Blackpool Hits 80
Report by Keith Todd
Photos by Peter Suba
Turning eighty years old is usually cause for celebration and with the venerable Open British Dance Championships hitting the big eight zero this year, celebration was in the air, albeit in the somewhat restrained mode typical to Britain in general and Blackpool in particular.
Once again Peter Maxwell oversaw the proceedings as Chairman of Judges and MC and his rather austere style certainly sets the new tone of the championships. His panel included judges from overseas - a new trend that began last year. This year's roster included judges from USA, Japan, Australia, Sweden and Germany.
Blackpool is not known for its rapid innovations and indeed most love it (or hate it) for its very "sameness," but there was a major development this year in that the reins fell into the new and capable hands of Sandra Wilson following the retirement of Gill MacKenzie after twenty-five years as Festival Organizer. The handover seemed seamless and you can see our video interview with Mrs. Wilson by clicking here.
The Big Snooze
And now the dancing - For me it was a bit of a "ho-hum" year. Three of the major champions regained their titles this year. Only the Amateur Latin saw new winners as Franco Formica and Oxana Nikiforova are not competing currently. (Click here for an update on Franco). The new champions, winning all five dances were Riccardo Cocchi and Joanne Wilkinson from Italy. New champions and a title up for grabs should have made this event the most exciting of the week, but for me the title would be "The Big Snooze." All the couples danced well and all appeared, at least to me, to have a chance at the championship, but somehow there were few sparks. The results followed predictable current form with no one couple really stamping their mark on the final. My congratulations go to Riccardo and Joanne who certainly danced well enough to win. For the full opinion of Didio and me, click here for "The Big Snooze." For a more official review, click here for Allan Tornsberg's opinions.
Eight is Enough
Can you have too much of a good thing? Apparently not!! The judges selected and unprecedented eight couples for the Amateur Ballroom final. I checked with scrutineer Estelle Grassby and like me Ms. Grassby could not remember an eight-couple final ever being danced at Blackpool. (No doubt a dance history buff could correct us on that if needed - Mr. Irvine?). I must say I was not totally surprised with the eight couples, there were just so many great couples in the semifinal, many with differing styles that may have appealed to some judges and not to others. Winning for the second year were Domenico Soale and Gioia Cerasoli from Italy who claimed all dances. For me their win was clear. They offer the overall package and have grown immeasurably in confidence over the past year as they remained unbeaten in every major championship. (Happily, Domenico also kept a tighter hold - literally - on the trophy this year as well). I was extremely happy to see Marat Gimaev and Alina Basyuk of Russia included in this final. I felt they could have made this final three years ago, but the wait has finally paid off. Slipping a couple of places to seventh this year were Italy's enigmatic Paulo Bosco and Silvia Pitton. Love them or hate them (and I love them), this couple stirs up the crowd like no other. At the risk of upsetting the old folks, I would say that Paulo and Silvia remind me of many of the great dancers I used to watch in the '60's. "What?" I hear echoing around the dance studios! They dance to the music being played, they do not appear to have totally preset routines, their floorcraft is unmatched - does any of this begin to sound familiar? They may not have the best topline or the raw power of some of today's competitors, but isn't there some room for artistry and originality? (By the way - "Paulo, what happened to your arabesque?") For more of Didio and my opinions, if you can stand them, click here for "Eight is Enough." And for the more sober reflections of Lorraine Baricchi, click here.
(On the subject of too many couples - sixteen couples actually received enough marks to reach the semifinal. Chairman, Peter Maxwell opted to bring back only eleven couples, fearing sixteen was too many for a semifinal).
All Mixed Up
First, first, second, third! It's been a while since those scores proved enough to win the Open British Professional Ballroom championship. Timoth Howson and Joanne Bolton of England won the waltz and foxtrot but slipped to second in the tango and third in the quickstep. Nevertheless, that was enough to give them their first Open British Title. Italy's Mirco Gozzoli and Alessia Betti were second placing 3,2,1,2. Third were William Pino and Alessandra Bucciarelli (Italy) - 4,5,3,1, fourth Jonathan Wilkins and Katusha Demidova (USA) - 2,3,4,4, fifth Christopher Hawkins and Justyna Kozinska (England) - 5,4,5,5 and sixth Jonathan Crossley and Lyn Marriner (England) - 6,6,6,6. It was certainly more mixed up than any recent Blackpool pro ballroom final. I was pleasantly surprised that William and Alessia won the quickstep. I remember remarking to Didio as they were dancing, "I really think Pino should win the quickstep," but I did not really expect it to happen! Full marks to the judges - at least on my scorecard! If you would like to be even more "Mixed Up," then click here for some more irreverent comments from Didio and me. Want a more serious critique? Then click here for Mr. John Kimmins opinions.
Predictable but Fun
Predictable it was, but still Latin dancing at its best. No matter that I could have written the final result from my room in the Whitehouse Hotel across the street, it was still worth the walk over. Bryan Watson and Carmen (Germany) to nobody's surprise won all five dances. The sensuous, sultry Slavik Kryklyvyy and Karina Smirnoff (USA) were second in all dances, Andrej Skufca and Katherina Venturini (Slovenia) were third in all dances, Poland's Michael Malitowski and Joanna Leunis were fourth in all dances - well you're getting the idea! There was some switching around for sixth place so the final had some variation. The audience had a clear favorite - Michael and Joanna. They obviously received the most applause both during the competition and the prize presentation. For a predictable but fun review - click here for Didio and me. Or click here for Jukka Haapaleinen's review.
Chinese is the Writing on the Wall
We saw it last year and it was reaffirmed here in 2005. Chinese couples placed in the finals of the Rising Star Amateur Latin and Ballroom, the Professional Rising Star Latin and the Youth Ballroom and Latin. China produced winners in the Pro Rising Star Latin and Youth Ballroom. China also was the winner of the Latin Formation. The Guangdong team, trained by David Yin Wei-Dong and Angel Long Wei-Min with consultation from Michael Chapman of the USA won the title.
The Amateur Rising Star Latin was a record-breaking division with over four-hundred-forty couples beginning the day. This is the largest ever entry in a Blackpool division. Check back soon for our reviews on these events:
Professional Rising Star Ballroom
- Hazel Newberry, England
Professional Rising Star Latin
- Diana McDonald, USA
Amateur Rising Star Ballroom
- Sami Yli-Pilpari, Finland
Amateur Rising Star Latin
- Davide Gabusi, Italy
Youth Ballroom
- Alain Doucet, Canada
Youth Latin
- Paul Green, Australia
USA Never Wins?
In the now traditional spoof of the Teams Match presented at the Mayor's Reception the day after the match, U.S. Team Captain, Gary McDonald, offered a magical "paso doble" spray that was available by calling toll free "U S A N E V E R W I N S." England has won the Teams Match on Saturday every year that it has been run, but the buzz in the ballroom on Saturday night was that this longstanding record might finally be broken! Both the USA and Italy were fielding strong teams, teams that included such luminaries as Kryklyvyy/Smirnoff (USA), Wilkins/Demidova (USA), Pino/ Bucciarelli (Italy), Gozzoli/Betti (Italy). The question was, "Could the UK hold on?" As the competition progressed it became increasing clear that it would not be easy. With Italy winning the standard dances and the USA taking the Latin, UK was struggling to place second in each dance. The lead continually switched from USA to UK. As it happened it was a case of the "paso doble blues" that sank the USA ship. UK tied USA in that dance and that proved enough to give England the teams match trophy again but by the unbelievable margin of only 0.1 points! I'm not sure that I agreed with that final result, but I could be a little prejudiced. Anyway, UK should look with trepidation towards next year.
As readers of DBI are probably aware by now, I am no fan of the lengthy entries that have invaded the teams matches of the world - and Blackpool is no exception to this. I must say that this year the USA entrance, choreographed and presented by team captain, Gary McDonald, was just great. The couples entered as competitors in the new US dance series, "Dancing With The Stars" and Slavick Kryklyvyy's portrayal of a pregnant Brittany Spears partnered by Andrei Gavriline and Victor Fung as a facially challenged Michael Jackson, partnered by Karina Smirnoff, probably needed to be seen to be fully appreciated! As a quick note to future team captains - this whole entrance was short!
Feeling the Flight
The invitational exhibition/cabaret competition has been an audience favorite since its introduction, although its composition has changed. At its outset, the exhibition divison was contested by couples from the other branches of competition. Peter Maxwell and Lynn Harmen, Allan and Hazel Fletcher to name but two past competitors. Nowadays the couples tend to be specialized "cabaret" couples that mostly concentrate on adagio style dancing. This year we were greatly entertained by all the competitors but most especially by the winners, Victor Da Silva and Hanna Karttunnen (S. Africa). Victor, characteristically shirtless to highlight his enviable physique, and Hanna gave a spellbinding and almost faultless display of adagio dancing earning them the acclaim of judges and audience alike. There was never a doubt. Hanna has many times been a finalist in the Professional Latin division, but this was her first entry in the exhibition and her first win at Blackpool. Click here for Michael Chapman's review of this event.
The Seniors
The senior divisions have changed since I was a lad - or maybe this is just a question of my perspective as an almost fifty-year-old who is older than most of the competitors. It seemed that in the good old days, the senior divisions were made up from couples that now felt too old for the open amateur but did not intend to turn professional. Now, I believe the senior divisions are made up from couples that have chosen these divisions as a way to a career. In the Latin there was a historic victory to a couple from the Philippines. I doubt that many of the competitors at the 1931 British Championships ever expected a Philippino couple would win a British Championship. Perhaps many of them had not even heard of the Philippines! Our congratulations go to John Co and Edna Asano on their historic win and to the repeat champions in the ballroom, Volker Schmidt and Ellen Jonas of Germany.
Click here for the reviews:
- Senior Standard
- Senior Latin
And Now ........
Blackpool is also famous, or infamous, for its after parties. In this article, you can see shots from the WhiteHouse Parties, sponsored by Dance Beat International, Designs to Shine, Ron Gunn and LJ Menswear. And for the Ruskin Parties. We'll have more of the blackmail pics soon!!
And Finally .......
So, the sun has set on another Blackpool. It is not how it was when I first attended these championships. The spheres of power have changed. The three most dominant powers now are Italy, Russia and the USA, yet it is still to Blackpool and the Open British Championships that all the world's great dancers come each year. If you want to see all the great dancers in one place, Blackpool is still the best place to come. Blackpool is also a great meeting place. Dancers who maybe have not set foot on a floor in years still make the yearly pilgrimage to pay their respects to the Empress Ballroom, to complain about the heat and the crowds, the warm drinks, the smoke filled bar, the cramped hotel rooms, the judges' marks and anything else that dancers usually complain about. But still they come to see what is really important to them - the dancing! We close this report with a rarity a beautiful Blackpool sunset, but we look forward as ever to the sunrise for 2006 and the eighty-first Blackpool Festival.
