I’ll make no apology to anyone for immediately having a grumble. I do wish the BDC would have taken note of my comment last year and changed the start time to 9.30 am, or even 10 am. We do stay overnight but could appreciate that others who travel early that same morning might really feel it a bit of a struggle. We didn’t have a good start to the day as we could not persuade our hotel to serve breakfast before 8 o’clock. With the competition due to start at 9 a.m., it really was a bit of a rush to get there. The hotel staff seemed unable to grasp the urgency of getting us served so Ray had to do without his normal "Full English" and toast. (All say, "Aaah, poor Ray" !).

As is usual for so many of the Competitions days, the weather was lovely. We arrived to find quite a long queue, mainly competitors and their friends, waiting for the doors to be opened. It wasn’t long before we all began to make our way into the King’s Hall. This is a large, very old building with the main hall/ballroom surrounded by corridors. There is plenty of good seating, with an upstairs gallery, accessible via a lift, for those who prefer an aerial view of the dance floor. (For anyone thinking about attending next year, it might be best to take your own refreshments because there is very little available at the Hall).

Of course, there was some general dancing throughout the day. This is always very much welcomed by competitors and spectators alike. In due course, the competition started with the introduction of today’s adjudicators whose names are shown at the top of the Entries & Results listing. Unfortunately, the couple who were listed as being "first on" were delayed due to road works so, unexpectedly, Ray and Lissia were suddenly announced as being first to dance. After they had done their first bit, Ray did tell me he had found it difficult to hear his music. Most unfortunately, although Jean (Robson) is very experienced in the role and does an excellent job of playing the competitors’ CDs, there were some early teething problems with the music although nothing too serious. I did see various people from time to time standing over the equipment, obviously trying to improve the sound quality. Their efforts must have paid off because it wasn’t too long before I realised the problem seemed to have been cured.

The first section danced was the Latin: there were 22 dances demonstrated which was reduced to 15 being recalled to another round. Neither of the 3 dances entered by Ray and Lissia was included so this was a big disappointment. However, that’s the way the cookie crumbles, so the saying goes. Those 15 dances were demonstrated once again with 12 going further to a semi-final. There wasn’t long to wait before we heard the numbers of the 5 dances being recalled to the Final round. Interspersed with some general dancing, the Final result was announced. This Latin section was won by Robert & Louise Aldred with their JUNEAU JIVE. I very much like this jive, so neatly and simply demonstrated. When Robert taught their dance he very kindly announced an easy, acceptable alternative to dancing the figure called a Miami Special, which is probably new to many sequence dancers. Thank you, Robert, for this sensible consideration. For those who cannot get to attend competitions and therefore do not know what some of the competitors look like, I must tell you that this couple are both quite young; Louise is tall, very slim, with legs that go on forever! She wore a short skirt, making the most of those long legs (yes, I am green with envy!) which maximised the visual appeal of this new jive. Well done, Louise and Robert.

Once again, there was some more general dancing soon followed by the start of the Classical section. This is the British Dance Council’s own competition; am I to assume, therefore, that their naming of this as the CLASSICAL (SOCIAL) SECTION is their official description of what used to be known as the Old Time section? Let’s see if the other competition organisers will do likewise.

So, on with this next section. Once again, there were 22 dances entered. Considering there were seven different types of dance included, it was quite surprising to see 8 Tangos and only 2 Swings.

Following the first round 14 were invited back again; those 14 were later reduced to 11 dances which were demonstrated again in the semi-final. After some more general dancing the list numbers of those dances being recalled to the Final were announced. This gave all of us 5 dances to see again from which to make our own personal choice. In due course we heard that the winner of this section was the WINCHESTER WALTZ, a victory for Steven Shaw & Helen Blackburn. Having described the young lady of the couple who won the Latin section, I should tell you a bit about Helen. As you probably know, Steven and Helen married in May. Like Louise, Helen is also young, quite tall and very slim; today she wore a very full, pleated skirt in a lovely shade of pink with a close-fitting "sparkly" pink top. I hadn’t previously seen Helen wearing pink and must say it suits her very well - she looked lovely.

This dance had been entered as the Charminster … but that had been used before so this new one was re-named to Winchester Waltz. Helen very calmly taught their pretty waltz which was well received by the dancers. Even those sequence dancers who "don’t do Old Time" would enjoy this one.

Naturally, there were various breaks in the competition - "comfort breaks" and a lunch break among them. Then the last competition for the day was announced, this being the Modern section. From 25 dances in this group there were 17 recalled; of those, 9 were danced again in a semi-final. Eventually, we were given the numbers for 5 dances to be seen again in the Final round. Well, I had picked a couple of dances as being "possibles", one of which was a foxtrot from Graham & Kathy Thomson. It wasn’t a big surprise to hear that EMILY’S FOXTROT was chosen as the winner of this section. This is a good, very flowing foxtrot that will dance well in larger halls.

Having described two of the ladies of the winning couples, I must tell you a bit about Kathy, the third lady. Firstly, Louise Aldred and Helen Blackburn both have short, dark hair, and they are similar in height and very slim build. Kathy Thomson is not dark haired, and is not tall and slim. She does have fair hair, beautiful ‘smiley’ eyes and a lovely complexion. Oh, and their gentlemen partners do scrub up rather nicely. Perhaps these very brief descriptions will be of interest to some of our far-off sequence dancers who just can’t get to the competitions.

During the day, especially on the dance floor when learning the new dances, I saw the "little boy" to whom I referred in another Competition Report. Well, now I know that this young gentleman is called Kyle and is the son of Jayne Harwood, who dances in the competitions with Stuart Perry. Kyle is obviously an accomplished dancer and, at one point, I could see he was very much at ease while leading a lady to dance the Saunter Together. Perhaps he is an Inventive Dance competitor the future?

It is just left for me to give my own Worthy Mentions, which are: Graham & Kathy’s Rumba, in the Latin (something about the way they danced it made me tingle – how slushy can I get?): in the Classical section, a Tango from Neil & Lesley Marshall and lastly the Modern, again a Tango, this one from Edwin Vickers & Beverley Murch-Fowkes.

Thanks must go to all the BDC officials, organisers and helpers. Despite the fact that nothing in life is perfect, this was a good day. Avril remarked (on the Forum page) that it was well organised and I would agree with that. We now have three new dances, with just enough time to become accustomed to these before the annual "Autumn Rush" starts.

As usual, I wish you all Happy Dancing!