WDC Amateur League European Championships Report By: Andrew Miller www.dancefotoman.co.uk

WDC Amateur League European Championships
The first weekend in November saw the running
of the 2010 WDC Amateur League European
Championships held in Regensdorf
in the Swiss city of Zurich.
This was the first time that such an event had
been run in Switzerland, and was a huge success.
The venue for the event was the beautiful Movenpick
Hotel, which hosts a conference centre and a large ballroom.
Upon entering the ballroom it was obvious that a lot
of thought, time and money had been spent on this event,
with a stage one end of the room for the band in the
evening, tables down both sides and across the front
of the stage, and tiered seating at the far end of the
room, it was obvious that this had the potential
for a great atmosphere.
The daytime session consisted of 16 competitions
all carrying the title of “European Champions”
and from those 16, three events were to be
carried forward to the televised evening session so
it was obvious that the panel of adjudicators consisting
of; Donnie Burns MBE, Sergey Ryupin, Catarina
Arzenton, Svyatoslav Vlokh, Monica Needham, Stefan
Ossenkop, Renée Barsi, Richard Gleave, Philip Banyer, and
Chairman for the day Jerry Abrate, were in for long and
tough days of judging.
As the day’s dancing kicked off it became obvious
that, as there had been in Paris for the World
events, there was a very high standard of dancing,
and there were also new faces that had
joined the WDC Amateur League as you will
see from the results. Unfortunately, the biggest
names to make the move Andrea Ghigiarelli and
Sara Andracchio of Italy were unable to make the
event due to commitments in the USA.
As we moved into the evening session
and returned to the ballroom
after a splendid meal the atmosphere
was totally different, all the
tables had been beautifully dressed,
the lighting was also different setting
a great atmosphere, and there
wasn’t a vacant seat in the ballroom.
Whether it was the fact that
the evening event was being televised,
or whether it was just that
the Swiss love there dancing, I like
to think it was the latter, as the band
struck up people took to the floor
and it was absolutely packed, and
this continued into the early hours
of the morning.
The evening events consisted of
the over 45 Ballroom championship,
plus the Amateur Ballroom
and Latin Championships.
The over 45 Ballroom was won by
Patrick & Annie Plainchault from
France, 2nd where my favourites
Stephan & Susanna Eschmann
from Switzerland who actually
won three of the five dances, and
lost by 1 mark due to placing 4th in the Foxtrot,
3rd
place went to the Italian couple Doriano Maculan
& Susanna Friggi who placed 3rd in all
dances.
The Amateur Ballroom, which had started at
lunch time, was eventually won by Gaetano
Iavarone & Emanuela Napolitano of Italy and
worthy winners they were winning all dances
and taking 34 of the 45 1st places. 2nd place
went to Oscar Pedrinelli & Kamila Brozovska
from Czech Republic, and 3rd place went to
one of the newcomers to the Amateur League
Richard Still & Morgan Hemphill from England
who managed to take 10 1st places off of
the new champions. I have watched this partnership
from their very early days together,
and I have to say that this was without a doubt
the best performance I have seen from them in
both their Ballroom and Latin.
The last competition of the night was the highly
awaited Amateur Latin Championship, and I
have to say it didn’t disappoint.
The eventual winners and again newcomers
to the Amateur League were Juri & Jagoda
Batagelj of Slovenia winning four of the five
Patrick & Annie Plainchault
Iavarone Gaetano & Napolitano Emanueladances
and losing the Rumba on Rule 10 by
one mark. 2nd place went to Kirill Belakurov
& Elvira Skrylnikova of Russia, with Dmytro
Vlokh & Ekaterina Vaganova from the Ukraine
coming third.
The full list of result is below, or on the WDC
Amateur League web site.
The whole day’s events were held together by
the multi-lingual compere, Mr. Hannes Emrich
who speaks seven different languages and kept
the whole proceedings running without a hitch.
On one final note, I found the Cabaret’s for the
night very disappointing, I could not see the
point of having a Magician, and an Elvis Impersonator
at an event of this calibre. It would
have been much better to have a dance cabaret,
or even more general dancing.
All that said I have to congratulate the organisers,
Peter Sigrist, his wife and their team of
helpers for running a very successful event on
behalf of the Swiss Dance Sport Council. This
was their last event and next year’s WDC Amateur
League World Cup will be run by the Philip
Banyer and Sandie Baumann of the SDSC on
the 24-25 September, for further details go to
www.sdsc.ch.
I also have to say a very special thanks to Philip
and Sandie for their hospitality during my stay
at The Hotel Banyer!!
Next year’s event promises to be every bit as
good as this. So to all Amateur League couples
I say book early and don’t miss a great event.

Full report pictures can be downloaded from.
www.dancebeatworld.com