Salsa Students clean up at Dance Competition - DANCE101 - “Dance Made Easy” Dance classes & Events, Salsa, Latin American, Ballroom all over Melbourne!

Almost 50 DANCE101 students arrived at Copacabana last night (Friday 19th September, 2008) to compete in the Spring Amateur Salsa Competition and boy did they dance up a storm!

Over 200 friends and family of DANCE101 flooded into the local Melbourne Salsa / Latin venue, the place was packed to the rafters and sweating with excitement and anticipation.

The host for the night was an absolutely scream, Alex Espinosa, with his Cubano-English, mixed up phrases and mispronounciations. 50% of the audience was in hysterics, the other 50% were in disbelief. Our favorite was after several attempts to pronounce "Mark Dalgliesh" Alex resorted to "Mark..dag...dak... oh somesing like dat".

Something must have been put into the water at DANCE101 venues during the week because an additional six people plucked up the courage to enter on the night and just jump into the fun, throwing caution to the wind! (That's more than some studios had in the entire competition!)

Sure, there was prize money and trophies up for grabs but these students weren't in it for that, you could tell by the look on their faces and the support they gave one another, they were in it for the sheer fun of it!

The Heats

The Beginner heats saw all the DANCE101 students completely dancing on time, Paul and Cheryl were absolutely delighted to have nailed this distinction in the lead up 6 week preparation course. But not only were they dancing in time, you could see the fun and freedom they were getting from their movement and laughter on the competition floor!

The Intermediates heats were an absolute spectacle with Ramon the DANCE101 Mascot (2) resplendent in his gold vest and theatrical dance moves. Resident Williamstown dance-nut Garry Waye didnt dissapoint with his debut of his fabulous dancepants and "stop-start" dance enthusiastic Damon Hunter made a big comeback with Samantha "do-you-think-they-can-see-my-underpants" Senkans.

The Advanced heats were a real challenge and showed the huge difference in skill level between students. Advance level meant the competitors were dancing for more than one year but you could also have people dancing for 10 years, so the impact on the audience was one of intrigue and puzzlement.

Daniel Cusamano and Rhonda Pollard danced their best dance so far in this heat. In her first competition ever, Rhonda was elevated from Beginner to Advanced to dance with Daniel. After bighting off more than they could both chew, this hard working couple chewed like mad and put in a fabulous effort.

Andrea and Steve Damiani danced up a storm with their polished routine, their presence on the dance floor was a joy to watch and they are to be congratulated on their effort at holding it together in this tough round of heats. They stayed focused and turned it on for the audience and judges.

First Place Beginner Salsa Section

The Beginner Salsa event was won by the dynamic moves of Mark Dalgleish (Williamstown) and Frances LaMaria(Dandenong). Their polished and fluid Beginner moves were titilating and a joy to watch, they were controlled, balanced and put in an incredible performance.

Second Place Beginner Salsa Section

Well done to Christine (Dandenong) and Leigh (Dandenong) who took out second place in their first ever dance competition. This couple worked solidly at enjoying their dancing and sticking to basics to create a wonderful, composed and beautiful dance action. And to think they weren't going to dance togther! Well done guys. great work!

Peoples Choice Award (Most Popular voted by the audience) Beginner Section - was taken out by Mark Dalgleish and Frances LaMaria, well done guys, you definitely have something that inspires people and creates enjoyment on the dancefloor.

First Place Intermediate Salsa Section

This event was won by the entertaining antics of Adam Jacobs and Lesley Watson. Their banter, late arrival and absolutely abandon on the dance floor stole the crowds heart and the judges minds. Adam and Lesley (previous winners of the April Beginner section) took out the First Place in the Intermediate Salsa section, winning a trophy and $600 in prize money. Awesome work guys! Congratulations.

Second Place Intermediate Salsa Section

Congratulations to David and Susan who won their first award in a dance competition. This couple worked incredibly hard to get their timing and combined with some powerful dynamism from Dave's lead and great following capacity from Susan, they remained solid on the dance floor and just kept powering through the four long minutes to take out second place. I think they will be pinching themselves for a few weeks to come!

Third Place Intermediate Salsa Section

DANCE101 took out all three places in the Intermediate Section this time (last time we took out all three in Beginners). Congratulations to Ramon Zahra and Sandra Martin who did an amazing job of staying in time despite the theatrics of the incredible Ray. They were an absolute joy to watch and had the entire room in stitches with Rays famous dance moves. Well done guys!

DANCE101 achieved incredible results!

1st Place Beginner Salsa - Mark Dalgliesh & Frances LaMaria
2nd Place Beginner Salsa - Christin Kovas & Leight Redfern
1st Place Intermediate Salsa - Adam Jacobs & Lesley Watson
2nd Place Intermediate Salsa - David Spiteri & Susan Demakis
3rd Place Intermediate Salsa - Raymon Zahra & Sandra Martin
Peoples Choice Beginner Salsa - Mark Dalgliesh & Frances LaMaria
Peoples Choice Intermediate Salsa - Adam Jacobs & Lesley Watson

The results were incredible in terms of placements and Peoples Choice Awards, it was even more powerful considering the standard of dance that was in the room, not just in the DANCE101 guys but in the other studio representation.

We were also extremely pleased to see the level of judging at this event. With people like Alarna Donovan, Robin Sewell, Angelique Cerminara, Fabbio Isaacs, Natalie Montano.. it was the fairest we have seen at a Salsa competition. With such a great combination of Salsa Judges and Latin Judges it really broke up any potential for studio bias.

But for DANCE101 it's not about the winning, we know, it sounds like a cliche' but if you ask our guys, they will tell you, they all had a ball learning, dancing and they all got some significant breakthrough in their dance as a result of the 6 week program they completed.

There were so many achievements that weren't visible to the crowd and weren't represented with a trophy or a placement, here are just a few that touched our hearts and inspired others around them

Allan Sheeran - absolutely getting the "dancing in time" distinction, his life will never be the same!
Maryanne Frisina - partnering & patience, just keep dancing, you never know what might happen
Garry Waye - well, what can we say... the best prize of all! We'll wait for you to announce it :-)
Rudy Spivak - getting the "partnering & timing" distinction, its so great to see you dance in time
Andrea Ponce - patience with a partner, allowing them to get a lesson in their own time
Lee Zelada - "timing" converting latino blood into tangible dance & partnering moves
Roger Emburty (spelling) - never giving up
Tristan Beck - "leading & self expression" it's nice to finally meet you, we can't wait to see more!
Blazenka Bazek - "following" finally dancing as a woman! Congratulations

Acknowledgements

We'd like to say a very big thank you to our assistants that helped us put this fabulous program together. Without their help, the logistics of delivering 50 competitors onto the floor would not be possible. Your dedication and commitment was inspiring and we appreciate the effort you made to be there every week and be there for everyone. Thank you

Joanne Ciantar
Susie Sabolcki
Keenan Kennedy
Michelle Cassidy
Anton Kapusi
Genine Marra

Thank you also to the wonderful group of men that helped us manage the male/female ratio, Neil, Marcus, Damon, Charles ( x 2), we have such a wonderful community of people around us, its so nice to know we can call upon you for support.

We look forward to the next competition in April, 2009 in the meantime, stay tuned for more exciting programs, events and competitions brought to you by DANCE101 and the Salsa & Latin Community of Melbourne.

Cheryl Smith & Paul Zaidman

NEWS ARCHIVES

Check out these news articles from previous events such as Dancing with the Stars, Strictly Dancing etc.

Want more info? Contact us on info@dance101.com.au or call on 0417 700 767