NOT ONE COUPLE FROM GAUTENG REACHED THE JUVENILE LATIN FINAL OF THE NATIONAL DANCESPORT CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE YEAR 2000!!!??? good golly Miss Molly and which way did they go George? In my crystal ball I see great transformation; Cape soon to dominate all dances in all sections with comprehensive ease. The supremacy of Gauteng Latin dancing is on its way out, and I mean OUT big time. Check the following results; the roots of SA dancing - Western Cape x 6:

Juvenile Latin Championship Placings - Cha-Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Jive
1 #475 Reyno Groenewald & Roché Witbooi - Western Cape
2 #504 Jamie-Leigh Isaacs & Shoné de Beer - Western Cape
3 #912 Darren van der Westhuizen & Corna Payne - Western Cape
4 #535 Cristo Abrahams & Nicole Cornelius - Western Cape
5 #913 Riayaad Marlie & Collen Schouw - Western Cape
6 #505 Ashwin Abrahams & Roxanne Wereldsen - Western Cape

By the way, where are the Latin dancers of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Free State? What's wrong with them and their trainers?

Our TV presenter Melanie Walker said that some people think these very young dancers dress too old. What Melanie meant is they dress far too precociously adult-like. Maybe, but it's more of an enhancement than a distraction. They mostly looked cheeky-cute, but as the results show, Reyno Groenewald & Roché Witbooi who won this event, were dressed plainly, so ultimately, it's the quality of the dancing that counts, not the cosmetics. Talking about cosmetics, what distracted me immensely is the amount of make-up they plonked onto Reyno's face. That's comical, and they did it to him because he was the main attraction of this event, he almost looked like a clown. My mother tried to do that to me once, and I won't tell you what I told her.

Melanie also asked Salome (her co) whether starting at such a young age is a good or a bad thing, and Salome's reply was that it can burn them out because of the pressure. Pressure, stress are hype words. The Ethiopians train bare feet in the bush and eat raw carrots for breakfast and win long distant marathons, while the 1st world countries go to their psychologists to find the right psychological pair of takkies to lose the marathon. It's not pressure, it's intensity - the gruelling will to win, and if dancers with talent haven't got that intensity, then they may as well stay at home and play marbles.

This section displayed LIFE, the enormous Latin potential of our country - most encouraging. Reyno Groenewald & Roché Witbooi are an exceptional pair. Did you see the way they danced their compassos in the Samba? With so much maturity, so much syncopation. This shot was taken at far range, and for a moment I thought I was seeing the professionals in actions, that's how precise they carried it out. In my review of the Gauteng Juvenile Latin dancers I raved, but this was a thunderstorm.  From the way these Cape Juveniles danced, it was very clear, they did not come to the SA's to marry Caesar, they came to murder him and DEAD HE IS. We are always giving credit to the dancers, but who trained these couples (the drawing board) is what I'd like to announce.

Maybe the Latin section evokes more action and energy, but the Masters Ballroom offers a special charm, a serenity of its own.

MASTERS STANDARD CHAMPIONSHIP PLACINGS
1 #955 Leighton Bennett & Pauline Bennett - Gauteng
2 #432 Anthony Knopp & Gail Knopp - Kwa Zulu Natal
3 #423 Keith Fraser & Liezel Hannamann - Kwa Zulu Natal
4 #925 Terence Willis & Cynthia Blok - Gauteng
5 #428 Arthur Hutt & Lin Hutt - Gauteng
6 #439 Brian Redman & Denise Klibbe - Gauteng

Did I hear right? Salome told us that the age group of the Masters is between 45 and 40 years, whichever comes first. Now, my logical intuition whispered softly in my ear that there were one or two (and a few ladies) who belonged to Salome's allocated generation, but don't you think she was being a little over judicious about the others? Nevertheless, it was a treat to watch them in action. I know a few people, many years their junior, who because they don't dance, have a problem getting their pipe to their mouth, let alone striding out forward and back with gynomous stretch, turning, spinning, lunging (that hurt!), swivelling, hopping, jumping, skipping, kicking, flicking and whizzing across the floor at a ferocious 54 bars per minute.

Anthony & Gail Knopp of Kwa Zulu Natal, you mean KZN in action? were a close 2nd. I enjoyed their lines, movements, fall-away actions and a great Contra Check; and what about the super X-line of their Throw-away Oversway - as I said "it was close for 1st". Keith Fraser & Liezel Hannamann - Kwa Zulu Natal you could clearly see were super-dooper in their heyday and still produce great length of stride and maintain their smart posture well, but there appeared a slight slur in their movement as though Liezel tracked a wee. Terence Willis & Cynthia Blok have still got lots of voohmaoomphelele, otherwise known as life & attack in their movement and they hold a smart posture. Cynthia's dress, X...quisite. Arthur Hutt & Lin Hutt their attack - magnificent, but have lost their sharp lines. And finally, Brian Redman & Denise Klibbe. The grooming in general glowed, but Denise's dress gets the prize from me. Their dancing wasn't on par with the other couples because they often lost contact and their lilt went missing or was somewhat watered-down. Brian also tends to hunch his shoulders a bit, but you could see they were relishing & revelling in all the excitement of this final.

You didn't notice!? NO GOLDEN GREATS from the Western Cape - DISGUSTING.

JUNIOR LATIN CHAMPIONSHIP - Cha-Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Jive
1 #564 Zane Oliphant & Barbara Netnow - Gauteng
2 #476 Donavan Forbes & Gretchen Pinto - Western Cape
3 #575 Emmanuel Thakanyane & Aobakwe Pheto - Gauteng
4 #443 Frederick de Vos & Lichien Gurovich - Gauteng
5 #511 David-John Steyn & Toni Isaacs - Western Cape
6 #510 Eugene Cupido & Candice Hendricks - Western Cape
7 #916 Collin Schouw & Bianca Wicomb - Western Cape

I extolled Zane & Barbara lavishly in my first review without having seen much of them, but the more I see of them the more I like what I see. Zane & Barbara have that very special finesse, a scintillation seldom seen. The way Zane & Barbara use their arms  exudes a soft, delicate charm yet expresses power & feeling. Their arm style flows like one, in shape, height and movement, hardly a millimetre out. When they straighten and bend their knees, stretch their ankles or gyrate their hips, it's polished to a nicety, without any overdone frills, and they showed some interesting choreography.

Unfortunately, the camera moved too swiftly for me to give a fair recall of the other couples, but the little I saw told me that the difference between these couples is marginal. It seemed to be a matter of which couple sustains the precision & thrust of their movements & actions longest, and did they enjoy themselves? - totally immersed. One thing is very certain, our Juniors all have all the attributes to reach the very top in world dancing, and I think it's high time someone in government nurtures them with a buck or three. The standard of our Junior Latin is tremendously exciting and holds immense hope for our Olympic aims.

In the Junior Tango, I was charmed by the way these couples maintained close contact throughout. Technically, their footwork impressed, which added thrust and spark to this dance. Posture-wise, most held their line most of the time, and there were some beautiful lines, but one or two lads need to tuck their left forearm in, to capture the aggressive, compact Tango stance required. That stretched-out left arm is not only lethal, it also detracts from the dramatic character that this sultry dance demands. One fellow even looked like he was doing "die Kaapse Sakkie-Sakkie" - now that's dangerous, he could leave a couple of bodies lying around.

A few girls were guilty of hanging their head too far back (did you see those wrinkles in the neck?), i.e. in relation to their shoulders, it looks so strained and uncomfortable and spoils the pretty picture the rest of their anatomy is striving for. These Juniors, van die Kaap, have a maturity in their dancing that bodes very well for the future of SA Ballroom. Am I Coloured blind? I didn't see the wonderful rainbow nation in Ballroom that our presenter so proudly bragged about... where did all the Blacks go? Where did all the Whites go? No fine! they didn't make the first round. Clayton Vigne & Leezarne Marines won this one and looked the part.

Youth section and the Viennese Waltz. What a bore! Who was the dude that foisted this one into the Standard's arena. I bet he has done the flit to heaven long time passing and is killing himself from above. But let's talk about the unspiritual things of VW. Here we have heavenly divine classical music and see a cluster of couples painfully doing 4 steps over and over and over again, and their expressions tell it all - it's a churn, you know? like when you grind mince meat. OK! back on the floor... 1, 2, 3 - 1, 2, 3.

One thing for sure, if your posture isn't right while exhibiting the limited variation that the VW offers, then you standout like an infested sore thumb for so much longer, because there's not much else to witness. There was very little wrong with the postures of the couples in this section, and couples #26 and #64 were the pick of my preferences. The other stylish VW element is, you stretch your side step mega-wide during naturals and don't foreget to bring your feet tightly & neatly together on all closes. A sure way to get this right is to feel your ankles touching on the close - if your ankles touch, your feet are neat.

Now you need to impress the judges. The rudiments of a normal sway are, when you step forward or back with the right foot, you sway to the right, when you step forward or back with the left foot, you sway to the left, but here you are gonna have to be alternative, or is it contra, you sway to the left with the right foot and right with the left. I knew you wouldn't master that because it takes years of savage slog, and I didn't see too many of the Youthfulls applying it either, but those who did, looked the best. Regardt v/d Merwe & Tracy Howard won this section.

Two Professional couples in the final SHOUTS, "Jay! the Pros of B/R in SA are becoming extinct - a dying race". So even if you come stonee last you earn a silver medal, but who needs quantity when there's quality. Anthony Krotz & Kim Corker produced great length of stride, softness and controlled in their Slow Fox most of the time as they glided effortlessly across the ballroom floor. Was it the camera angle or did I detect a sunken rise during the Three Step? Must have been the camera, because the Feather Finish was executed with oodles of thrust and controlled elevation, and Kim's Heel Turns WOW and whoopee!. She tends however, to give a bent knee affect when dancing a series of forward steps. Both couples looked as though they were having a gas, as though Xmas was near.

Latin
Who told me the Capies can't Latin? Give then a year, and they will clean the board with their L/A's like they do in the B/R's. The Jive being a natural for the Juveniles, delivered some spanking style, enthusiasm and spark. The one fellow froze in a kiss-me-baby position, and his expression told me that his mother said, "Johnny, you WILL kiss that girl". Once the Cape Juniors have synchronised their arm and foot actions to perfection, then beating them will be a mammoth task for any Province... Olympics 2008 beware, we've packed our bags, patent leathers and all. Darren v/d Westhuizen & Lorna Payne won the Juvenile section.

Mention was made of the Juniors' dresses being a little too sexy. I think they look cute and in very good taste. What worries me is the overdone clown-like makeup these girls have to wear. They don't need it, that's for old people. The other thing that looks hideously dangerous is the boys and their plastered-down hairdo's with that sharp, turned-up cowlick in front. If that instrument hits his partner or anyone in the near neighbourhood then, scarred for life, or a goner for good - like that VW dude that went to heaven.

Boys, forget about the plaster, get your spikes up and multi colour them. Be natural, that lacquer doesn't increase your speed, it just makes you look ridiculous. And remember, the people who set the dance fashion are usually traditionalists. If traditionalists always had their way, Latin dancers will still be doing the Hockey Stick in tails and a white bowtie... laughing? that's how they did it. The liberals had a hell's own job convincing the traditionalists that the male Latin dancer cannot do a double spin without killing his partner with his tails. It took many agonising years and quite a few fatal injuries before they changed to what you are wearing now.

I thought the standard of Latin dancing in the Youth section superb. It was extremely difficult for me to separate the best from the rest, they all danced with style and panache and exuded oodles of energy and natural rhythm. I also liked their facial expressions which appeared unforced. Couple #38 impressed me no-end, that girl is good, and if her partner, who has tremendous pizzazz and snap, trims down to a slimmer line, then WOW! they could go far in the world of Latin. All the girls in this section truly looked suave and sexy in their glamorous outfits, that is what dancing is all about - beauty, modelling to music, expression and feeling, glamour and style, great sounds and rhythm, ATTITUDE. Gary Messina & Lana Isaacs claimed the Youth Latin title. Isaacs? I wonder if Lana is a relative of Arthur Isaacs who accepts my updates willingly but ignores my emails? must be, he's from Table Mountain.

The winners of the Adult Latin section, without doubt, were Grant Mandon & Viveca Petersen. Here I detected a potent influence from abroad. Not only were their arm movements in shine position exact, same height, same curve, but their kicks, swivels and hip actions also gelled in unison throughout, and Grant's black polo neck & pony tail told me he admires Michael Wentink mega much. Unlike the Youth section where I would have felt guilty picking a winner so close was the contest, here, Grant & Viveca made the others look rather ordinary by comparison.

Zane & Babara moved across the floor like a ball of fire and the red in their attire added heat and flare. Their posture in every move had a sharp distinctive look, and every step they took was done with deliberate placement, precision, control and correctness - a truly polished performance. I didn't see much of Romon Gardener & Tiana Callaghan who won the Youth section, but the little I saw put them in the same class as Zane & Babara, except their lines at full stretch weren't always as complete, but that could have been the camera angle - a very attractive couple with an enormous future.

Based on the footwork and the postures of the Adult Ballroom section, I reckon quite a few of them should get back to the drawing board or emulate the Juniors. Looong before a couple reaches Adult stage, should the basic techniques be well rooted. Some of the footwork that saw me, I didn't need to look, was atrocious. To quote the late Alex Moore, "A good Heel-turn is the hallmark of a good Ballroom dancer".

There are 4 kinds of Heel-turns; 1. the penguin or duck style; heels together and toes turned out. 2. the pigeon style; toes together, heels turned out. 3. the most commonly seen one, the feet parallel but wide-leggedly apart for piglets to gallop through, and 4. the way it should be done, feet tightly and neatly together with the weight smoothly being transferred, in that closed position, from the heels to the balls of the feet.

Although the girl carries out the Heel-turn, it's not always her fault when hers resemble styles 1. 2. or 3. If macho man omits to cut her off and put her onto the heels, then we are going to see what we saw, 3 little piggies waltzing through, and most of the time the weaker sex had no help from her partner. In fact, he actually pulled her away from her heel-turn. If Salome (co-presenter) didn't mention Double Reverse Spin, I would have thought it to be a spanking new bit of choreography. The other basic thing that twitched my left eyeball in this section is the lack of body rise from the knees up, but not all were guilty, it just seemed so prevalent.

Latin
TV review #2, and the Latin section still bedevils my assessment, because I don't see enough of one couple to know whether they are dancing in time or how they are expressing the music through their movements; how are they using their basic work?; are they together? do they stutter and start? etc. But then again, I'm just your average, regular armchair judge trying to catch smoke with my fish net as I read between the shots. In essence, what I say is not necessarily an accurate reflection of what happened, it mainly serves as dance talk.

Cute little couple, nicely sums up the Juvenile Pre-Champ Latin winners Lucky Mmamabolo & Selo Inama - body rhythm GALORE and manighi style... for Africa. The diminutive Lucky sure wasn't lucky, he worked hard for their win, dominating the action with his firm lead. He did what Gary Player advised, "the harder I work the luckier I get". The other Juveniles couldn't match their sharpness and two-getherness. Selo uses her arm extremely well, something Lucky should work on. There was another black fellow, whose number eluded me, had he had the right partner, then WOW, he would have cleaned up the floor - this guy pizzazzed.

Frederick de Vos & Lishan Gurowich won the Juniors Pre-Champ Latin but were unsighted period. Then there was couple #640 (tallish, dressed in black), whoever they are, and as brief as the glimpse was that I got of them, produced some slinky, well-formed, natural moves and lines. Zane Oliphant & Babara Netnow excelled in the Latins as well, and they also looked the champion part. Here, the Jive fell very short of the much needed crisp, youthful energy - Salome agrees.

There is something missing from SA Latin dancing, however, somebody is doing something right with the Juniors, which sheds happy hope on the future of this section in world dancing. They've hit a happy combo of technique and individuality. Our couples who look reasonable, lacked the snap, the energy, the precise action, the flamboyance. It seems to all come down to individual style and expression, a special magic. Latin is so versatile and free of technical restrictions that whatever looks good, goes. Champion trainers can bring their own style and technique into it and make it look REAL HOT, while a regular, traditional, old-time teacher cannot put so much "punch" into it. That's the word I'm looking for "traditional". Our Latins seem too traditional. Only those who go abroad for lessons like Grant & Tebogo and our up-and-coming Juniors (the roots of SA dancing - thank angels for that), are producing this special magic.

 I must add that the music played at this championships sizzled coooolly - great stuff. Looking forward to seeing the Cape dancers in action next time round

This report is going to be as messy as the merciless camera allowed me to assess. It kept hopping around distortedly from a foot to a head and even at times to a nothing. These operators are definitely non-dancers, or they simply haven't the viewer in mind - the people they are supposed to be entertaining.

Somebody please tell them to stop flitting from one half a body to another half a body in jerks and jumps, it really is irritating to watch. They don't need to create the action with their cameras, let the dancers do that for us. Particular now that DanceSport has done such a great job in getting the sport televised so regularly. We want the whole couple and nothing but the whole couple the whole of the time, or at least most of the whole time, or the viewer will soon do the same, hop from channel to channel looking for their favourite kiddies programme.

The dancing - the fleeting shots I saw. First up, Pre-Champ Adult Ballroom section - Tango. Despite the fact that there were only three couples on the floor, they showed mostly the feet, and that too they did so fast that at times I wasn't always sure which pair belong to which couple. Nevertheless, it gave me enough time to ogle their technique.

Werner & Lene who won this section did two basic things wrong. He stepped either on the toe or flat in forward and promenade movements, giving the appearance of dancing with bent knees. This gave away their overall line because their full extent of stretch was marred. There is no way a dancer can achieve the full power of the Tango's strong character by stepping forward flat or toe first. That technique belongs to the silky Argentine Tango. Lene's turned-out toes at the end of a close gave a very untango impression, more in the ballet mode. Their posture and lines in picture-type variations were sharper and cleaner than the other two, and if they want to get to the Olympics, Werner will also have to uncock his left wrist for a neater top-line look.

Of the three, I thought Couple #291 danced a much more solid, controlled Tango with excellent placement of the feet. He needs to lower his hunched left shoulder somewhat, which is the thing that probably cost them the title. Couple #285 also danced very well but she must turn her left shoulder out more. Her unopened stance bunches their style, giving a strained neck appearance.

Next; the Senior/Masters Ballroom section. These mature dancers seem much fitter and sprightlier than most in their age group who don't dance - so it's a fact; dancing definitely keeps you looking younger, fitter and faster for longer. The couples that won deserved the honours but I saw a few showing their age with their sloppy footwork... to heck with bringing our feet together on closes. Their tyres looked a wee flat and worn. I enjoyed Leighton & Pauline Bennett's sound technique and great control, they had that "experienced look" but Leighton must change his facial expressions. Tony & Linda Meakin, the little I saw of them, created some beautiful lines.

Next; Professional Ballroom. Jon & Cheryl Tudhope took top honours here and deservedly so. The difference between them and their rivals is that they held their neat posture through every figure without altering their stance. Their length of stride and lines were better, sharper and more controlled. But they too need to get hold of Marcus & Karen Hilton's video tape to emulate the Hilton's extreme length of stride and control, if they wish to beat the best. The other couples lacked solidarity and often changed the structure of their hold when moving from one variation to the next - there was too much of a looseness in theeir Ballroom dancing.

The large numbers in the Latin section, plus the jumping camera, made it almost impossible for me to judge the dancing. What I can say with positive assertion, based on the Juniors' performances, is that the future of South African Latin dancing looks very bright. If I were to compare our Latin dancers with the top Latin dancers in the  world, then I'd say that the top dancers have this incredible stretch of the ankles, particularly the male dancers. This first of all, gives them that extra toe-line and style, and secondly produces perfect control through strengthened ankle action.

Many of our good Latin dancers look almost flat-footed and lineless from the toes up. The couples that got it right, almost, were Khutso Khunou & Sefpati Nthwesane (the best of the bunch), Grant Simpson & Hayley Hammond, but Grant needs to push it much more, and Tabu & Narita (I think that's their names - couple #278), they show immense promise - give them a year or so. I'm very glad to see our Latin dancers aren't pulling those funny, weird faces that have this horrifying effect on our poor onlookers, and I'm one of the onlookers.

Here's a corny suggestion for the TV people and their producers. Prior to the show, find out from DanceSport which couple is most likely to put on the best performance overall. DanceSport have a pretty good idea of that, or they select one of our advanced couples for a show, from any section. This couple then does an honour dance, personally choreographed as a closing number to entertain the viewer, and let's see a close-up of the full couple in the picture 95% of the time.

What DanceSport must bear in mind is that TV is the showcase of dance, so we need to show our case, but we are showing very little by shooting it in drips and drabs - it's a distortion of our case.

Cheers for now, and don't believe everything I say. I'm at the mercy of that merciless camera, it's their fault. You are all much better than they make you look.