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IDSF open Latin and standard

This weekend took place a wonderful dance event in Marseille. To my view it is the 2nd biggest competition in France, the biggest being a bit earlier in the year in Paris. Marseille is a city where the French and Italian cultures intercept. The housing and the general infrastructure of the city are similar to those in Italy. Obviously because Marseille is very close to Italy.

The people there like to have a chat or a dispute over something with a touch of arrogance. Certainly, a problem with English is present, as it is in Italy and all of the Hispanic and Roman European countries. For a tourist it’s essential to have knowledge of the language in this area, or at least have a dictionary to show the words. The highlights of the normal city life are definitely the shops of delicate pastries and the restaurants near the water that are open at specific times in the day for lunch and dinner.

Lots of space are the words that would characterize the Sports Palace of Marseille. Bright lighting was also great at the big dance hall where the competition was held. The couples were predominantly from France, Italy and Spain. The judging was unfortunate because the panel was a bit too national. This made the results a bit strange to some dance experts. The most interesting battle of the evening was in the Adult Standard category where the Polish Champions Wiktor Kiszka and his partner after putting on a strong, stable and assured performance won over a much higher Slovenian Champion couple Domen Krapez and his partner. The Slovenians definitely had a much better result in the past, being semi-finalists in Blackpool and all of the other top events in our business. The Poles on the other hand still danced in the Rising Stars categories at many events which means they weren’t rated as the top 24 for those events. It was a much-deserved success for Poland.

Next year get equipped with a dictionary, bring money for pastries and come to France!

Vadim Garbuzov, 20 March 2005

The popularity of dance sport throughout the world

Dance sport or ballroom dancing, however you call it, is covering the world with its wings of beauty and enchantment. Audiences throughout the globe enjoy the atmosphere created by the dancers on either on a competitive floor, or as a solo showcase. The driving force behind the growing popularity of dance sport is this time a TV program. What could you find better than television nowadays to get something known?

The BBC in England started something that every dancer should be thankful for: Strictly Come Dancing. This is the name under which the first program began in England. The program involves an interesting concept. Dancers are teamed up with celebrities to form a partnership in which every couple must dance all of the 10 dances included into a competitive program, if they make it to the next episode. Around 10 dancer-celebrity partnerships are formed and each one dances one dance solo on the floor. Between their performances videoclips of their practice sessions are shown along with interviews of the participants. Anyway, most of us have probably seen this program in their country which was named probably a bit differently and had touches of individuality that suit the nation more accordingly. If it’s not yet in your country you can probably watch the channel of the nab our country that has it, or just wait until your local TV company purchases the rights for it from BBC.

The best thing about it is the viewer participation, the viewers and judges play a 50/50 role in the decision for who will not make the next round. The biggest profit is for dance schools, who attract up to 30 % more newcomers in some of the countries. The dance schools’ successes are most likely the dance world’s successes as well. In the countries where the dance teachers are holding quite strong associations, only the professional dancers are allowed to take part in the teaming up with celebrity’s program. Italy for example has Youth couples participating in the show. That’s amateur dancers of age from 16 to 18. They’ve also got juveniles from 8 to 11 years old dancing performances while the celebrities take a break. Amazing popularity for dancing.

Unfortunately, in many of the countries the dancers taking part are not of a high level, which definitely puts down the image of ballroom dancing in front of people involved with other dance styles on a certain level. Maybe even the general mass of people will not think it is too spectacular because of the low capabilities of some of the celebrities put together with some unprofessional professionals. At the moment talking about the negative sides of this is in some way irrelevant because there are much more positive sides to it. Dancing has been waiting for this to happen for many decades and thank God this big push for dancing happened and hopefully will continue to draw people into the wonderful world of dance!

Vadim Garbuzov, 1st November 2005

What is the real motivation to dance?

What is the real motivation of dance? Why do people want to dance? Why do they strive for success in whatever they choose to do? How to get the inspiration to go further? Is it possible to create the performance of a lifetime? How to motivate someone to keep on striving for beautiful things like every artist? In which form of expression should someone bring what’s inside out to the world? How to find the proper educational opportunities?

With questions like this my mind is often occupied. With the future of life and the commitment to something that people do their whole lives. I for example do not know for sure what I want. Everyone should and can find their own path in life. It is a fact that it is possible. The one who searches will always find. I feel like a part of what’s inside of me hasn’t found its form of demonstration yet. It can be words, dance, texts, songs… With any one of these things, it’s possible to express something that the other form cannot bring out. Is it possible to combine all these things into one? Of course, there should be some kind of specialization, but maybe all of these forms should be available for someone who strives to bring their inner selves to the outer world. What sort of thoughts or experiences is pushing me to write these things, I don’t know. I will look at this text one day when I am in a clearer state of mind and think: such strangeness I have written. I feel I need to find a way bring myself into the state of mind that will be productive and will bring peace and completeness inside my inner self. Is this impossible?

Maybe the constant feelings of incompleteness are the engines which drive the people to new discoveries and development. I have no idea if the state I am in right now is right or wrong. Should it be like this or should I be thinking of other things and be feeling completely different? The results at the competitions don’t worry me too much. It is something else that I am constantly thinking about. Something to do with finding the right slot in life. I know it has to do with dancing somehow. My experience cannot be lost. I am not willing to leave the path I have taken for now. But how to enrich it? How to make it as productive as possible? How to be and feel as complete and developed as possible? These are just some thoughts I felt like sharing.

Watching the performances of great dancers, I try to understand what improved from year to year, if it improved. Usually, it is not so easy to find what exactly has gotten better. Yes, it changed somehow. But is it better? What are the ones that don’t improve doing wrong? There can be of course very many things that could play a role. There could be a word to generalize the whole thing. If the problems are not physical, I mean sickness or age, then they are mental. Could the reason be that they have lost their interest? Their motivation to strive for farther success because everything is already okay the way it is at the moment. Constant ability to earn a salary for example. Maybe it is because they have suspected that this point in their life would be different. Perhaps more successful. Not accepting the fact that after one achieves a successful result in dance nothing really changes.

At the beginning of a dance career a dancer dreams of the moment of being the world champion. He imagines it to be a special moment. The life will be different: he thinks to himself. Then the moment comes and the next day roses are not falling from the sky as one walks. No one asks for autographs on the streets. The sun does not shine bright every time the yesterday successful person decides to take a walk. Perhaps disappointment takes hold.

For some reason some dancers with titles did not leave a strong mark in the dance world. You don’t hear people talking about their past performances as remembered ones among dancers; you don’t see dancers copying their routines.

Let’s take three retired dancers for example. Paul Killick, Allan Tornsberg and Jukka Haapalainen. Paul Killick managed to leave a certain mark in the scene. He never had a chance to win the Blackpool or World professional Latin title, was usually second. This man is talked about among dancers, his videos watched and admired and his pride and slightly self-oriented charisma will never be forgotten. Alan Tornsberg also stayed in the middle of the pro final for many years and never won a big title against his fellow top 3 competitors in the professional division. His love for Latin American characterization and his hot relationship with his partners on the floor left a strong influence on the dance world.