Dear Members,
October saw the return of the Vienna Dance Contest after a three year break due to the Covid pandemic. Four of our UK couples made the trip to the Austrian capital city to compete for the trophies in the shape of a snow globe. Well done to everyone who competed and it is great to see competitions attracting more competitors from further afield again.
On 12th November, it’s time for the 2022 edition of the UK Equality Open (UKEO). This year’s event will take place in Burgess Hill. The UKEDC is pleased to sponsor trophies for two new categories at the UKEO – Salsa and Argentine Tango. We wish everyone competing good luck and we look forward to seeing many of you on the day.
Ball season is also truly underway. At the end of this month, on 26th November, the Pink Dancers’ Winter Ball will take place at the Bishopsgate Institute. We are intrigued by the superhero theme.
We are still receiving compliments and useful feedback about our 15th Anniversary Gala Ball. We are already starting to think about what a future UKEDC ball might look like, so watch this space! I would like to thank Roswitha and her team for their work in arranging and running the first ever UKEDC ball.
In May, many of you, as well as dancers around the world, expressed concern about comments that were made during a lecture at the Blackpool Dance Festival. Over recent months we have been engaging with the British Dance Council (BDC), Blackpool Entertainment Company Ltd (BECL – the organisers of the Blackpool Dance Festival), and the World Dance Council (WDC).
The BDC at their recent board meeting agreed to establish an equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) committee and have invited me as the chair of UKEDC to join this committee.
The committee will be chaired by Malcolm Hill. Malcolm is on the Board of Directors of the BDC and now has the new role of EDI officer and chair of the EDI committee. Many of you will know Malcolm as a teacher, adjudicator, and UKEDC committee member.
The WDC has welcomed our offer to explore how we could work together to strengthen EDI in dancesport and ensure all dance events create an environment that is welcoming and safe for all, regardless of background. We will be meeting the WDC for an initial meeting in the coming weeks.
Last but not least, I wanted to mention again that we have a committee vacancy for the role of treasurer. If you would like to find out a bit more about what this role involves, please email Tom Dane (tdane@ukedc.org).
See you all somewhere on a dance floor soon!
ANSELL
Chair of UKEDC