Arts
Dancesport grows in leaps and bounds
A foreign couple at a previous Dancesport show
Dancesport 2015, to be held at the Colombo Hilton on November 1 will mark a milestone for Footwork Events- a pioneer dance company involved in nurturing Sri Lanka’s next generation of Latin and Ballroom talent and grooming them to become professionals of international standard.
Dancesport Sri Lanka – the annual International Ballroom and Latin American Dance Championship organised by Footwork Events provides a platform for Sri Lankan Latin and Ballroom dancers to showcase their talents in the field of Dancesport which is fast gaining popularity across the world.
This year Footwork Events will celebrate Dancesport’s 20th edition.
Recalling the progress made over the 20 years since the championship was first introduced to Sri Lanka, Dharshan Wijesooriya of Footwork Events – a teacher and promoter of dance who currently serves as a World Dance Council adjudicator says only a few couples took part in the initial Dancesport Championships and standards were not as high as they are now.
The event has grown in leaps and bounds, with a large number of Latin and Ballroom dancing students from leading dance schools in the country showing a great interest in this event, especially due to the involvement of foreign participants.
“The competition and the show performance is a motivation for the dancers to develop their techniques and rhythm as they will be performing before a large audience. Moreover because they will be competing with international couples,” says Dharshan.
“In the olden days it was more of a graceful art, but it is recognized as a sport now. There is a lot of training that goes into it as you need to work out to get stamina into your body,” explains Dharshan adding that, as a sport as well as an art, this particular form of dancing is very popular in South Asian countries.
Dharshan says this year’s show highlight will be a five dance performance by the European Professional Show Dance Champions- Sven Ninnemann and Nina Uszkureit.
The couple from Switzerland will also conduct two workshops during their stay in Sri Lanka. While there will be an exclusive workshop held for the competition participants to assist them to enhance the beauty in their performances – the second workshop will be more of a fun workshop targeting social dancers, Dharshan says.
Around 50 local couples in addition to the foreign contestants from countries like Australia, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan will vie for the honours next Sunday judged by international adjudicators.
The line up will include Ballroom and Latin dancing competitions conducted under the Beginners, Novices and Amateur categories in addition to a junior category, says Dharshan adding that this year’s Dancesport being a special event, will have lot of surprises for the audience too.
So put on your dancing shoes and get ready to be a part of this year’s gala celebration of dance on November 1, at the Colombo Hilton Hotel.
Tickets priced at Rs. 5,000, Rs.6,000, Rs. 7,000, Rs. 8,000, and Rs. 10,000 are available at Footwork Events 378/3, AraliyaGardens, Nawala, Rajagiriya and the box plan can be viewed at www.dancesport.lk. For more call – 0777777111. Tickets are also available at Hilton Special Events Desk.