I now try to conclude the long-awaited final portion of my 'Performing' trilogy, which kicked off with my stint in the secondary school choir, my maturity as a singer at my junior college choir, and then now, my foray into the world of competitive latin and ballroom dancing, or dancesport.
I remember before I started my year at Bristol University, I was flipping through the Union Handbook, introducing all the various societies and clubs, and I was drawn to the description of the Latin American & Ballroom Dancing Society. It was the largest society in the university and thought I'd give it a try. Signed up at the Fresher's Week booth and then attended the first lesson at the large hall at the Wills Memorial Building.
Picture from SUDA 2003
Before the start of the first lesson, the competitive team known as the Dancesport team, took to the floor to perform for the class and to show some latin and ballroom dancing moves. I only had a hazy impression of latin and ballroom dancing prior to that night, but I was blown away by the dancing I saw. Couple by couple circled round the floor, dancing to a latin beat, oozing sex appeal with gyrating hips. A more traditional piece was then played, and then elegant dancers wearing tailcoats and long gowns twirled and glided across the floor. I was mesmerised by the dancers and I so wanted to learn to dance like that.
Anushka and I, Waltz, SUDA 2004
The main group class started, with Helia leading the class through some basic salsa moves. This class involved more than a hundred dancers on the floor, split into both sides of the hall, to learn the male and female steps, and then dancing together after that to music. There was an announcement after the class for any dancers who were interested in picking up competitive dancing and to represent the university to try out for the team. There was a category for beginner dancers as well so I stayed back, picked up the leaflet, and was looking forward to attending the first team lesson.
I walked in to the first team class the next week, and I entered the Anson room of the Students Union. It had a smooth wooden floor, music playing through giant speakers, about 10 couples practicing their dance routines in various corners of the room, ladies wearing 3 1/2 inch high tanned dancing shoes, and men either wearing shiny patent flat shoes, or latin shoes with 1 inch high heels.
Southern Friendly competition 2001
There weren't many newcomers, and the coach, Diane Barron, very quickly got the class underway, teaching all of us a basic Cha routine. Everyone picked up the routine very easily, and I tried my best to follow. Never did any latin before, and there were some experienced team members there, and even the newcomers, especially the girls, all appeared to have done some dancing before. Di, with her booming voice, could be heard counting out "2-3-4-and-1".
Di, Brian, and I, IVDA 2004
We were then thrown together and Di matched some of the new dancers together. I was one of the shortest ones there compared to the towering Brits, and I get partnered with another girl shorter than me. We chated and I found out she has been dancing for many years. She had done latin and ballroom, ballet, modern, jazz and tap. Well basically any sort of dance.
By the next lesson, Di hauled my partner and I up in front of the class and asked us to dance the Cha routine. She was quite happy with how the two of us were in sync with each other. I had just been trying to mimic and follow the timing of my partner, and I learnt a lot from her experience and just by trying to follow her. that was how my first ever dance partnership was forged, where my partner and I went on to dance and compete together for the next 3 years.
Cha Cha routine, Patchway competition, 2004
A very quick description on the Latin and Modern dances. Latin refers to the 5 Latin American dances being the Cha-Cha, Samba, Paso Doble, Rumba and the Jive. The Modern dances were the Waltz, Quickstep, Tango, Foxtrot and the Vienesse Waltz.
Mary-Lou and I, IVDA 2002
I took to dancing quite quickly, and I loved performing and dancing. You get this buzz the moment you step on the floor, team mates cheering you on, you throw a wink to a passing judge or to a member of the audience, then you lock your eyes back on to your partner. You don't even need to think of what is the next step you need to make, as you have practiced and drilled it all in automatically already. You know where your partner's hand is going to be, after she has come out of her spin, and then you take her hand and lead her into the next move.
Being the male in a dance partnership, you quickly learn that you need to lead the girl, and it cannot be the other way round. It is not a sexist thing at all. It is the picture the 2 dancers need to paint together for the audience and the judges. The girl is the centre of attention, while the guy needs to be the rock solid support, and you lead her into her picture lines, spins, and drops.
Dancesport literally demands that you need to command attention on the floor. You need to be noticed by the judges who are circling round the floor, who can give you between 5-10 seconds to look at your steps and decide whether to pick you to move on to the next round, until you hit the finals. So from the moment you step on the floor, with your gliterring outfit (for the girls mainly, although some guys have glitter as well), you need to grab attention.
SUDA 2004
I danced for a total of 4 years for Bristol University. Took part in so many competitions. Normally there are around 4 inter-university competitions a year, with the nationals being the Inter-Varsity Dance Competition, or just called IVDA for short, at the end of the year.
The way the university competitions are structured are that there is an Open section, split up into Latin and Modern, and the Team section. The Open section means each of the couples dance for themselves and try to get the top positions and get medals. The Open section is further divided into different levels: Beginners for dancers who have never done ballroom dancing before, Basic where you can only do limited basic moves, Intermediate where there is no restriction on your moves, and then finally Advanced.
Over the 4 years, I manage to clinch Best Newcomer in Cha during IVDA 2001, Best Intermediate Latin couple during SUDA 2002 and also took part in the Inter-Continental Dance Festival, held in Florida, America in the year 2003, where I represented the UK universities to compete against the American colleges. I also had the privilege of captaining the team during the 2002-03 season.
The Latin Guys, IVDA 2002
Having started off specialising in the Latin dances, I tried to pick up some of the Modern ones as well, and I did a decent job off trying to dance Modern in my 4th year. It wasn't easy to pick up.
The tango
I was very fortunate to have been partnered with fantastic dancers during my 4 years. I danced with Mary-Lou for my first three years, and her with her years and years of experience, helped me grow so much as a dancer. In my fourth year, I partnered Anushka, and she too had been dancing Latin and Modern since young, and our partnership worked out great as well. We especially excelled in doing the Jive together, and Jive has to be my favourite dance. It is so lively, and rhythmic, and the fastest of the Latin dances. From the word go, you are on a bullet train.
Anushka and I, Team Jive, IVDA 2004
In between all the dancing and the competitions, I also manage to sneak in an audition to appear on the Channel 4 show, Faking It. The episode featured a kickboxing girl who tries to fake it as a latin dancer. I made it on the show to appear as extras on a 'dance competition' which the girl is taking part in, where she competes against other latin dancers. If you check out that episode, you should see my head popping in and out of the show.
Rehearsal for Goldney Ball 2004
I also get to break out some of my Michael Jackson moves at the Goldney Ball 2004, where the team is invited to perform for the dinner, and one of the numbers is the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' routine. We really brought the house down with that dance.
Thriller, Goldney Ball 2004
So that marked the end of my performing days in university. I no longer can pursue dance with so much fervour. Severe lack of time. Still sneak in performances now and then at the firm's annual dinners. But I still look back at the four years of dance with many many fond memories.
I remember before I started my year at Bristol University, I was flipping through the Union Handbook, introducing all the various societies and clubs, and I was drawn to the description of the Latin American & Ballroom Dancing Society. It was the largest society in the university and thought I'd give it a try. Signed up at the Fresher's Week booth and then attended the first lesson at the large hall at the Wills Memorial Building.
Picture from SUDA 2003
Before the start of the first lesson, the competitive team known as the Dancesport team, took to the floor to perform for the class and to show some latin and ballroom dancing moves. I only had a hazy impression of latin and ballroom dancing prior to that night, but I was blown away by the dancing I saw. Couple by couple circled round the floor, dancing to a latin beat, oozing sex appeal with gyrating hips. A more traditional piece was then played, and then elegant dancers wearing tailcoats and long gowns twirled and glided across the floor. I was mesmerised by the dancers and I so wanted to learn to dance like that.
Anushka and I, Waltz, SUDA 2004
The main group class started, with Helia leading the class through some basic salsa moves. This class involved more than a hundred dancers on the floor, split into both sides of the hall, to learn the male and female steps, and then dancing together after that to music. There was an announcement after the class for any dancers who were interested in picking up competitive dancing and to represent the university to try out for the team. There was a category for beginner dancers as well so I stayed back, picked up the leaflet, and was looking forward to attending the first team lesson.
I walked in to the first team class the next week, and I entered the Anson room of the Students Union. It had a smooth wooden floor, music playing through giant speakers, about 10 couples practicing their dance routines in various corners of the room, ladies wearing 3 1/2 inch high tanned dancing shoes, and men either wearing shiny patent flat shoes, or latin shoes with 1 inch high heels.
Southern Friendly competition 2001
There weren't many newcomers, and the coach, Diane Barron, very quickly got the class underway, teaching all of us a basic Cha routine. Everyone picked up the routine very easily, and I tried my best to follow. Never did any latin before, and there were some experienced team members there, and even the newcomers, especially the girls, all appeared to have done some dancing before. Di, with her booming voice, could be heard counting out "2-3-4-and-1".
Di, Brian, and I, IVDA 2004
We were then thrown together and Di matched some of the new dancers together. I was one of the shortest ones there compared to the towering Brits, and I get partnered with another girl shorter than me. We chated and I found out she has been dancing for many years. She had done latin and ballroom, ballet, modern, jazz and tap. Well basically any sort of dance.
By the next lesson, Di hauled my partner and I up in front of the class and asked us to dance the Cha routine. She was quite happy with how the two of us were in sync with each other. I had just been trying to mimic and follow the timing of my partner, and I learnt a lot from her experience and just by trying to follow her. that was how my first ever dance partnership was forged, where my partner and I went on to dance and compete together for the next 3 years.
Cha Cha routine, Patchway competition, 2004
A very quick description on the Latin and Modern dances. Latin refers to the 5 Latin American dances being the Cha-Cha, Samba, Paso Doble, Rumba and the Jive. The Modern dances were the Waltz, Quickstep, Tango, Foxtrot and the Vienesse Waltz.
Mary-Lou and I, IVDA 2002
I took to dancing quite quickly, and I loved performing and dancing. You get this buzz the moment you step on the floor, team mates cheering you on, you throw a wink to a passing judge or to a member of the audience, then you lock your eyes back on to your partner. You don't even need to think of what is the next step you need to make, as you have practiced and drilled it all in automatically already. You know where your partner's hand is going to be, after she has come out of her spin, and then you take her hand and lead her into the next move.
Being the male in a dance partnership, you quickly learn that you need to lead the girl, and it cannot be the other way round. It is not a sexist thing at all. It is the picture the 2 dancers need to paint together for the audience and the judges. The girl is the centre of attention, while the guy needs to be the rock solid support, and you lead her into her picture lines, spins, and drops.
Dancesport literally demands that you need to command attention on the floor. You need to be noticed by the judges who are circling round the floor, who can give you between 5-10 seconds to look at your steps and decide whether to pick you to move on to the next round, until you hit the finals. So from the moment you step on the floor, with your gliterring outfit (for the girls mainly, although some guys have glitter as well), you need to grab attention.
SUDA 2004
I danced for a total of 4 years for Bristol University. Took part in so many competitions. Normally there are around 4 inter-university competitions a year, with the nationals being the Inter-Varsity Dance Competition, or just called IVDA for short, at the end of the year.
The way the university competitions are structured are that there is an Open section, split up into Latin and Modern, and the Team section. The Open section means each of the couples dance for themselves and try to get the top positions and get medals. The Open section is further divided into different levels: Beginners for dancers who have never done ballroom dancing before, Basic where you can only do limited basic moves, Intermediate where there is no restriction on your moves, and then finally Advanced.
Over the 4 years, I manage to clinch Best Newcomer in Cha during IVDA 2001, Best Intermediate Latin couple during SUDA 2002 and also took part in the Inter-Continental Dance Festival, held in Florida, America in the year 2003, where I represented the UK universities to compete against the American colleges. I also had the privilege of captaining the team during the 2002-03 season.
The Latin Guys, IVDA 2002
Having started off specialising in the Latin dances, I tried to pick up some of the Modern ones as well, and I did a decent job off trying to dance Modern in my 4th year. It wasn't easy to pick up.
The tango
I was very fortunate to have been partnered with fantastic dancers during my 4 years. I danced with Mary-Lou for my first three years, and her with her years and years of experience, helped me grow so much as a dancer. In my fourth year, I partnered Anushka, and she too had been dancing Latin and Modern since young, and our partnership worked out great as well. We especially excelled in doing the Jive together, and Jive has to be my favourite dance. It is so lively, and rhythmic, and the fastest of the Latin dances. From the word go, you are on a bullet train.
Anushka and I, Team Jive, IVDA 2004
In between all the dancing and the competitions, I also manage to sneak in an audition to appear on the Channel 4 show, Faking It. The episode featured a kickboxing girl who tries to fake it as a latin dancer. I made it on the show to appear as extras on a 'dance competition' which the girl is taking part in, where she competes against other latin dancers. If you check out that episode, you should see my head popping in and out of the show.
Rehearsal for Goldney Ball 2004
I also get to break out some of my Michael Jackson moves at the Goldney Ball 2004, where the team is invited to perform for the dinner, and one of the numbers is the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' routine. We really brought the house down with that dance.
Thriller, Goldney Ball 2004
So that marked the end of my performing days in university. I no longer can pursue dance with so much fervour. Severe lack of time. Still sneak in performances now and then at the firm's annual dinners. But I still look back at the four years of dance with many many fond memories.
2 comments:
An excellent post, thanks. While I never reached quite the same standard as you appear to have done, my experience was pretty similar, moving from never dancing before to being in the Bristol team (dancing Quickstep) for the rest of my time.
After I left university I didn't dance for ages, but now I go to a weekly class in London and try to keep up with the younguns ...
Bit of trivia though. I was the publicity officer at BUBDS (later BULABDS) for a couple of years. It was I that wrote the blurb in the student guide which you say encouraged you to join. I feel chuffed!
Hi Tim! Great to see a BULABDS (or BUBDS) alumni dropping by here.
The dancing experience back at university was just amazing. Wow, you wrote that blurb in the student guide huh?
I've now been going for weekly salsa classes, but there is still nothing like the atmosphere back at the Anson Room/Wills Memorial and at the university competitions.
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