8 and 9 December 2012 in Minsk, in the multipurpose sports hall “Minsk-Arena” the International DanceSport Tournament “Winter Ball-2012” was held.
This tournament had a high status of the open international tournament of the world rating of WDSF (World Dance Sport Federation). This event was included into the international and national schedules of the tournaments and was an official event of the Belarusian Dance Sport Federation. Three metropolitan clubs became the organizers of this event: “DanceSport Club “Ludmila” (main organizer), “CityDance” and “Telemark”.
About 1000 dancing couples aged from 4 to 65 years old participated in the tournament and the dance duets were evaluated by the highly professional international team of judges which represented 7 countries: Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
For the first time in our country were held World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) world ranking competitions in the Youth 2 (under 21 years) category and also were held WDSF rating competitions for Juvenile I + II (7-11 years), Junior I (12-13 years), Junior II (14-15 years) which gathered at one dance floor the best dance couples from Belarus and dance duos from six other countries.
As part of the tournament “Winter Ball 2012” there were competitions for the Cup of Mass Dance Sport, which was attended by those dancing couples who make their first steps on the sports floor.
In addition, to the judgment of strict, but fair judging panel of judges there were presented performances of the youngest contestants from 4 to 9 years, who came to the parquet of such great competitions for the first time.
The organizers of the competition prepared a pleasant surprise for the young athletes – absolutely all young dancers were awarded prizes and gifts from sponsors and clubs – the organizers of the competition. There was a huge number of competitors wishing to compete in this category – more than 600 competitors – and it was an absolute historic record!
The organizers of the competition did everything to ensure that dancers, spectators and judges had a festive New Year’s mood and a truly unforgettable festival of dance:
- Welcoming dinner for the judges passed in an unforgettable atmosphere - at a concert of "Okean Elzy" in V.I.P. box "Minsk arena".
- Two days with the audience held a famous and beloved TV presenter Dmitry Karas.
- Especially for this tournament Belarusian masters made original author's medals from "Ivan Kuznets" (author Ivan Pisarik).
- The national company Beltelecom carried out online internet broadcasting of the competitions for two days.
- A pleasant novelty for all dancers was the work during the competition of a professional beauty studio where all wishing dancers could use the services of stylists and make-up artists to create their own unique image on the parquet.
- "ProBuzPrint" company provided design and printing support for the tournament at the highest level;
- Official transporter of the tournament - "Aquatoria Trans" company - met guests, judges and participants of the tournament;
- Hotel "Tourist" provided hospitality for the tournament participants and judges.
- Informational support of the event was provided by Internet portals: tut.by, dancesport.by, and relax.by.
- Also, in preparation for the tournament in order to improve the sports skills of the dancers of the Republic of Belarus there were held master classes in European program, organized by the DSC "Ludmila":
- 1.Three-time world champion among professionals,
- 2.Twice European champion among professionals,
- 3.Silver medalist of the World Cup among professionals,
- 4.Three-time Professional World Champion of Russia,
- 5.Two times holder of the Professionals’ Grand Prix,
- 6.Finalist of the World Games Standard among amateurs,
- 7.Silver medalist of the Amateur World Cup,
- 8.The coach of the Russian national European dance team Alex Galchun (Moscow, Russia).
Support in organization and holding of the event was rendered by:
- MSH "Minsk-Arena" team and personally director Nikolai Konstantinovich Ananiev,
- the staff of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University and personally Dmitry Shukanov,
- dance studio "ElGato" and its head Vladimir Poturaev.
The director of the tournament was Dmitriy Borovik – Chairman of “CityDance”.
Certainly, it was impossible to hold this wonderful holiday of grace and high art without help of sponsors – BioBeauty company provided wonderful natural cosmetic sets for the finalists of the competition, Onega trade mark and Roshen confectionary corporation provided tasty prizes, Bonaqua group of companies and Burn trade mark were official drinks of the competition and tanning studio “Sun House” provided gift certificates for the winners. The organizers thanked the same company Event Market for their help in conducting the competition.
The organizers are confident that “Winter Ball 2012” gave all spectators an unforgettable atmosphere of a real holiday of His Majesty Dance performed by the best dance duos!