On Sunday the 19th April we held the Regency Dance Awards, a national competition in Ballroom and Latin-American.
The floor was cleaned and the room was prepared and we were ready for an excellent day ahead.
Our compere for the day was Mr Martin Cutler. Martin is a presenter on DSI TV, regularly providing commentary on major dance championships so we knew that we had the best in the business. Our music maestro, Mr Paul Fielding, has also worked at major dance championship competitions and once again provided excellent music throughout the day that inspired couples to dance their absolute best.
Our judging panel consisted of 7 esteemed adjudicators from across the country.
Doors opened at 9:30am and the Juvenille (U12s) and Junior (U16s) dances arrived for their events. They danced with energy and enthusiasm, showing a high quality of dancing at this young age.
Around 2.30pm, the Adult competitors took to the floor for their Ballroom events. These included Youth Couples (16-21yrs), North of England Champions and Seniors. Then at 5.00pm we started the Latin-American competitions.
Competitive dancing can mean making lots of friends and there was a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere throughout the day. However there was still some tough fought battles on the dance floor, in particular a head-to-head between two senior couples that made for a very interesting and very entertaining event.
The Regency Dance Centre had 3 adult couples entered in the days competition. They trained extremely hard leading up to the competition (to the point we couldn't keep them out of the ballroom if we tried) and their time and effort paid off. Our couples danced incredibly well and were delighted to be placed in both the Ballroom and Latin-American disciplines, which qualifies them for the Stars of the Future Competition to be held in Brentwood in June. These couples started their dance journey in January 2014, proving you don't need years of dancing behind you to have a go at competing and you don't need to be in your 20's.
Louise Wilding, one of those dancing for the Regency states:
"The atmosphere was electric with support for all the dancers from around the dance floor. The standard was high with some emotional performances that made your hair stand on end."
We would like to once again thank all our volunteers for their help and support that made this event possible, both during and leading up to the competition. Our next competition will be held on Sunday 25th October 2016. If you wish to volunteer for this, please speak to a member of staff.
Results can be found at easycompsoftware by clicking the link here. Photographs can be found at sianhampton.com shortly.