The Open West London Championships
By Iris Findlay
The Open West London Championships, National Selection, Trophies and Awards Day was presented by Philip Wylie and Pam Peters at Egham Sports Centre in Surrey, on December 10, 2006. Doors opened at 9.45am for the juvenile and junior competitions and the final adult prize presentation was made at about 10pm. Included in the proceedings was a university Dance Team Challenge match with couples from six universities taking part. The turn-out of young dancers was quite small, but the quality of their dancing made up for it.
The seven adjudicators with chairman David Douglas were introduced, and the ballroom section of the juvenile and juniors took place first, followed by the Latin. The West London Open Juvenile Ballroom Trophy and Latin Trophy winners were Jordan Sahota and Deanna Cox, the West London Open Junior Ballroom and Latin Trophy winners were Jonas Kazlaukas and Sasha Golovchenko. Both couples achieved the double and qualified for the Stars of the Future, to be held at a later date. The adult and child competitions were great fun, particularly the cha cha cha. Philip decided the competitors had to dance it straight-legged, and two of the adjudicators – Lynette Boyce and Jane Phillips – had to demonstrate, with hilarious results! The final was also great to watch, and the audience loved every minute of it. The winners were Jonas Kazlaukas and Kirsty Sahota.
It was then back to the serious stuff: the adults. Richard Still and Morgan Hemphill won the West London Open Amateur Ballroom Championship and then made it a double by winning the West London Open Amateur Latin Trophy in the evening with some excellent dancing. The Open Senior Modern Trophy went to Eric and Charlotte Vroon, a charming couple from The Netherlands. Bob and Jenny Sampson took the Over 50s Open Modern Trophy, Ian and Jennifer Curson won the Open Senior Latin, and the EADA Youth 10 Dance National Selection winners were Kyle Taylor and Jourdan Stone.
Most of the university students entered the open competitions and their enthusiasm for dance was lovely to see. They cheered on their friends and colleagues and created a great atmosphere. The university competition was won by Oxford A, runners-up Oxford B, in third place Oxford, Bristol and Southampton combined, fourth Cardiff A, fifth Cardiff B and sixth Oxford and Imperial College combined. The prizes were sponsored and presented by Beverley Holley of Sparkle Designs, and Denis Gascoigne supplied excellent music all day to the delight of the dancers and the listeners. After the final prize presentations Philip thanked all the people who had assisted during the day to make it so successful, and he wished everyone a happy festive season. It was a great day of competitions and fun due to the hard work of Philip and Pam – I am certain that there will be many more combined competitions days like this.
Photographs by Morrison Findlay.
