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HomeThis was the fourth dance festival, sponsored by DanceSport International, to be held in the magnificent Spa complex on Scarborough's south bay sea front. As last year, it started on Tuesday afternoon with a tea dance and ended with a gala dance to the Ross Mitchell band and singers on Saturday evening, followed by a competition day on Sunday. We were also treated to a firefighting display when vandals set fire to some holiday chalets on the cliffside nearby.
As usual there was something for dancers of all abilities, with three dance sessions each day. Philip Wylie presented a modern workshop each morning, and guest dancers gave latin workshops in the afternoons with demonstration cabarets in the evening.
Keith Clifton returned from last year ably assisted by his wife Judy.
(Judy was also one of the adjudicators for the competition on Sunday,
and it was lovely to see her smiling throughout a very long day!) There
was a double helping of Keith this year as he stood in for Paul Richardson
& Jasna Koselj who ended their partnership earlier in the year and
now had other commitments.
Keith's first talk covered his Ten Commandments of Dancing. These included;
"Thou shalt dance in time with the music", a slight dig at sequence
dancers starting on '1' rather than '2'; the seemingly obvious "Thou
shalt dance with both feet" which he developed into the use of both
the standing and the moving leg; and "Thou shalt not go down if thou
knowest not how to get up again" aimed at some of the over adventurous
amongst us. Each commandment was accompanied by demonstration and anecdotes
in Keith's own jocular style.
The second session was entitled "The Importance of Half an Inch".
I'll leave it to you to think of some of the ways in which an extra half
inch might make a difference. If you can't think of any, how about carrying
your body weight half an inch farther forward ....
Warren Bullock & Jane Phillips taught a short samba routine with the man's part kept very simple, with much derision from the ladies. Their evening cabaret showcased their ballroom talents. Jane took a back seat for the tango when Warren was joined by Delores XVI. Apparently Delores I to XV suffered from terminal leaks and kept hissing in the corner!
Amateur couples Kevin Clifton and Lisa Darby, and Ilyia Maleko and Kimberley Taylor gave latin demonstrations during the evenings. Both couples went on to do well at the British Nationals in Blackpool last week. Kevin and Lisa were third in the Amateur Latin, and Ilyia and Beverley came fourth in the Under 21 Amateur Modern.
Saturday night's gala dance featured the Scarborough Waltz Trophy competition which was open to all non-professional dancers. This was won by Ewan and Julia Wallace, from Aberdeen, seen here with Ross Mitchell and the other finalists.
Danny and Maureen Kendall again hosted sequence warmups to the main dance sessions plus two tea dances in the Grand Hall. They also taught two recent dances, the Blue Mambo and Charleston Tango, and we had several opportunities to practice these during the week. Sadly, Maureen's father had died suddenly the previous week so she and Danny had to miss Warren's session to attend the funeral.
Next year's Scarborough Dance Festival is provisionally scheduled for
5th to 10th November.
Further information in due course from Philip Wylie whose details can
be found on the Dancesport pages here.
Click for some other photos or my report of last year's festival.
