Winter Wonders

Milton Keynes Roller Dance Club completed the 2003 season with the last of the national competitions. The keen club dancers travelled North to Alfreton, Derbyshire for the Winter Solo Dance Competitions of the Federation of Artistic Roller Skating (FARS). All the skaters performed excellently and there some very good results.

Adana Roberts (10) sailed through her heat and semi-final before winning the final of the novice solo dance contest against much older and more established skaters. Gemma Frith was third in the final of the inter-silver standard solo dance event just ahead of Abigail Poynter in fourth and Claire Donner in fifth. Abigail Ashton-Brown won the senior standard dance contest and Jennifer Wallace was second.

Jennifer Wallace collected the silver medal in the senior standard original set pattern (OSP) dance event and Abigail Ashton-Brown took the bronze medal. Grace Poynter finished third in the junior OSP competition and Adana Roberts was sixth in an event where she was one of the youngest competitors.

Maureen Tompkins and Sue O’Connor, mother and daughter, were third equal in the adult duo dance contest.

Abigail Ashton-Brown, Abigail Poynter and Jennifer Wallace joined together to win the senior formation team event with the team of Claire Donner, Gemma Frith and Grace Poynter in second place.

Winning in Wymondham

Milton Keynes Roller Dance Club travelled to Wymondham for the annual Norfolk Gala last Saturday. All the club members had a great outing and everyone returned with a least one medal.

David Courcoux was the first trophy winner with his first place in his age group of primary solo dance event where Louise Matthews was second. Adana Roberts was second in the younger age group of solo dancers. Olivia Davies was second in the yearling solo dance contest which is her final contest in her first year of competition. Becky Evans collected the silver medal in the junior solo dance event. Jennifer Wallace dominated the senior solo dance competition and she was joined on the rostrum by Claire Donner in second and Abigail Poynter third.

Claire Donner, Abigail Poynter and Jennifer Wallace joined to win the advanced team dance contest with the team of Becky Evans, Gemma Frith and Grace Poynter who were second. The teams were rearranged for the advanced formation dance event where Gemma Frith, Abigail Poynter and Jennifer Wallace won and Claire Donner, Becky Evans and Grace Poynter were second. In the primary dance teams and formations the teams were not changed and they collected the same medals in each event. David Courcoux, Hannah Davies and Louise Matthews collected silver medals in both events and Olivia Davies, Hannah Garrett and Adana Roberts took bronze. Hannah Davies, Louise Matthews and Jennifer Wallace won the super team of mixed standard dancers performing a dance at their level and then all combining for a single dance.

Hannah and Olivia Davies were second in the primary duo dance event. Gemma Frith and Jennifer Wallace collected silver medals for the duo dance performance in the senior contest and Claire Donner and Abigail Poynter received the bronze medals.

Christine and David Briggs were second in the senior dance couples competition.

September 13th-14th Milton Keynes competition

Milton Keynes Roller Dance Club took the road to Bedford to hold its own annual competition on a late summer, sunny weekend. The competition attracted its usual wide interest from across the entire country. Home advantage for the MK skaters played its part in a splendid haul of medals.

The best category for the club dancers was in the original set pattern (OSP) dance events. Jennifer Wallace won the senior OSP contest, beating one of this year’s senior British Championship competitors and Lori Storkey collected the bronze medal. Becky Evans was the winner of the junior OSP event. Adana Roberts, despite being one of the youngest in the novice OSP, won and David Courcoux was third at his first attempt.

The solo dance contests held some very good results too. Olivia Davies won another gold medal in her first year of competition in the contest for ‘yearlings’. Adana Roberts proved herself a winner in her novice contest. David Courcoux was second in the elementary event. Louise Matthews took the bronze medal in the preliminary competition. Grace Poynter won the junior event. Abigail Poynter matched her sister with a win in the intermediate contest with Claire Donner joining her on the rostrum in third place. Jennifer Wallace was overcome into second place in the senior competition ahead of Abigail Ashton-Brown in third place. Sue O’Connor had a third place in the open adult event.

The duo dance group of events delivered its share of medals and trophies. Olivia Davies and Nikki Taylor were top of the novice contest. Becky Evans and Grace Poynter combined to win the junior competition. Gemma Frith and Jennifer Wallace collected silver medals in the senior event and Claire Donner and Abigail Poynter took bronze. Sue O’Connor and Maureen Tompkins won the adult competition.

All these successful club dancers teamed up to win more medals in teams of three, each performing a single dance with their scores combined for the overall result. Olivia Davies, Adana Roberts and Michelle Taylor picked up the trophy in the younger age group of novice teams. Hannah Davies, David Courcoux and Nikki Taylor mirrored their win in the older age group of novices. Abigail Ashton-Brown, Abigail Poynter and Jennifer Wallace were placed second in the senior team competition and Claire Donner, Gemma Frith and Lori Storkey were third. Graham Harvey, Sue O’Connor and Maureen Tompkins collected the silver medals in the adult contest.

Becky Evans lifted the final trophy of the weekend winning her first ever freestyle competition

Top British Roller Dancers at the British Championships  12th/13th July

Milton Keynes Roller Dance Club are delighted to report its excellent results from the artistic roller skating British Championships last weekend. The annual, national event was held at the magnificent facilities of the Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury by the Federation of Artistic Roller Skating (FARS). The club was represented at the Cadet, Youth, Junior and Senior age levels in the dance contests. The skaters took best advantage of their local knowledge as users of the Stadium.

Abigail Ashton-Brown (17) dominated the Junior Solo Dance event with her compulsory dances and her own free dance. This first place improves on her second place last year.

Jennifer Wallace (15) was also a dominant winner in the Youth Solo dance contest where she performed two compulsory dances and her personally, choreographed Charleston dance. She too improved on her second place last year. Other results in the event where: Abigail Poynter (14) in fourth place, Lori Storkey (16) was fifth, Gemma Frith (15) was seventh and Claire Donner (14) finished ninth in this hotly contested event.

Becky Evans (13) was eight in the youngest age category - the Cadet Solo Dance event.

Carina Storkey (18), who skated in the Senior Dance Couples competition with her partner Nicolas Loader from the Meridan club, finished in a splended second place.

These results have enables these top skaters to attend the relevant International events. Abigail Ashton-Brown, Jennifer Wallce and Abigail Poynter along with Grace Poynter will represent Britain in the Solo Dance categories at the Cup of Europe in Germany at the beginning of October. This will be the second year all three have been selected for this event. Carina Storkey and her partner will go to the European Championships in Italy during September. The club wishes them the best of luck for these events.

Tyne Tees Triumph   17 June

Milton Keynes Roller Dance Club took a keen squad of its skaters to the North last weekend for the Tyne Tees Tournament. The event attracted clubs from all over the country so the competition was stiff. The club dancers rose to the challenge and returned with a good haul of trophies and every single member had at least one medal!

Adana Robert collected the first trophy when she won her age group of novice dancers. Jennifer Wallace dominated the junior solo dance contest for the second club trophy. Grace Poynter collected the silver medal in the intermediate solo dance event.

Jennifer Wallace finished second with her Charleston in the senior original set pattern (OSP) dance contest against some of the British Championship contenders. Becky Evans made the second step of the rostrum in the junior OSP event performing her Polka. In the novice OSP competition, Adana Roberts collected the silver medal with her Polka.

Jennifer Wallace with Claire Donner and Abigail Poynter captured the gold medals for the senior team dance competition. David Briggs, Anne Kiss and Graham Stiles were second in the adult team dance category.

Christine and David Briggs won the adult dance couples event. In the adult duo dance competition, David Briggs and Graham Stiles finished in third place.

The club entered a show number entitled “American in Paris” which included such numbers as “Singing in the Rain” and “Surfin’ USA”. All the younger club skaters took part and the role call was: David Courcoux, Claire Donner, Becky Evans, Gemma Frith, Abigail Poynter, Grace Poynter, Adana Roberts and Jennifer Wallace. This lively performance won the event so that all the skaters took home a gold medal.

Golden Grace  9 June

Milton Keynes Roller Dance Club are delighted to report the latest success for the club. Last weekend, the first of the 2003 British championships was held by the Federation of Artistic Roller Skating (FARS) at Gillingham, Kent. The events were the youngest age groups of the ladder running up to the Senior championships in July.

Grace Poynter (12) topped the solo dance contest for skaters born in 1991 and 1992. She performed her compulsory dances to capture top marks from the judges. She improved from her fourth place last year.

This win sets Grace’s eligibility for her third successive appearance in the Cup of Europe – the premier competition for solo dancers in Europe. This year she will travel to Freiburg in Germany.

Cream of Jersey  3 May

Milton Keynes Roller Dance Club took a group of its skaters across the English Channel to Jersey for their competition. Enjoying a long weekend away, the competitors faced some stiff opposition from the locals and other visiting clubs but there were some good results.

The best results were in the solo dance age groups for 14 and 15 year old skaters. Jennifer Wallace won the event with Abigail Poynter second and Laurie Storkey filling the rostrum in third place. Jennifer Wallace followed this with a win in the senior standard contest. Laurie Storkey took the gold medal in the Inter-Silver standard contest, Abigail Poynter collected the bronze medal and Claire Donner was fourth. In the 10 and 11 age group, Grace Poynter was third just ahead of Adana Roberts in fourth. In the all-novice event, David Courcoux finished in third place and again Adana Roberts was unfortunate to be fourth. Sue O’Connor collected a silver medal for her efforts in the adult dance contest and Graham Harvey was fourth.

Abigail Poynter, Laurie Storkey and Jennifer Wallace teamed up to win the senior team dance contest.

Graham Harvey and Graham Stiles were third in the adult duo dance event.

New Year National Honours   26 February

Milton Keynes Roller Dance Club took its senior squad to the Buckmore Park centre at Chatham in Kent for the first national event of the New Year. The skaters were contesting the Spring Solo Dance Competitions of the Federation of Artistic Roller Skating. The solo events were split into age groups with compulsory and original set pattern dances separated. In addition, there were formation team contests.

Grace Poynter (12) won her original set pattern (OSP) age group contest. Gemma Frith (14) finished second in her age group of OSP’s. Jennifer Wallace (15) took the gold medal with her OSP in the 15 and 16 year-old age group.

Grace Poynter collected a bronze medal in the compulsory dance category for her age. Claire Donner was fourth in her group and Gemma Frith fifth. Jennifer Wallace was placed third for her age group and Lori Storkey was fourth. Abigail Ashton Brown was fifth in the highly competitive senior age group. Graham Harvey was a commendable fourth in the adult solo group.

Abigail Ashton Brown, Abigail Poynter and Jennifer Wallace teamed up to take the silver medal position in the senior formation dance contest ahead of Claire Donner, Gemma Frith and Lori Storkey on the third step of the rostrum.

Overall, the club collected enough points from all these contests to end up in second equal place in the country.

Successful Soham  16 February

Milton Keynes Roller Dance Club travelled to one of its favourite venues for the Soham Skating Gala. This year’s visit proved to be as successful as previous years and most of the club members returned with at least one medal and quite a few trophies.

The most successful event was in the senior solo dance event where Jennifer Wallace won, Claire Donner was second and Gemma Frith was third. A very pleasing result went to Olivia Davies who won her first ever competition in the event for newcomers. Michelle Taylor collected her first gold medal in the youngest age group of solo dancers. Adana Roberts took the third place in her group of novice dancers. Hannah Davies was third in the teen group of novices. Louise Matthews was placed third in the preliminary dance group in her first competition at that standard. Grace Poynter, who has just moved up to the bronze standard, was awarded the silver medal at that level.

The original set pattern dance content netted a strong result with Jennifer Wallace first, Gemma Frith in third, Becky Evans fourth and Grace Poynter rounding off the places in fifth.

Jennifer Wallace and Gemma Frith combined to win the senior duo dance contest. Louise Matthews and Rebecca Miller were third in the primary duo dance event.

Jennifer Wallace, Claire Donner and Gemma Frith completed their medal totals with the gold medal in the senior dance team contest. Becky Evans, Rebecca Miller and Grace Poynter were top of the junior dance teams. Christine and David Briggs with Anne Kiss completed the clean sweep of team contests with their first place in the adult event ahead of Carole Hussain, Graham Stiles and a borrowed skater who were placed second.

Christine and David Briggs were second in the adult couples’ competition with Anne Kiss and Graham Stiles third.