For those of you who either thrilled to Richard Gere, Antonio Banderas or the Australian flick “Strictly Ballroom” or even adored old Fred & Ginger – then you missed a great show at the Wildey Gymnasium over the weekend…

It was the 11th anniversary of the Jahbulani Ballroom Club, and there were quite a few Categories – Juveniles Novice; Juniors Novice; Juveniles Beginners; Junior Beginners; Youth Beginners; Adult Beginners; Advance Open; Salsa; Adult Intermediate; Pro-Am (Professional/Amateurs) and the Annette Byer Memorial Solo.

There were three judges from overseas to provide their technique to assessing the prowess of all of the contestants. Sarwat Kaluby, Rosendo Fumero and Dan Messenger.

The solo is really the piece de resistance of the event; it is a tribute to Annette Byer whose deeds led to the founding of the club back in 1996. There was also a surprise demo from the Universal Kempo Karate Club. The show was great – so let me get out of the way the few bugs I observed…

• The programme should have a directory with contact e-mail and/or cell of each club participating – let the audience shop around!
• Same for the Karate demo, there should be a contact listed if people were impressed – they were, even one of the International Ballroom Judges!
• Staying on the martial arts demo, it should have been played while judges were tallying the final scores, instead of hearing a droning list of sponsors, was not compelled to look for them afterwards!
• The overseas arbiters should have been mixed in seating with the local judges, it lets them acclimate better to island rythms!
• Final bugbear, the judges’ table was too cluttered with sponsor products – do like the Grammies or Oscars, give them a gift basket afterwards and have a replica of it up front for patrons to see as they get their tickets torn…

It was adorable to see the juveniles and juniors, but sad to realise that few parents get their boys to do Ballroom, there were two pairs of girls competing at one pint; boys are at a premium – just so you know? Samurai warriors may be taught to fight, but they learn dance, poetry and painting so as to be well-rounded sword-machines; there is a soft play for the hard edge to bounce off against!

The Karate Club almost stole the show with a comedy routine – two guys tell a salesman they get their clothes from JC Penney and then a guy in a towel arrives and it turns out he is JC Penney, he fights the two bullies for his clothes in slow motion set to the love theme from Top Gun, when he runs out of steam – the salesman returns to rejuvenate JC with Red Bull (it gives you wings? LMAO) and he wins!

Man, one of the overseas Judges was wiping tears from his eyes he was laughing so hard! It was a clever use of comedy to demonstrate the effectiveness of self-defense and when to use it!

The Advance Open and Annette Byer solos were won by Daana Linton (Roamin’ The Caribbean fame) and Mark Burgess, this is not their first time; but a full interview is forthcoming! Here’s a full list of those winners that night!

Juveniles Novice

1^st Christof Trotman & Sharika Wilkinson

Juniors Novice

1^st Andre Alleyne & Kali Thompson

Juveniles Beginners

1^st Ross Harris & Danielle Hall

2^nd Josiah Haynes & Jaicee Armstrong

3^rd Najee Moore & Alyssa Gibson

4^th Marissa Jemmott & Larien Lynch

Juniors Beginners

1^st Jamal Dawe & Janine Sealy

2^nd Broderic Goodfellow & Leslie Layne

3^rd Romario Bates & Shanice Gittens

4^th Christon Lucas & Marissa Banfield

5^th Carl Broomes & Alissa Blackman

6^th Damien Best & Anique Herbert

Youth Beginners

1^st Naam Thomas & Janee Lovell

2^nd Andre Forde & Sophia Billingy

3^rd Rico Ward & Shanell Latchman

4^th Marvin Alleyne & Sarah Newton

5^th Dwight Howell & Jessica Jones

6^th Kemar Bennett & Roberta Alleyne

7^th Ryan Leach & Karla Dear

Adult Beginners

1^st Rico Broomes & Maria Broomes

2^nd Jamal Johnson & Tayika Browne

3^rd Dabian Cumberbatch & Tamara Jeann Mayers

4^th Justin Sealy & Mia Thorne

5^th Davey Chandler & Shelly-ann Alleyne

6^th Jason Chambers & Nikita Gibbs

7^th Aaron Chandler & Shayl Griffith

8^th Alvin Sobers & Nicola Clarke

Advance Open

1^st Mark Burgess & Daana Linton

2^nd Glenford Defreitas & Cheryl Brewster

3^rd Glen Burnett & Dawn Archer

Salsa

1^st Shane Greaves & Alicia Payne

2^nd Nicholas Small-Warner & Nikita Gibbs

3^rd Roger Dec Arthur & Kathy-ann Patrick

4^th Adrian Kellman & Cheryl Forde

Adult Intermediate

1^st Nicholas Small-Warner & Kim Wiggins

2^nd Julian Knight & Jessica Knight

3^rd Russell Mullin & Lasonta Payne

4^th Anthony Mapp & Andrea Browne

Pro-Ams (Professional/Amateurs)

1^st Mark Burgess & Eronica Burgess (Pro)

2^nd Raymond Maughan (Pro) & Keri Lavine

3^rd Leon Greaves (Pro) & Sharon Harvey

4^th Wayne Brewster & Coralita Straughn (Pro)

5^th Kennedy Phillips (Pro) & Wendy Sealy

Annette Byer Solo

1^st Mark Burgess & Daana Linton

2^nd Glen Burnett & Dawn Archer

3^rd Glenford Defreitas & Cheryl Forde