Strictly Come Spanish Dancing
By Carole Edrich
At the same time as Move It 2007 was in full swing in London’s Olympia exhibition hall, Viva España held a “Strictly Come Spanish Dancing” competition in the adjoining hall next door.
Vera King of the Peña Flamenca de Londres and Sherrill Wexler of the Spanish Dance Society judged three heats every day. Brendan Cole from the BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing” joined them for the third heat on Sunday as well as the finals. Sherrill Wexler explained, “When we discussed the entries, Brendan either agreed with us or said clearly that the dancing did nothing for him. On the whole we all agreed and he appreciated that everyone was doing their best. Although each day was very long for us, Vera and I had a lot of fun and it was particularly rewarding when we saw the fruits of our work at the finals”.
Nuria Garcia, head of Escuela de Baile, said “I was really happy with the professional show. The Griffins danced really well and so did the chorus of students from the school”. Sherrill agreed: “The professional performances started off well on Friday and got better every day.”
“The worst part of it all was seeing people getting knocked out in the heats,” added Nuria. “Whoever it was, it was heart breaking. I felt for them all.”
Completely different from the Move It audience, it was clear that everyone loved the competition and show. David Domoney from GMTV was the perfect compére and Nuria Garcia worked hard behind the scenes. Angus Cruikshank, one of the four musicians, said “David Domoney was brilliant. He covered everything seamlessly, made everyone feel relaxed, and had an easy, friendly banter going on with us in the band.” According to Sherrill Wexler, “He was so professional and even made sure that he had the pronunciation of the different dances and competitors’ names right.”
Sandra Rapacioli’s tango won the category for under five years experience, and her prize was a free intensive Easter course with Escuela de Baile. Isodaora Peric’s Bulerías por Solea won the category for dancers with more than five years of experience and a free course with the Spanish Dance Society. As the overall winner, Peric also won a holiday in Spain.
This was an excellent and professional production that everyone enjoyed. Here’s hoping that it will be the first of an annual event, that more people and more schools will join, allowing it to grow from strength to strength every year.
Photograph of some of the participants by Jeremy Hoare.
