2003 USABDA National Championship

[Porfirio Landeros]

Does anyone have any thoughts about this year's national amateur ballroom championships?

Personally, this was my first year going. I was pleasently surprised by the almost perfect venue/city for the event. I say almost perfect, because everything was closed (restaurants, stores, etc.) even in the middle of the day on Saturday!

But we were there to dance, right? And we did! We're very happy making the final of the smooth championships. We were really affected by the joy on Lauren Rand's face when she and Jonathan won the national smooth title. It was so inspiring to see all their hard work pay off.

Here are the results for Adult American Smooth Championship (16 couple, quarter final):

1. Jonathan Medlin / Lauren Rand, NC
2. Nels Petersen / Theresa Kimler, MN
3. John Selby / Kristin Staszek, CA
4. Andrew and Janie Nordberg, MN
5. Hoang Quan Vu / Olga Curd, TX
6. Porfirio Landeros / Laetitia Santore, CA

Anyone else have an experience to share?

[DanceMentor]

I just wanted to say "hi" and welcome you (http://www.dance-forums.com/guidelines.php) to the forums!

Being from Atlanta, I knew Lauren before she started dancing with Jonathan. She was always so talented but could never seem to find the right partner. All that changed when she met Jonathan. They are such a good match and I'm really happy for her.

Congratulations on making the final round. :D

[SDsalsaguy]

Does anyone have any thoughts about this year's national amateur ballroom championships?
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend this year so can’t really comment…

Personally, this was my first year going. I was pleasently surprised by the almost perfect venue/city for the event. I say almost perfect, because everything was closed (restaurants, stores, etc.) even in the middle of the day on Saturday!
Really? That was your only gripe? I was there last year (same location) and saw & heard many other problems. For one thing many people do not find the geographic location conducive to cheap travel. Same problem regarding nearby hotels…and, if I recall correctly, at least one of them does not have enough elevators to accommodate its capacity. As I remember it I was with some competitors last year who were trying to get downstairs to go compete and it took almost 10 minutes for an elevator to arrive! (They had a lot of competition gear & bags, etc., or would have resorted to the stairs.) Also, maybe the weather held up this year but, last year, it rained a bit and unless you had a vehicle it was almost impossible to arrive at the competition venue (that day, at least,) less then drenched.

I will say, however, that Steve M. seemed most responsive and interested in any and all suggestions for improvement when I made some last year.

But we were there to dance, right? And we did! We're very happy making the final of the smooth championships.
Congratulations! Makes for quite an impressive showing from Champion, now doesn’t it? #3 & #6 in Open Adult Smooth, #1 (repeating) in Senior Latin, and #2 (also repeating) in Senior Standard!

Anyone else have some perspectives to share with us all?