This year’s Blackpool Dance Festival 2018 was over and done with before we knew it! Of course, much of that is because we didn’t spend so much time in England like we did in the past. We used to come to England 2 weeks before the big comp, do lessons and practice rounds and smaller competitions, then stay in Blackpool for the entire competition. It was a long and drawn out trip. But lately, due to our responsibilities with our studio back home, we’ve shortened our trip. We also found that we focused better when we were able to stay home and practice. I mentioned a bit of this in my post about the Portland Open Dance Competition. We did that, and Emerald Ball, as warm up competitions for Blackpool. Our trip this year, therefore, was considerably shorter.
Still, we enjoyed our time at the Blackpool Dance Festival. Read on for a quick recap. 🙂
The Blackpool Dance Festival 2018
The Blackpool Dance Festival is one of the largest competitions in the world, and is also one of our favorite competitions to dance. It’s held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. For a bit of history, the Winter Gardens is an entertainment complex that opened its doors in 1878. We dance in a huge opera-house within the Winter Gardens. The dance floor is massive and is placed in the center of the “floor seats”, while the live band plays from the stage. It is, therefore, a very exciting place to dance.
Everyone changes where they can find space. There is a huge room behind the stage and green room. It’s a mess. For example, you can find random dancers and suitcases scattered throughout the room. Japanese competitors spread out little blankets as if they are on a picnic. Dancers pile clothing on chairs to claim the chair as their own. If you take a stroll around the perimeter of the ballroom, you’ll find dancers resting on the floor next to suitcases, tailsuits hanging from nooks in the walls, and little blankets on the deep red carpet. The Blackpool Dance Festival is really something to behold.
Simeon and I have our favorite spot, too. After having danced the competition since we were amateurs, we’re pretty adept at finding table space. Ha ha, lucky us. It also helps that we don’t have to dance from the first round, since our results are such that we have received “byes” from the previous year. A bye is simply a pass for the first round.
Dancing the Latin at the Blackpool Dance Festival 2018
This year, on Friday the 24th, we danced the Professional Rising Star Latin. For the past two years we have finished somewhere between 30th and 27th, just marks away from making the top 24. We trained hard and felt definitely ready. We really hoped we would finally make that cut.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. It’s always frustrating when you get a bad result. We know it happens to everyone, and we know it’s not necessarily indicative of your improvement. Funny things can happen at Blackpool. The floor is huge and crowded. Sometimes you’re just one girl in a green dress in a sea of girls in green dresses. We were definitely unlucky with spacing and traffic on the floor. I, personally, got beaten up pretty badly.
In the Samba, one of the competitors on the floor jammed his elbow up my nose. My entire face felt swollen as I walked off the floor, and I thought for a moment I might have had a bloody nose. Luckily the blood wasn’t visible, though I could taste it as it dripped down the back of my throat. We fell in our Rumba, both of us landing on my knee and causing a bruise that, more than a week later, I am still nursing. I had to limp off the floor after that Rumba. In the Paso Doble I caught a slippery edge on my heel during a drop and ended up landing hard on my tailbone.
In hindsight, neither of us remember ever finding space on that floor that day. Sometimes we have days like that. Certainly we were disappointed in our result, but what can we do? We just used the experience as a learning experience. Even at our stage, having competed for almost 20 years together, we still have things to learn.
Dancing the Standard at the Blackpool Dance Festival 2018
We had two days off in between the Latin and the Standard. When Monday came around, we had reset our minds and were emotionally over the disappointment of the previous Friday. There was a new experience in store for us. The previous year, we had made the top 24 of the Standard, which meant we joined the rest of the competitors after the first TWO rounds. No daytime panel for us. Strictly the evening panel, straight to the live band (who only plays for the evening session), and a straight pass to the top 96 couples. We had to get ourselves ready for this. Whereas 5 years ago we were excited to make the top 96 couples, with two byes it meant we had to use the 96 as our very first round.
However much went wrong in the Latin, the Standard was the complete opposite. We were in great moods that day, and 100% on the same page. There was plenty of space for us to let loose and dance. It seemed that the floor just opened up in front of us, and we really flew. We felt together and free. No injuries, no collisions. Just easy dancing.
We made the top 24 again, which was really exciting because it’s a common thing for couples to make the top 24 one year, and then drop back a round the next. To be able to make it two years in a row is a good sign of our improvement and our abilities. We were very happy about that result.
When We’re Not Dancing at Blackpool
As younger dancers, we stayed in the city of Blackpool. In fact, you can rent a self-accommodating flat for anywhere between 20 and 100 gbp, although the difference in luxury doesn’t quite offset the cost. A lot of couples stay in one of the hundreds of b&b’s that ring the Winter Gardens. But let’s be clear. Blackpool is an ugly city, full of people who go there only to get drunk. I am not kidding. For example, I have walked past drunk men urinating on the sides of buildings more times that I care to count. Half of the b&b’s are closed down and empty. The b&b’s that are there are disgusting. Generally there are holes in the carpet, the walls have stains, and the windows hardly count as windows thanks to the built up grime.
Three years ago, we discovered Lytham. It was completely by accident. We wanted to get out of Blackpool and we had just started using Air B&B. I found a nice apartment on the app in Lytham and just booked it. We didn’t know about Lytham’s beauty. Lytham is the quintessential British seaside resort town, with a long grassy promenade on the water, a lovely high street and a beautiful town square full of quaint bars and cafes. We stay in Lytham if we’re not dancing in Blackpool, going for runs along the promenade or enjoying cappuccinos in the town square.
On the Sunday before we danced our Standard, we attended the North American dinner. This tradition is very special. It is sponsored by various professionals, judges, organizers and studios in our industry. They put on a very nice three-course dinner at the Imperial Hotel, which is Blackpool’s premier hotel. It’s a great chance to sit with our fellow competitors in a laid-back setting and enjoy dinner together. I say laid-back, but after all, we’re still dancers. It’s a fashion show, of course! All of the men wear three-piece suits and us ladies dress in gowns. It’s a formal affair. I have to say I do look forward to this event. We always manage to have a good time.
Farewell to Blackpool
When the time comes to say farewell to Blackpool, of course, we don’t exactly shed any tears. After dancing at Blackpool, we jump down to Bulgaria to spend some time with Simeon’s family there. After all, you can never go wrong in Bulgaria.
Have you ever attended the Blackpool Dance Festival? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Follow me on social media:
