Dancing to dazzle
Poise, elegance and stamina was the flavour of the evening on Sunday, September 1, as the Hilton Colombo hosted the seventh International Footworks Dancesport. Championships where competitors from Sri Lanka, China, Hong Kong and Italy dazzled the audience with their skills. How international this competition is becoming was further obvious with the adjudicators being from countries such as England, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Amid the glamorous costumes, the bright lights and cheers, the audience was made aware of the strength that allowed a dancer to move with such grace, and the discipline required to achieve such agility. As the dancers cha-cha-ed, rumbaed and waltzed around the floor, the audience was entertained and enlightened of the hard work and determination the sport requires at this level.
The final rounds of competition took place after 6.30 p.m. after the preliminaries which commenced on the same afternoon. The categories were the Standard Ballroom competitions and the Latin American competitions. These events were further divided into age groups and levels of difficulty.
In this year’s competition the highest level of expertise was the amateur level, (the previous levels having been further divided into age groups). The youngest age group was Under 12 where taking part were Melanka and Shamalka, twin sisters just 11 years. The oldest age group featured dancers over 40. The levels of expertise were Beginners, Novices, Pre-Amateur and Amateur.
The competition saw Lankan dancers up against dancers from around the world. Local dancing schools such as X Arena Dance school, Antonio’s Dance Circle, Vision Dance School, and El Latino Dance Academy entered strong teams, and encouragingly, delivered results.
Interestingly, most of the couples were not necessarily full-time dancers. Sankhitha Gunaratne, 26 from Matara, representing Antonio’s Dance Circle told the Sunday Times that she did not dance professionally. “I have only been dancing for about two years,” she said.
For Ruwinka Fernando, 14, from Negombo her initial training was in Oriental dance- she has only been dancing Latin American for the past two months.
The international competitors, who were experienced performers seemed to enjoy being part of this competition. Ada Chan from Hong shared that dancing was not her full-time occupation, and that she has danced for five to seven years as a hobby.
Two other couples from Hong Kong, Ada Fung, her partner Chi Lam, Ms. Doris Wong and her partner Lo Chin Wani have been dancing for over 10 years. They represented a school of dance owned by Ms. Gertrude who was present with her team. “Ordinarily this sized floor is enough for two couples to dance,” they commented, but added that “this competition is well put together and arranged.”
Dancesport 2013 which had as its platinum sponsor ‘Entrust’ was organised by veteran Dharshan Wijesooriya who in his address spoke of the artistic aspect of dance, and its ability to convey emotion but stressed that it requires “the same amount of athleticism and discipline as any sport.”
The winners | Standard Ballroom Competitions
n Juniors Under 14, standard- Thisal Fernando and Loshini Chandrakumar (Sri Lanka)
n Juniors Under 12, standard- Keynula Alahakoon and Sathmi Alahakoon (Sri Lanka)
n Juniors Under 16, standard- Thisal Fernando and Thiyumi Fernando. (Sri Lanka)
n Novices A, standard- Tharindu Aponsu and Dilini Saminda (Sri Lanka)
n Novices B, standard- Thepul Peiris and Erandi Kurukulasuriya. (Sri Lanka)
n Pre-Amateurs, standard- Prabash Wanigatunge and Supun Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
n Amateur Rising Star, standard- Zhou Lin and Ada Chan (Hong Kong)
n Amateur Open, standard- Roberto Masanque and Joey Wong (Hong Kong)
Latin American :
n Freshers, Latin American- Sajad Shabdeen and Meliza Hassan (Sri Lanka)
n Beginners Cha Cha, Latin American- Raveen Livera and Oshadi Perera (Sri Lanka)
n Beginners Jive, Latin American- Raveen Livera and Oshadi Perera (Sri Lanka)
n Juniors Under 14, Latin American- Thisal Fernando and Loshini Chandrakumar (Sri Lanka)
n Juniors Under 12, Latin American- Chaluntorn Puangsuwan and Prapapisa (Thailand)
n Junior Under 16, Latin American-Lufrano and Jinyada (Italy)
n Seniors over 40, Latin American- Lo Chin Wai and Doris Wong. (Hong Kong)
n Beginners Open, Latin American- Raveen Livera and Oshadi Perera. (Sri Lanka)
n Novices A, Latin American- Chaluntorn Puangsuwan and Prapapisa (Thailand)
n Novices B, Latin American- Chaluntorn Puangsuwan and Prapapisa. (Thailand)
n Pre- Amateur, Latin American- Lufrano and Jinyada (Italy)
n Amateur Rising Star, Latin American- Lufrano and Jinyada (Italy)
n Amateur Open, Latin American- Pirayuth Sahaifa and Suveenat Noinuol (Thailand)