Goans are known across the globe to have a natural flair for dancing. There are also
some Goans who are known for their contribution towards promoting and raising
the bar when it comes to the art of dancing. One such group is the Vasco based
Dance Illusions, Goa’s premier ballroom dancing school that made Goa proud at
the recently held 2nd India Open Latin and Standard Ballroom Dancesports
Championship 2018, held in Mumbai on January 27, 2018. Team Goa, as they call
themselves, won a total of 13 medals – nine gold, three silver and one bronze.
A total of 10 participants represented Goa at the national
competition organised by the Indian Dancesport Council. This comprised five
adult couples and five kids couples in the Latin and Standard dance categories.
They were judged by an experienced jury of professionals from Thailand, Sri
Lanka and other ballroom specialists from India. The couples were trained
solely by Dr Martin and Flossy D’Costa.
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“Preparations for the same began as early as six months ago,
especially for the children’s category. The 10 couple teams participated in
various levels at the competition like Novice 1 and 2, adult beginners, adult
debutant, etc,” says Dr Martin, who is a trained ballroom dancer.
What made the results even sweeter was that Team Goa was
competing against the best dancers from across the country.
The participants from team Dance Illusions belong to a wide
variety of backgrounds. While some of the adult category participants are
working professionals, two of the participants are higher secondary students.
In the adult category, Dhanraj Shravan, who participated for the very first
time in a national level dance competition, along with his partner Maeve
Fernandes, won a gold medal for Jive and Samba, Adult Beginners category and
Silver for Adult Beginners Cha Cha Cha.
While in the kids’ category, first timers Hezekiah Noberto
Figueiredo and Sian D’Souza won a gold medal for Samba and a silver medal for
Cha-Cha-Cha and Jive in the Junior-II (U- 16) category.
Maverick D’Costa and Lakiesha Motafaram won a bronze medal for
Cha-Cha-Cha Junior-I (U-12) category.
Nelson Menezes and Sarafaye Mascarenhas won two Gold medals for
Novice 1 & Novice 2.
Agnelo Dsouza and Ivanna Gomes won two gold medals for Standard
Ballroom beginners Waltz & Quickstep.
Manoj Gupta and Abhinaya Kumar won two Gold for Adult Debutant
Rumba & Salsa.
Freddy Coutinho and Mossy Gonsalves made it to the Top 5 in
Adult Latin Beginners Jive.
Duane Dias and Eden Lemos made it to Top 5 in the Junior
II(U-16) Jive.
Other Participants included Allan Andrade,Rachelle Nicole
Sequeira,Aarav Shivraj Gadekar and Astrid Lira Maria Fernandes.
This is not the first time Dance Illusions has come back with
such glowing honours, having won many awards and accolades at national as well
as international events and competitions.
The students from the academy have also represented Goa across
various locations around the globe for various ballroom dance related
events.This is part of the reason why Dance Illusions is now synonymous with
the highest standards of dancing in Goa.
“One
of the biggest achievements for us is that we keep this dance form alive. You
can see it thriving in other cities and countries, and Goa should not fall
behind,” adds Dr Martin.
