Registered Couples
Juniors
Asher Robb / Alex Tetlow – 1st Level 2 Standard, 2nd Open Standard, 1st Open Latin
Brandon Cook / Marcelle Fritsch – 2nd Level 2 Latin
Adult
Daniel McLean / Stevie-Marie Higham – 1st Open New Vogue, 2nd Open Standard, 2nd Open 10 Dance
Simon McLean / Dasha Goryacheva – 2nd Open New Vogue, 3rd Open Standard, 3rd Open 10 Dance
Tom Allen / Sarah Hunter – 1st Open Standard, 1st Open 10 Dance
Il Hwan Oh / Kirsten Spyve – 1st Open Latin
Andrew Wallace / Georgina Bondfield – 2nd Open Latin
Jack Sun / Melissa McCallum – 3rd Open Latin
Mathew Koedyk / Olivia Panzic – 1st Level 2 Standard
Edward Williams / Kimberley Boon – 3rd Level 2 Standard
David & Karen Miller – 2nd Level 2 New Vogue
Masters 1
David & Karen Miller – 1st Open Standard, 1st Open New Vogue, 1st Open 10 Dance

All lectures/workshops are pertaining to both Ballroom and Latin American.

Remember, the last hour each night will be supervised Performance Practice so come prepared to be pushed!!!!

The dates are:

Friday/Sat/Sun/Mon  May 18/19/20/21

Private lessons are NZ$120.00 per 45mins.

Workshops are both Saturday and Sunday evenings – 5.00-8.00pm – and will include a supervised practice/performance session each night.   The cost for 6 hours workshops (which includes practice) is NZ$160.00.  Special early bird price of $120.00 for all paid by May 08. Cost for one night only is NZ$80.00 (no early bird discount). Workshops and practice will include both Ballroom and Latin American each night.

Marco Cavallaro

Member of the Team Diablo Academy

European Standard finalist

British Standard Champion for many years

World Standard Semi-finalist

Italian Standard Champion

Top 10 in the world

Speaks great English!!!

Stefan Green

Member of the Team Diablo Academy

World Latin PD finalist

Runner up World Professional Showdance

Ex Ucan2 student, lives in Italy, represents New Zealand

It’s going to be an amazing weekend with world class dancers demonstrating and competing.  Book your flights early to be sure to get them at a really good price!

These are ‘just for fun’ classes introducing popular dances – Cha Cha, Samba, Rock n Roll, Jive, Waltz, Rhythm Foxtrot – at a basic level.

Kids (ages 6 – 11yrs) Wednesday 3.45pm,   Teens (ages 12 – 17 yrs) Wednesday 4.45pm

I was very happy to be invited to join the adjudicating panel of this very prestigious competition – firstly, of course, for the opportunity to see wonderful dancing from such young dancers, and also as I have never been to Russia.

The idea of travelling there alone was a little daunting but hey, nothing like taking a deep breath and diving in!

Towards the end of March I left beautiful sunshine in Auckland, travelled for 26 long but uneventful hours and arrived in Moscow’s Spring.  It was snowing and as far as I could see, everything was white.  Very special!  The hotel was a 2 hour drive through very thick traffic but was a great opportunity to get a feel for what life in Moscow is about.

The Hotel was part of a very large Convention Centre which was also where the competition was held.  For the whole weekend there was no reason to go outside which was very convenient, considering the temperature!   The view from my room was amazing – I looked out onto the Moscow River which was frozen solid.  There were men fishing through holes in the ice.  I ventured outside briefly – just to smell the air – and landed very unceremoniously, on my bottom.  (I managed to bring a bruise the size of a dinner plate home with me!!)

The dancing was awesome.  It’s amazing what level these 14/15 year olds can achieve. One of my fellow adjudicators told me that they train 8 hours per day, 7 days per week and that “school doesn’t feature”! What dedication!  There were 61 couples from 35 countries participating – sadly nobody from New Zealand or Australia. I proudly stood and read The Oath on behalf of all the english speaking judges.  On Sunday, the same panel of Adjudicators judged the WDSF International Open Standard.  It was eye-opening!  The dance floor was split into 3 sections and there were 3 different events all being danced at the same time (3 sets of judges). The biggest floor was for the event that I was judging.  It was 32 (of my) paces square and during the rounds there were 15 couples in each heat.  Needless to say, there was a bit of crashing and some strange ‘against line of dance’ stuff happening, but on the whole the driving was most impressive.  It was really heartening to confirm that we at Ucan2 are leading our dancers in the right direction.  Dancesport in 2012 is very exciting to watch.

After the competition was over I had almost 2 days to look around.  I crammed a lot in to that very short time.  I travelled on the beautiful Metro, went to the Bolshoi, took a sightseeing bus trip (saw beautiful things – haven’t a clue what as there was no translation available), met up with the lovely Alina (ex student) who showed me where ‘real Russians’ shop and took me to lunch.  I loved the magnificent buildings, the snow, the glorious coats and hats worn by all. I didn’t love the fact that I couldn’t speak their language and that the written language is impossible to understand!!

All too soon it was time to head back to the airport and a 30 hour journey to get home.

Thank you to the WDSF for inviting me and to the organisers for looking after me so well.  This was an adventure I won’t forget.

Marie

What a great way to kick off your Easter weekend. Book a table at Bolero Restaurant and watch two of our Ucan2 couples dance while you enjoy the delicious food and great atmosphere.