DanceSport Talk

I'm happy to announce that my DanceSport calendar for 2008 is now available, and it's better than ever. This year's calendar is published in four different formats, including a new vertical shape. I found new dance quotations from top professionals, and added the names of the couple featured each month. But the best new feature is the unique brushed artwork that I now apply to the photos. This is a technique I originally started using about ten years ago. At the time, I couldn't figure out what kind of pictures lent themselves to this style, and abandoned it. But I realized that painting brush strokes onto my dance photos were a great way to emphasize the motion and drama of the pictures. It turns them into art. Couples featured for 2008 include Jonathan and Katusha, Benedetto and Claudia, Zoran and Tatsiana, Eugene and Maria, Dominico and Giaoa, Andrej and Katarina, Gherman and Iveta, as well as Canadians Francis and Claudia and Anton and Karolina and many others. You'll have to order online for now, but I'm arranging supplies through a couple of Canadian retailers. If you're looking for a nice wall calendar for 2008, check these out at www.dancesportcalendars.com

My photos from the 2007 Vancouver Open DanceSport competition are now online:
http://www.dancesportmusic.com/pix/

A discussion on the weekend with a fellow competitor made me think about the current state of the amateur DanceSport associations around the world. When these organizations first started, they were the result of anguish faced by competitors over problems in the industry. And based on what I've heard, the problems were pretty severe. Competitions were exclusively organized by professionals, and favoritism was rampant. If you weren't training with a particular coach, your chances of getting marked were seen as pretty hopeless. There were inconsistencies in rankings, in procedures, in use of costumes. Competitors who "knew the ropes" would use every trick in the book to get an edge over those who didn't. In response, amateur competitors formed an association to bring fairness and order to the dance competition world.

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Chinny Dance World has announced that the 2007 World Superstars DVD is now available. I like the quality of dancing in this annual event featuring the world's best couples performing show dances, and the production quality is always outstanding. One of the best videos you can buy.

However, I must say that it can become a bit tedious because many of the couples perform the same routines you've seen before, making you feel a bit of Deja Vu when watching it some years. Nevertheless, this is such a great production I buy the set every year. This year features new couples Slavik and Elena, Max and Yulia, and Peter and Kristina in Latin and Christopher and Justyna and Mirko and Alessia in Standard. Also featured are Jonathan and Katusha, so it serves as a nice memorial to both that couple and Maxim and Yulia who have both split since then.

Cost is $120 each with a 10% discount if you buy both. Contact lindachinny @ yahoo.com.hk to order