ExploreDance

The Big Apple Dancesport Challenge started off quietly at 7pm on Friday, November 30th. Competitors slowly trickled into our venue, Lerner Hall, to pick up numbers for their team for the next day's competition.

Then as the night passed and Saturday morning came, the auditorium began to look like a proper ballroom with the floor laid out and seats arranged. When the clock struck 8, the competition began.

It was exciting and terrifying as momentum built, more and more competitors arrived and the dancing really started to get going. However, as the day went on, jitters faded away as everything fell into place and ran very smoothly for our first competition; the long hours of planning had finally paid off. More than 600 dancers representing more than 25 schools as far north as Maine and south as DC showed off what they have been practicing for in the past semester. The competition was successful in pulling competitors not only from studios in New York City, but also around the Northeast.

Finally, after almost 12 hours of heated competition, the time for our professional couple performance arrived. Riccardo Cocchi and his new partner, Yulia Zagoruychenko, proved to be very popular among the dancing community. Hundreds of dancers who aspired to be like them awaited their first dance. The show was, in one word, amazing. It was an accumulation of the team's hard work being recognized and also the fulfillment of the team's dream to host its own competition. Standing tickets were requested and extra chairs had to be added due to the popular demand. With the room packed, the lighting of the floor just right, Riccardo and Yulia performed an explosive show to a fun selection of songs.

The open levels of dancing after the show were quoted to be one of the highest in our area. Our photographer, Igor Ofenbakh, caught frames of our elegant dancers as they flowed across the floor in their standard costumes. The provided photos are only glimpses of all the photos to come out in the near future.

This was our very first competition and it was indeed a daunting task to undertake. It would not have been possible financially without all our sponsors, including Worldtone, our student councils and private donors. It would also not have been possible without the planning the Competition Committee did months in advance and the volunteering the team members provided. The 3am-3am schedule, from the start of set up to full clean up, was undeniably a very hard schedule to work with. However, after reflecting upon the events of the day, the smiles on the newcomers' faces that reflected the fun they had, the successful show that blended in elegance, music and perfection, and everything else, the competition proved to be very hard to step away from. It was a learning process, but we enjoyed it very much. We hope to perform as well and better at our future competitions, in hope that our dancers enjoy the competition as much as we enjoy planning for it.

The 2nd annual Big Apple Dancesport Challenge will take place December 6th, 2008. For more information go to www.columbiaballroom.org/competition.

The Big Apple Dancesport Challenge
Columbia University Ballroom Dance Team
International Standard
Session 2