Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Time for some footwork
Their feet move in unison to the rhythm, their bodies swirl around on the dance floor and their hearts are aflame with the sheer spirit of dancing. This is Footwork. Natasha Fernandopulle takes a closer look

The waltz… the tango… the quick step… and the cha cha… the rumba… the jive… sound interesting??? Well, this is what the 2nd Footwork International Dancesport Championship 2005, Sri Lanka will be all about.

To get an idea of what the feel of the event is like this year, and to know a little bit about the students they will be sending in for the championship, we spoke to the dance teachers to find out what they had to say.

Dance instructor Kevin Nugara, said that he is sending five couples, all in the Latin American category. They will be participating in the Novices and Pre-Amateur sections. A few of them have danced before for competitions, while some of them are new to the scene. They are around the ages of 19 – 20 and upwards.

Langston Comester will be sending nine couples this year, with five couples in the Ball Room section and the other four in the Latin American section. In the Ball Room section one couple who are from Colombo and have participated in competitions before will compete in the Novice section. The other eight couples on the other hand are from Kandy, and this is their first competition. His students range from the ages of 13 to 25 years.

Asanka Atapattu, who is a newcomer to the teaching scene, is sending three couples to participate in Dancesport. Two of them will be entering the Ball Room category and one will be competing in the Latin American category. This is the first time they will be participating in competitive dancing, he says, so they are totally new to the scene and are in their early 20s.

One new couple is the pair Nishan Peiris will be sending in. The couple will be participating in the Beginners category of both the Ball Room and Latin American sections of the competition.

“My couples are very competitive,” is how the colourful Anushan Perera describes the eight couples he will be sending in for the competition. They will be participating in the Beginners and the Novices categories. He started them off around four months ahead of the event, and they practice around five days a week. They are all between the ages of 18 and 25. For some of them, this is the first championship they will be facing, he says, adding that they will be starting with an international competition. He also says, “It is a sport and will be very competitive!”

Toni Fernandez will be sending around 12 couples this year. He says that most of them are new, except for those participating in the Novices category. This will be “the first time for most of them in an international competition,” he says, adding that they will be participating in the Beginners and the Novices categories.

Children as young as 13 are part of the couples he will be sending, while the older ones are in their mid 20s. Almost all his pupils will be participating in the Latin American section and three couples will compete in the Ball Room section.

Ravi De Abrew says he will be sending two couples for the competition. They will be participating in the Ball Room section. Ravi had been sick for a while, and was unable to train his students for quite some time. Thus, they have been training for just around one-and-a-half months.

They are in their mid 20s, and have not danced in competitions before, and they will be dancing in the Beginners category. Watch out for an evening of interesting footwork!

The 2nd Footwork International Dancesport Championship 2005 will be held on October 9, 2005 at the Colombo Plaza at 6.30 p.m. Tickets are available at Lanka Hands, No. 135, Buller’s Road, Colombo 4 and Swarnamahal Jewellers, Kandy.

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