11th BDFI Malaysian Open Dancesport Championship 2012 (8th January 2012)

This was the first Malaysian championship of the year, organized by Ms Amy Lee of Amy Dancesport Center (ADC) and the first to be held in a newly discovered venue - SJK(C) Naam Keong in Cheras. I must say that after having some trouble finding the place and appearing to travel thru the older part of Cheras I was dubious about the facilities we would have. I was pleasantly surprised upon arriving at the school gates and as I drove thru the grounds. It was a very well laid out, neat, tidy school with a more then decent enclosed hall. It's design was modern and ideal for stage productions with good lighting and excellent air conditioning. I must commend the organizer, who had a tough time confirming a venue earlier, for making an excellent choice.

For the first comp of the year, there was a surprisingly large number of entries - 160 ! The majority of the entries took part in the solo and beginner events. Interestingly, the organizers decided to adopt a new method of judging the juveniles that they had observed in comps in Hong Kong. With this method, the juveniles (within the same category) are divided into groups of 6 (not heats) and each group dances a final. The judges then place the finalist accordingly. This way, every child is guaranteed a certificate to take home with a 'finalist' placing. The purpose of this is to reinforce the children's enthusiasm and to make them feel that all that practicing was worth it. Its a novel idea to encourage younger children and though we all had to adjust to this system, it was well worth it as both the child and its parents were happy. I do think though, to make it a little more competitive, that the champions of each group should then compete against each other in order to have an overall champion crowned. I wonder if I could convince the next organizer to try this out.

Being the first comp of the year, it also brought to light several new partnerships as well as visual confirmation of breakups. The most obvious being that the latin amateur partnership of CCS & Emy Farrah has ended. Standard amateur couple Samuel Sum & Valarie Lim were also a no show at the comp despite being registered and one wonders about their status now as they had a roller coaster ride last year. Several other couples who had a good run last year moved up a rank in this comp - in the Standard, couples Harry Oon & Dionne Leong together with Shaun Chew & Raena Low moved into the Rising Star & Amateur Closed categories. The same two couples plus Yong Chun Leong & Kang Woan Yi and Tye Jian Jin & Cindy Law moved up in the Latin divisions too. Also stepping up to the Latin Rising Star category were David & Samantha Lim, Alvin Hoh & Riena Aisya, Kelvin Mok & Louise Cheow and Siew Wei Lok & Joey Wong. I'm sure there were several other 'risers' but I was not able to pay that much attention to the couples I'm not already familiar with.

Several of the couples/dancers who struggled to settle into their new partnerships/choreography last year had made noticeable improvements. Veroy Ng & Lo Wengche (amateur latin) had had a tough time last year attempting to harness Veroy's raw strength as they adjusted to the new partnership, new choreography and the rather large difference in height. Wengche can certainly hold her own on the floor with great expression and good lines but with the physically larger and stronger Veroy as her partner, she was often overpowered and swamped. This year, they managed to find some neutral ground as Veroy attempted to put a leash on his strength and direct it more calmly. A much welcomed relief for the petite Wengche no doubt. I'll be watching the new partnership of Yong Chun Leong & Kang Woan Yi over the year. Chun Leong is the supreme performer with great audience interaction and expression and I hope Woan Yi will be able to match his larger then life persona. The partnership of Alvin Hoh & Riena Aisya became a little unbalanced this year with Riena markedly improving, leaving Alvin a little lagging. Lets hope this will balance out as the year progresses. 10 dance couple Shaun Chew & Raena Low showed some progress in 'thawing' out more and showing more expression during their dancing. They really need to work on this as they already have everything else working in their favour to make them SEA champions. I hope to see more animated facial expression thru the year. There was a surprise win from Tye Jian Jin & Cindy Law in the Latin Rising Star as they had obviously used their earlier round in the Pre-Am as a warm up and really came out with their guns blazing for the Rising Star. Cindy is looking really comfortable on the floor now but Jian Jin need to soften his body language and facial expression a whole lot more in order to compete with the big boys later this year.

We had a total of 21 judges lead by Chief Adjudicator, Mr Chong Kim Yee. Our scrutineers for the event was Nixon Ong & Co. The judges were as follows : (they are listed according to their official tags)

A  Chong Kim Yee - KL
B  Walter Luk - Hong Kong
C  Alonggod Nutsati - Thailand
D  Nontachai Meksawad - Thailand
E  Iwan Ichwan - Indonesia
F  Denny A. Gurmawan - Indonesia
G  John Lim - Selangor
H  Josephine Seow - Selangor
I  Lee Yip Seng - Selangor
J  Sumiko Lim - Selangor
K  Yeoh Gim Hua - Selangor
L  Yukiko Hori - KL
M  Jovy Wong - KL
N  Judy Ong - KL
O  Andy Wong - KL
P  Yeap Yen Chin - Perak
Q  Irene Au - Perak
R  Wong Chooi Yee - Perak
S  James Ooi - Penang
T  Reena Leong - Ng. Sembilan
U  Siow Boon Wah - Johor

Here are the results according to the order of events :

• Std. Beginners Waltz - Jason Tan & Suzanne Thong, KL
• Std. Beginners Tango - Leon Low & Melissa Lim, Selangor
• Std. Novice - Pitchayen Ueamongkonkam & Nutthapanee Tangthoung, Thailand
• Std. Beginners Foxtrot - Benjamin Ho & Chong Jia Wen, Selangor
• Std. Beginners Quickstep - Benjamin Ho & Chong Jia Wen, Selangor
• Std. Masters II - Colin Lim & Tan Suan Chu, Selangor
• Std. Solo Open - Owen Lee, KL
• Std. Pre Amateur - Adrian Tan & Gan Kar Mern, Selangor
• Std. Masters I - Roberto Masanque & Joey Wong, Singapore
• Std. Solo U 12 - Owen Lee, KL
• Std. Junior U 16 - Shaun Chew & Reana Low, Selangor
• Latin Beginnners Cha Cha - Justin Teh & Rachael Leong, Selangor
• Latin Masters I - Lee Yew Tuck & Susan Ting, Ipoh
• Latin Beginners Jive - Nang Yu Lee & Heah Jun Yu, Ipoh
• Latin Beginners Rumba - Nang Yu Lee & Heah Jun Yu, Ipoh
• Latin Beginners Samba - Justin Teh & Rachael Leong, Selangor
• Latin Masters II - Ian Tan & Christine Eng, Penang
• Latin Ladies - Pinky Chung & Gillian Huang, KL
• Latin Beginners Paso Doble - Nang Yu Lee & Heah Jun Yu, Ipoh
• Latin Beginners U 12 - Kenneth Kwan & Beatrice Loo, Ipoh
• Latin Girls U 12 - Pinky Chung & Gillian Huang, KL
• Latin Novice - Bryan Fong & Yong Mei Fong, KL
• Latin Solo U 8 - Miyaki, KL
• Latin Pre Amateur - Siew Wei Lok & Joey Wong
• Latin Solo U 12 - Gillian Huang, KL
• Latin Juvenile U 8 - Khoo Wai Yuan & Wong Jia Wei, Ipoh
• Latin Junior U 16 - Siew Wei Lok & Joey Wong
• Latin ADC Solo U 8 (Group 1) - Miyaki, KL
• Latin ADC Solo U 8 (Group 2) - Miyumi, KL
• Std. Rising Star - Adriel Tan & Aw Sim Li
• Latin ADC U 6 - See Boo Yee, KL
• Std. Juvenile U 12 - Muhammad Daniel & Zenny Chee, Selangor
• Std. Amateur Closed - Bernard Lim & Natalie Tan, Selangor
• Latin ADC Solo U 12 (Group 1) - Pinky Chung, KL
• Latin ADC Solo U 12 (Group 2) - Melanie Khoo, KL
• Latin ADC Solo U 12 (Group 3) - Gillian Huang, KL
• Std. Amateur Open - Johnston Lim & Nicole Tan, Selangor
• Latin ADC Juvenile U 12 - Chin Hao Yen & Dorcas Isabelle Lian, KL
• Latin Rising Star - Tye Jian Jin & Cindy Law, Ipoh
• Latin Juvenile U 12 - Eric Foong & Ice Kwan, Ipoh
• Latin Amateur Closed - Bernard Lim & Natalie Tan, Selangor
• Latin Solo Open - Lee Wei Tsing, KL
• Latin Amateur Open - Johnston Lim & Nicole Tan, Selangor

Congratulations to all our champions and well done to all competitors. The majority of you all started off the year with a bang in this comp. I trust the coming CNY celebrations won't make you too soft for the next comp coming up soon. Enjoy your break but get back on the training floor as soon as you can. I'm looking forward to some great dancing from our Malaysian couples as some great opportunities are coming up for several of them. 

Remember, it is the mind that makes the body. As we progress into this new year of 2012, please focus on the dancing and not the politics. Dance because you want to, because you need to, because you love to. Do not use words of hurt & cruelty to destroy a dancers soul and dancers do not allow such hurt & cruelty to destroy your passion and purpose. Focus.

Note : the opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and are based on her own observations.