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Granollers and Salou 2008
Nov/Dec 2008
Reports from Robin Escolme
Granollers
Two EADA couples represented England at X Trofeu Ciutat de Granollers, 1-2 Nov 2008. James & Rachel Barron won gold medal in the Sen 2 IDSF, and were placed 15th in the Sen 1 IDSF. Andrew Escome and Amy Baker were placed 5th in the ISDF Youth Latin, and 7th in the IDSF Open Latin (missed final by 2 marks!). The event is well organised and we would definitely recommend it to other Brits for next year!
Salou
It was the first weekend in December, and it was freezing cold - what better time to take a weekend in the seaside town of Salou in Spain? Fortunately, it was also the IDSF Youth World Ballroom Championships, and EADA's selected couples, Andrew Escolme and Amy Baker, and Jonas Kazlauskas and Jasmine Chan, made their way there from the UK. As with most IDSF comps it was held in a sports hall, which at first sight would not normally inspire great dancing. However, the organizers had done a good job in making the place look like somewhere you might want to dance with great lighting and the floor was at least a decent size. There was an excellent food/drink bar which sold decent hot and cold snacks, and the entry fee for the comp was 10 Euros each, which is pretty good considering we got to see the youth World Championship, an IDSF International Open Latin, and an IDSF Senior Ballroom event, plus all children under 12 were free!! Not only that, but the glossy printed programme was free as well. There were also TV cameras dotted around the floor, because the semi and final were to be televised.
We all knew this was going to be a really tough event, with 65 couples from 36 different countries competing, but there was a good audience present giving all couples plenty of support. The standard of dancing was very high from all couples, right from the first round - I really didn't envy the judges today. Both English couples danced really well, challenging the other couples all the way, and really working hard to make a good impression on the judges. The second round saw the 65 couples cut to 48, and the competition suddenly looked even tougher, with all couples hoping to stay in as long as possible. Sadly, neither English couple made it to the quarter final but both represented their country well and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Juts before the semi final, all competitors took part in the 'Ceremony of Flags', parading around the floor with the flag of their country. It was a wonderful sight to see all these young people so proud to be representing their country, all so pleased to have the opportunity to dance in such an event.
So who was going to make the final, and who would lift the trophy? The favorite this year (in my eyes anyway) was Franceso Gallupo and Debora Pacini, who won the International Under 21 Ballroom Championship earlier in the year, and was runner up 3 years ago in the Junior Ballroom World Championships, and again last year in the Youth Worlds in Ancona. But there was plenty of competition for him in the two polish couples Novikov/Iwanowicz and Jeschke/Wior, and the two Russian couples Azanov/Isakovich and Ulanov/Glazunova, and it was these couples that looked like making the final through the 24 and the 12. All these couples danced fabulously in the final, however, Gallupo/Pacini did not dominate and left the door open for other couples to challenge for the prize. In the end it was Russians Danil Ulanov and Anastasiya Glazunova that took the title, with a very dissapointed Gallupo and Pacini runners up for the second year running.
As for the event, it was well run, pretty much to time, had a very good atmosphere and great music. I like the way these events present the finalists in the line-up with up-beat music played in the background as they announce the placings, in reverse order, and the when the winners are announced, they played "We are the Champions", all of which created a great atmosphere and a great spectacle. Of course, the TV cameras were there, transmitting the whole thing live across Spain, so I guess they wanted to jazz it up.
Andrew and Amy stayed on an extra day to dance in the IDSF Youth Open Latin event, and again, it was a very tough comp, with 56 couples starting. Andrew and Amy were hoping to make to final in this their last ever Youth event, and they really danced their socks off (OK, I am a little biased, but they really did dance well), making it through 4 very tough rounds to the semi final, which was also televised across Spain. The semi was a really exciting round, with all couples dancing their best to get into the final. One couple tried so hard that the boy collapsed at the end of the Rumba with cramp (on live TV) and had to be carried off on a stretcher (never seen that before!). When we saw the marks afterwards, the judges clearly favored 7 of the 12 semi-finalists, and Andrew and Amy just missed the final by 2 marks! It was a great effort and a great achievement to get this far in such a difficult competition.
The trip was not without incident - on the way to Luton Airport on the Friday, the M1 was closed due to an accident, requiring us to follow a long and winding diversion, which meant we arrived at the airport with only minutes to spare before the check-in closed! This required us to park in the closest car park to the terminal, the short stay, and resulted in a parking fee of £120! - each (we had two cars). On the plus side, the organizer had arranged transfers from Barcelona Airport to Salou for the competitors, with a fee of 30 Euros each for others. For us this would have been 120 Euros in total. So instead, we flew to Reus, which is just 10km from Salou, and rented 2 cars at 20 Euros each - so we saved 80 Euros! None of this detracted from what was a very enjoyable weekend, with a great team spirit between the two English couples, who supported each other throughout the competition. Well done guys.
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