My Assen...
The Dutch Open Championships 2003
It�s difficult to write about this competition without a personal, emotional
flavour. After the regrettable fire in Slagharen, for the third time now the
Dutch have organised this competition in Assen (see photo on the right - Assen
in autumn). This charming town in north-east Holland welcomed lovers
of dance in the famous ice skating centre "De Smelt". I was here for the third
time. This place, the people, the atmosphere will not leave anyone
disappointed.
This competition is definitely not "one like many others" around the world. The
date of "Assen" has been permanently written into my family calendar. With
pleasure, every year we drive 1200 kilometres, just to "anchor" for a few days
in some small hotel or boarding house near Assen, only to sleep a short night,
for we spend entire days and evenings around the ballroom in "De Smelt". The
four-day programme of this dancing festival manages to fit in over thirty
different events. In every one of these, the competition was on the
highest level.
The Dutch Hospitality
The ballroom was surrounded by a bustle of waiters and hostesses.
All around were many bars, decently supplied with drinks (of both weaker and
stronger sort). The peace was kept by several tens of security guards. And the
peace was kept! What was even more interesting, not only was it peaceful, but
it was charming.
We already met the kindness, the joyful disposition of the Dutch in our hotel.
The owner of the boarding house "Herberg de Hondsrug" (see photo on the left -
our
"base camp"), Mrs.
Bea Lammerts, surrounded us with care from
the moment we left Poland. Precise maps, descriptions of the route and many
phone calls from Mrs. Lammerts protected us from getting lost in many small
villages we passed.
After a whole day of excitement, we slept soundly in our hotel, which,
surrounded by an autumn forest, rested and filled us with strength for the
following day.
The People
Last year 2002, Fred Bijster told me that preparations for Assen�2003
had already begun. Now I can confirm this. The competition was prepared from A
to Z. This year had even more couples than the last. Maybe because,
(ironically), this year�s festival did not contribute to the IDSF ranking. Oh,
the politics� the good thing is that the majority of the couples remembered how
special and unique Assen is and entered the Dutch Open 2003 in large numbers.
What is it that makes this competition so different from others? Certainly, it
is the fact that the rivalry is backed by the good fun of everyone present.
The foyer of the main ballroom was filled with stalls from many famous
companies making and selling dancing accessories. There was Supadance and
International, there was Ray Rose, there were even stands for the internet
services dancesportinfo.net and
www.dancemotion.nl, and many, many others. There, you could buy the
newest dance music CDs to outstanding outfits for the dance floor. You could
also look at the advertising, sometimes rivalling internet services.
These shows are normally a place of many conversations between dance managers,
judges and coaches. Traditionally, from many of them new promotions, new rules,
and most importantly new friendships will emerge.
Among the
dancing services, it would be difficult not to notice the "Dance Motion"
magazine, very well known in the Netherlands [on the last day they were
presented the prestigious Dance Press Award � Ed.]. The publisher of
the daily special "Ballroom Boulevard " successfully spread
among the audience subsequent editions. Everyone read it, especially since
the magazine was also released in English. Other services can take Hans Netten�s,
Herma Verspuuij�s and the Dance Motion team work as an example.
We also immediately found the results of the competition on www.dancesportinfo.net
. It�s not often that the whole world knows the results before the finalists
come off the floor. This is the result of the smart and friendly collaboration
of people who selflessly love dancing.
The remarkable people of the dancing world that were on the adjudicators panel
guaranteed that this competition can be described as one of the most important
of the year. Among the judges we met: Hazel Fletcher, Julie Fryer,
Espen Salberg (see photo obove left - Espen Salberg ), Caroline
Smith, Donnie Burns, Tone Nyhagen, Ute Streicher, David
Sycamore, Richard Porter, Nicole Hansen, Walter Wat,
Graham Oswick and many others.
The Gladiators
Traditionally, the greatest highlight of the Dutch dancing community was The
Gladiators. Here, in individual presentations, we could see the artistic
dancing of each country�s best. In these matches, the results were not
important. What was important was to supply us with our dose of fun, and of
course dancing, good enough for even the most meticulous spectator.
I especially liked the presentation of individual countries. On the ballroom, I
saw Napoleon Bonaparte, Geronimo � the symbol of the old America, there was the
godfather � Don Corleone, you could even see the English James Bond (here in
his Scottish edition as he was played by Donnie Burns). There were the rhythms
of Native-Americans, there was even the Russian "Kalinka". The characters and
scenes presented nearly the entire world in their dancing language (see the
photo above - Around the world in 80 bars). The protagonists � actors of
these presentations were the best dancers of each country. Anyone who did not
see this should regret that they didn�t.
The Audience
The programme was filled as always with "general dancing" (photo on the right).
It was nice to look as the audience in their thousands swarmed onto the
ballroom in every free moment. Everyone danced.
Everything
happened under the eye of the infallible pair of presenters: Peter Poot and
Hans v.d Hoef . Someone called them the "Dynamic Duo", and I would add
that they were also great actors, DJs, and of course charming hosts of all
these festivities.
The Organisation
The experience of the organisers: Fred Bijster, Retna de Haas, Marcel
de Rijk (see the photo on the left - Marcel de Rijk ) and Gerrit
Wensink , and their effort traditionally have brought the desired
effect. Regardless of the results of the competitors, on the last day several
thousand smiling and satisfied people left Assen.
Warsaw 29 Nov 2003
by IZAAK (
izaak@taniec.info)
English translation by Leszek Swirski