It’s been a while since we’ve attended a competition, quite frankly we all needed a rest after the craziness of Blackpool! So, after a few months out of competition mode, it was time to get back on the circuit.
It felt like we had ages to prepare for this competition and suddenly the last class was upon us, our last chance to practice before the big day. After rehearsing our walk-ons, mopping up a few tears and making a few last-minute routine changes we were ready.
The most painful part of competition day is the early morning get up, driving to Ms FineSteps at 5am was not the vibe! By 6am we were on the road, after we’d turned back to pick up some forgotten clothes, oops! As always Molly and Ruby chose to spend the journey laughing at videos that were probably only funny due to the lack of sleep.
Time for a pit stop, for Costa of course, where we bumped into not one but two FineSteps families also on route to Nottingham. Finally, we arrived. Luckily our drive wasn’t impacted too heavily by the floods, although as one of the parents said, the venue’s car park did have its own swimming pool.
FineSteps seemed to be one of the biggest schools in the competition, taking up two whole sections of seats! Once everybody had changed, had their hair fixed, make-up and tan applied, we were ready to dance.
Ballroom
We decided it would be a brilliant idea to give our students completely new routines for this competition, which meant having to remember them all ourselves. Dancing the routines through for the first time was nerve-racking for both the students and teachers, but after the first few rounds, we settled into the swing of things.
We had our work cut out for us in the 10-11 and 12-13 categories, as we had 5 dancers in each section, but between Ms FineSteps, Molly, Ruby, and Ellis we managed to partner everyone. This was the first competition that Ellis was heavily involved in partnering, and what a sterling job he did! About halfway through the morning, he turned to the rest of the team and exclaimed he now understood why we’re normally so tired after a comp day.
On the whole, the Ballroom section went really smoothly. A highlight was seeing our newest competition team member make the 6-7 individual Quickstep final. We also had a triumph in the 10-11 individual Quickstep with 4 of 5 finalists being from FineSteps! With everyone making a final, we were keen to get the results.
Ballroom Results
We had a fantastic set of results, with four in first place! Congratulations to our winners. Shout-out to Ellie for winning both her individual events and taking the first-place trophy in 16-21 couples Tango alongside Maddie, a couple with some amazing potential! The other Ballroom results were: four in 2nd, six in 3rd, three in 4th, five in 5th and five in 6th.
Latin
After our mandatory photo with the Ballroom trophies, it was time to get ready for Latin, which Ruby was particularly excited about! Once again everyone seemed to have a jive, which meant those partnering had to muster up all the energy they possibly had. Molly must have danced at least 6 rounds in a row and poor Ellis kept getting cramp whilst on the dancefloor. Nevertheless, seeing the children enjoy themselves and have fun, helped push us through. Everyone is growing in confidence when performing, showing off sassy faces and extravagant arm movements. Who could they have learnt that from?
Overall, the Latin section was a great success. The 10-11’s had a fantastic day, stealing 4 of 6 finalist places for the individual Cha Cha Cha! We also had three finalists in the 12-13 individual Cha Cha Cha. Team FineSteps, more like Team Fine-alists. With the large majority making finals once again we were excited to hear the results.
Latin Results
We did even better in the Latin than in the Ballroom with eight of our dancers taking the top spot! Well done to our champions. We were particularly proud of our only boy-girl couple for their first-ever victory as a pair in the 10-11 couples Samba. Great job team! Elsewhere we had seven in 2nd, five in 3rd, five in 4th, three in 5th and one in 6th.
Our Day
Well, another fantastic competition! After doing a quick count, Team FineSteps left with 71 trophies in hand, a monumental effort from all. To see all the trophies and the dancers who they belong to, check out our photo highlights. As always, our competition team made us so proud, not only because of how they danced, but how they supported each other and maintained a positive attitude throughout the day. We even received a compliment from one of the judges at the end of the day about how fantastic our students were.
Thank you to all our dance mums, dads, nans, and grandads for your support, we loved having you by our side! Thank you to the team at Let’s Dance for hosting another fantastic event, we can’t wait to see you again next time. And finally, thank you to the FineSteps Team for all your hard work leading up to the competition and for partnering like superstars, we couldn’t have done it without you!
The 2023 competition season is officially over, but we’ll be back at it in 2024!