Magazine-April-06-QXD6 (Page 1 - 2) - EADA

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Dani & Zuzana DiaryDecember 2008 - Kirchberg, Luxembourg: nota very big competition but enjoyed it. Localfood was lovely!Jan 2009 - Pforsheim, Germany: a smallcompetition, not one of our favourites.February 2009 - Bassano del Grappa, Italy:floor was quite dark and it was like a mazeto get to the changing rooms.April 2009 - Brno, Czech Republic: the hall,the lighting and the music were great! Therewere big televised screens where you couldsee the couples dancing and the next roundswere announced.July 2009 - Alassio, Italy: After 470km ofdriving, we found fabulous weather moresuited to lying on the beach than to dancing,but we enjoyed competing here despite theheat and temptation to go to the beach. Thefield was comprised of very talented,motivated and well known dancers. The floorwas great and the music very enjoyable.August 2009 - German Open Stuttgart,Germany: one of our favourites withincredible organisation! Fabulous stands,great food and many different halls withdifferent competitions being held at the sametime.October 2009 - Ostrava, Czech Republic: agreat competition in which to compete, floorwas good, the audience were very motivatingand the organisation was good. Although theheats were a bit crowded.26When did you both start dancing and how old areyou now?Dani: I started to dance when I was 12 years oldand I am now 20.Zuzana: I started to dance when I was 13 years oldand I am now 22.How did you start dancing?Dani: Actually my mother initiated me into dancingbecause of my "untidy" way of walking!Zuzana: I was 13 and knew nothing about Latindancing when a teacher proposed I try Latin with aboy he had.... I took one look at the guy and Iagreed!How long have you been dancing together andhow did you meet?Dani: We had our tryout in August and we started todance last September.Zuzana: My teacher (Karel Bank) told me to look ondancesportinfo as there was a boy, Daniel Juvet,looking for a partner who seems good. I hesitated towrite, and was rather shy about it.I thought he still wanted to dance Youth, so I gaveup! But the next day I had a phone call from Mrs.Juvet asking if I'd seen the advert and if I wanted atryout! She'd seen my advert! So I went toSwitzerland.Where are you both from originally?Dani: I am British and I was born in Switzerland, so Ihave double nationality.Zuzana: I am from the Czech Republic.Which professionals do you admire orinspire you?Dani: I always admired Evgeni Smagin, recently Ihave turned my attention to Kirill Belorukov, NikitaBrovko and Franco Formica.Zuzana: Karina Smirnoff has always been the bestfor me, now she has stopped dancing, I have beenlooking a lot at Anna Melnikova & Melinda, I thinkthey're great.What is your favourite dance?Dani: All of them - but I guess it depends onmy mood !Zuzana: Rumba is my favourite but I like all thedances because each dance has a specific characterand it's lovely to be able to express different feelingsand tell a different story.What is your training regime like andwhereabouts do you do most of your training?Dani: We have a hall for ourselves in Lausannewhich we can use as we please, but the mostdifficult part is practising alone, just the two of us.Dancers should realise how lucky they are whenthey are surrounded by others, it makes it so muchmore encouraging and motivating. This year it ishard to find time to practise as I have to finish mycomputer course.How long have you been competing overseas?Dani: We have both competed in internationalcompetitions practically from the very beginning ofour dancing careers.How often do you compete?Dani: Our average is 2 to 3 competitions a month.Although competing overseas is not always easy, wehope to do more.Zuzana: Travelling to competitions requires a lot oforganising; we enjoy participating in differentcountries so we start early and plan the whole yearahead.What has been your favourite IDSF competitionin 2009?Zuzana: I think our last competition in August inStuttgart is our favourite one so far! We made thetop 24 in Rising Star.Dani: The Brno Open in April was also a good comp- there were very good dancers, and a greataudience! We felt good and motivated and everyoneseemed so friendly, talking and exchanging ideas.We just felt we were all part of a team!How are EADA NREs and IDSF competitionsdifferent and do you prefer competing in Englandor abroad?Dani: I enjoy doing EADA chart events and it's goodto see the usual couples again and get to know ourfellow dancers. It's just a shame they are over soquickly and everyone is in a hurry to get home. Ininternational competitions couples can come from allover the world and it's a great chance to meet otherpeople, and share experiences and even find thetime to go out for a drink together.Zuzana: I think IDSF competitions can be quitetough. I think IDSF events are judged more onpower, energy and dynamics; but they are a greatway to learn about what to improve.What advice do you have for people who arethinking of competing overseas?Dani & Zuzana: Decide fairly quickly whichcompetition interests you and start planning.www.spaeker.de/ is a useful website listing IDSFcompetitions. Choose the competition you would liketo participate in and find out whether it fits in withyour schedule. Google maps or viamichelin can alsohelp in calculating distances to and from comps.Once the dates are decided, start booking flights andhotels and don't waste time, so that you can get thebest deals. Something we personally have learnt isto economise on baggage content - we started offwith heavy baggage, then we noticed that we didn'tuse half the things we took! Now we can easilytravel with just hand baggage which is so mucheasier. Also be warned - we stayed at one hotelwhich we were told we were a five minute walk tothe comp venue, but was actually about 25 minutes!Also don't forget to take food and drink with you tothe competition as many of the competitions endabout midnight, and you can't always find placesopen to buy food then.What do you think English couples need to do tobe successful overseas?Zuzana: They need to get out there and take part!You have to be seen to be known!Dani: I also believe that we need some team spirit.It's disheartening going to a comp and only seeing acouple of British entries on the list - some countriesare very well represented. We always prefer it ifthere is another English couple there.Do you get to see a lot of other countries whenyou go abroad to compete or do you just go tothe competition venue?Dani: Sometimes our work schedule doesn't permitlong stays. Generally if we fly, we leave on the Fridayevening and return on the Sunday. If a competition ison a Sunday that means we have to take time offwork. There are competitions we drive to - we drivethousands of miles in a year - but this also allows usto appreciate the scenery. When we have more freedays, we do visit the main attractions in the area.For Alassio, I would definitely advise going a day ortwo before the comp, because the beach is reallywell worth the visit and you can get a better tan!Why do you think it might be daunting for somepeople to dance overseas, and what can be doneto overcome that?Dani: Perhaps because you have to fly everywhere itcan make it more daunting and complicated? Maybethe language in a foreign country can also bedaunting, although with English, you will manage inmost countries.Zuzana: - After a while it becomes a need to traveland dance elsewhere! I think it's great funcompeting internationally, you do get to see thesame couples again and you can meet up and shareexperiences. It is a wonderful way to make friendsand broaden your horizons! Come and join us, youwon't be disappointed!27
Dress DesignsHannah Davis & David BrownIf you want to make your own dresses or arelooking at styles for a new dress, some of ourmembers with experience in dress-making offertheir advice.The perfect dress?By Hannah DavisHannah Davis is an Amateur Under 21 Ballroom andLatin competitor who has been dancing since she was4. She is currently studying with the OU and helps hermother with her dressmaking business. See ElaineDavis on www.ballroomandlatindress.comWhen I started competing aged 6, I wanted prettydresses and preferably lots of them!! My Mumhad some basicdressmaking skillsand decided to digher old sewingmachine out of theloft and attempt tomake them for me.I won't go intodetail about herfirst efforts butsuffice to say that Iwasn't tooimpressed even atthat tender age!Making nice dancedresses is a bit likedancing - the moreyou practise the better the results. Throughout theintervening years I have been very lucky to haveowned and worn many beautiful dance dressesas my mum kept on “practising”. About four yearsago she turned her hobby into a business and Ijoined her after leaving College. It has been ahuge learning curve but I now make some of myown dresses along with helping to design, makeand stone dresses for a range of customers. Asan active competitor I keep in touch with thelatest trends and designs and can see howdresses look and perform on the dance floor.What makes “The Perfect Dance Dress”? Findingyour ideal dress, whether buying new off the peg,pre-worn or having a dress made, is not alwayseasy and mistakes can be costly. The followingare all factors which I take into account whendesigning and making my own dresses as well aswhen helping and advising customers.1) Fashion of any sort is a matter of personaltaste, what one person may love, another mayhate. The most important thing is that you thedancer like your dress and are going to be happywearing it. When considering whether to buy adress or have a design made by all means listento advice from teachers, friends, partner andfamily, along with your dressmaker/designerabout what they think might suit you, but don't beinfluenced into buying something that you are notgoing to be totally happy with, because at the endof the day it is you that has to wear it!2) Comfort is high on my list of priorities. When Iam dancing I don't want to be distracted by anydiscomfort caused by my dress, rubbing, cuttingor digging into me, nor do I want to be nursingskin damage or blisters after wearing it. Whenconsidering the purchase of a dress make surethat it is comfortable and if in doubt ask if anyuncomfortable areas can be altered.3) The perfect dress should be an excellent fit foryou. A well fitting dance dress should fit like asecond skin without being too loose or too tight.If a dress is too big it may gape and wrinkle aswell as moving around on the body as you dance.Equally the dress should not be too small or tootight as this can cause discomfort as well as overexposure of parts of the body and restriction ofmovement.4) Consideration should also be given to practicaland technical aspects of the dress, for examplestraps and fastenings. Are any straps the rightlength and comfortable, are fastenings secureand are there enough of them to hold the dressproperly in place? Themost beautiful dance dressis as good as useless if itis likely to fall off in themiddle of the floor!5) Design, is a matter ofindividual taste but whenconsidering what will orwon't work for you, a goodstarting point is to initiallyidentify which parts of yourbody and/or shape you likeor dislike and then look atdesign concepts which willflatter and enhance yourfigure as well as coveringany areas that you mightprefer not to be exposed.For example, if you are talland slim you might look at designs that will cutthe body into smaller sections, such as having astyle or decoration with horizontal lines around28 29Unique Affordable Couture100% British couture using only Swarovski RhinestonesBallroom Dresses from £1100 (including VAT)Latin American Dresses from £750 (including VAT)Sparkle Designs specialise in the design andmanufacture of stunning and unique Ballroomand Latin American dresses.Sparkle Designs SponsorAlexandra Hixson and Andrey SirbuKatherine and John Giannini - New for 2009!Natasha Manderson and Craig ShawAndrew Cuerden and Hanna HaaralaIzabela Hannah and Hannes EmrichSparkle Designs Limited, Crawley, nr London, EnglandTel: +44 (0)1293 549245 Mobile: +44 (0)7817 470731www.sparkledesignsuk.com e-mail: sales@sparkledesignsuk.comthe body; whereas someone who is smaller orwith a fuller figure might find that a dress withvertical lines and/or decoration may be moreflattering. Think about drawing attention to certainareas of the dress perhaps by use of design orembellishment, which also has the effect ofdrawing attention away from other areas.6) When considering colour/s/ think about whichcolours may work best with your hair and skin aswell as your body size and shape. Generally,darker colours will have a slimming effect withlighter colours working the opposite way.Rhinestone decoration is popular and really doesenhance the look of a dress, especially one madefrom plain fabrics. However they can be veryexpensive so if your budget will not stretch to adress covered in Swarovski, think about the useof colours or patterned or embellished fabrics orlaces to achieve a striking look without the needfor heavy decoration.
Page 1 and 2: The voice of English Amateur Dancer
Page 3 and 4: News...EADA NewsSequence Training &
Page 5 and 6: JUNIOR COUPLES INTERVIEWED...Alex P
Page 7 and 8: Do Drink and JiveWith thanks to Lau
Page 9 and 10: British Open...Photo by Andrew Mill
Page 11 and 12: Memories of BlackpoolAll photograph
Page 13: COMPETING ABROADFor those wishing t
Page 17 and 18: Lorraine Barrichi was one of the fi
Page 19 and 20: stage which produces a suit where p

Magazine-April-06-QXD6 (Page 1 - 2) - EADA

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