MPDC Nation Ranking 18th April 2010

MPDC has just concluded the 1st National ranking for 2010 and we congratulate all the dance athletes that took part in this competition. This year we have fewer participants in ther Grade A National ranking in both Standard and Latin American but it is as expected.
We have given you the best of what Malaysia have to offer and we hope these athletes will one day represent the country in all the international games. As I have mentioned in this Blog before, only the best in Malaysia would dare to compete in the MPDC championships. Those who have turned professional we can understand for they are looking at dance and dancing as a career. As a professional they have to consider their rice bowl. To those who refuses to join the National ranking that is their right and previledge to do so. This is what I call freedom to dance and some would migrate to join the other dance body. But why ? Is the grass greener over the other side? Perhaps so , because if you dance in the other camp you stand a chance to be a champion. You know like they say, in the land of the blind the one eye person is king.
Just imagine competing with blind people and you emerge Champion, all this so that you can bask in the glory of reciving the first prize. Hey ! if that is how you like it , by all means go for it. In a competition  up north of Kuala Lumpur the Malaysian Amateur Closed is four (4) dances only. Man! you can be called a Malaysian Amateur Champion by doing only 4 dances that is if you can be the Champion. Go to Blackpool and compete in the Amateur Championship. You will be surprised to know that it is a 5 dance competition.
Our MPDC athletes are honoured to see a couple cheering our Grade A for they know that they do not belong to this league of MPDC Grade A.
What is sad is to see not a cripple body, but people who have a broken soul and their priorities are tangled up for they do not know where they are going. To the couple concerned good luck to both of you.      
    

MPDC National Ranking 2010

I have touched this subject before and sometimes I do not know why it is so difficult for people to understand IDSF policy as regards to dancing sanctioned and not dancing in non sanctioned competition. With the coming National ranking dance athletes and their parents have asked me time and again why is MPDC National Ranking so restrictive and open to only MPDC member.
Let me tell you about MPDC and how we view things, we are the National Sports Association representing Asian Dancesport Federation (ADSF) and the International Dancesport Federation (IDSF). As the National Sports Association naturally we have to follow what our International body tells us. In the event you are talking about Dancesport competition, just go to IDSF.net and you can find the Statutes regarding the running of IDSF competitions.
MPDC is organising a National Championship 2010. To join in the Grade A , you need to be a member of MPDC , if you think you can barge in and as a matter of right dance in the National ranking, I am sorry to tell you that this is not possible. Of late you would have noticed that MPDC is doing an exercise to carry out the IDSF RLS. What is this RLS? It is basically a registration exercise to identify all the IDSF grade A dancers in the world. We are given a pass word in the IDSF web site and we can update all our Grade A dancers there. This RLS system is for the protection and benefits of all IDSF dancing overseas. Go to the competition site and you know that almost every week there is an IDSF open championships in the world. Protection because IDSF will be introducing a compulsory insurance scheme for all its athletes registered under the RLS.   
Most parents and dancers think that Dancesport is a social avocation and like what Donnie Burns says , 'Freedom To Dance". They do not see it as a sport govern by rules and regulations. If you subscribe to that philosophy, I say good luck to you and no one is going to stop you to dance in any competitions that will accept you. However as a sport we have to regulate the sport with rules and regulations and we have to see compliance by Adjudicators , Officials and Dancers. What do I mean by that? 
How many of you have complained that a competition is not fair and the adjudicators favours a particular couple? Sure to have absolute fairness is not possible, take the last Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam, when Vietnam took the gold in Rumba there were complaints by an Asian Country above Malaysia saying that it is unfair , although all the adjudicators are from European countries.
In the MPDC  National ranking we have 7 adjudicators of which 4 are international IDSF adjudicators and the balance 3 are from Malaysia. In artistic sports like Dancesport it is essential that we try to organise the competition to "appear" as fair as possible. The 4 international adjudicator  are to ensure that that the majority result are from the international adjudicators and that the local have no complete influence. Yes noticed that I used and bold the word appear, for it is essential that it must be seen in the eyes of the General Public that the competition is fair. Other than that we do not know what is in the mind of the adjudicators. 

The heart and soul of any artistic sport competition are the adjudicators? Now if you are going to organise a competition, and you invite dancers to join in the competition, what is the 1st question that you are going to ask.? Perhaps what are the prizes but in Malaysia , you will probably ask who are the adjudicators judging the events? What are their qualifications ? Are they competent to judge you?
I know for a fact a particular adjudicator who openly make it a point to announce to his student that he admits that another couple is better than his couple but because that couple is not his student it goes with out saying he will favor his student. Now just pause and think do you and can you accept such adjudicator? Had he kept his big mouth shut, no one can say anything for we cannot see what is in his mind, but the minute he opens his mouth, he confirms that he is prejudiced and bias and not a fit and proper person to judge in any IDSF or MPDC competition. 
Another organiser of a Dancesport competition openly tell an adjudicator to mark a particular couple first, because he is a big sponsor in his competition. Now can you accept that ? To my mind such competitions that you go to are a waste of time, even if you come out first , you do not really know whether you win because you are really good or because some hidden hands decide that you should win.
So please understand this MPDC Grade A competition are open to all Malaysian, on the strict condition that they comply the IDSF competition Rules, the MPDC rules and regulations and that they must also comply with the Sports Development Act. 
Please take note that if you cannot comply with the above regulations, we have no problems with that and we wish you well in your dancing career, but do not jump and make a hue and cry if you cannot follow the IDSF rules and you are excluded in the MPDC competitions.

If you were to dance in a competition, you cannot say it is only club level, and the adjudicator decision is not important. Most parents says participation for the sake of participation and not competition. If you truly believe in that statement then I have nothing more to say. Do not complain at all and accept the results. When MPDC does a National ranking, it is essential that we try and have a level playing field so that all the athletes have a chance. We cannot pick any tom , dick or harry to be the adjudicator for the events. 
Please understand we do not restrict our athletes to dance or not to dance in any competition or for that matter our adjudicators too. In the event you want to dance or judge in an unsanctioned competition, by all means no one is stopping you. Just as no one is stopping IDSF from telling you nicely that since you are not interested to follow the rules of IDSF, then let us part company in a civil way.     
You chaps are all adults, you decide what is good for you , don't whine and grumble if you are not allowed to join an MPDC competition. 
A note: In the MPDC competition, in the event you have a complain on unfair judging, you first bring the matter to the Chief adjudicator for a decision. If you are not satisfied with the Chief Adjudicator's explanation, you are always encouraged to bring your grouses to the IDSF Sports Director Heinz Spaeker. That is your right!     

IDSF Grand Slam 2009 Shanghai Part II

As the premier sporting body governing dancesport I would like you to look at these group of adjudicators and Presidium members. These are the people who has made history in IDSF by introducing and testing the new judging system that will be adopted in future Olympic family Games and the Grand Slam events in the future. 
So what is this new judging system all about? Previously the judging of the competitors are based on the skating system. The results are keyed in the Pro Dance program and it will churn out the winner. Now think about it, what does it tell you about the Dancers performance and do you know the adjudicators' basis in selecting a particular dance couple to be better than the others? 
The new IDSF judging system is similar to the system adopted by the ice skating union. They place certain fixed routine and they mark you based on certain criteria. Certainly what is good for ics skating may not necessarily be good for Dancesport. The IDSF in line with turning dancesport into an olympic class sporting event have decided that they must evolve to suite the needs of time. 
A day before the Grand Slam event were to take place the athletes were called for a briefing on how the new judging system works. To sum it in a nut shell, the finalist are judged based on 5  component criteria and they are as follows: 
PB - Posture, Balance, Coordination; QM - Quality of Movement ; MM - Movement to music PA- Partnering and CP - Choreography and Presentation. Under each criteria stated above there are sub-criteria say in PA - the judges will look at Physical Connection, Communication without physical connection; Appropriateness, Effectiveness and consistency. 
A marking scale of 1 to 10 will be given 1 would be Very Poor till 10 Outstanding. The couple with the highest point wins.
The computer system was develop by the Japanese Dancesport Association and the results are given to the Dancers immediately. It is indeed a very transparent system. 
I had a chat with Simone Sigattori at the welcome dinner, he appeared nonchalant for this is a departure from the norm. Benedetto Feruggia saw the importance of moving forward if we want Dancesport to move in the direction of sports. After the Grand Slam Standard Finals, the finalist took the new judging system very positively and it certainly is here to stay. 
Now with the new judging system , it does not means that the skating system will be done away with. IDSF will still use the skating system for the IDSF competitions. The new adjudicating system will be used in the Olympic Family Games like the coming Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010 and also the Grand Slam.
What about the audience what do they think about it? Dancesport after all is a spectator sport and the aim certainly is to entertain the audience to in a sporting way. The audience love it and from the cheers and the rumble in Luwan Stadium I would not be misrepresenting to say that the audience were enthusiastic when the couples were introduced to do the solo dances. Yes, the new system judges the 6 couple individually in all the 5 dances. Now can you imagine having a show dance in all the 5 dances by the top 6 couples in the world. 
I can see that Carlos Frietag and Heinz Spaeker were looking at the time and guaging the audiences response. I can say this, their concern are totally unfounded and the new system is an absolute success. 
You can get the full result from IDSF web site however just in case you do not know the Grand Slam Final Champions for  Standard is Benedetto Ferrugia and Claudia Kholer from Germany and the Latin American Champion is Alexy Silde and Anna Fistova from Russia. 
I have seen Blackpool a couple of times and now I have seen the IDSF Grand Slam Finals in Shanghai. There is no comparison at all. Blackpool is a Dances Festival in a leisure park setting. It has a long history and a good place to do your shopping there. I do not know why they still have it at the Winter Gardens, it is a very old historical building where the ventilation is much left to be desired and there are hardly adequate standing space let alone sitting. 
The IDSF Grand Slam on the other hand is a sporting event and with the new format of judging, my vote will go to the Grand Slam any day.
The opening season of the Grand Slam for 2010 will be in Tokyo, Japan. You have the time and if you love to see Dancesport at its best, the Grand Slam is where you want to be.                                 

Picture are the Adjudicators, Scrutineers, Mr. Carlos Freitag, Mr. Heinz Spaeker and Mr. Shawn Tay.                  

IDSF Grand Slam 2009 Shanghai

Shanghai is the biggest city in China with a population of 20 million people. It is one of the biggest metropolis in the world and the city literally is built along the Huang Pu River that cuts across the city. The long and checkered history of how Shanghai became an international enclave is to dwell a bit into the history of China. In my opinion the significant year was 1897 till 1899. That was the year of the incident of the "Cutting of the Chinese Melon"  and the "Open Door" policy of China. Under the Manchu rule, China was at its weakest. 
The countries wanted a piece of action in China were England, France , Germany, Russia and Japan. Later even the Yankees  joined in. Shanghai being an important trading port had their respective government creating their own enclaves. Today if you were to walk along the Bund you can see European Architecture, a testimony of their influences in the early days when they were just nothing but plain invaders. Today it is different, Shanghai is ultra modern. A Taxi Ride from down town Shanghai normally takes 60 minutes to Pudong, will take you just 8 minutes by the Meg Lev high speed train. 

I have to confess, I went to Shanghai to capture a glimpse of old Shanghai and the fabulous Shanghai night (a song by that name too). The old buildings are still there but what a disappointment it was to see the Chinese traditional gabled roof and Chinese arches with Star Bucks Coffee sign board prominently seated below the arches. The iconic Paramount is there but alas taxi dancers in cheongsam have disappeared in time. It is now a karaoke joint operated by a Taiwanese. 

The event on the 12th and 13th of December was at the Luwan Stadium, in a district by the same name in down town Shanghai. The Stadium has a capacity of 8,000 people and it was packed every night. Apparently it also coincides with China National Selection that had started three days earlier. I feel I will be wasting my time telling you how good are the Chinese Latin American and Standard Dancers, but let me give you an insight on how they do things in China. 

To have five dances in China is a must. When you have your five dances you are classified as a Class A dancer. At the National Ranking, they will compete and if they excel or pass a certain point system, then only are they allowed and they can be registered as an IDSF Grade A Dancers. You cannot as of right just because you have five dancers join an IDSF competition. China Dancesport will not register you and with the new IDSF-Licensing and Registration System, the job is so much easier. Your name is either in the system or you are not in. This is being introduced through out the world and controlled by IDSF.

In total there were 1,300 couples participating in the event in all categories, that they can match the Russian National selection. I was with the IDSF Presidium member and Secretary of IDSF. I feel his remarks sums it all, you cannot even see a bad couple on the floor. Technically they are so good in both Latin  American and Standard. Acrobatic stunts like vertical splits, jumps and spins are nothing to the Chinese, almost all the Dancers have their signature moves and you can expect something dramatic. I personally feel that China  Standard couples will make inroads and they have already done so in Blackpool. The Latin American dancers may take some times. I may be bias, in the IDSF Open, you can compare the European and the Chinese side by side, there is still the "X" factor that is lacking. Dancesport is an adopted sport from the West or perhaps it is like comparing Chuck Norris or Jean Claude Van Damm to Jacky Chan or Jet Li. You will still say a "Kwai Loh" doing Kung Fu or perhaps a white lady wearing a cheongsam or qipao, if you know what I mean. It just does not gel up.     


On dance costumes, I have this to say in my talks with the local Chinese competitors. The Grade A dancers wear Brackleys Tails, Ronn Gunn and many Italian sounding names that I have not heard before. For the ladies Chrisanne, Edda Hsu and even one of them wore an Aspen International. For shoes, Dance Naturale, Freed, Supadance and Ray Rose are quite common. So why are they not supporting their local brand? Many of them told me that their local brand are alright for low key club competition but not the Nationals. Many will not buy a dress off the rack, even if it fits them. I accused them of being bias, but they retorted that technical failure of costume is so common and many have gone through patch up work with safety pins. I am sure there is no need for me to mention China made dance shoes for I believe quite a few of you have experienced it in Malaysia. 

All said, many of them still buy their own cloth and choose their tailor to stitch a gown to their design, that is a better option they quipped. So to all of you who intend to go to China to buy your ballroom gown or Latin costume, perhaps select your cloth, have a design in your mind or better still bring a picture of the dress you want and get it tailored there. Tthey can copy and do a good replica within 24 hours. To those who still want to buy off the rack, do not be discourage, you may still get a good discount but "Caveat Emptor". 
The picture is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower taken from the boat on a Huang Pu cruise.                                                         

Tunku Imran on IF

The key note address given by the President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia ( OCM) Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja'afar at the Sports Asia 2009 forum in Kuala Lumpur recently reminded participants the importance of International Federation.
Tunku Imran made it very clear that International Federation governing the sports should play an important role in ensuring the development and growth of the sports under the respective National Sports Association governing the sports. He further went on to emphasise that it is a two way traffic , in that if the National Sports Association (NSA) benefits from the help it received from the International Federation, this in turn will also benefit the International Federation in promoting its sports. 
What was spoken and said by Tunku is certainly interesting, when we see the problems surrounding Taekwando where Tunku was the Chairman of the Pro Temp Committee taking over the duties of the NSA that is Malaysian Taekwando Association. Perhaps with the change of stand Malaysia Taekwando problem will come to an end and they will be admitted into SUKMA. 
Coming back to Dancesport, the International Federation governing the sport is the Asian Dancesport Federation and the International Dancesport Federation (IDSF). The Malaysian Professional Dancesport Council are admitted as members in both the bodies. 
MPDC did apply to join OCM last year, unfortunately their application was rejected because of the presence of MDSB. 
The question that needs to be asked is, will MPDC be able to join OCM, so that it can play its role as the NSA for Dancesport?    

Asian Dancesport Federation

On the 8th of November 2009, at the Annual General Meeting in Hanoi, the President of Asian Dancesport Federation (ADSF) Mr. Keiji Ukai has moved a motion to admit Malaysian Professional Dancesport Federation as the Provisional member of ADSF. This is indeed pleasant news to hear that we have unanimous support by the other Asian countries.This news is carried at http://www.adsf.org/

With the confidence ADSF have in us, we want to reassure them that we will live up to the ADSF and IDSF principles and ideals in Malaysia. 

We would like to take this opportunity to remind all dancesport athletes. IDSF and ADSF are the international Federation governing dancesport that has been accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). 

With this responsibility, we also want you to note that MPDC membership is open to all Malaysian Citizens who are keen to participate in Dancesport following the IDSF ideals. Like in all organisation we have Rules and Regulations to follow and if you breach the rules, sanctions will be imposed against you.  We have gone through a lot of nonsense in our early formative days because we are not yet in ADSF. 

In the Asian Indoor Games recently, I would like to inform you that ALL the athletes are MPDC registered members. I would like to further inform you that MPDC has stamped and sealed the entry forms for the athletes and officials to the Hanoi Asian Indoor Games, without that, the athletes will not be allowed on the floor. 

You may be wondering why the strict compliance of the ADSF and IDSF Rules? Recently the international federation governing football,  F.I.F.A. banned Brunei and Iraq when the government and the national olympic committee interfered into the affairs of national sports association. As a result the country cannot send any teams to any international games. At the time of writing, Brunei Football team is out of the Laos SEA Games. Iraq can also forget about the Asian Games if the matter with FIFA is not resolved by then.      

We do not want this to happen in Malaysia and we will protect and stand by the IDSF ways and will not allow any interference by any bodies to dilute our impartiality in promoting Dancesport in Malaysia.     

             

Results of 3rd Hanoi Asian Indoor Games

You can get the results of the 3rd Hanoi Asian Indoor Games at the ADSF website at . http://www.adsf.org/

The enclosed pictures are supplied by Etienne and Zenny a husband and wife Team.. Etienne used to partner Kathy and they were the top Latin American couple representing Vietnam. They were very active participating in the Asian circuit. The partnership broke up when Etienne married Zenny.

Of the 10 events both in Standard and Latin, Vietnam managed to get into the finals in 9 events. The even mananged to beat traditional power house like China, Japan , Korea and Khazakstan to take Gold in Jive and Rumba. Before you fly off the handle accusing that there may be unfair judging, I want to assure you that the judges selected are all from European countries and there are no Asian judges.

When the Games are held in their country, the home team have the addded advantage of the home support. Further Vietnam Dancesport Association did fly in top coaches to train their Team and they were preparing them even before the official announcement that Vietnam will be hosting the 3rd Asian Indoor Games.

OCM couples did not make it into the finals unfortunately, but whatever Malaysia was represented at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games.

In November 2010 is the Guangzhou Asian Games. This is the first time Dancesport will be featured in the Asian Games and I can assure you that China will be ready to take on Asia.