65th Australian Open Championships
![Margaret Lonsdale, John Fam © dancesportphoto.net Margaret Lonsdale, John Fam © dancesportphoto.net](/media/34227832-6e78-4769-9468-9e6801030e56/300x300/default.jpg)
At the kind invitation of the Australian Dancesport Society, I was asked to check out the DanceSport scene in the Dancesport Capital of Australia, Melbourne, Victoria. Let me assure you that dance and DanceSport are very vibrant in Melbourne, judging by the full capacity attendance at the Hisense Arena on the final day. They have the support from the Victorian State Government, the local television station and many corporate sponsors. The fact that they are in the 65th year speaks volumes. The International Dancesport Federation (IDSF) Open and the Australian Nationals are held during three days, from 9 to 11 December 2011, with a total of 1,400 athletes taking part in the championship.
Credit must be given to the Scrutineering and Marshalling Team of the 65th Australian. The events ran with clockwork precision with hardly any delays. The results came out almost instantaneously.
In the IDSF International Open Standard Bjorn Bitsch and Asli Williamson (DEN) took gold, followed by Markus and Maria Hirvonen (FIN) and Antonio Michili - Katerina Maximova (AUS).
New Vogue is very visual and it is a pleasure to watch the graceful movement of the dancers. I can assure you that during the intermission, the floor was crowded with the spectators moving in unison to a Carousel or a Barclay Blues.
New Vogue has been around for a very long time and is not just a passing fad, remarked Peter Todd. He did confirm that New Vogue evolved from the regimented English Old Times, however the form that it takes today is definitely an Australian creation.
Will New Vogue be the next great Australian export to the world? Most Australian coaches and athletes I spoke to hopes so. The ever charming and no nonsense Margaret Lonsdale the CEO of Australian Dancing Society’s vision for 2011 is to have a New Vogue Team event for Asia Pacific at the 66th Australian Dancesport Championship. China, Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong already have a New Vogue Team and hopefully this will be the impetus that it needs to introduce it to the world.
Article by John Fam (IDSF Communication Commission – Malaysia)
Photography by dancesportphoto.net
Published on