SOCHI GAMES 2014
Spectacular Pageantry, Global Recognition for DanceSport
photo from WDSF website
considered a local story. Internet and social media have given grand exposure to the smallest of stories (good and bad). Dr. Forster, if you don’t know him, is an enthusiastic ambassador for ballroom dancing. You’ll find him promoting on Facebook. The newspaper story also mentions about the definite health benefits of dancing, after all, that’s Dr. Forster’s vocational interest. “There’s a lot of scientific evidence that’s been repeatedly researched that dance is one of the best ways to join physical challenges and cognitive challenges,” he told the reporter. Most memorable quote? “I’ve been doing this for over a year and a half, and every time there’s a new dance step, I can feel a few brain cells moving around trying to grasp it the same time as the body does.” So when did Dr. Forster get the bug for dancing? A university fundraiser in two years ago called “Dancing With The Deans”. As the story revealed, “He’s been memorizing steps ever since.”
Dr. Michael Forster & Wife Sylvia
Nothing short of spectacular, the Olympic Opening Ceremonies to the Sochi Games in Russia lived up to all the pre-Games promises of DanceSport pageantry, choreography and local color by Russia’s top DanceSport couples, 400+ in all. The City of Sochi issued a global press release just a week before the Games, quoting Valentin Yudashkin, President of the Russian DanceSport Union and renowned fashion designer: “Over 400 dancers are currently getting ready in Krasnodar for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Sochi.” At that point, the DanceSport world celebrated one more step closer to the Olympic Dream. Throughout the Sochi Games, comparisons were made to the 2000 Games of the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, where some 500 DanceSport couples, members of the Australian WDSF member body, danced to “Love Is In The Air,” sung by John Paul Young. Yudashkin now believes “Sochi may become the dancing capital of Russia” with the Olympic Winter Games and their legacy in the host city. Russia’s DanceSport industry already encompasses more than 1.5 million athletes. At American Dancer press time, the Feb. 23 Closing Ceremonies in Sochi had not concluded. More information: www.sochi2014.com.
March-April 2014
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