The Dutch Open. Day 3 Saturday 10th November

Super Saturday has long been a special day at Assen but today was Super Special Saturday. It was a day where you felt so proud to be a part of our beautiful dance family. Peter Poort one of our announcers summed it up so well when he said “I have been coming to Assen for more than 20 years and have never seen dancers giving so much support to their fellow dancers.

The day began at precisely 9.00 a.m. with the qualification rounds for the Dutch Open Amateur Latin. 9 heats of absolutely great dancing and no nonsense or gimmicks. The second event the Under 12 Latin also gave us fabulous dancing and these young people produced not just quality but an understanding of dance far advanced to their ages. I am sure every judge regretted he did not have more marks to reward such talent and dedication. If you missed out on the semi or fina dancers do not be downhearted. You had fun, you gave so much pleasure and your day will come and maybe sooner than you feel at this moment.

It did not end there however as we also had the commencement of the Under 16 Ballroom and it was quite emotional to see the great poise, the confidence the beauty of waltz swing as these young super stars swung into action. It was a beautiful morning.

When in the early afternoon the Uner 19 Latin stars took to the floor to show us they too were going to give us a comp to remember you could not help but feel. I am so glad I am here and seeing such amazing dancing, the pure love of dance.

These are Juveniles, Junior and Youth giving us great entertainment and showing how safe ur dance future is of home. Everyone who loves dance, who support the WDC AL together with their parents and families, can feel justly proud. There was huge support from the audience You are special and
we saw spellbinding competitions from start to finish.

Adding to the day were various Pro Am competitions and solo competitions all of which created to the atmosphere and the feeling of being part of something special.

When it came to one of the uniquely Assen moments this year we had distributed light “sticks” and how much fun they provided. Social media will undoubtedly carry many videos of the fun during the next few days. It also got underway a fabulous Professional Latin event. From 2008 Riccardo & Yulia had made this title theirs and so today there would be a new era and a new Champion. The excitement was high and the dancing superb.

The Amateur Ballroom dancers rejoined the arena at 22..00 to dance the 24, 12 and 6 and in the process gave us one of the best Assen Amateur Ballroom championships for some years. Their final was shared with the Professional Latin finalists who danced alternatively dance by dance and gave a spectacular show.

No one in the audience could have wished for a more fitting conclusion to a beautiful day.

Assen is without doubt Unique the many event categories it covers during the 4 days and for good measure tonight we had a Professional Exhibition event with Canada and Germany giving us great and entertaining very different shows.

There was also “The Gladiators” !
super dancing oh yes but and what laughter we had from our 3 brilliant Amateur Couples and our Caesars Luca Fanni and Sammy Stopford. The dancing might have been super, varied and entertaining but the humour produced so much laughter. Assen you never fail to amaze. No wonder this competition is so loved.

How fortunate we in the WDC and AL are with the excellent dancing we enjoy and today both Professionals and Amateurs gave us true value for money. The Professional WDC World Super Series Latin Championship tonight was hugely exciting and had the audience screaming from the first beat of the first dance to the last beat of the last dance. The best of the best were really all on top form and no one could have asked for more from any competitor.

The first 3 days may have encompassed many hours but the time seems to have sped by and it hardly seems possible that tomorrow Sunday Assen 2019 will come to a close. It is going to be a very special day indeed though commencing at 12.00

Super Saturday and Assen was the day you thought “I am so glad I was here”

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