Several Highlights and One Sensation
10th Berlin Open, 20 June 2009

The tradition of an equality dance competition in Berlin goes back ten years. Even though it is not the oldest event of its kind in Germany, it is the oldest which has taken place on a regular basis since 1999. There are surely many reasons why exactly Pinkballroom has always gathered in Berlin a significant number of dancers both from Germany and abroad. Surely it is primarily the guarantee of a fair and smooth-running organization, not to forget the nice atmosphere, hospitality, and all the details which make a competition successful. Besides, Pinkballroom is most probably the biggest equality dance club worldwide, and its many members have always been able to win the most prizes. So within the years it has become prestigious.

The interesting history of Pinkballroom as well as its achievements were described in a article written by Thorsten Reulen and published in the competition program. Here you can read about the transformation from a group of quite radical gay and lesbian dancers who started with reinventing the wheel (meaning new dance steps) to a normal dance club, open even for straights. I have already reported about the high quality of its many couples, which is the evidence of the good work of the coaches and teachers. Furthermore, Pinkballroom activists became engaged in various projects concerning the development of same-sex dance sport in Europe and established a promising  cooperation with the mainstream dance federation in Berlin. In other words, Pinkballroom is surely a highlight in our dance world.

But enough history, back to the competition. As usual, many international dance couples were registered for the Berlin Open this year, but to my surprise quite many did not show up, even from Berlin. Thanks goodness, other couples appeared, although the jubilee competition was at the end (at least according to the numbers) smaller than a year ago. Per section there were some 20+ couples, and so it was possible to hold four classes A,B,C,D (with the exception of Men Latin where only A and C took place). Altogether there were 51 Standard and 32 Latin couples.

The finals of the A classes traditionally take place during an evening ball. Highlights of Men Standard were, again, the best and undefeated couple from Berlin, Pascal Herrbach and Gergely Darabos, and their rivals from Budapest, Csaba Csetneki and Balazs Gati. Both couples showed beautiful ballroom dancing. The Germans were more showy, the Hungarians more classic. And again, the reigning World, Europe etc. champions, Pascal and Gergely, won first prize. Among women dancing Latin A I would like to mention the winners, a Danish couple, Killgaard – Nilsson. The second-placed, a Hungarian couple, Folkman – Engler, were also very strong and expressive.

Another highlight of the evening was the appearance of Caroline Privou and Petra Zimmermann in Women Standard. Undefeated for the last 4-5 years in the world they showed perfect dancing, which includes a good portion of show and at the same time perfect technique combined with very attractive choreography and costumes. Because they were from Cologne, they could not be the Berlin champions, but they were awarded a “Berlin bear” as a honorary trophy. The second placed, Rencisovszky – Füleki from Budapest, surprised with a fulminate quickstep.

A real sensation was in the air as a totally unknown couple from Prague, the first ever Czech couple at a same-sex dance competition, entered the floor for the Men Latin A final, Milan Hradecky and David Valcucha. Although Pascal and Gergely showed a full combination of their class and formidable expression, the victory went to the unknown Czechs. They were more dynamic, more precise, more Latin and got all best marks from the adjudicators. Hard to believe that it was their first ever competition, that they had found information about the Berlin competition on the internet and prepared a choreography using their routines from the mainstream dancing without the help of a coach. Let us hope that many more such couples will follow, not only from the Czech Republic, but Slovenia, Poland, and more. Those country are a huge reservoir for the same-sex dance sport in Europe, and ESSDA seems not to have reached them with PR instruments. Pascal and Gergely were awarded an additional tile as Berlin Champions in 10 dances, and in this category there was nobody better in the world at the moment! (Among women this title went to Arning-Freud).

Austria was represented by two relatively new couples, one male and one female, dancing both styles. Both couples, Frank – Zajic and Mayrhofer – Schrattenholzer, won first place in C class, which can be considered a success. The revenge during the Vienna Dance contest in September 26 is already prepared.

A. Selerowicz, June 2009