Gioia perform the most magnificent waltz followed by Eugene and Maria's interpretation of the Rumba. (See these performances by clicking on the links). You would think that after watching dancing for two days we would have had enough, but "no" these two couples were magnificent. This Gala managed to imprint a golden touch and was a great finish to two days of great dancing at the Fiesta Mediterranea.