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2005 Tattersall's Australian Dancesport Championship
Peter & Rosalyn Smith report from Melbourne
Photos by Ballroom Rhythms
It was World Champions everywhere at the 2005 Tattersall's Australian DanceSport Championships with newly crowned World Professional Champions Mirko Gozzoli & Alessia Betti as special guests and demonstrating cabaret stars on both nights of these championships and Joanne Wilkinson who hails from South Australia competing here with her Italian born partner, Riccardo Cocchi, in the IDSF International Latin Championship hot on the heels of their recent IDSF World Latin Championship success. It was Riccardo & Joanne's first appearance together at these championships and it is ten years since Joanne last competed here. The reception this couple received from the minute they stepped onto the floor until their Honours dance finale to these Championships was a true Aussie "Welcome Home".
However it would have taken an expert on crowd behaviour to know that Mirko & Alessia were not Australians such was the reception these two received from this 6000 capacity audience in Melbourne's Vodaphone Arena. The Australian Championships has not had a current World Champion as guest demonstrators for many years and this fact was not lost on this most knowledgeable audience. Over the years we have been blessed with watching some exceptional dancing from demonstrators of all styles of dance at this event and to have such brilliant exponents of the Standard Dances visit this part of the World at the peak of their careers is such a huge bonus.
The most noticeable thing that as a first time watcher of this couple was Mirko's almost perfect physique for an exponent of the standard style, surely he must be the epitome of the ballroom dancer and the envy of many a male all over the world trying to achieve success in this style, combined with Alessia's superb elegance and aura as she took the floor it was like dynamite waiting to explode. These were our first impressions and they had not taken a step yet, to say we were waiting for that to happen with baited breath was indeed an understatement. As expected the explosion did occur firstly with a superb interpretation of the Tango followed by a beautiful Slow Foxtrot and on through the standard dances finishing with a Quickstep that just literally took off to a great version of "Mack the Knife". Despite the use of superb choreography and plenty of exciting variations all the time their immaculate top line and exceptional shape never wavered leaving no doubt in anyone's mind as to why they were indeed World Champions.
Before any of this took place we were treated to an exceptional Opening Ceremony this time courtesy of the highly successful Jason Gilkison and Peta Roby inspired stage show "Ballroom". The entire cast was on hand to present excerpts from the show in a manner that we have come to expect from anything that comes from that superb production team. They were joined on this occasion by a couple who television audiences all over the country have known and loved throughout the latest series of Dancing with the Stars, Ian "Dicko" Dickson, a non-dancer who has embraced our sport and become a walking, talking devotee. In a very short space of time he has become almost as passionate about our sport as those of us who have been involved for many years. Ian was partnered by the effervescent Leanne Bampton and together they gave us an interesting and exciting version of the Tango danced to the James Bond movie theme, "The Man with the Golden Gun".
With entries continuing an upward trend and this year's numbers peaking at around six hundred couples with every State in Australia and New Zealand, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Taiwan, Latvia and the UK the parts of the world represented here, this event is now a truly International event of mammoth proportions. For the twenty second consecutive year the organisation of this event was in the very capable hands of the Australian Dancing Society's Executive Director Margaret Lonsdale and her very hard working support team. With the growth in stature of this event as an International event has come the desire for Adjudicators from all around the world of note to attend. This year those who joined the panels of DanceSport Australia Accredited adjudicators were Anthony Hurley (UK), Grant Macown, Colleen Murray & Marie Raiend (New Zealand), John Barbieri (Italy), Johan Eftedel (Norway) & Midori Itoh (Japan).
After completing eighteen years as Master of Ceremonies at this event Tony Charlton OAM stood down at the end of last year's very successful IDSF World Ten Dance Championship. This meant that an extensive search was necessary to find a replacement. As a result of that search the responsibility rested fairly and squarely on the shoulders of one Mark Beretta. Mark is a well known and respected Television sports presenter, a veteran of four Olympic Games including being one of the "anchors' for the award winning Channel Seven coverage of the Sydney Olympic Games. However, this was his first ever DanceSport event in this most important of roles although he too has become a devotee through the medium of Dancing with the Stars. It was a very confident and positive approach to the presentation of these championships and when this highlights package is aired on Channel Seven network on Christmas Day many, many people will be joining us to say to Mark it was a job well done and welcome aboard!! In the television presentation Mark will be joined by the gorgeous Sonia Kruger, the co-host of Dancing with the Stars, and in doing so this will complete the link between the television series so popular all over the World and the real thing - a serious DanceSport Championship.
In the audience were many other participants from the three series of the show that have been seen here in Australia and with a fourth series in the pipeline for airing early in 2006 there was quite a guessing game going on whenever a sporting or television personality was spotted in the audience with many people wondering if perhaps they were here getting a taste of the real thing before taking the plunge on television and into our lounge rooms.
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