Our Dance Champs Diary ✨ ✍️

By Ellie Patterson

Sunday 5th October- our first competition of this season was here! The day started at 6:30 for me as I was staying up in a hotel near the venue. For those travelling some of their days started as early as 4! This was so they had time to do hair and make up before taking the journey up. It was only a 5-10 minute drive for me to the venue so I left the hotel at 8ish to be there in plenty time!

When I got there we all met just outside the hall. I got handed my wrist band and the doors opened. We were lucky to be first in line so we avoided the long queue behind us. I found our seats then the nerves started to sink in. We all feel a mix of emotions on comp day- some excited some nervous but I feel a mix of them all. As this was our first comp with these routines I was feeling a little more nervous than usual especially sitting watching everyone doing their solos. After a morning of watching some very talented dancers and our very own blaze who placed 2nd! It was our turn to dance! Our first dance was jazz, I nervously stood watching the people before us although there was excitement as we had performed this dance once before. Once it was our turn, we were ready! We hit the floor with confidence and adrenaline, the performance was great, we were all very pleased with how we had danced. We met up after our dance to have a team chat and eat birthday cake 🎉 after then going back to perform our hiphop piece. I was a bit more nervous for this performance as it was our first time doing it but was also excited to see how it had all come together. Again when we hit the floor we brought our best and it went well! We came off feeling very pleased with ourselves and were now ready to have some snacks( some a nap) and chill before the awards ceremony.

When it came to awards I felt ready for our results, we danced our best and that was what mattered(and getting to the finals😂😁) we ended up with a 4th in jazz and a 3rd in hip hop which got us qualified for the finals in Dundee! I was so proud of how we did and we are all now excited and looking forward to the finals on the 25th. We were also very proud of all our soloists of the day taking part in the rounds, they all did well with lots of call backs, semi finals and even some qualifying for the grand final.

Ellie (Ignite)