My fourth Blackpool Festival is turning out to be the hottest. Today the first full day, was England's hottest day in 2012. Like a laptop I am very heat-sensitive, preferring conditions shaken not stirred. The heatwave was so clear I did not even bring a tie from Ireland, let alone a jacket.

Tonight in the ballroom I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt for some relief. Big shots in the front row wearing tuxedos, and gentlemen wearing tailcoats in ballroom comps are either stiff upper-lipped or they are not like laptops. With steaming Wednesday and Friday still to come, I shall advise my American friend to arrive bringing sleeveless or bare-shoulders wear.

In the Professional Rising Stars Latin, Germany's number 28, attractive Nina wore a chiffon top. She too must have been like a laptop, as this beautifully endowed lady did not wear a bra. She reached the quarter-finals, a phenomenal achievement in Blackpool as talent comes from the whole world. Not sure if Nina made the judges hot, but she sure did me. I was accused last year of posting a trademark mistake. I was not in the first row to make unmistakeable observation. If anybody saw better than me please tell. I am dedicated to the truth.

For me the star turn in this comp was England's Patrizia Ranis, partnered by Anton Sboev. However the judges placed Patrizia second to USA's Yegor Novikov and Yana Blinova who won all 5 dances. There are very few redheads in Blackpool, Patriza being one of them. Both partners dressed very intelligently in white with sparklies, down to white shoes. No other colour tried to wrestle against Patrizia's copper top. Her personality and potential dazzled me, particularly in the cha cha, and I look forward to great things for her and for England. She is evidently her own woman fearlessly going her own way, in heels standing just short of Anton. Will she, after much polishing, be a future Joanna? Did she replace her rumba with a Patriza special? Whatever she does will look interesting, even her dance hijacks.

In the Over-35 ballroom comp by the later rounds they all looked age 36. This comp is no soft option for social dancers moving up a league, more like 20yo ballroom specialists resuming battle 16 years later.

The Empress Ballroom is 160 feet long or more(?), and overhead colour lights used to cover the middle part only, leaving a subdued penumbra at each end, thus inducing dancers to take an early left turn to dance away from the penumbra, thus creating congestion in reduced space. Congrats to Winter Gardens management, this year they extended lights to cover the entire length. This appeared to have reduced congestion.

Overhead lights used to be salmon, canary, aquamarine. These were flattering to the complexion, perhaps like daytime pastoral colours. Tonight we had new colours: amethyst, emerald, electric blue, more like emphatic nightclub colours. This was exciting, but I am not sure complexion-friendly.

Recession appeared to have caused no reduction in the total number of couples in the comps:

------------------------------------ Latin -- Ballroom
Over-35 --------------------------- 79 -- 199
Age 16-20 ---------------------- 222 -- 134
Amateur ------------------------- 330 -- 214
Amateur Rising Stars ------ 418 -- 249
Professional Rising Stars - 249 -- 232
Professional -------------------- 307 -- 256
TOTAL ------------------------- 1605 - 1284

John Byrnes is judging daytime, so is Lilia. Karen Hardy is judging evening, as is Chris Hawkins. This suggests Chris has retired from competitions.

A fabulous evening with phenomenal energy and glamour. The best is yet to come.

Nina is the daughter of former world champion Rudi Trautz. I was hugely surprised that they fell out so early on tonight, I was expecting them in the semi at least.

I tried so hard not to cry when Anton and Patrizia were announced into second place, but when I went over to them I was a complete wreck and we just hugged each other for ages, crying all over each other. I'm so happy for them, they deserve it so much - they work so extremely hard and truly give absolutely everything into their dancing, this is just wonderful for them. Already can't wait for Wednesday!

Have been looking forwrd to your reports Soulmate, you never disappoint.

Wish I could be there but it just isnt possible so reding your reports brings it ll to life.

Elizabeth, happy to say what I see.

* Becca * as a friend of Patrizia you have risen further in my esteem if that were possible.

This morning saw Amateur Rising Stars ballroom heats. These youngsters may be less skilled but no way less fast. The ballroom floor is sprung. During quickstep floor vibration gives frontrow spectators a sense of audience participation. As voluminous ballgowns sail past a cool breeze caresses the front row.

Thrill is obvious on the faces of dancers. Girls in particular cannot hide smiles, probably from satisfaction and not a little surprise that going backwards at speed somehow they do not end up in disaster.

One girl did end up on the floor, but all parties were kind and apologetic. Nobody wanted to waste a second before resuming cavalry charge. Road rage may reign at Hyde Park Corner, but Blackpool Festival shrugs off such trifles as crash, bang, and wallop on the back of the head.

Dance is different up close. Strictly couch potatoes will never understand what dance means to dancers. One girl I know works 65 hours on two jobs to raise the money for her dance lessons. If she gets so much fulfilment out of it, well she has made a profit. Then to have a good partner, wow.

I shall walk to the Argos shop to see if they sell a step-ladder or librarian's footstool Without a frontrow ticket I need to stand behind 8 rows of seats. The taller I stand the more I shall see, not wanting to miss nothing.

16-to-20 latin girls at 3pm. Yippee .

Patrizia is a very strong and brave girl.

We had very little sleep last night between the end of the competition and the beginning of the lectures this morning as we wanted to be the first ones there to get a front row seat, lucky we did as there were only about six in the whole Spanish Hall which were unreserved! So as a result, I'm joining in on the fun a little bit later - I absolutely can't wait for the Team Match!

I shall keep up with Patrizia's devleopment, I specialise in straws in the wind, intuitive shortcuts.

I did go to Argos. They sell a step-ladder at £13, but I passed because this could well provoke a reaction from building management. Argos also sells 4 connected pieces of hard plastic which lie flat in two dimensions. By moving 2 pieces in as many seconds, presto a hard plastic box locks rigid, like an origami popup house inside a children's book. This box costing £10 can withstand 220 pounds weight, and can revert to 2 dimensions after use to fit inside a carrier bag. By standing on this box behind the 8th row, my 5 foot 9 becomes 6 foot 7 -- viewing problem solved.

It's taken me 3 years though. But nobody else solved it either, so I claim a win in this intiative test. I could sell this box like hot cakes.

I do have the Empress Orchestra CDs at home, but in the ballroom the bass beat is much more exciting. I have Blackpool DVDs at home, but their camera shows only one couple it chooses at a time. Here I looks at a brilliant tableau of 20 couples spread across 160 feet in front of me like extra-wide cinemascope. Like a cat given cream I choose what I want to focus on, from the flower of dance on planet earth, from all who came because they wanted to.

Have to head back to my teenaged girls for Semi-final now .

Soulmate where are you? Was looking forward to your reports and there have been none since the weekend.

Seconded! Was eagerly anticipating your detailed reports

Quill being sharpened, best ink prepared for black-and-white reporting this evening of a fabulously colourful Festival.

Be careful of what you post. A thread named "Blackpool Dance Festival 2012" will be found by Googling and read worldwide by some very sophisticated beautiful people.

After dancing in Latin Professional Rising Stars last Friday, Nina came out again in Latin Pro Championship on Wednesday. This time I was lucky enough to have a frontrow seat at the long end "behind the goal". Even luckier that Nina danced at our end, with me paying the closest attention in the interest of scientific accuracy. Nina would have noticed my dedication to science and came closer to dance in front of me (dancers like their efforts appreciated).

After close observation I am now firmly convinced (and had it explained to me by two experts) that Nina was wearing something. There were no straps to support the considerable loads but nothing slipped under the sheer chiffon despite movements towards all points of the compass. Truly Rolls-Royce engineering.

Nina and partner rose 39 computer points to 1794 -- wonderful.

The 16-20 Ballroom at 11 pm arrived at the last quickstep in the Final. 20 seconds before the end charming Polish girl Malgorzata in a mauve dress stopped on the spot and sank to the ground. With adrenalin pumping, by that stage she would have continued if she possibly could, so the fear was serious injury. Quickstep finished. Malgorzata's partner gingerly helped her to her feet. She made a slow twirl to reassure the audience, then walked to the Polish end for a more convincing twirl. Evidently she suffered disabling cramp after 24 dances in high heels. The brave girl and partner finished 5th in 134 couples.

In the Pro Rising Stars quickstep, one girl wearing a tangerine ballgown was flattened. She got up and charged forward, only to be flattened again by another couple. The tall American girl wearing black and white who won the collision looked most concerned and sympathetic. She would not move from the spot (to protectect the fallen from a third collision?) . Tangerine Gown then got up and charged forward again in high gear. So did American Girl.

Marcus Hilton from the platform said more than once, there is an imaginary white line down the centre of the ballroom. Couples should process anticlockwise, not cut across the central partition. Dancers from 65 countries did not know what Marcus was talking about. English is not the universal language in Blackpool. Dance is.

Dinner now. More later.

......
Last edited by soulmate61 : 01-06-2012 at 19:58

Nina's dress was designed by Gaynor Fairweather - therefore I would expect nothing less!

Apart from dancing, Blackpool Festival offers nine 10-to-5 lectures on Saturday and Sunday in Spanish Hall by dance gods. Wearing light makeup under natural light through the glass ceiling, dance gods speak candidly to the audience looking like a man or woman we can relate to in the street -- one of us.

Festival 2012 lectures on Sunday started with reigning Euopean ballroom champions Anrea Ghigarelli and Sara Andracchio. They took us through some basics of tango -- no rise and fall, maintain muscle tone in the legs, and move more by pulling than pushing.

Sara played the role of tango teacher and Andrea the pupil doing it the wrong way first, then the right way after being shown how. This lesson displayed bad and good ways for the audience to choose, rather than pointing a finger with an accusing tone at real students in the audience. The tone was humorous and fun, but with a real objective of learning and transformation. This format was hailed by all including the high table as highly effective. Andrea and Sara spoke excellent English, with silky Italian charm. They wound up the half-hour as all lectures do, with a magical tango. practising what they preached.

Mind over Matter

The next lecture was by Ruud Vermej, a dance psychologist who despite his name is a native English speaker. Ruud said he was concerned not about getting inside a dancer's mind but getting a dancer's mind into his own body -- for the body to bypass the mind, to distance itself from the mind.

All dancers carry baggage from the past, said Ruud. Negative "don'ts" will not work, Positive "do's" will. It is only when feeling and dynamic combine that commitment results.

(Michael and Joanna regularly fly to Australia to work with Ruud, so that is some testimonial.) Today M&J acted as demonstrators, displaying the visibly different appearances of action with and without commitment. (3 years ago Joanna described her fast spins to us. "I have to be committed," said Joanna, "or I cannot do it." I suspect what she meant was that at her speed one doubt, one look over her shoulder can cause her serious injury.)

Ruud said it was impossible to think something and not have it affect the body. (My comment: mental distress is wellknown for causing physical illness. Similarly lie detectors rely on the fact that every knowing lie causes undisguisable and monitorable changes in pulse, breathing, and sweating.)

Ruud said thinking should proceed or follow action, not during it when the sense of self should disappear into the action. To audience laughter he cited sex as an example. (This resonates with with what Ken Rosewall said, "In tennis, if you think, you are lost.")

Two days after this lecture my mind collided with my body.

I went 300 feet up Blackpool Tower, the height of 20 office floors. There an observation platform juts out 10 feet from the building like a balcony but with a clear glass not opague floor. It is 3-inch-thick well proven safety glass, but as you looked down you looked through glass as clear as thin air towards the ground 300 feet below with pedestrians the size of ants.

My mind said to my body, walk 10 feet forward into this apparent thin air. My body said no way, or rather my knees turned to jelly refusing to obey my mind, along with many sinking feelings in the lower part of the body, My mind was brave, but lacked a body to carry out the physical task. I had no unity, no commitment, no resolution so obvious in Joanna's dancing. After a long long time inching forward, eventually I made it. Now with a new memory I have let go old baggage. I can cha cha cha on clear glass 300 feet up now, with my body and mind dancing as one. The same transformation was achieved by all other tourists, some faster than others, with some having little fear of heights to begin with.

Lester Piggott once said the greatest attribute of a sportsperson is concentration, so that come the big game he can give his best. "If you beat yoursellf," said Lester, "then others will beat you." Could this apply to dancing? Ha ha ha , how much does Ruud charge for an hour?

Tomorrow, how the Russians beat us at dance.

Thanks for your entertaining posts, soulmate. I particularly liked the mind over matter section, it sounds like I could benefit from Ruud's sage advice. I look forward to hearing about the Russians, they definitely seem to have that something extra/special.

Thank you, Soulmate, for your B/pool write-ups which are always entertaining.

The floorcraft - or lack of - is frequently a problem at B/pool, as it is in many other competitions, and regrettably this can lead to accidents people get hurt (even more regrettably, occasionally it isn't always Accidental). There was talk at one time of trying to disqualify dancers who crossed the line - or worse, double back against the line of dance - but nothing came of it.

At one exceptionally bad (floorcraft wise) B/pool competition a few years ago, the dancers were warned from the stage that poor floorcraft would be penalised. Was it? Was it heck! The worst 3 couples all made the final, and the worst of all went on to win..... This was the British Nationals, so couples couldn't pretend they didn't understand what had been said, but no one had the courage to "rock any boats".

Thanks kaycee for inside info.

After a collision if there were a guilty couple, then penalty points should be deducted from their dance licence. Reckless and careless drivers who cause accidents can dance together in a "dodgems" heat all to themselves where they can mow one another down. Collisions narrowly averted also do damage in that they ruin beautiful lines danced by innocent couples. I have to say though, I do laugh when a dancer, usually a poor slip of a girl, is mown down. I shouldn't, I know.

Primaballerina1:
Blackpool programme lists a www.holidayball.com event in Beverly Hills on 27-31 December 2012 organised by ex UK pro latin champion Nadia Eftedal, once taught by Walter Laird. The 4 days include a dance camp led by Ruud Vermeij plus many experts like Shirley Ballas for one. Theory is then put into practice in a Pro-Am comp for the attendees.

Arunas Bizokas and Katusha Demidova concluded their Sunday lecture by dancing to Puccini's O mio babbino caro. Dancing to strings without any singer stretching rhythm too far, this waltz minus strict temp drums would delight classical music lovers as much as dance fans. It was divine. Unable to find a non-singing version on YouTube, here is Kiri te Kanawa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRuYQ9KRJms

English dancers struggled to make Blackpool Finals for 10 years, until this year when the England team reinforced by 4 imports managed 9 finalists. A Russian team depleted by defections to WSDF still managed 10 finalists though:

------------------------------------------ England – Russia

latin Over-35 --------------------------------- 0 -- 1
latin Age 16-20 ------------------------------ 0 -- 1
latin Amateur Rising Stars -------------- 0 – 3
latin Amateur --------------------------------- 1 – 2
latin Professional Rising Stars -------- 1 -- 0
latin Professional --------------------------- 1 – 1

ballroom Over-35 --------------------------- 0 -- 0
ballroom Age 16-20 ----------------------- 1 -- 1
ballroom Amateur Rising Stars ------- 2 -- 0
ballroom Amateur -------------------------- 0 -- 0
ballroom Professional Rising Stars -- 1 -- 0
ballroom Professional --------------------- 2 -- 1

latin + ballroom TOTAL --------------- 9 – 10

Sitting in Blackpool front row every time a dancer impressed me with passion and artistry I would look in the Festival programme, and invariably it would be a Russian. I asked various eastern block acquaintances, why Russians and Ukrainians remain so expressive and passionate in dance after a century of political repression. One said, the greater the repression the greater the passion and fury. One said the KGB would not come for you in the middle of the night on account of dance .

Last week a Russian-born American dance teacher friend of mine arrived in Blackpool. As it was her first Festival I escorted her around, including the shuttle bus to the Imperial Hotel. Out of many dancewear exhibitors one stood out by miles – Elegance Ltd with a shop in Mitcham but headquartered in St Petersburg, where all costumes are designed and handmade. Every dress is different, inventive and imaginative in admirable taste. They are not shown as colour pictures in an online catalogue as dresses quickly sell out with no second copy available. An online catalogue also runs the risk of competitors copying their designs.

My American friend said in USA exactly the same dress would sell at twice the price. She would therefore buy by mail order for export to USA without incurring 20% English VAT. It occurred to me that exporting by post to a Republic of Ireland address would similarly escape 20% English VAT. Such dresses can then be shipped back to an English wearer as personal effects.

St Petersburg brings to mind the Hermitage Museum and the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet and parent of the Vaganova Ballet Academy. It was founded as the Imperial Russian Ballet in 1738, two centuries before Dame Ninette de Valois founded the Royal Ballet now home to the Cecchetti method, and 182 years before the Royal Academy of Dance in Battersea.

Darcey Bussell CBE elected as the 4th President of RAD three weeks ago, had also danced for 6 months as English guest star in the Kirov Ballet.

Dance is in Russian blood, and present-day Russian ballroom/latin dancers invariably have ballet discipline in their past. It would be surprising if they were not good. Those who attend the Kremlin Cup competition in Moscow could tell us more?

England 9, Russia 11 - there were 2 couples from Russia who made the professional Latin final, although one couple only made it in 4 out of 5 dances.

Thanks, yes, Anton Karpov and Ekaterina Lapaeva of Russia.

My mind said there never is anybody new in Pro Latin Final, and my body failed to double-check independently. In Ruud-speak

"it is impossible to think something and not have it affect the body."

This year really had the most unpredictable professional finals for about 4 years - both in Latin and in Ballroom!

Very sad to see Anton and Patrizia just miss the Pro Latin semifinal. I was rooting for them all the way, but never got a chance to see Patrizia and Yulia in the same visual frame. However they made Round 5 so will start dancing next year from Round 3. Their computer points after the last 4 Festivals: 1713, 1679, 1799, 1825. Onwards and upwards at age 26 and 22.

Patrizia has ballerina arms and very expressive hands, as has Anton. Loose long hair flying up in motion can be distracting, but short hair flying loose is excellent for me, signalling a woman who is also a dancer. Patrizia likes to play with her hair. So do I, but Anton would not like that.

Her white costume at Blackpool shown below avoided a colour clash with her striking red hair, similar to two other unrelated red+white pics further down. However monocolour would draw the eye to her statuesque figure, with the high priestess of dance like the tall priestess of dance.

Perhaps some colour as in the very last pic, where blue introduces contrast without clash thanks to a scarfe in gold as a buffer colour. The green background complements red providing harmony and resolution. Exciting music requires more than one theme, and a memorable painting more than one colour.

http://www.dancesportinfo.net/Couple...93/Photos.aspx

http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=famous...w=1280&bih=843

http://www.photo-librarian.com/facts...redhead-girls/

http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=famous...w=1280&bih=843

They made 19th place overall, which they were very happy with, especially as it means 2 stars in the programme for next year! For them, Friday was the most important competition, so Wednesday didn't hold anywhere near as much pressure. Two days before the competition, one of their main coaches told Patrizia to change her hair back to black. Obviously she didn't, but she said she is thinking of trying blonde next! I like it when she wears softer colours. She asked my opinion on her dress from the All England and Freedom To Dance competitions that were held in the weeks leading up to Blackpool. I told her I honestly didn't like it; it didn't suit her because it was too harsh a cut and too dark for her. She assured me she had something totally different for Blackpool, and I think it worked very well for her. Patrizia just turned 23 three weeks ago, she is six months older than me, and Anton was 27 in January.

I loved her red hair, like a Titian painting suiting her complexion well.

Apropos of nothing, here are the computer marks post-Blackpool over 10 years for latin top 3. At comparable age Patrizia's 1825 compares well with Yulia and Melia in 2005.

---------- Joanna Yulia Melia
2003 ----- 1846 1783 1770
2004 ----- 1869 1810 1794
2005 ----- 1885 1832 1824
2006 ----- 1918 1862 1869
2007 ----- 1929 1886 1902
2008 ----- 1953 1929 1911
2009 ----- 1972 1956 1926
2010 ----- 1986 1967 1943
2011 ----- 1993 1992 1952
2012 ----- 2001 2001 1968

My de luxe viewing by standing on an Argos box lasted 4 nights, then a Winter Gardens official stopped my good thing. I had always tried to stand close to a pillar so that nobody behind would have his viewing blocked by my 6 foot 7 body. Not sure if a jealous shortie shopped me, or if Marcus from the platform saw me and rumbled me. (Marcus: it's Michael Malitovsky. If you stop saying Michael Malitowwwwwwsky, I will stop lobbing Molotowwwwwwww cocktails.)

It's back to hard times next year. The trick is to find a slot in the first standing row behind the last row of seats, then to defend same all night for 7 hours. Two persons are needed to defend such a pitch to cover bathroom visits.

My friend with bare shoulders sat in the front row at the long end not far from Ann Gleave. With her European look she was taken for a VIP and lasted in the luxurious seat all through Round 3 until 9:20 pm, with superstars dancing in front of her at fingertip distance. Amazing.

I could buy a seated ticket next year, but really do not like seeing only the top half of dancers. Poor girls standing in high heels next to me but still not tall enough would see even less than me.

The heat and humidity was terrible on Latin Final night. I slipped into Battle of Stalingrad mind-set and would rather die than leave. Prize-giving went past 1am. Any number of total stangers went up to kiss Joanna on the cheek and have a photo taken. Ditto a queue of women wanted to kiss Michael and did. Eventually we got out of Winter Gardens alive, then we had to go to Mcdonalds for some food as she had not wanted to have a meal break and risk losing her frontrow seat. About 2am we got back to the hotel. I had a shower which saved my life.

Dear Mrs Wilson, what am I to do? There are gents standing 6 foot 7 in their socks, so my standing 6 foot 7 on top of an Argos box was no worse. Hell, a 6-foot-2 lady stood in front of me one night. What am I to do Mrs Wilson, on my toes what am I to do, Sandra?

Meal breaks and toilet breaks just physically do not happen! I stood from 2:30pm for 11 hours until after the end of the results on Wednesday, in my 6 inch heels, making me 6'2" in total. I was directly behind the last row of seats on West Promenade and had an absolutely fabulous view with loads of interaction from the couples, the same as every year. My friend from the USA has a seat on the third row, and she says the view is just atrocious, she has a small window between two shoulders to peer through and if somebody moves, it's lost - what a complete waste of money! I am quite content to stand!