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Back to China Tour 2009

China Tour March 2009

Beijing Wheelchair Dance Sport Competition
Asian Ballroom Competition

Beijing is a big city, in anyone's language. With a population of 17 million, it packs the entire Australian population, minus Melbourne, into one city - WOW!

Madeleine was invited to judge the two day event, and lucky for us, we were able to spend a few extra days to explore some of the wonders of China before we had to head off to Hong Kong.

The event kicked of with a welcome dinner for all the invited adjudicators and guests. There was an impressive list of international adjudicators and dance champions and it was great to meet everyone in a relaxed atmosphere.

On to the event. This was our first contact with Wheelchair Dance Sport and the Beijing Parlympic training facilities were the perfect venue. Click here to check it out.

A number of people from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and other Wheelchair Dance Sport coaches, classifiers and representatives were at the event, and we had a great opportunity to come up to speed with the workings of the sport. We have posted some information in "Under the Scope".

During the 2 day event, we were treated to Wheelchair Ballroom, Latin and Hip Hop - cool! There were also demonstrations from Wheelchair formation teams. The talent and skill demonstrated by some of the wheelchair competitors is truly amazing.

The regular Dancesport event catered for different age groups, but they were all Open events, and even the under 11 year old couples danced all 5 dances in every round! The majority of couples are 10 Dancers and had a very busy schedule, especially as some of them danced in more than one age group. (A 14 year old couple could, for example, dance in the Under 21 and Under 16 devision).

What did stand out was that pretty much all the dancers are very lean and trim. Body mobility and flexibility is impressive and it is only a matter of time before some of these couples will make it to the very top of International DanceSport. One of their top Amateur Standard couples, Chao Yang & Yiling Tan, a familiar figure at the Australian Championship.

As a special treat, we had floorshows from some of Chinas top couples and youth formation team, international Wheelchair Dance Sport Champions, Peter & Kristina Stokkebroe from Denmark and Benedetto Ferruggia & Claudia Köhler from Germany.

Left to right: Kim Yong Woo & Kim Ji Yong (Korea), Maxim Sedakov & Svetlana Kukushkina (Russia), Ihar Kisialiou & Hanna Charchakova (Belorussia), Peter & Kristina Stokkebroe (Denmark) and Benedetto Ferruggia & Claudia Köhler (Germany). Mr Bill Lau at far right.

The event closed with a farewell dinner and I did my best to rub shoulders with the stars, hoping that some of their skill would rub off :-)

You can find all the photos from the event in the Photo Gallery.
 

Chris Gruber