Tonight was the quietest, all over by 10:30pm.
At 8pm the evening started with a contest between 7 Showdance couples (accent on gymnastics). This was won comprehensively by the World Showdance Champions Nic and Cherese from South Africa, both wearing leopardskin print. With overhead lights dimmed and the deep bass beat of African drums pulsating through the ballroom like a collective heartbeat, Nic and Cherese proved that gravity hardly existed for them, tumbling, twisting and lifting as if they were in zero-gravity space. When the last drumbeat fell silent and the lights went up the audience with hearts still pumping let out a mighty cheer of relief that the champions had survived another performance.
Not so for the Dutch couple. During rehearsals earlier the Dutchman was injured. He walked on stage with his arm in a sling -- an object lesson of "Please not to do this at home." He at least walked away from injury.
Not so in the Amateur Ballroom. There was another collision in the quickstep, with one girl in a red ballgown flat on the floor. She did get up, but I noticed without conviction. Shortly after, compere Marcus Hilton announced from the platform for First Aid to attend in the changing room. I realised immediately this was no longer a case of walking wounded. Later Marcus announced the withdrawal of Russian girl #214 Alina Basyuk. The doctor attending had advised her to withdraw due to serious ankle injury, and she did. Ankle injuries can be very painful, taking weeks to heal. A danger sport this quickstep if you are going backwards wearing 4-inch heels -- please cherish partner.
I previously described the Professional Rising Stars Ballroom as a duel involving heavy artillery. Tonight the guns fell silent. The ballgowns were ordinary. There was no superstar like Joanna or Melia who could have lit up the sky singlehanded. Matthew did not come tonight.
The Final result was: Italy, beating Denmark, Italy, Germany, Russia, Italy. The audience was about a third of the size on Joanna-Melia-Yulia night.
Will the Festival curtain come down with Ballroom on a high note or not? Do the young prefer latin? Which do you prefer? Below are this year's contestant entry totals comparing latin against ballroom, like for like:
--------------------------------------- Latin Ballroom
Over-35 ------------------------------- 94 235
16-21 -------------------------------- 284 175
Amateur Rising Stars ------------- 482 258
Professional Rising Stars --------- 260 256
Amateur ----------------------------- 360 240
Professional Championship ------ 306 285
TOTAL ----------------------------- 1,786 1,449
At 8pm the evening started with a contest between 7 Showdance couples (accent on gymnastics). This was won comprehensively by the World Showdance Champions Nic and Cherese from South Africa, both wearing leopardskin print. With overhead lights dimmed and the deep bass beat of African drums pulsating through the ballroom like a collective heartbeat, Nic and Cherese proved that gravity hardly existed for them, tumbling, twisting and lifting as if they were in zero-gravity space. When the last drumbeat fell silent and the lights went up the audience with hearts still pumping let out a mighty cheer of relief that the champions had survived another performance.
Not so for the Dutch couple. During rehearsals earlier the Dutchman was injured. He walked on stage with his arm in a sling -- an object lesson of "Please not to do this at home." He at least walked away from injury.
Not so in the Amateur Ballroom. There was another collision in the quickstep, with one girl in a red ballgown flat on the floor. She did get up, but I noticed without conviction. Shortly after, compere Marcus Hilton announced from the platform for First Aid to attend in the changing room. I realised immediately this was no longer a case of walking wounded. Later Marcus announced the withdrawal of Russian girl #214 Alina Basyuk. The doctor attending had advised her to withdraw due to serious ankle injury, and she did. Ankle injuries can be very painful, taking weeks to heal. A danger sport this quickstep if you are going backwards wearing 4-inch heels -- please cherish partner.
I previously described the Professional Rising Stars Ballroom as a duel involving heavy artillery. Tonight the guns fell silent. The ballgowns were ordinary. There was no superstar like Joanna or Melia who could have lit up the sky singlehanded. Matthew did not come tonight.
The Final result was: Italy, beating Denmark, Italy, Germany, Russia, Italy. The audience was about a third of the size on Joanna-Melia-Yulia night.
Will the Festival curtain come down with Ballroom on a high note or not? Do the young prefer latin? Which do you prefer? Below are this year's contestant entry totals comparing latin against ballroom, like for like:
--------------------------------------- Latin Ballroom
Over-35 ------------------------------- 94 235
16-21 -------------------------------- 284 175
Amateur Rising Stars ------------- 482 258
Professional Rising Stars --------- 260 256
Amateur ----------------------------- 360 240
Professional Championship ------ 306 285
TOTAL ----------------------------- 1,786 1,449
Judi of First Aid got an honourable mention having treated 300 cases over 9 days. She did not answer the roll call, no doubt still massaging a foot to the accompaniment of "Ouch, don't touch me there" from her customer.
