Seniors are doing it for themselves.

Every Monday for the last six weeks at Egham Sports Centre, seven senior couples have been working together on finals practice.



This initiative came from a conversation during senior squad training when it was felt that the one aspect lacking from the practice of a number of the competitors was finals training.

The idea was very simple, club together to hire a venue and then 'stage' a competition. This is not like an ordinary practice where the dancers can stop if something goes wrong, or someone gets in the way. The rule is - you must keep going. The men wear shirt and tie, and even have numbers on their backs. This is as much like a full comp as possible. - however we have never faced a fine for stopping before!

The evening starts with exercises based on the warm up and stretching used for Karate training. There then follows a few minutes general dancing to get used to the floor before round one - the solo dances.





Each number is called to the floor in turn to dance solo. As they dance, the others cheer them on. This is to help get used to the pressure of dancing for an entire track, without stopping, whilst being watched. This is as close to the pressure of competitions as possible.



After a short break with more general dancing we move to quarter finals danced in two heats. Each track is played in its entirety so the dances last about three minutes each. The theory being if you can cope with three minutes, championship duration of two minutes will be easy.





General dancing follows, and then on to the semi-final where all couples are called to the floor and dance all the dances back to back, again lasting for the entire tracks. With the floor more crowded, this calls for more floor-craft and breaking in and out of routine. But the golden rule remains - Don't Stop!



For those that are still able to stand, there is some more general dancing, though it has to be said that most of us were more concerned with replacing fluid and conserving energy for the final - just like a comp!



The final follows the same format as the semi, with all dancers on the floor, but with one cruel twist. After the last quickstep, the competitors are asked to stay on the floor, because of a technical "problem" the Quickstep has to be danced again! This HURTS!



Everyone involved with this initiative agrees that this has been well worth while. It the club will start again and expand in the new year for the build-up to the Open British.

As well increasing stamina levels, another benefit has been the fostering of a club or team spirit among those who have taken part. We now go to competitions and support each other through the day which makes competing a much nicer experience.


All of those involved in this club would like to thank Dan Baxter for his work in running it, and the tremendous work he put in to getting this initiative started.

Submitted by Martyn 7/11/2006