75th
Blackpool DanceSport Festival: May 26th - June 2nd, 2000
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"DEAR DIARY"...Adventures in Blackpool! Wednesday, May 31st, 2000
We are now mid-way through the festival, and it continues to be exciting. In the afternoon, there were many opportunities to see vendors and shop for dance products. A highlight was from CHRISANNE Ltd., which was holding autograph signing sessions with ballroom stars and CHRISANNE-sponsored couples, Christopher Hawkins & Hazel Newberry, Timothy Howsen & Joanne Bolton, and William Pino & Alessandra Bucciarelli (who won the Professional Rising Star Standard).
Another highlight was the British Modern Formation Dancing Championships. The only participant however was the Utah Valley State College Modern Formation Team (trained by Scott Asbell), which gave a delightful performance -- congratulations to the team for their hard work and for representing North America.
OVERALL WINNERS:
Bryan Watson & Carmen, Germany Cha-Cha: Samba: Rumba: Paso Doble: Jive: It was a wonderful evening of DanceSport. Although Jukka Haaplainen and Sirpa Suutari did not retain their title, they nevertheless put on a valiant effort. Although there probably is disappointment, Jukka and Sirpa will continue to gain the respect of audiences to push themselves to higher levels, and now having that exciting goal again of friendly competition with another team that will push them and other dancesport athletes to higher levels. Gone are the days when established teams might have felt embarrassed or ashamed of being "defeated" -- the new DanceSport scene is one where competitors understand that it is better to put everything on the line and continue to develop, grow and enjoy dancing, than to give up and sit by the sidelines. It's better to try to "kick ass" (in Gary McDonald's words!), than to sit on one's ass. :-)) Jukka and Sirpa and other former champions, your fans still love and respect you!!!
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Also,
on today's "Blackpool Gazette", DanceScape editors Robert Tang
& Beverley Cayton-Tang were featured in an action photo (on page 3)
along with other dancers in the Rising Stars Modern Competition, with
an article and update by reporter Julie Hackett. The
article highlighted the Blackpool Dance Festival and included a quote
from a spokesman for Leisure Parcs, "This is one of the major world
events in ballroom dancing, people arrive from lots of different countries
to take part." Thanks to Gary McGeoffrey at CafeNet who told us about
the article -- we were using his Internet services at the Cafe one afternoon,
and Gary mentioned that he had seen us in the newspaper. We said, "No,
you're mistaken -- we all look alike." (i.e., dancers in ballgowns/tailcoats).
Gary said, no, it was definitely us -- and then proceeded to call the
newsstand agent to obtain copies. Thanks, Gary, for letting us know about
the article and making this year's event even more memorable! If you are
in Blackpool, drop by CafeNet, E-mail: 
In
the evening, the air was electric for the Professional Latin Championships.
The ballroom was filled to capacity and you could feel the energy from
the spectators and from the dancers who were giving it their all. Several
times through earlier rounds there were standing ovations. There were
wonderful performances by dancers from North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific
who were dancing at their best. Beautiful costumes included Diana McDonald's
(black, with a spider-like/star design on the back). Anik Jolicoeur had
"black hair" which gave the team a dramatic look. Manon Hurteau
wore a bright pink costume, showing off her amazing physique in a feminine
way. Carmen wore some beautiful costumes -- in earlier rounds, a sexy
red outfit, progressing to a bright yellow one, and finally to a nude
tone/aurora crystal costume in the finals. Serena Lecca-Danza wore an
elegant white "draped" costume. Unfortunately, Michael Wentink
& Beata (South Africa) were not able to compete, as well as Bill Sparks/Kimberley
Mitchell.
At
one point during the evening, Bill Irvine introduced the past British
Open Professional Champions who were in attendance: 1966- Bill & Bobby
Irvine, 1975- Michael Stylianos & Lorna Lee, 1976/78-Peter Maxwell
& Lynn Harman [Peter obtained a red rose from an audience member and
presented it to Lynn), 1977/79/80- Alan & Hazel Fletcher [Not to be
outdone, Alan picked a carnation from one of the flower boxes on the stage
and presented it to Hazel. Then Peter Maxwell, not to be outdone again,
picked up an entire flower box and presented it to Lorna Lee. The audience
roared with laughter.], 1981/82- Espen & Kirsten Salzberg, 1983-Sammy
Stopford & Shirley Stopford (now Shirley Ballas), 1984/88/90- Donnie
Burns & Gaynor Fairweather (Gaynor Fairweather was competing with
her new partner, Mirko Saccani, and therefore was not part of this presentation.),
1989/91/92/94- Sammy Stopford & Barbara McColl, 1993- Johann &
Nadia Eftedal (Nadia was not in attendance, however), and 1995/96 - Corky
& Shirley Ballas. [Note: The current champions (1997-1999) were Jukka
Haapalainen & Sirpa Suutari, who were still competing that evening,
so they were not introduced.] The audience gave these legends on DanceSport
a standing ovation. A similar presentation will be made on
Professional
Latin Results: