Blackpool 2021

DanceMentor said:
I don't think it specified what competitions were being trademarked. But it sure seems like deciding who makes the champions is a lucrative business.

I was researching a little bit about the WDC. I see that a man named Sergei Ryupin is on the Board of Directors. I don't know him, but he seems to be a Russian citizen. Can he legally be on the Board of Directors?
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i dunno - i always hear that Donnie Burns is the dude who runs things for WDC despite the board. I guess i didn't realize how lucrative naming champions would be?

i don't think the Open will have problems with finding judges now that none of the top ones are going to blackpool.
 
  • British Amateur Ballroom Dancing Championship,
  • British Over 50's Ballroom Championship,
  • British Professional Ballroom Dancing Championship,
  • British Professional Latin Championship,
  • British Amateur Latin Championship,
  • British Under 21 Years Ballroom Championship,
  • British Under 21 Years Latin Championship,
  • British Senior Latin Championship,
  • British Senior Ballroom Championship,
  • British Professional American Smooth Championship,
  • British American Rhythm Championship,
  • Blackpool Team Match,
  • British Junior Latin Championship,
  • British Junior Ballroom Championship,
  • British Juvenile Latin Championship,
  • British Open Blackpool Dance Festival
  • The Blackpool Open.

    I don't know whether awarding the championships gets the BDC money, but they do license all British competitors above beginners which must be quite a bit of money.
 
Alstroemeria said:
I don't know whether awarding the championships gets the BDC money, but they do license all British competitors above beginners which must be quite a bit of money.
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I don't think it's about the money. The boycott list is full of top dancers, not, as far as I can tell, full of top organizers.
 
Warren J. Dew said:
I don't think it's about the money. The boycott list is full of top dancers, not, as far as I can tell, full of top organizers.
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I was replying to this comment "But it sure seems like deciding who makes the champions is a lucrative business." but I didn't quote it. Sorry for not being clear!
 
The exact text below is being shared between & copied here from several high profile dancers/judges pages in facebook to explain why they are not supporting Blackpool this year…..

There is a reason WHY Blackpool was the greatest dance festival in the world....
There is a reason WHY it was every dancers' biggest dream to one day become a British Open finalist or even more so a British Open Champion...

Blackpool and the Winter Gardens has for generations been the home of dancers, the place where dancing would be appreciated by all of the former champions and legends of our dance world no matter who you are, where you come from or which federation you were a part of. Therefore for US dancers this place was SPECIAL and SACRED. It was built on integrity, fairness and most importantly the love and passion for the dance form. It was the time of the year when people put their political differences aside and just for a week would become one HUGE dancing family! It gave us a platform to express the art we have dedicated our ENTIRE lives to and alongside the finest dancers in the world, battle it out on the biggest stage!

Regardless of the complicated political situation in the dance world over the years, The British Open has always managed to remain neutral and independent. It somehow managed NOT to take sides! It placed personal and organisational interests aside. Until NOW.. This is sadly no longer the case.
It is clear now that the festival is favouring a particular organisation’s interests and their personal and financial gains , which is very clearly NOT in the dancers best interests.

When a huge number of the biggest names of our Dance World (with a combined total of over 90 Major British Open titles between them) do NOT wish to attend the festival … it begs the question … WHY ? Did they fall out of love with the festival out of nowhere or did something DRASTICALLY change in the way the festival is being run and the direction it is currently taking?!

What are some of those changes one might ask?
- The removal of the long standing and fair Chairman of Adjudicators, Mr. Marcus Hilton MBE
- The new 2022 Training Camp which will take place IN the Winter Gardens BEFORE the British Open Championships. The camp includes an individual , who will judge the Festival a week later and all of this is being advertised by Blackpool Dance Festival and the managing director of BECL. This is UNPRECEDENTED and it demonstrates a clear bias towards a particular organisation and their interests.
- Including individuals on the judging panel who have never competed professionally in neither Ballroom or Latin dancing.
- The lack of transparency in terms of the judging panel. The panel was announced and some of the adjudicators then removed themselves from the panel. WHY was there no statement announcing this? Furthermore WHY Is there no statement announcing who will replace them?! WHY are those names still advertised on the panel of adjudicators when they have decided NOT to judge and NOT TO support the event. This spreads misinformation and it’s deceiving. It lures couples in under false pretense that the panels advertised are in fact the panels who will be adjudicating. That’s a lie. The panels of adjudicators will NOT be as advertised.
- Lastly, but maybe most importantly, the absolute and utter DISRESPECT with which dancers are being treated by the very people who seem to be the top advisers of the Blackpool Entertainment company Limited (BECL.) It is UNACCEPTABLE to laugh at dancers and mock them for asking WHY! It is UNACCEPTABLE to insinuate that dancers are just clowns who should shut up and “just dance”. It is UNACCEPTABLE to belittle dancers, speak down to them and abuse power to try and silence them. WE HAVE A VOICE AND IT SHALL BE HEARD !!! WE CAN NOT FOLLOW OUR DREAMS BECAUSE YOU KEEP DESTROYING THEM !!!!
Every dancer can decide for themselves. For US the dancers, Our way of speaking up is the freedom of choice to support or NOT support a competition..And ULTIMATELY if there are NO dancers there is NO competition.

I hope the organisers of one of the greatest dance festivals in the world will hear all our voices… the competitors, the dancers, the future, and will make the necessary changes to return the festival to it's former Glory and Greatness!
 
Larinda said:
I see English, American, Hungarian, Chinese... why would it be illegal for a Russian to be on the board of an international organization?
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I know in other organizations they are banning Russians from participating. So I wasn't sure if that it might apply here. In other words, might this be "doing business" with Russia?
 
Alstroemeria said:
I was replying to this comment "But it sure seems like deciding who makes the champions is a lucrative business." but I didn't quote it. Sorry for not being clear!
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I understood you.

I still don't think it's money, or not just money. The Hiltons have plenty of money.

I think it's about dancing in some way. The boycotters are trying to defend a tradition of former british open champions picking future champions as a way to preserve the quality of dancing, and maybe specifically the English style.

What's not clear to me is what's going on on the other side. I'd believe the Blackpool council is unhappy with reduced revenues from last year, but surely they can understand that covid travel restrictions impacted attendance. Some organizations like the WDSF or competing competitions like the German Open might benefit from the brouhaha, but they don't seem to be involved. I'd like to hear from the other side what their complaints are.
 
Warren J. Dew said:
I understood you.

I still don't think it's money, or not just money. The Hiltons have plenty of money.

I think it's about dancing in some way. The boycotters are trying to defend a tradition of former british open champions picking future champions as a way to preserve the quality of dancing, and maybe specifically the English style.

What's not clear to me is what's going on on the other side. I'd believe the Blackpool council is unhappy with reduced revenues from last year, but surely they can understand that covid travel restrictions impacted attendance. Some organizations like the WDSF or competing competitions like the German Open might benefit from the brouhaha, but they don't seem to be involved. I'd like to hear from the other side what their complaints are.
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Yes, well said. I get it what the boycotters are about, however I'm lost as to what the Blackpool counsel was thinking.
 
There have been a lot of changes made this year, and people think it's due to the WDC/WDC-AL working with BECL but cutting out the BDC.

The issue with the trademarks is I think because Blackpool Council are trademarking them as "the name of an event we run" while according to the BDC (and in fairness, they are the governing body for British competitions!) it's only a championship if they have licensed it to be one.

So say BECL didn't apply to run the British Closed Championship one year, but somebody else did, if the BDC granted it to them it would still be the British Closed Championship — they could run it in London or Cardiff or Aberdeen or Halifax (or Blackpool). It would still be the British Closed. That's why they don't want any promoter trademarking the names.
 
I mean, I'm only going off what I'm seeing online. I think there's just a feeling that it's less independent and impartial than before.

-There's a workshop being held before the competition, with some of the judges teaching and offering private lessons.

-Blackpool Council applying for the trademarks. They've never done that before, and always worked happily with the BDC — did somebody suggest it to them? (Conspiracy theories! :D )

-Change in Chair. Marcus Hilton was very popular.

-Choice of adjudicators. They used to avoid husband and wife pairs, and there are some this time. There's also something about the quality of the judges but that could be snobbishness!

But of course there is bad blood between the WDO and the WDC so really they're just taking the opportunity to take potshots at each other I think.
 
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