While much of the attention at Roses will be focused on the traditional sports, York’s dancesport team are looking to build upon a strong season and avenge last year’s Roses defeat.
On Saturday in Vanbrugh Dining Hall, four points will be up for grabs in the dancesport competitions. These points are split evenly between the ballroom and the Latin American disciplines, each of which has a beginners and an advanced section.
Dancesport club president, Katie Haslingden, is in high spirits ahead of the clash. “We’re training hard to make sure that all of our competing couples are as good as they can be – we’ve even added in some new steps to our routines to spice things up a little!”
The team is looking to bounce back after coming away from last year’s contest without a point. Lancaster made the most of their home advantage, but that is something York home to emulate this year. They will go into the competition “bigger and better than ever,” according to Haslingden.
It would be a brave person who would bet against them. The squad has become established as Division One standard in events held this year, which has seen them compete against Oxford and Cambridge who comprise the elite of the university dancesport world.
They have had an active year, visiting Sheffield and Manchester for inter-university competitions in addition to national and regional events. At nationals this year, novice couples from York competed in both the ballroom and Latin American finals.
The experience gained by the York couples will be important in a competition which rewards consistency. In each category, the point on offer will be awarded to the university whose overall results were the best on average, rather than to the couple who finish in first place.
The beginners section comprises of couples who have been dancing for less than a year. Daniel Herr and Chloe Francis are the couple to watch from York in beginners’ ballroom, having shown great commitment to the team and improving their own performances ahead of the big day.
The advanced section brings together the more experienced dancers, and in York’s squad few come more experienced than Andrew Grantham and Anna Hughes. The pair are Latin American specialists, and will be performing the Cha Cha Cha and the Jive.
The day will also see a novelty section. The same-gender Rumba of Jelle van Mourik and Matthew Taylor is certain to be a must watch: the boys have been working hard to prepare a dramatic routine including lifts and drops which will wow the spectators.
The competition gets underway on Saturday at 11am in Vanbrugh Dining Hall. The day begins with the ‘walk-on,’ a set of different dances which are combined to make on unique showpeice, before progressing to the competition proper. The ballroom section comes first, with Waltz, Quickstep, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot and Tango all on show. Second comes the Latin American portion, consisting of Cha Cha Cha, Jive, Samba, Rumba and Paso Doble dances.
Dancesport may be one of the lesser known sports on the Roses schedule, but it is without doubt the most elegant and is certain to be a great spectacle. A strong turnout from the club is expected: Haslingden said, “We’ve been holding banner making sessions, so that our venue will be decked out in black and gold, and we’re hoping that all our efforts will contribute to making this year’s Roses the most impressive yet!” A big crowd to cheer on the dancers is certain to push them in good stead to claim victory.
Great article Michael!
Just wanted to point out a typo so that no one gets confused: we are in Vanbrugh Dining Hall (as stated at the end of the article) and not in D-Bar (as stated at the beginning).