Tab Dance
SATURDAY 15 FEBRUARY saw Oxford University Dancesport Team travelling to the Sheffield Social, an annual competition attended by over 20 universities used as a warm-up to the Regionals and the Nationals in March.
The team had been training hard all term, and were determined to follow their sweeping success at the Warwick and Oxford Competitions last term. The venue was packed with dancers, and the day kicked off to a great start with the Modern section (ballroom dancing to the uninitiated). This was followed in the afternoon by the Latin competitions, and all the Oxford dancers cha-d, jived and samba-d their hearts out. The beginners were wonderfully enthusiastic, showing the audience that years of experience aren't necessary to rock the dance floor. The team match was, as promised, glitzy and glamorous, and strains of "I'd rather be a leper than a Tab" rang around the Oxford camp. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the team knock-out, a painfully strategic contest which ended in a nail-biting and breath-taking face-off between ourselves and the Cambridge A-team.
And the results? It's a running joke amongst the other Blues sports that OUDT is forever victorious, and Sheffield 2003 was no exception. After months of dedicated training ended in technically fantastic and flashy performances in front of the judges, we really did show who the kings and queens of University dancesport are. David Weston and Georgina Weeds won the Basic Cha, Advanced Samba, Open Jive, Intermediate Tango and Team Cha; Nick Faull and Harriet Smith won the Team Quickstep, the Open Viennese Waltz and the Basic Quickstep; and the Team Waltz was taken by Peter Nixey and Jane Higgins. Our beginners were once again dominant, with couples in every final, Andrea Zitna and Arvi Luoma and Ailsa Longmuir and Anton Suchaneck retaining their status at the top of the Latin finals.
From sequined start to feathered finish, it was a brilliantly successful day for Oxford, walking away with the A,B,C and D team trophies.
13th Feb 2003