Southend 2015 Competition – A personal report

Text by Yasmin Robertson

The day commenced early – five a.m – for me along with a can of redbull and several makeup dilemmas. When, one hour and forty minutes later, my family and I arrived at the leisure centre we discovered it was very cold in the sports hall and I wasn’t surprised to see dancers milling around in thick jumpers and dressing gowns and even in one case: slippers; it really was that cold!

The first round started at around ten after a quick spin on the dance floor (which thankfully wasn’t too slippery) and I was shocked that I had gotten through the first round as this was my first adult competition and I have never qualified in Ballroom before. As other rounds passed and DanceRite showed off their marvelous skills and deservedly qualified, I got into the finals and I was pleased to get fifth place for my Waltz in the Social Dance Test category.

Once we had rested up in the “lunch break” and had been presented with the Ballroom awards (of which DanceRite received a fair few!) we moved on to the Latin. My first round in the Jive wasn’t very successful and I really felt I’d let myself down but I was happily surprised when I had recalls (along with Datchy and Eleanor) and got into the finals.

When the Social Dance Test awards were presented for the Latin, DanceRite – I was over the moon to see – had three of the eight qualifiers. Very impressive!
Overall, I felt the day was a triumphant one and it was an absolute pleasure to meet the rest of the DanceRite team. Congratulations to everyone, you were all winners in my eyes and it’s onwards and upwards from here on out!

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