2007 United Kingdom Open Championships
report by Martyn 26 Jan 07


Its freezing, we're at the seaside, and some of the world's best dancers are in town to compete. Not Blackpool this time but Bournemouth for the 2007 United Kingdom Open Championships. Its a great three days of competitions that unfortunately we were not able to go on the first day, so we missed the rising star events.



We joined the action in day two for the Pro Ballroom and Amateur Latin. The BIC was refurbished a couple of years ago and it is a real improvement. From pretty much anywhere in the audience you get a good view of the dancing. The doors opened at ten for the first four rounds of dancing. With 260+ competitors in the amateur Latin, and 206 in the pro ballroom, there are so many heats that the first four rounds are not completed until 5.20pm! At the end, the compere apologised to the audience for being off schedule - he was 4 minutes early! This was indicative of the great organisation of the event that everything seemed to go really smoothly from start to finish.

The evening's competitions started again at seven and there was a very high standard in both events. We had the very unusual sight of Chris Hawkins being tripped or knocked to the ground. Even in that I have to commend him. When he realised he was going, he released hold of Justina so she wouldn't fall too and he did a back roll that would be approved of by any judo experts in the audience. He was straight back on his feet, high five to the chap he had collided with and then off back in the dance to a huge round of applause.

The big surprise of the evening was in the pro ballroom. This was won by Mirko Gozzoli & Alessia Betti from Italy, but Timothy Howson & Joanne Bolton were pushed into third place by Jonathan Wilkins and Katusha Demidova from the USA. fourth was Chris and Justina, being challenged hard I feel by Domenico Soale & Gioia Cerasoli from Italy, and then Jonathan Crossley and Lyn Marriner.

In the Latin, the Championship went to Peter Stokkerbroe and Kristina Juel-Stokkerbroe from Denmark.


Peter Stokkerbroe and Kristina Juel-Stokkerbroe

The last day was the turn of the Pro Latin and Amateur Ballroom. We arrived just in time to see a collision involving Steven and Gemma Arnold with a Chinese couple. Speaking to them immediately afterwards Gemma told me "That was the hardest I've ever been hit" She was struck on the nose. " I felt something click, but I don't think its broken - I was just really hoping my nose wouldn't start bleeding"

They were back on the floor, no nose bleed, for the next dance only to collide again with the same couple! That's one Chinese couple in real need of a lesson in floor craft! Steven was less than happy.


Mark and Olga in action




As well as the competition there is also a exhibition area where a number of the top suppliers can be seen or, "UK Dance Shopping Mall" as it calls itself in the programme. Why the advert for the ballroom exhibition should feature dancers doing argentine tango - a dance not seen at the championship is a mystery.


However the exhibition was well worth a visit, with some amazing new dresses on display and even a small dance floor for those who wanted to try on a dress and see how it moves.


The evening's comps were just as good as the previous evening. There was great home support for our own Marco Cavallaro and Joanne Clifton who made the semi for the first time. We could hear their number being called from many places around the room. (Some ladies in the crowd expressing undying love for Marco! )


Marco Cavallaro and Joanne Clifton

The Amateur Ballroom was eventually won by Arunas Bizokas & Edita Daniute from Lithuania.


Arunas Bizokas & Edita Daniute

The pro Latin was a tussle between Michael Malitowski & Joanna Leunis (Poland) , Andrej Skufca & fiery red-head Katarina Venturini (Slovenia) for first and second place, with Michael and Joanna coming out the eventual winners.

This three day event is one of the highlights of the dancing year here in the UK. If the rest of 2007 is as good as this, we are in for a exciting year.