Published: Dec 21, 2011
Champion ballroom dancer James Chew has added another entry to his fast-growing portfolio of achievements.
James, who practices the discipline outside of his LIPA studies, took first place in this year’s Under 21s British Classical Sequence Championships.
The event was held at Blackpool’s iconic Winter Gardens venue as part of the 2011 British Sequence Championships.
The 18-year-old BA (Hons) Dance student and his 19-year-old dance partner Sophie Chilton, pictured, were also runners up in two other age groups.
“We didn’t expect to win at all, really. We had wanted to finish in the top three – but winning was really good,” reflected James, who has been ballroom dancing for six years and competing for three.
The triumph is the latest in a string that includes Junior Modern Sequence Champion and Junior Classical Sequence Champion.
The British Sequence Championships, governed by the British Dance Council, have been held annually in Blackpool for over 60 years.
On ballroom dancing, he explained: “I do it because I love it. I like the competitive side, the atmosphere, the precision of the technique, as well as getting dressed up.”
James, from Skipton, Yorkshire, learned his first moves at the age of 12, when a school friend whose parents ran a dance school invited him to a class.
He said: “She knew I liked dancing but that I’d never had any formal training. I went there and enjoyed it, and I’ve just kept it up.”
He is currently squeezing in rehearsals with Sophie, who is studying childcare and disability at Northumbria University, around his busy LIPA timetable, where he is developing his skills in other dance styles from street to ballet.
James, who was accepted at the Institute after a college tutor told him about the three-year dance degree programme, is keen to continue ballroom dancing but wants to work in musical theatre.
He said: “I’m enjoying learning all these new styles. I love jazz, tap, ballet and the rest. I’d like to be in the West End. I don’t think I’ll continue with ballroom as a career but it’s something I’ll always have and be able to go back to.”
Like millions of British television viewers, he watches the hit BBC ballroom-themed talent show Strictly Come Dancing. The show’s glitz and drama, however, are from removed from the real world of professional competition, according to James, who is in his first-year of studies at LIPA.
He commented: “It’s more about the performance than the technique. It’s also getting more theatrical and it’s not like that at competitions. One contestant was fired from a canon on stage at the start of his routine – that would never happen!”