The First European Salsa Competition

Ashley & Cristina Beginners, second place

There were to be three categories: beginners (couples where both partners had been dancing for less than a year), intermediates (for other couples) and blind date (where couples were randomly put together by drawing names from a hat). Personally, I was most interested in seeing this last category, since I felt it would capture the spontaneity of Salsa and test the skills of leading and following. The winners would qualify for later heats of the competition.

When my wife, June, and I arrived at the club, the lesson was just finishing and the place was packed. Not only were there the normal Thursday crowds, but there were also people visiting from exotic, faraway places (like Manchester and Birmingham) just for the competition. The normally crowded dancefloor was even busier than usual.

Some pre-competition dancing

After some dancing (tunes courtesy of Maverick from Birmingham), the competition got underway. There was to be no blind date category, just the beginners and intermediates. The beginners walked onto the dance floor, complete with numbers pinned to them. Unfortunately, this made it look like `Come Dancing', but I guess there's no other way! Jose Cardoso (DJ and leading light behind Club Latino) took to the floor to explain the rules. Maverick was to play one track and all six couples would dance to it at the same time. The judges would, at the end of the track, pick four couples to continue.

Everyone in the club had now crowded around the dance floor to watch. It must have been incredibly nerve-wracking for these couples, some of whom had only been dancing a few months, to now `perform' for such a large audience. However, they all pulled it off like professionals. Myself and my wife (like everyone else, I expect) were making up our minds as to who we felt should progress to the next stage.

Paul and Jackie Beginners, first place

After a few minutes (although I guess it felt like hours for the competitors), the track finished and the couples left the floor. It was now the turn of the intermediates. There were eight intermediate couples and the same rules applied; four would go through to the next stage. Again the audience were making up their own minds about who should go through, whilst the judges were trying to make the decisions for real. When the track finished, the judges left the room to confer, whilst Maverick played a couple of tracks for people to dance to.

About ten minutes later, Jose came back to call the beginners back to the floor for the next stage. He only called the names of those to go through, which meant that those who had to drop out could do so unnoticed. The rules for the next stage were that each couple was to dance to a track by themselves. The judges would then rank the couples from first to fourth.

The judges had a very difficult task, since there was a range of styles to choose from. Some couples danced just as if they were at a Salsa club, putting moves together as they went. Other couples had more choreographed routines. Which way would the judges go? Would they favour the spontaneous dancers for capturing the spirit of Salsa or would they reward the time spent choreographing a routine? During the competition, there was a very supportive atmosphere from the audience. One couple who had only been dancing a few months lost the rhythm completely and had to stop, stand still and start again. When they started dancing again, the audience clapped as loudly as possible (led by some of the most accomplished dancers there).

Zemmy and Irma Intermediates, first place

After all the beginners had danced, Jose took the floor again and announced the four intermediate couples who would now dance to a track each. Again there was a wide variety of styles, some laid back and some extremely energetic. The audience was just as supportive for the intermediates as they had been for the beginners. Every impressive move was applauded loudly. Even though I could see many people in the audience who could do far more complex things in their sleep, they were often the ones clapping loudest.

Finally, the judges once again left to discuss their individual decisions and reach a mutual agreement. I will say nothing about their decisions, except to note (smugly) that I had picked the same winners. All that remains is to wish the Liverpool representatives the best of luck against the winners of the other heats.

The Results