By Ben Clewer

Sunday 6th April was the date this year when hundreds of dancers descended upon the Medway Lesuire Centre in Gillingham, Kent for the annual ISTD Medallist competition.

Upon arriving I had to park on the grass at the leisure centre as it was incredibly busy and I found it quite funny that, although we all travelled separately from different places, most of us from Dancerite seemed to pull into the car park together.

We arrived just as the last finals of the junior and juvenile rounds were finishing. I always find it incredible, and admittedly slightly scary, seeing how good the little ones are as they put nearly all of us to shame. The smallest dancers were as young as eight and were being watched on by many eager adults preparing for the afternoon’s competition. I’m sure there were plenty in the hall who wished they were still that age!

Alas, with a tight schedule ahead, we set about getting changed into our Ballroom gear ready for the adult 1st rounds and left the youngsters to their presentations. Now, despite having only been dancing 18 months, this was my 12th competition so I wasn’t exactly nervous. However, I was determined to do better than at this event last year, where I failed to make it to the 2nd round in either of my solo events, so the challenge was on!

As always, the competition began with the Under 35 Social Dance Test, so I was on first to open the proceedings. All the dancers were called to the front so that numbers could be taken, and all the boys from Dancerite were careful to line up next to each other to remove the risk of having to deal with the dreaded partner changes. I was drawn in the 2nd heat which was not something i’m used to, so at least I got to listen to the music before I started my heat which always helps.

Now those of you who know me, will know i’m a competitive person, but thankfully I’d already qualified for Ballroom at Blackpool from the ISTD Bournemouth competition so I could afford to relax and enjoy this one. And I have to say, I did exactly that. I thoroughly enjoyed the two rounds I was a part of, enabling me to comfortably show off the shaping i’d been working on for the previous weeks as well as putting in a couple of extra little steps I normally leave out, all of which helped bring out a big smile as I waltzed past my fellow Dancerite friends.

Next up was the Ballroom couples, and yet another experience for me with a new partner. Laura I danced our waltz and made the semi-final, a result we were both very happy with. I compete mainly on the university circuit, so couples dancing is what I enjoy the most and it was lovely to see so many couples enjoying themselves.

As the evening approached, the latin dances began. This was crunch time for me as I was looking to qualify for Blackpool before the last competition in Bracknell. But it was not to be, as I was knocked out at the semi-final, not a bad result though. Dancerite as whole did extremely well, with many jiving their socks and tights off and reaching their respective finals. The last event, the couples latin, saw yet another semi-final result for me, they say things come in threes!

The highlight of the day has to be Fred’s face in the Ballroom Solos Bronze presentation. Tory had won the competition but had to leave earlier in the afternoon, so Fred took her place for the photos as her teacher. I’ve never seen such a joyous face!

I think it’s fair to say Tory may not actually get her trophy… ! All in all, it was a great day, as it always is with everyone from Dancerite, however I am looking forward to a few months rest over the summer from both the ISTD and University circuits. Then it’s back to training hard in time for ISTD Bracknell & eventually Blackpool. See you there!

Results

Pictures