10th April 2010

Ian & Penny have been judged winners of the 'Dancing at Sea' competition by Miss Darcey Bussell CBE.

The 'Dancing at Sea' competition was organised by P&O Cruises as part of their launch events for the new superliner AZURA. Each ship of the P&O Cruises fleet held its own dance competitions on selected cruises during the winter 2009/10 season. The competition was open to all interested passengers, and was judged by the onboard Dance Instructors and the Cruise Director for overall proficiency in waltz, Cha Cha Cha, and Jive. Each heat winner was then invited to the finals being held onboard Azura as part of the Naming Ceremony events. Ian & Penny won their heat onboard Ventura during their Christmas & New Year holiday cruise around the Caribbean.

On 9th April 2010 all 12 semi-finalists gathered at Southampton Cruise Terminal ready to board a brand new and sparkling Azura. After a short tour of the ship everyone was shown to the Tamarind Club Lounge ready for the next round of dancing. The dances of waltz, cha cha cha, and jive were danced in two heats, with six finalists being chosen by the judging panel. Ian & Penny were put through to the final to be held next day in font of Azura's Godmother, the world famous prima ballerina, Miss Darcy Bussell CBE. Everyone taking part in the semi-finals had been invited to stay onboard overnight and enjoy the Gala dinner and the entertainment being laid on by P&O Cruises as part of the launch festivities.

The official Naming of Azura was due to take place on the evening of 10th April 2010 with the winner of the contest being rewarded with access to a VIP private pre-naming event where a ceremonial sword is presented to the Master of the Vessel, and gifts are presented to the ships Godmother. The winner would also be invited to a Gala Dinner in the restaurant set aside for Senior Officers, VIP's and celebrity guests, and access to the VIP area for viewing of the spectacular Naming Ceremony itself. All in all, the kind of prize that money just could not buy.

The final was judged over the same three dances with the panel being made up of Cruise Director, Mr Neil Oliver (ex championship Latin American dancer), renowned top dance coaches and international adjudicators, Mr Michael Stylianos and Mrs Barbara Grover, and Miss Darcey Bussell CBE. Once all the marks had been totaled, Neil Oliver announced that Ian & Penny were the winning couple and they were presented with flowers, a certificate, and the all important VIP Pass for the evening entertainment and ceremonies, by Miss Darcey Bussell CBE.  

17th June 2009

Ian has been crowned winner of the 'UK Travel Dance Stars 2009'.

The UK Travel Dance Stars competition was sponsored by Princess Cruises and the Travel Trade Gazette, and was open to any UK travel agent who fancied a 'Strictly Come Dancing' style experience.  The initial round was held early in the year and consisted of a written competition and a tie breaker question. The best 30 correct entries were invited to attend a performance of the The Live Tour of Strictly Come Dancing at Wembly Arena in February, where special VIP passes were included.

Six semi-finalists were chosen from those 30 applicants, based on their knowledge of the sponsors businesses and of dancing in gereral. These six were then invited to come to Southampton for a days dance tuition with Matthew & Nicole Cutler. The day was arranged by Princess Cruises and held onboard their superliner Grand Princess. After several hours of tuition in Tango, Waltz, Cha Cha, & Jive, It was upto Matthew & Nicole to choose which three would go through to the final to be held during the UK Cruise Convention in Dover on the 17th June, in front of a audience of nearly 600 travel agents.

The morning of the 17th June, and time for the 3 finalists to meet their professional partners for the first time. Matthew & Nicole were there to act as mentors during the day, and to move between the different rooms allocated to the dancers to oversee the training. Before getting started, the choice of dance was agreed between the finalists, their professional, and Matthew & Nicole. Lots were then drawn to determin the running order for the evening performance, which was:

Nikki Birch (Madison Travel) & Lee Fuggle - Dancing the Cha Cha

Laura Wright (Affinion Travel) & Joe Nicholls - Dancing the Jive

Ian Crampton (Yes2Travel) & Kerry Simmons - Dancing the Waltz

The routines were all new to the finalists, and choreographed on the day by the professionals, with input from Matthew & Nicole. A long first session of 4 hours was followed by a light lunch, and a further 2 hours of practise, before moving on to the venue inside the Dover Cruise Terminal. The floor at the terminal was much larger than the small rooms at the hotel, and was the first chance to try the routines out in full, especially the ballroom waltz. Soon it was time to get ready for the photographs and dress rehearsal. Professional hair and make-up sessions were laid on for the ladies, to go with the outfits provided. It was unfortunate that due to technical problems it was not possible to have a full dress rehearsal beforehand, but this only added to the excitment of the evening.

After each performance the compares asked Matthew & Nicole for their expert opinions, and then went over to a panel of 'select' judges (representatives of the sponsors) for a few words about how they saw the dance, and for their scores. These scores were only to help the audience decide who they wanted to vote for, the winner being the finalist who polled the most text votes from the audience. To allow time for the voting, Matthew & Nicole did 2 of their demonstartion dances, and wowed the audience with a passionate Paso Doble, and a lively Jive. Once all the votes were counted, and the result was passed onto the compares, it was time for the finalist to line up for the moment of truth. There was the usual drum roll and tension building pause before Ian Crampton was named as the UK Travel Dance Star 2009. Ian received his trophy and presented the bouquet to his professional partner, Kerry, before celebrating with Penny who had been in the audience watching.