Report
Following a change of venue, the 117th Annual Conference of the BATD
was held from 19th to 21st June at the Crowne Plaza Hotel located on the
banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow. It was a pleasure to welcome
members from throughout the United Kingdom and also to give a special
welcome to members who had travelled over from Canada to be with us.
On Friday evening the President, seven Past Presidents, the Executive Council and the office staff gathered at the BATD new offices for an official opening. The new offices are situated on the opposite bank of the Clyde to the Crowne Plaza and are in a light, airy, modern, purpose built block. A small reception had been organized and the offices were officially opened by two well respected BATD Past Presidents, Mr. Bobby Barr and Mr. Freddie Boultwood. After a tour of inspection of the offices we all returned to the Crowne Plaza to meet up with friends and prepare for the buffet get-together which preceded Conference.
Prior to the get-together Baillie Margo Clarke, Deputy Lord Provost, hosted a Civic Reception at the Crowne Plaza. Thanks must go to Glasgow City Council for their generosity in hosting this reception.
During the get-together we were entertained by our own Nadine McKenzie, who sang a number of songs from various West End shows. Her cabaret was very well received by all and she was thanked by the President and presented with a lovely bouquet of flowers. There is also a rumour that she might have given an additional impromptu cabaret performance after the Saturday evening Dinner Dance but this rumour has not been substantiated - can anyone shed any light on this??!!
Following the Examiners’ meetings on Saturday morning, the 117th
Annual Conference got under way. Sadly we had lost a lot of friends
in the year since the last Conference and two minutes silence was held
whilst we all remembered them. It was lovely to see a large number of
new members attending for the first time. Overseas visitors were
welcomed and then the voting commenced. Miss Shelagh Connolly was
returned for a further term as President. Mr. Joseph Wallin became
Senior Vice President with Mr. John Comrie being voted on for his first
term as a Vice President. This year one of the Trustees reached
retirement age and his position was filled by Mr. Roy Sharpe. Diane Barron was returned as Treasurer and all Executive Council and
Committee places were filled. Life Membership and 50 years certificates
were presented. A presentation of flowers was made to Valerie Dunn
by Yorkshire District to celebrate her having been a member for 50
years. The Highland Committee presented Valerie Geddes with a
bouquet of flowers on her retirement as an examiner and she was
thanked for all the hard work she had carried out for the Highland
Branch over her years in the BATD. A special presentation was made
to retiring Trustee, Bryan Isaac, who, since his election in 1977, had
held every position possible within the BATD with the exception of that
of Treasurer. Bryan was also presented with a special certificate, a
personal gift from the General Secretary who had named a Star after
Bryan - Bryan’s Star. What a lovely personal and most unusual gift!
Before closing the Conference meeting the President thanked the
Marshals: David Warren, Stephen Williams and June Fotheringham
and the tellers: Sophie Beggs, Rachel Conroy, Kayleigh Davies, Amy
Morris and Carina Talmey.
On Saturday evening the Argyll Suite was filled for the 117th Annual Dinner Dance. Once our honoured guests had been welcomed and clapped to their seats we were treated to some delightful dancing from the 2008 BATD Senior Scholarship winners. The Scholarship winners were:
Highland: Cara Gilliland - Stewart School
Stage/Tap: Paige Miller - Marilyn Baker School
Ballet: Robert Lodge - Scott-Stevenson School
Modern/Jazz: Eilidh McCall - Marion Sweeney School
Congratulations to them all.
After a most enjoyable meal, youngsters from Dance Dreams and Le
Dance took to the floor and presented some amazing freestyle routines.
These youngsters impressed everyone present with their talented
display and congratulations must go to all of them, along with their
teachers Bonnie Barr, Ashleigh Barr, Sharon Barr, Tony Curley and
Gillian Anderson. These BATD trained dancers hold the largest number
of British, European and World Championships in the UK and showed
us Freestyle Showdance and Slowdance.
Following some general dancing to music provided by John Knox,
amateur competitors, Ben Hardwick and Lucy Jones, entertained us
with a splendid display of their Latin American dancing. This couple,
currently ranked 3rd on the EADA amateur Latin American charts, have
been dancing together for about 18months and have already made an impact on the amateur competitive scene in Great Britain, having been
invited to represent England at this year’s European Championships
in Germany.
A special moment during the dinner dance was the handing over of
chains from the retiring Vice President, Mrs May Martin, to the incoming
Vice President, Mr. John Comrie.
On Sunday morning the Highland Branch members were up early to attend their lectures in the Castle Suite. First lecturer, Jeanette Shearer, presented the Irish Jig, followed by Christine Aitken with the Sailor’s Hornpipe. Both were excellent lectures and very well supported. Thank you to Jeanette and Christine for lecturing for us.
Following the Highland lectures the Stage and Ballet branch lectures got under way, in the Castle Suite with Tap and the Island Suite with Ballet. Matt Flint took the American Tap lecture and had the floor overflowing with participants. Matt has recently finished a run of High School Musical and has a number of other West End credits to his name, such as: Guys and Dolls, On the Town, Desperately Seeking Susan, Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as touring performances in Nutcracker, Highland Fling and Saturday Night Fever. Matt also has a number of TV and choreography credits, including Assistant Choreographer for Dirty Dancing, and is resident tap teacher at London Studio Centre. In addition he teaches and choreographs for many Performing Arts Colleges around London. Thank you for coming along to lecture Matt.
Lyrical Ballet was taken by Ian McLeod, always a very popular lecturer with students and spectators alike. There was no trouble getting students onto the floor, which once again overflowed with enthusiastic dancers. Following this lecture, Ian raced down to the Castle Suite to give his second Ballet lecture of the day - another brilliant lecture given with much enthusiasm and encouragement. Thank you Ian for entertaining the spectators as well as the students!
Lisa Ritchie took to the floor with many students to lecture on Jazz from
West End shows. She gave first class lectures which were thoroughly
enjoyed by all. Trained at the Stewart School of Dancing in
Helensburgh, Lisa taught routines from Fame and Cabaret which
proved a lot of fun for all participating. Thank you Lisa for excellent
lectures and thank you Ian for managing to persuade Lisa to dance the
routine for us all at the end.
In the Argyll Suite the morning lectures were Ballroom and Latin
American. Frank and Linda Venables took the first lecture and
presented very useful groups in Foxtrot and Tango. Frank and Linda,
very well-known and respected teachers and ex-competitors, have
during their careers been awarded two Carl Alan Awards and are
former British, Worlds, European, UK and International Champions in
Ballroom Dancing. Following Frank and Linda were Colin and Jacqui
Donaldson who presented some interesting groups in Cha Cha Cha and
Rumba. Colin and Jacqui are also very well-known dance personalities
and have been running a very successful dance school in Hampshire for
over 30 years, teaching a number of competitive couples as well as their
medallists. Everyone enjoyed both the Ballroom and Latin lectures
and hope that both couples will return in the future.
During the afternoon the BATD Inventive Dance was held in the Argyll Suites. This event is always extremely popular and this year proved no different. The hall was full of sequence dancers all anxiously awaiting results of the competition and the teaching of the winning dances. This year the winners were:
President’s Trophy: Rumba Dedication -
Barry Earnshaw and Beverley Murch-Fowkes
Worrall Trophy: Tapas Tango - David and Rita Harrod
BATD Trophy: September Foxtrot -
Barry Earnshaw and Beverley Murch-Fowkes
Jimmy Curley Memorial Trophy for the winning dance with the highest number of 1st placings went to Barry Earnshaw and Beverley Murch-Fowkes.
Thanks to the adjudicators, scrutineer, stewards, compere Howard Cookson and everyone involved in making the Inventive Dance another very successful event for the British.
Another year gone by and another Conference over already. Next year will approach all too quickly and we shall all be taking a trip up to Aberdeen. Book the date in your diaries now: Friday 18th to Sunday 20th June at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. See you all there
Jan Williams
Press Representative