Granollers
Report by Robin Escolme



This weekend I was lucky enough to take Andrew and Amy to Granollers (pronounced Granoyar), near Barcelona in Spain. Now, I know that many parents might think the idea of travelling alone with 2 teenagers for a whole weekend sounds like a bit of a nightmare, and it is true that it was with some trepidation that I agreed to take them. However, aside from the usual disagreements, tantrums and minor skirmishes, the kids coped with me magnificently!

The good thing about this event was that because all the IDSF comps were on the Saturday, they only needed half a day off school, as we travelled late afternoon Friday, dancing on Saturday and returned home on Sunday afternoon. The comp itself was well attended, at least with competitors, if not spectators, although the numbers did not do justice to the size of the arena, which was huge. Andy and Amy did the IDSF Open Latin and IDSF Youth Latin (unfortunately, no youth ballroom). With 36 in the IDSF Open Latin, Andy and Amy narrowly missed making the semi final (2 marks!) and were placed 13th. In the IDSF Youth Latin, they battled through 4 rounds against 30 other couples to make the final, and were rewarded with 3rd place and place on the podium, having won the Samba and come 2nd in the Cha Cha Cha.

The comp itself was very well run, in many, many ways:

• Large floor
• Huge Arena
• Great facilities (drinks, food, etc)
• Good changing areas (although not separate M/F)
• Excellent timekeeping
• Free bottle of water/juice for the competitors
• Laminated numbers, with names on
• Great music, with a mix of traditional and modern
• Lots of paramedics in attendance

Entry was easy via the internet, with no need to pay in advance, and the organisers also arranged transfers to/from the airport to our hotel, at a reasonable price. The only negatives were the fact that there were very few spectators, which meant very little atmosphere (Blackpool it was not!) and, perhaps, as a result, the air was quite cold – so much so that some of the judges took to wearing their coats whilst standing around the floor!

All in all it was a good weekend, with some great competitions – obviously made better because Andrew and Amy did well! Well worth looking out for next year.