Nathan and Polina - Seattle Ballroom Dancing Kids

April 2010.

"My First Blackpool Competition". Article by Polina Dickenson.

Seattle, Washington:

My journey began at the Seattle Airport on March 31st, 2010. We lugged a huge suitcase full of dresses and clothes and I carried a heavy backpack with games, books, magazines, and one of my stuffed animals, a Siamese cat named Seema.

I remember waving to my dad and my brother from the long security line. Ahead was two weeks of the journey. I felt excited and a little nervous in the same time.

My dance partner Nathan and I worked hard preparing for the Junior Blackpool Dance Festival. I’m thankful to our dance instructors Elena Zakharova, Ekaterina Zakharoff, Sergei Nekrasov and Olga Faraponova for teaching us well and preparing as for one of the biggest and most prestigious ballroom competition in the world.

We flew 9 hours in a comfortable plane on Lufthansa Airlines. I didn’t even notice the time - the plane had movie screens on the back of each seat with touch sensors in them. I watched so many good movies, and also some bad ones.

Frankfurt, Germany:

We changed planes in Frankfurt, Germany and spent no more than an hour in the airport’s terminal. (But I could still tell my friends that I had been in Germany).

London, England:

I love the wonderful city of London, its people, its attractions, its glorious beauty... There we took the Subway (called Tube by English people) and a Double Decker bus. We went to see the Tower of London and took a tour of the inside, visited the National Gallery (there I found my favorite painting by Claude Monet), rode the London Eye – an enormous Ferris wheel, and took a walk on Oxford Street.

My favorite attraction was the London Eye. It was as exciting as opening birthday presents and before you rode it you watched a spectacular movie in 3D! In the movie when it snowed, faux snow, all light and puffy rained down as slowly as a slug from someplace unknown in the ceiling! Riding the London Eye was amazing! At the Eye’s highest point people below on the ground looked like crumbs from a cookie being blown by the wind this way and that. We saw all of London from that view!

Now I know I miss the city and definitely will come to visit (or maybe even live) there.

Cheam, England:

We got to Cheam by a comfortable train and then walked to the dance studio where we would meet the organizer of the USA Team for Blackpool, Jonathan Wilkins. He gave us helpful lessons in standard dancing and I extremely enjoyed him teaching us. After the lessons we ate pizza and we went back to London to pack for the trip to Blackpool.

Blackpool, England:

In Blackpool we barely had time to do anything, but compete. We would wake up early in the morning to style hair for the competition (thanks to Olga Foraponava – she made my hair look so beautiful for every day of competition) and then head to the practice session.

The ballroom in Blackpool Winter Gardens was so enormous and so fancy! The ceiling looked like it was made of gold. The balconies gave the ballroom a touch of elegance, and the floor was so big that I thought I would get lost just trying to cross it! It was amazing to think that many dancers before me had walked and danced their winning routines on the very floor I was standing. I know for a fact that Blackpool Dance Festival is my favorite competition ever!

I got to meet the Junior USA Team and the Juvenile Team that I was on. The junior team was really good at dancing and I think that Jonathan did a good job picking out the dancers. My favorite junior standard couple was Nicholas and Rochelle. My favorite Latin junior couple was Austin and Gabriella.

The juvenile team was so much fun to be around. We all become good friends. Nathan was the team’s captain. Tyler Goldman and Sophia Latessa, Nathan Murstein and Polina Dickenson, Erik Linder and Rickie Taylor, Dennis Matveev and Valerie Dubinsky - I hope to see all of us on the US Juvenile Team next year. As the US juvenile Team we took 5th place, but I’m sure we will get better results in Blackpool Junior Dance Festival 2011.

Nathan and I did well in the individual competitions, especially in Cha-Cha. We made the semi-finals and took 14th place out of 85 couples. I was so happy; I even pinched myself to see if I was dreaming! I never even thought that we would do very well in that huge competition, but we did.

Los Angeles, California:

At the JW Marriott in Los Angeles the USA Dance Nationals 2010 was in full swing. The familiar atmosphere of a ballroom competition, shiny exquisite ballroom costumes, beautiful hairstyles, music, and lots of spectators. A few months before a competition like Nationals could be overwhelming, but after the big competition in England it really wasn't.

I think participation in big competitions gives you confidence, strength and belief in yourself.

Nathan and I took first place in Silver Standard and Latin. In Gold Standard we took 3rd place and in Gold Latin we took 2nd. I loved to get to meet judges from DWTS (Dancing with the Stars) and also some professionals from the show. I got my picture taken with Len Goodman and Mark Ballas and I shook Carrie Ann Inaba’s hand. The dance national was tons of dancing fun! Afterwards I got to go to my mom’s friend’s house to stay the night. We went to the pool and Disneyland in the morning. What fun! But when I finally got home I was a little tired.

Seattle, Washington:

I hadn’t seen my dad and brother, my friends and my two cats for almost 2 weeks! I missed them so much! I remember stepping off the plane anxious to see my dad and brother waiting for us at the gate. I grew during the trip. (I found that most of my jeans are a little to short for me) and after the trip I know I grew as a dancer. Now I have more confidence and experience and I believe in myself. I’m happy when I’m dancing and look forward to my every dance lesson.

Best wishes to all dancers and I hope everybody finds passion in dancing!