UK Championships 2009

January 15th & 16th:

This trip already has a better beginning than the last UK Championships. Most of you know that I had Pneumonia for 2 weeks before going to England. Of course I did not know it until I got there. We had to miss the Latin events due to 2 dislocated ribs from the coughing causing lots of pain when lifting my arms. I had a pain killer overdose as well. So, this time I feel healthy, we have had plenty of practice, no dislocated ribs, and no coughing, or pain killer overdose.

We had an uneventful flight through Atlanta. Arrived in London at 10:30am on January 16th and are probably going to spend the rest of the day getting to our flat, buying food, and sleeping. Tomorrow we have 2 lessons with Michael and Vicky Barr as well as 2 with Goran Nordin.

January 17th:

Today was the beginning of a long and busy 2 weeks. We got up at 5:30 to get ready to go to our lessons, 2 hour drive north, with Michael and Vicki Barr. The lessons were awesome as usual. We then traveled back to London for some lessons with Goran Nordin, they were later at night so we had a little break in the middle of the day. We then had our lessons with Goran and stayed for rounds at the Semley. Rounds is 2 hours of practice from 8pm to 10pm. The Ballroom is about 1/2 the size of Impulse. There were 40 couples in 3 heats. There are sometimes up to 80 during the rounds. Rounds are great not just because you get a lot of good practice but also because you get to watch and dance with some of the best in the world. Tonight we had Slavik and Hannah, and Sergey and Melia. We could not watch too much though because they were both in our heat. It was a late night but worth it.

January 18th:

Today was our first competition. It did not go as well as we had hoped. Although practices have felt great and lessons have been equally as comfortable, today felt a little stressed. This is the main reason we dance these comps before the major event, to get some of the nerves and get a couple of rounds before dancing the main event. We dance at this particular location 3 times per year and the floor is always challenging. This was the best it has ever been so it was not an excuse. We are going to get up for another practice early tomorrow morning to go through a couple of rough spots before leaving for Bournemouth.

January 19th:

Today we got up at 7:30 and went to morning practice from 8 to 10 at Dance Options. Practice was good and hopefully it shows in the dancing tomorrow. We then traveled south to Bournemouth, 2 hours drive.

We were able to check into our hotel right away, which is unusual in UK because check in is usually about 4pm. We normally stay with friends, but the bad economy in this tourist city has hit everyone hard and we have had to get  a hotel. But, we got a great deal - $30 for both of us and it includes breakfast.

After getting a quick bite to eat and going shopping for groceries, we went to the Dance lectures in the BIC (Bournemouth International Center). These lectures are really cool. They are very busy. The lectures are done by some of the top teachers in the world. It is about 30 minutes per teacher. They all have couples to demonstrate with. This year the lecturers were Tone Nyhagen from Norway, Anne Lexholm from Denmark, Lene James-Mikkelsen, and our favorite Kenny Welsh. It was interesting that his lecture was identical to our January standard seminar on the positions. The lectures always end with an interview of a senior dance teacher, but this time it was a tribute to Bill and Bobbie Irvine. Markus and Karen Hilton, Greg Smith, John Kimmins, Oliver Wessel-Therhorn, and Andrew Sinkinson were the interviewed dancers. They showed numerous videos from competitions as far back as the 1960s. It was pretty amazing, that a couple that danced such a long time ago still has such an incredible influence.