Warwick 2009
The new season started as always with a Warwick competition that wasn't held in Warwick. Like last year the Warwick Varsity Ball was held in the Tower Ballroom in Birmingham, but unlike last year Cambridge weren't there, making it the warm-up competition we are used to. Nevertheless it was a fantastic start to the season, with an Oxford couple in almost every final.
The morning was opened by the Beginners Ballroom events, and after 6 rounds Oxford still had couples standing. Peter Goodliffe and Georgine Johnson finished 2nd in the Waltz, ahead of Toby Mullins and Vicky Sore who finished 3rd. They switched positions for the Quickstep final, coming 3rd and 2nd respectively, and were joined by Ollie Rankin and Alice Bruton who came 5th. Due to having such a strong team this year we have a very limited number of dancers taking part in the Novice categories, but Captain Greg and partner Becca Treece took the top prize ahead of two Imperial and Warwick couples. In the Intermediate competition Oxford had 8 couples in the semi final (!), however only 2 made it through to the 5 couple final; Charlie and Haibo came in 5th place but newcomers Zsolt and May took the top prize. The Advanced category was dominated by Oxford; new guy Daniel Silva and partner Sarah 'dazzled' (see what we did there?) the judges to take top prize ahead of Oli and Marja and Alex and Annemarie who came 2nd and 3rd. Paul and Becky and Ivan and Helen also took part in the Oxford supremacy, finishing 5th and 6th respectively.
These successes were matched in the Latin. In the Beginners Cha event Cedric Wei and Wong Yee took the bronze, alongside team mates Peter and Georgina who finished 5th and Beginners’ Captain Rhiannon Evans-Young and partner Rebecca Lees who came in 6th. In the Jive Mike Gale and Lucie Dearlove finished 5th and Peter and Georgina rounded off a very successful day by coming in 6th. In the Intermediate competition Oxford took the top four prizes! Zsolt and May doubled their tally by coming in 1st, followed by Alex and Annemarie in 2nd, Melvin and Patricia in 3rd and Alex and Eliza in 4th. The advanced event was a straight final, with 4 of the six competitors from Oxford. Peter and Reka continued their unbeaten run on the University circuit, followed by Daniel and Sarah who came second. Ivan and Helen and Joseph and Ginger complete Oxford's representation, finishing 4th and 5th respectively.
In the ex-student events Alex Robinson partnered Jolanta Jasina to finish 2nd in both the Ballroom and Latin behind Alex and Tamara. They were joined by Mark Hope, partnering Kitty Meeks in the Ballroom, who finished 5th.
There was only 1 open event, which was the Paso Doble, and 4 Oxford couples made it to the final. Unsurprisingly Peter and Reka stole the show once again, claiming 1st place from all 5 judges. They were joined by Ivan and Helen, Alex and Annemarie and Alex and Eliza, who finished in 4th, 5th and 7th respectively.
After the opens the Team Match got under way. The format was the same as last year; the dancers go through as a team, rather than individually, and the teams are split up into 2 divisions. After the split eight Oxford teams had made the top division, and four of those made it to the final. Once the scores were tallied it was announced that the Oxford A had reclaimed the top prize. The were followed by Oxford B who came in 2nd, Oxford D who finished 4th and Oxford C who finished 6th, highlighting just how close the couples in these teams are! Oli and Marja, Alex and Annemarie, Peter and Reka and Daniel and Sarah all deserve a special mention for finishing top in their dance.
Overall it was a fantastic day for OUDT with an Oxford couple claiming top prize in all the Intermediate and Advanced events as well as the winning the Team Match.
