On December 6th 2014, GGC Bremen hosted the WDSF World Formation Championships for the third year running, with 18 teams contending the title. The competition was anticipated with great interest as it was the first Latin Formation Championship at which the new Judging System 2.1 was to be used.
The new system comprises a panel of 12 judges, rather than 7, who are each randomly allocated one of four elements to score out of 10. In a formation competition, six of these judges sit in an elevated position to assess the Partnering Skill (EC), and Choreography and Presentation (CP) elements, and the other six sit by the side of the floor to assess Technical Quality (TQ) and Movement to Music (MM).
Further details about the four elements can be found on the WDSF website here although the assessment of factors such as tricks and patterns, which are not found in normal couples competitions, are not mentioned here.
XS had worked harder than ever before to improve their Shirley Bassey-themed routine, motivated by their best ever placing and semi-final success at the European Latin Formation Championships in May. The team was confident that they could deliver a faster and cleaner performance than they had done then. The OVB arena was packed to the rafters even during the first round, and the team greatly enjoyed dancing for the crowd of around 5000 people.
Despite giving a significantly better performance than previously, and receiving positive comments from many audience members of different nationalities, XS was disappointed to finish in 14th place. It was hoped that at least the new system would allow teams to identify areas of strength and weakness more clearly, but the complexity of the new system appears to make this more difficult than expected.
In the absence of Zuvedra, the 6th place in the final was very much up for grabs, with many teams of similar standard fighting intensely for the spot. Double V were thrilled to be the lucky ones, reaching the World Championship final for the first time since 2004!
In clear 5th place was Zwolfaxing, giving a solid performance of It’s a Beautiful Day.
The performances of the top four teams and their battle for a medal position proved to be extremely exciting!
Bremen debuted their new West Side Story routine with confidence to win the championship with ease. The concept of the Jets vs the Sharks could be seen through the women’s hair colour (four blondes and four brunettes). However, it was a great shame that some of the clever patterns were lost owing to the WDSF’s decision to ban their women from also wearing different colour dresses.
Vera’s performance of their You routine displayed their usual fabulous technique, but some mistakes in their tricks and unclear patterns weakened the overall impression. However, this was not reflected in their marks, which were in fact higher for both EC and CP than for TQ or MM.
Aachen-Dusseldorf, also debuting a new routine (Showstars – Rise and Shine, a Las Vegas theme), gave a stunning and classy performance of a choreography full of imagination and excitement. From the dramatic opening lift, through pirouettes danced at jive tempo, to the final lift, it held the audience captivated. The heckling from the crowd when the fourth place score was announced showed how popular the routine was with the audience and that the popular vote would have seen them placed higher.
Last to dance in the final was Duet, who were the surprise of the night. They performed their High School routine with great clarity, displaying fantastic patterns and excellent, extremely difficult tricks. The audience awarded them with a standing ovation, and they deservedly finished in second place. This is an incredible rise for a team whose debut performance at the World Championships was only four years ago.
XS Latin would like to thank all its friends for all their encouragement in 2013 and, in particular, Capezio Europe for their continued support.
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