THE BDF NIGHT OF 100 STARS 2024

By Nicola Nordin

The Night of 100 Stars organised by the Ballroom Dancers Federation Ltd is one of the most prestigious events in the dance calendar and has been in existence for more than 60 years. The World’s top couples are invited to demonstrate a dance of their choice making this a unique and special evening.

The audience were delighted once again to visit The Epsom Racecourse for a night of dance and glamour. The evening commenced with an Invitational Pro-Am team-match, this year it was a duel between Italy and Great Britain. This was well received by the audience and was of an extremely high standard. A big thank you to all the participants and their team captains for their kind support.

Team Italy ,Captain Guiseppe Esposito, team members, Ballroom Luca Tonello and Claudia Benger, Mario Cicala and Valentina Sberna, Latin, Alessio Bitetto and Brunella Bruschi and Manuel Vampo and Alessandra Di Lazzaro.

Team GB, Captain, John Durrant, team members, Ballroom – Stephen Arnold and

Amanda White, Marcus Mitchell and Katrina Shaw, Latin – Alfie Sadowski and Claire Connelley and Kirill Shevelev and Elvira Dishaieva.

A big thanks also to the adjudicators who had the unenviable job of finding a winning team, they were Carmen Jukka Haapalainen and Natascha Karabey.

We then continued the evening with the British National Professional Ballroom Showdance Event by kind permission of Blackpool Entertainment Company Limited.

This year there were two entries, both outstanding, Guiseppe Bonafede and Anastasia Shea and Jang Don and Adele Don.

The adjudicators were Craig Draper, Jane Phillips-Bullock, Jonathan Crossley, Jennifer Hillier and Adele Preston. This year’s winners were Jang and Adele, congratulations on receiving this title.

Following that we had the BDF Professional Smooth Championship, a new event to showcase the increasing popularity of American Smooth both Nationally and Internationally. Five couples participated and wowed the audience with their elegance and skill.

Xin Man Wang and Amy Ding, Manuel Fogliani and Agieszka Kuzma, Boyan and Viktoriya Wilton, Jang and Adele Don and Leonard Burio and Maria Usan.

The winners of this new exciting event were Leonard and Maria, congratulations to all the couples and also to the adjudicators Victor Fung, Craig Shaw and Hazel Newberry. This session finished with an outstanding Pro-Am showcase by the wonderful Domen Krapez and his lovely partner Jennifer who performed exceptionally.

The BDF are extremely grateful for their kind support on this prestigious evening.

Our thanks also go to the World class dancers who performed on the evening, each show was outstanding and just highlighted the artistry of dance at its highest level.

BALLROOM
Madis Abel & Liis End
Gianni Caliandro & Arianna Esposito
Si Cheng Li & Anna
Dusan & Valeria Dragovic
Alex Gunnarsson & Ekaterna Bond
Fedor Isaev & Anna Zudllina
Gaetano Lavarone & Emanuela Napolitano
Michel Le & Sandra Jablonska
Philip & Joanne
Stas Portanenko & Natalia Koliada
Igor Resnik & Lika Dikaya
Kyle Taylor & Alisa Margulis
Stanislav Zelianizn & Irina Cherepanova

LATIN
Massimo Arcolin & Laura
Victor Catalin Cauca & Znasradia Dubrovskzya
Dorin Frecautanu & Marina Sergeeva
Damir & Anna Haluzan
Darren Hammond & Marina Steshenko
Andrei Kazlouski & Nino Dzneladze
Nino Langella & Andra
Tal Livshitz & Ilana Keselman
Guiseppe Nonnis & Daria Chesnokova
Klemen Prasnikar & Alexandra Averkieva
Pavel Zvychaynyy & Polina Teleshova

The BDF also took the opportunity on this special evening to present the BDF Awards which are given to outstanding people in the dance industry. This year’s choices were congratulated with loud, rapturous applause.

Special awards went to Mary Richardson and Paul Fielding for their services to the industry. Kenny and Marion Welsh were awarded the Sonny Binick lifetime achievement award must to their obvious surprise and the Executive Committee award was given to John Durrant for his continued hard work as the BDF secretary.

It is always unbelievable to see so many icons in one venue, their talent and dedication to dance unwavering and the audience showed their full support and appreciation to each and every one. The comperes on the evening were Graham Oswick and Cheryl Beresford who did a wonderful job as did the music man Mr Kelvin Bridle, Scrutineer Tracy Brooks and Invigilator Kenny Welsh. Thanks also the Zig Zag lighting, Charlie Morshead who arranged the flooring and all the staff at the Epsom Racecourse who helped with the event.

All in all, the evening was once again a great success and a big thanks go to the Executive Committee who give their time voluntarily and work extremely hard throughout the year. We look forward to welcoming you all next year for the 2025 BDF Night of 100 Stars.