Skip to main content

How a Competition is born: the White Rose view

These are the Northern Champions and the two halves of the North of England split by the Pennines have been the bitterest of rivals for many centuries, wars have been fought, often sublimated into cricket matches, accents mocked and football teams derided. So good then when co-operation - the hallmark of Northern dancing - breaks out.  

Not so many miles east of Manchester, Ceroc Yorkshire is going great guns under new management but with an impressive roll call of teachers, DJs and demos.  Their secret of a warm welcome and maintaining attendance is well-known.  The new freestyle venue, Left Bank, is the most impressive venue I've dance in as you can see below. It's great that Ceroc Addiction's venture includes Jon Gammon - a good friend and subject of this q and a.

Photo: Jon Gammon

SN: You are working at Ceroc Northern Champs as a freestyle DJ, but as the owner of the Ceroc Yorkshire franchise, what will having Ceroc Northern Champs do for dancing in Yorkshire?

JG: Dancing in Yorkshire is always growing and progressing to new levels but to see some of the newer dancers having a go at competing is a real breath of fresh air. The dancing scene is always changing and to watch dancers grow and start to compete to push there abilities is so rewarding as a teacher and as a franchisee. The Northern Champs makes competing even more accessible to Yorkshire dancers and although its not as big as some of the other competitions, it is the perfect place to start.

SN: You've competed in Blues competition and recently held successful Swing and blues workshops. Yorkshire dancers cover a lot of dance styles - how do you think that helps in competition?

JG: Being able to interpret the music and add your own unique style is so important to every competition. Its what makes you stand out from the rest. Being able to offer so many dance styles to our dancers gives them the opportunity to learn a new style and always increasing the abilities on the dance floor.

SN: What three tips would you offer new competitors?

JG:
  1. Its not always about the moves, you can do the most basic moves but if you hit the breaks and dance the styles appropriate to the music you will go far.
  2. Enjoy the rush and buzz of competing and don’t take it too seriously. 
  3. Smile, if you look like your having fun then the judges will have fun watching you dance. 

SN: You started dancing, like me, on the South Coast - we had loads of dancing opportunities down. Much the same now exists on the M62 corridor. How exciting or daunting is it being in that market?

JG: At first it was quite daunting, having to compete in the Northern Big leagues, but as a franchise I feel we hold our own. With the opening of a new leeds freestyle along with the variety of workshops and classes we offer to our dancers, we are always attracting new and existing dancers to our events. 

Jon and Chloe Photo: Lory Coulson, http://www.lorysphotography.com
SN: What would you like to say to the competitors from Yorkshire who are having a go at Northern Champs, and any message for those who are still undecided?

JG: For anyone competing, Enjoy the day and relax. We all started somewhere and most can remember their first competition so watch the floor and if you like something then use it.

For anyone undecided, Its an experience you can’t beat. I would say to any dancer you need to do it at least once. so why not on our home turf. The Northern Champs is the one to start with.

And finally Good Luck to everyone competing.

Smile and Enjoy the day.

Thanks Jon - I look forward to seeing Yorkshire's finest on the dance floor.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ceroc Southport Feb 2015

Most of my weekenders look remarkably like this from about an hour in....until they finish 60 odd hours later.  They are the most fun you can have but they can be daunting.  They are full of great dance enthusiasts and ideal places to combine learning new dance styles and techniques in a concentrated wine.  They are the peak of dancing finesse (or they should be see below). I know that the behind the scenes staff worked very hard to get this Southport event (called Blush for reasons that are unclear until the biting cold of an Irish sea wind brings out your rosy cheeks).  Pontins seem to invest money here and there in this site but it's starting to show signs of wear.  The floors in the pub were grim in places - but mostly manageable.  Not for the first time a layer of cheap varnish proved to be a reminder how not to treat a floor.  That stayed with us as dust most of the weekend.  The cracks and bumps near the bar were an adventure. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How a Competition is born - the local view

Photo: Jonathan Hunter For this Q and A I'm quizzing someone with long experience of dancing in the North West, Blackpool born Hannah Lonsdale is a an experienced social and competitive dancer with her partner in wine Julie Duane.  Hannah knows the Northern and Scottish dance scene well so she's ideally placed to reflect on how Northern Champs is going down amongst her fellow dancers. SN: Kicking off with a local question, what will Northern Champs do for dancing in the North West? HL: The North West has so many great dancers, some who already compete, some are looking forward to giving it a try and some who haven’t even thought about it yet. Ceroc Northern Champs brings the opportunity to home turf and gives everyone a chance to show what they can do in front of a friendly local crowd and a great atmosphere. Jamie and the team have worked really hard to make sure that there are accessible categories for everyone, no matter how little or long they have been dancing. L...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ceroc Northern Champs - A hot day in Manchester

And so it begins... Lucky Dip parade - the queue of doom The judges for Ceroc Northern Champs Glittering array of dance talent Introduced by our host Jamie Storey Long day ahead Amongst the competition there are copious freestyles DJ'ed by Messrs Sambridge and Gammon There's a fantastic atmosphere with vocal support, brisk but entertaining compering from Jamie and a host of diligent Ceroc Addiction staff slaving away to keep this competition moving. No clear winners yet - but a a huge variety of Ceroc styles and people form Wales, Scotland, London and Essex - it's a nice size of competition. Hot hits already: - TVs with the winners numbers - plenty of freestyle time - music by genre - A BURGER/SARNIE/SALAD van in the car park! More later :-)
Post a Comment
Read more