Strictly the winners

Rockdale Strictly Come Dancing charity event Saturday 13th March- sponsored by Vaudreys

This was a truly ‘successful’ event in every sense of the word. Just about everybody arrived early in order to bag a good seat and the atmosphere was electric from the outset. It all looked spookily like the real Strictly set with a judges area on the left of the dance floor, spectator’s seats around all four sides of the room and even a big screen at the front so we could view clips of the dancers in rehearsal.

The event was a complete sell-out with an audience of some three hundred crowded in and eager with anticipation.

We were not disappointed! The couples came out in pairs to perform first a waltz and then a cha cha and all were beautifully costumed with gowns provided by The Italian Wardrobe in Tunbridge Wells. Although there were clearly nerves abounding it was amazing to see how well the couples were able to perform under pressure and how well trained they had obviously been.

After each pair of couples had danced they were subjected to the comments of the judges comprised, again a la Strictly formula of one lady and three men, one of whom bravely took on the mantle of delivering Craig Revell-Horwoodesque comments. Needless to say it was all delivered, and received in extremely good spirit and the heckling it generated from the audience only added to the authentic atmosphere.

The whole event was extremely professional in its preparation and delivery, the icing on the cake being performances from professional dancers John & Katherine Giannini who stunned the audience with their lively and energetic ballroom and Latin show dances.

The suspense was maintained until the very end when the winners were announced and it was revealed that two couples had drawn in first place therefore necessitating a dance-off.

The Rockdale cup was ultimately awarded to TJ and Paul Spurin who the judges deemed improved the most in the dance off. But their rivals Leah and Stuart Burges were not disappointed as they took away individual awards for the best waltz and the best cha cha cha. Third place was awarded to Val and Paul Riches.

An extremely entertaining evening which we are proud to have been associated with and we understand that it has generated over £5000 of much deserved funds for this very worthwhile local charity. Vaudreys are privileged to have been the sponsor.