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Event Reports

What have the Masters been up to recently?

 

The Norwegian Masters 2007

From the South of France to Oslo, quite a culture jump, all in a weeks work for our Masters.

Arriving separately, as Paul flew from Newcastle with Rachael and Rob going from Manchester, the hotel was a sight to behold, a fairytale looking traditional hotel, caked in authentic Norwegian snow.

After checking in Paul only had twenty minutes to get ready before welcoming the dancers in on the door.

The event was very busy and there was barely a space to be had and speaking of space the ceiling was a little low as Paul noted worrying about the lift he has to perform with Rachael in the show.

With a playlist available on the wall and requests played in between, the night ran very smooth with workshops from both Rachael and Rob.

A lot of new people were there which is encouraging and many more to come over the weekend.

Paul performed two demos on the Friday night, which the audience seemed to really enjoy.

He then stayed up to party til the early hours, he claims its something they put in the water on the KLM flight.

Saturday began with workshops from 12 onwards with all of our Masters teaching and dancing the play list dances in between.

They then had the opportunity to practice their demo in the low ceiling room, which brought new problems as they realised how many other lifts they have in the show, with a little bit of compromise and the use of some limited higher space, they managed to rehearse well.

The night progressed well with Paul and Rob getting roped into a tenth anniversary celebration demo for event co-ordinator Cato Larsen, they managed reasonably well, amidst laughs and looking at each other for the next step, although that’s nothing new.

The time came for the masters show and its was performed with high energy and high worry for the ceiling.

The masters came through unscathed as did the ceiling thanks to some clever adjustments and awareness.

Everyone then danced away till the early hours with many of the competitors turning in for an early night.

Sunday began relatively early with competitors warming up and the masters preparing for the competition.

The ballroom was absolutely packed as they cheered on the start of the competition, competitors putting on their best performances.

Judges Paul, Rob and Rachael were given a headache with many of the divisions.

The day ran smoothly with a workshop in between some of the dances and the awards given out precisely and read professionally by Rachael.

The audience cheered at the results and as the Masters packed up, competitors asked for comments and tips on their dancing.

Everyone then said their goodbyes promising to see our Masters at another European event soon for their second qualifier to be able to go to the World Dance Masters in August.

The masters then conducted a quick meeting before heading for an early night before their early morning flights in the morning.

With many of the Norwegian competitors looking to qualify for Worlds its looking like an amazing competition this year at August.

For a fairytale hotel and a busy event, the Norwegian Masters is the place to be in March.
 

The French Masters 2007

With Paul and Rachael just back from the first French masters, read on to find out about how fantastic the event was, the incredible support and the overall enthusiasm for dance in Marseille.

The first French Masters was a resounding success from the moment our Masters arrived to the time they boarded the return plane home, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The French Masters event co-ordinators, Jerome and Gilbert were as always perfect in making everyone feel welcome.
The venue is fantastic with an impressive size main ballroom and other dance studios also being used for not only line dance technique and couples but also Irish dancing, tap dancing and hip hop.
So overall a great selection of dance workshops to choose from and along the way you could bump into dancers from Holland, England, Switzerland, Spain and of course France.

Rachael once more displayed her fluent French linguistic skills, Paul made a promise to brush up on his French for next year.
Joining Rachael and Paul in France was the charismatic Glenn Rogers who played a fantastic set on the Friday night and was extremely well received by the audience.
Saturday produced another day of workshops, including technique and dances from Parisian instructor Robert Wanstreet, who was a fantastic personality and invaluable translator at times.
The Saturday night show was performed by Paul and Rachael, a version of the phantom of the opera, including a restart after stopping in the middle of the final piece because of a music mix up, Paul was thankful for the breather.
Sunday began with the competition and never in all the competitions they have been in have the Masters heard such roaring support for the competitors for the excited crowd.
The competitors danced at an extremely high level and gave the judges, Paul, Robert and Rachael, and extremely hard time in the heats.
The finals were enthralling as once again the audience showed their support for their favourite dances, meanwhile in the dance studios more workshops of technique, new dances, Irish and Hip Hop were being held for anyone feeling the need to dance.
Awards were quickly called out by the always impressive Rachael with help from Jerome, Gilbert and Robert.
Paul was assisted in giving out prizes by the Mayor of Rognac and the ever helpful Mr Wanstreet.
The dancers then received advice and help from Paul and Rachael as they prepared to pack up ready for tomorrows early morning flight.

Set in the beautiful South of France, in a fantastic venue with fantastic people and many workshops to choose from, what are you waiting for?
Look out for next years French Masters and we haven’t even started on the food yet.
 


The British Masters 2006

Well from the last major weekend in 2006 for the Masters and what a weekend it was!, if you were there you know exactly how good it was, if you weren’t you may have just missed out on the event of the year.

The British Masters 2006 will go down as one of the events of the year because everything worked well, Gary Lafferty was immense running the social room and keeping all the instructors and dancers happy throughout.

Richard Williams had done a fantastic job before the weekend of making sure the competition ran accordingly and Mr Fowler made sure the competition ran well as did Rachael, with Mr McAdam judging throughout.

The demo got 5 star reviews with many people saying it was the best the Masters have done.

On top of that the parties went on until the early hours with the room still very full as everyone wanted to stay up and party.

Rob arrived in Prestatyn early to make sure everything was set up and ready to go, Rachael and Paul arrived later on with both of them getting stuck in traffic. Paul tried a quicker route but turned out to be incredibly slower.

Nevertheless they all made it there and slowly and surely the dancers were making their way into the “Dragonfest” ballroom as it has now been so fondly named.

It was soon full up and the atmosphere was fantastic as everyone packed the floor for beginner dances right through to the latest advanced dances. Gary really was working his magic with his choice of dances.

All the instructors were in the room and everyone could really feel that it was going to be a good weekend.

The night went on with Gary playing until 2.30am, then everyone retired for what was to be a jam packed day on Saturday.


It was over to the big ballroom for the Masters as the competition proceeded with Pro-Am, then on to the Open competition, then on to the Heats.

This ran smoothly as did the workshops in the Dragonfest ballroom with the dancers having plenty to choose from.

This ran into the afternoon break, then the Masters had a short break to practice their newest demo, which all three of them were extremely nervous about, having never performed it before and it taking a lot out of all three of them.

The night began and the surprise guest was a fantastic slot from singer Rick Guard, he performed a fantastic array of songs, showcasing his amazing voice and suggesting dances to each song, Rick was very well received and enjoyed it immensely.

It was coming up to the Masters demo time and Paul had to get ready an hour early as he had to have “make up” applied. You’ll know exactly why if you saw it, Paul came out as the Phantom Of The Opera to start, followed by Rachael in a fantastic dress performing a cha cha which she was then joined by Paul as they performed a couples cha cha, this was then followed by a couples performance between Rachael and Rob, performing as Christine an Raul, It was then a hilarious solo by Mr F, followed by an amazing fight scene between the Phantom and Raul, which was followed by an enchanting waltz by Rachael. Paul had to make a quick recovery to perform a stunning couples piece with Rachael to “ The music of the Night”.

The Masters then rounded it off with a rousing number by The Kaiser Chiefs, the performance went down a storm and the Masters were completely relieved.

This allowed our heroic trio to enjoy the rest of the night and they partied till the very end, with Gary once more playing a fantastic selection of songs, with both competition dancers and social dancers enjoying themselves. Just don’t mention those vodka slush drinks, apparently they were quite addictive.

Sunday approached and it was far too early as the Masters moved up a gear to make sure the British Masters Championship 2006 ran as smooth as Robs sexy solo performance the night before.

The standard on show was unbelievable with the competitors obviously putting in extra hours of practice and improving vastly, who’d be a judge.

The day ran well and awards was on time as Rachael read them out in her now always flawless manner, Fowler and McAdam sweated about the prizes for a while and managed not to cry.

Some people then headed home but for the majority a classic wind down party was happening in the dragonfest ballroom, as the exhausted Gary Lafferty once again proved why he’s the best, by turning on the quality tunes again, to keep everyone on their feet. The Masters mingled and chatted to competitors and social dancers about the event, as everyone relaxed and had a last good party.

The Masters then said their goodbyes with Rob careful to thank the “losers”, this was another pearl as earlier he had asked everyone to put their massive hands together.

The Masters then wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as they welcome Lady Barbara on stage to say their thankyou’s.

An event like this could not go on without the help of lots of people including: All The runners and door staff, the catering staff, Pontin’s staff, The Judges, The Instructors, Gary Lafferty, Alan Birchall and Matthew Sharkey for DJing the competition room, Richard Williams & co, Dave The Rave, All the Pros, All the competitors and families, and all of the social dancers, a sincere thank you from Masters In Line, we wish you a Very, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.



See You in 2007!

All The Best

Masters In Line


Posted by Rachael.