Daniel Trepat

Daniel is in great demand in France andCBA goers have been able to appreciatehis talents in recent years, however, Imet him for the first time at the FFCLDNational Encounters weekend in Issoudun(Central France) where he was teachingworkshops, giving private technicalclasses and judging the Masters TeamsCompetition. I found him to be a charmingfun loving young man at ease witheveryone, regaling us with stories of thepranks he played when he was a teenagecompetitor in the Dutch championships,even going so far as to wink at Kelly Gellettethe formidable judge. This ploy didn’t workon her and she severely reprimanded him!In Holland there is one name that standsout from all, Roy Verdonk. Roy noticedDaniel when he was competing and hegave him the opportunity to start instructingand travel all over the world with Roy. Thiswas a wonderful opportunity for him andhe later joined Roy’s team ‘The Kids’ whichwon many titles in competition.Pim Van Grootel and Daniel are greatfriends and it was together that theydecided to participate in the TV showHolland’s Got Talent in 2010. The panel ofjudges smirked when the guys announcedthey were Line dancers but the smirkssoon changed to amazement when thepair launched into their funny, acrobaticnumber based on Mario the Nintendogame hero. The public votes brought themup to the quarter finals and the voutubevideo has had over a million hits!Daniel now 25, has been dancingsince the age of 10 and competing since2000, culminating in the WCDF title ofMegastar in 2011, the highest level inLine dance under this organisation. Hebegan teaching at his mother’s danceschool in 2004 and eventually turned tochoreography. His dances such as AllSummer Long choreographed with Pimhave become great favourites.At Issoudun he taught four of hisdances, Red Camaro, I participated in thisworkshop and found that he was able totransmit the steps in a way even I couldfollow adding humour and a few wordsof French! Other dances he taught wereFun Machine, Don’t Gimme That andArizona Cowboy. This talented young manhas many strings to his dance bow. Afterturning professional two years ago he nowhas his own dance school Funky DanceFactory offering classes in WCS, couplesand funky as well as Line. He also teacheschildren in primary schools. He is nowmaking his name as a private coach forcompetitors and social dancers alike.Daniel currently coaches one of France’sChampion dancers, Laura Bartholomei.Laura tells me that Daniel knows just howto teach and coach her so she understandsprecisely what he wants of her. He will,however, take into consideration her ideasand may adapt routines to suit her style ofdance. His international renown has beenrewarded by nominations as InternationalInstructor/Choreographer of the Year inmany countries, including the CBA, anevent that suits his fun loving personalityperfectly. He loves the event but addsmischievously that he hopes to win aCrystal Boot one day!Watching the young man dance wecould imagine that he spent years learningall styles of dance – but no – he claims theonly dance form he practised was Line!Other forms he picked up by watchingvideos and of course he benefited bythe expert guidance of Roy Verdonk,Raymond Sarlmijn, Darren Bailey andAnthony van Egmond ‘They taughtme everything I know now’. A finetribute Champ.www.danieltrepat.comwww.linedancermagazine.com August 2012 • 27