National Team Return From Dance World Cup
The Gibraltar National Dance Team recently returned from the Dance World Cup held in Braga, Portugal, between from Friday 28th June to Saturday 6th July.
The National Team was composed of 54 dancers, and choreographers for this project included: Chantelle Azzopardi, Paulette Finlayson Napoli, Genyka Celecia Bolaños, Jade Federico-Marzan, Sabrina Abudharham, Lauren Montero and Lillian Montero.
The dancers selected all qualified from the Gibraltar International Dance Festival and competed against over 6000 of dancers from 53 countries. Gibraltar was represented in the Mini Kids, Children, Junior and Adult divisions.
Gibraltar’s participation saw Team Gibraltar successfully return home with six silver and four bronze medals. Gibraltar ranked 19th in the Mini and Children sections, and 11th in the Junior and Senior sections, in Country Award Standings.
The competition at the Dance World Cup started strong for Team Gibraltar, as our first competitor brought home the first silver medal. Faye Gomez was awarded 2nd place, out of 19 entries, in the Children Solo Jazz B, choreographed by Lillian and Lauren Montero. First place went to Germany and third place went to England.
In the Mini Solo Acro A division, Sarah Hook placed 8th out of 20 entries. 1st place went to England, 2nd place to Germany and 3rd to Scotland.
The second silver medal for Gibraltar came with Lucia Guillem Hernandez who placed second in the Children solo acro B section, out of 19 entries, choreographed by Paulette Finlayson Napoli. First and third place went to England. Lucia obtained the highest mark for Team Gibraltar with 95.8%.
Janelle Hendrick & Marianne Hook placed 16th out of 21 entries in the Mini Modern & Contemporary Duet/Trio. 1st place went to Ukraine, 2nd place to Belarus and 3rd to Australia.
Anna Pecino placed 21st, and Heaven Bocarisa 15th, out of 27 entries in Mini Modern & Contemporary Solo(A) section. 1st and 2nd place went to Ukraine, 3rd to New Zealand.
Celine Cruz and Kate Camilleri placed 17th out of 37 entries in the Children duet / trio Showdance and Jazz. First place went to Scotland, second to Canada and third to the representative from England.
In the Children Small Group Modern section, Gibraltar won its first Bronze medal with a piece entitled Hideaway, performed by Anna Jimenez, Brianna Trinidad, Joelle Figueras, Jyra Hendrick, Katie Bado, Nathan Villalba and Yuval Lahav. This was choreographed, by Lillian and Lauren Montero. First place went to Portugal, and second to Poland.
In the Mini duet/trio Jazz & Showdance, Gibraltar got their third silver medal as Ella Hurtado & Heaven Bocarisa placed 2nd out of 34 entries, choreographed, by Lillian and Lauren Montero. Anna Pecino, Marianne Hook and Janelle Hendrick placed 9th in the same category. England took the gold, and Macau took the bronze.
Diamond Dalli placed 13th out of 20 entries, in the Mini Solo Ballet(B) division, with first place going to Portugal, second to Belarus and third to Czech Republic.
In the Children Small Group Jazz and Showdance section, Gibraltar placed 9th out of 30 entries, with a piece entitled Let’s Nacho, performed by Bella Weir, Ella Hurtado, Heaven Bocarisa, Megan Wink, Mia Hook, Molly Taylor and Sophie Crosskey. Birds Of Rio placed 25th out of 30 entries, performed by Anna Pincho, Celine Cruz, Emma Chipolina, Juliana Martin, Kate Camilleri, Natalie Chipolina. England was awarded first and second place, and Canada third.
In the Mini Duet/Trio Acro Dance, The Crazy Frogs placed 11th out of 19 entries, performed by Ella Gaiviso, Kate Camilleri, And Sarah Hook. First place went to England, second to Germany and third to Wales.
Anna Jimenez placed 13th out of 30 entries in the Children Ballet Repertoire Solo section, with Poland taking the gold, Portugal the silver and Spain bronze.
Ella Hurtado placed 4th of 26 entries in Mini solo jazz & showdance (A), with England taking the gold, New Zealand the silver and Scotland bronze.
In the Mini solo jazz & showdance (B), Sophie Crosskey came 8th, and Anna Pincho placed 10th out of 25 entries. First place went to Estonia, England took second and third.
The second Bronze medal for Team Gibraltar came when Nathan Villalba placed 3rd of 8 entries in Children Modern & Contemporary Solo Boys section, choreographied by Lillian and Lauren Montero. Joint gold went to England and Australia, silver to Israel.
Anna Jimenez placed 8th, Juliana Martin came 24th and Celine Cruz came 26th out of 34 entries in the Children Modern & Contemporary Solo (A), with Germany taking the gold, Poland the silver and Bulgaria bronze.
Megan Wink placed 13th out of 21 entries in the Children showdance solo (A) section, with Ukraine first, Wales second and England third.
In the Children Song & Dance section, Molly Taylor placed 11th, Joelle Figueras 13th, and Kate Williamson 18th out of 26 entries, with England taking the gold, Scotland taking the silver and Iceland taking bronze.
Noa Mauro placed 15th out of 23 entries, in the Children Hip hop, Streetdance and commercial class A. First place was awarded to South Africa, second to Macau, and third to Portugal.
In the Children Hip hop, Streetdance and commercial class B section, Nathan Villalba placed 7th and Brianna Trinidad placed 13th out of 26 entries, with South Africa taking first and second place, and Russia third.
Megan Wink, Molly Taylor, Sophie Crosskey placed 32nd out of 50 entries in the Children Duet/Trio Modern & Contemporary section. Portugal took the gold, Germany silver and England bronze.
In the Junior Small Group Jazz & Showdance, You’ll Find A Way placed 5th of 32 groups, and was performed Amber Chichon, Amy Wink, Ayla Santos Pizarro, Emma Rocca, Faye Gomez, Isabella Wink and Sarah Wood. England took first place, Spain second and Ukraine third.
In the Senior Solo Acro Dance category, Louise Britto placed 7th out of 9 competitors, with Scotland placing first, England second and Spain third.
In the Senior Solo Modern section, Louise Britto placed 14th, and Janis Jackson placed 4th out of 29 entries. Portugal took the gold and bronze, and Spain the silver.
In the Senior Modern and Contemporary Duet & Trio, Eva Collinson and Stella Bosano placed 25th, Lauren Montero, Janis Jackson & Chelsie Victor placed 20th, and Louise Britto and Alanna Bonavia placed 7th out of 33 entries. Ukraine took first place, England second and Portugal third.
In the Adult Senior Solo Street Dance and Commercial, Eva Collinson placed 14th out of 25 entries. First and third place went to South Africa, and second place to Iceland.
Gibraltar took its fourth silver medal with Amy Wink who placed 2nd of 24 entries, in the Junior Solo Modern & Contemporary (A) section, choreographed by Lillian and Lauren Montero. Chenille Soiza Brown placed 20th in the same category. England took the gold, and Russia took the bronze.
Faye Gomez & Emma Rocca have placed 6th of 36 entries, in the Junior Duet/Trio Jazz & Showdance category, with Spain placing first, and England both second and third.
In the Junior Solo Hip Hop, Street Dance & Commercial, Johan Tante has placed 12th out of 24 entries, with South Africa taking a clean sweep of the top 3 prizes.
Gibraltar won its fifth silver medal at the Dance World Cup, with Isabella Wink who placed 2nd of 29 entries in the Junior Acro Solo, choreographed by Lillian and Lauren Montero. England took the gold and Scotland took the bronze.
Emma Rocca placed 5th out of 20 entries in the Junior Jazz Solo (A), with Canada taking the gold, Portugal and silver and England the bronze.
In the Senior Small Group Modern (including Lyrical and Contemporary), Team Gibraltar placed 6th out of 29 entries, with “See The Colour”, performed by Alanna Bonavia, Courtney Edwards, Eva Kate Collinson, Gianne Rodriguez, Janella Johnson and Louise Britto. In the same section, “Never Good Enough”, placed 12th, and this was performed by Alanna Bonavia, Gianne Rodriguez, Louise Britto, Megan Rodriguez and Sarah Montovio. England took gold and bronze, and Germany silver.
Team Gibraltar achieved its third bronze medal with Sarah Wood, Ayla Santos Pizarro, Isabella Wink who placed 3rd out of 39 Junior Modern & Contemporary Duet/Trío, choreographed by Lillian and Lauren Montero. In the same category, Nathan Villalba, Amy Wink and Anna Jimenez placed 5th. Canada took the gold, and two entries from Portugal took joint silver.
Arabian Nights placed 7th out of 21 entries in the Junior Large Group Showdance category. This was performed by Amber Chichon, Anna Jimenez, Amy Wink, Ayla Santos Pizarro, Diamond Dalli, Ella Hurtado, Emma Rocca, Faye Gomez, Brianna Trinidad, Heaven Bocarisa, Isabella Wink, Joelle Figueras, Jyra Hendrick, Kate Williamson, Katie Bado, Megan Wink, Mia Hook, Nathan Villalba, Sarah Wood, Sophie Crosskey and Yuval Lahav! Portugal took the top prize, with Guam taking the silver, and Spain the bronze.
Gibraltar won its sixth silver medal when Eva Collinson placed 2nd in the Senior Solo Contemporary section, out of 23 entries, choreographed by Jade Federico Marzan. Canada took the gold, and Spain took the bronze.
Gibraltar won its fourth bronze medal, when Janis Jackson placed 3rd out of 22 entries in the Senior Solo Jazz category, choreographed by Lillian and Lauren Montero. Spain placed first and Canada second.
In the Junior Small Group Modern (including Lyrical and Contemporary) section, Gibraltar placed 6th out of 40 groups, with “The Last Light” performed by
Janella Johnson, Julianne Rodriguez, Liyah Tante, Niah Guilling, Noelle Cassano and Sarah Montovio. Germany took first and third place, and Israel took second.
Chenille Soiza Brown placed 12th out of 31 entries in the Junior Showdance Solo section, with Ukraine taking gold, Czech Republic silver and Portugal bronze.
Amy Wink placed 9th out of 25 entries in the Junior Solo Ballet (non-repertoire) section, with Portugal taking the gold, and Spain taking the silver and bronze.
Lauren Montero, Janis Jackson & Chelsie Victor placed 6th out of 26 entries in Senior jazz & showdance duet/trio section, with Canada taking the gold, Spain the silver, and England the bronze.
GNDO President Wendy Garro said:
‘The Dance World Cup in Portugal has been a great experience, and all of Team Gibraltar had great performances, full of passion and precision, as they gave their all over the seven days we competed. The competition was of a high standard, and the calibre of the over 6000 dancers from 53 countries from around the world was evident in all categories, with over 2000 choreographies being performed at this event. For our national team to perform in the professional theatre, was a real treat. Our dancers could enjoy dance genres we are not regularly exposed to, such as National and Folklore and Tap dance. Even in the categories where we have more experience in competing, such as Show Dance & Jazz, and Modern & Contemporary, we could appreciate very different and original work, which makes this trip not only a competition for Team Gibraltar, but most importantly, an educational and inspiring experience. I take this opportunity to thank all the sponsors and most importantly Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar, the Ministry for Culture, Gibraltar Cultural Sevices, MO Productions, and the Cultural Grants Committee for making our participation a reality.’
Full results for the competition can be viewed at: http://dwcfinals.com/results
