The 3rd Saxonian Dance Days
Report by Tommy Shaughnessy, Ireland
The 3rd. "Saxonian Dance Days" International Dance Festival was held on 13th and 14th August in the Paunsdolf Centre, Leipzig, Germany. The organiser, one of Germany's most popular dance trainers, Asis Khadjeh-Nouri, with the assistance of Heidemarie Kohler must be congratulated on presenting this fantastic two day event. Over 600 couples from 27 countries participated in the various competitions for Juveniles, Juniors, Youths, Amateurs and Seniors. Two floors were used throughout the two days to facilitate the large entries. The main events were the IDSF International Open Standard and Latin competitions. 120 couples took part in the Standard event, which included some of the world's top couples. This competition was certainly the highlight of the weekend.
The adjudicators were accommodated at the Ramada-Treff Hotel, a short walk from the Paunsdolf Centre. At the centre the adjudicators and officials had the opportunity to relax between rounds in the first class VIP room. Fine food and beverages were served by an excellent catering staff, all day long. Deinhard, the champagne producer, was one of the main sponsors as well as Avis, Londa, Ford Gerstmann, Dehner Gartencenter, Messe-Project.
The 39 adjudicators were:
Juris Baumanis, Franck Brambour, Karl Breuer, Davide Cacciari, Marek Chojnacki, Monique de Maesschalck, Roy Edvardsson, Werner Führer, Davide Gabusi, Pedru Gozun, Svetlana Gozun, Ulrich Herrmann, Igor Jagersky, Julia Kroumova, Horst Krämer, Dr.Gunnar Lippmann, Florencio Garcia Lopez, Sascha Melnikov, Olga Müller, Ralf Müller, Ches Norvaisha, Fredi Novak, Petr Odstrcil, Lasse Oedegaard, Martin Pastor, Johannes Pauritsch, Beate Pauritsch, Alberto Rodrigues, Dr.Falko Ritter, Dietrich Rupp, Tommy Shaughnessy, Rita Short, Greg Smith, Anastasia Titkova, Henner Thurau, Giordano Vanone, Torben Wieth, Sami Yli-Piilipari, Gerd Zeiß.
Following the biggest and best "Saxonian" to date, the majority of competitors and judges made the 4 hour journey by road to Stuttgart for the German Open.