Para Dance Sport competitors, Gary Lyness and Paula Moulton represented Great Britain along with four members of Strictly Wheels Club: Lloyd Harris, Goz Ugochukwu, Oscar Gimenez and Patricia Fernandez. This was the Strictly Wheels Debutantes first international competition, so it was a nervous outing for the pairs, even with UK National titles under their belts.

“We’re so proud of our dancers in their first major competition, they danced well and most importantly enjoyed themselves on the dance floor. They’re now feeling inspired to push on and keep dancing and compete more for Great Britain”.

– Paula Moulton, Strictly Wheels

All the Debutante couples danced on Saturday afternoon. Competing both for Great Britain and against each other, Lloyd and Goz, Oscar and Patricia took to the floor for the Debutante Combi 1 event. After a nervous first round, they soon settled down and danced a great final with beaming smiles that warmed the audience watching.

Current UK Champions, Lloyd and Goz took Bronze losing narrowly to Germany and Austria. Oscar and Patricia finished closely behind in fourth place.

A quick partner swap and Oscar and Goz were in the Debutante Duo 1 final, dancing so well they were in a tie for 1st place against the strong Austrian team who just clinched the Gold on points leaving GB with Silver Medal.

2017 Cuijk Para Dance Sport Championship

Cuijk is the largest wheelchair dance competition in the world, now having carried out its 29th year. Competitors of all levels from Debutante to Amateur and Para Dance Sport gather together for two full days of dancing in Holland. With the increasing popularity of the new Singles and Freestyle events, this year’s competition spanned three days to include these categories.

Singles and Freestyle

Representing Great Britain, Paula Moulton took to the floor in the Single Ladies 1 event, dancing five dances with grace, enthusiasm and strength to take 4th place behind Ukraine and Poland’s best.

Friday afternoon also saw the Single Men battling it out on the floor with a welcome return from Ukraine’s Ivan Sivak stealing the Gold from Poland’s Pawel Karpinski with some spectacular moves.

Pictured above: Gary Lyness & Paula Moulton.

“It was such a wonderful feeling to be out on the dancefloor competing again after the winter months, especially now with my new chair! I am turning faster and have more controlled movement- it’s brilliant!” -Paula Moutlon

Pictured above: Gary Lyness & Paula Moutlon. 

“This was our first competition of 2017 and the first time competing at the IPC level at this competition, so it was a challenging event. We have some new choreography, and it’s sometimes difficult to gauge how this plays out on the competition floor once you get other dancers on there. You might turn around and suddenly have 3-4 other dancers in your path, so have to think on your feet (or wheels!).” -Gary Lyness

The Freestyle event had equally exceptional performances from the reigning European Champions in both Ladies Single Freestyle 2 and Combi Freestyle 2 with Olena Chynka’s performance to Bjork “It’s Oh So Quiet” taking Gold. The Combi Freestyle 2 Gold went to a powerful, contemporary dance by Poland’s Marek Zaborowski and Kasia Bloch.

Latin and Standard

Saturday and Sunday the Latin and Ballroom events experienced considerable numbers for the Debutantes and Amateur level. Dancers danced their way through heats and finals to make their mark on the adjudicators.

Great Britain’s Latin Combi couple made their appearance on Sunday afternoon in the World Para Dance Sport Finals. Gary and Paula from Strictly Wheels club, having been reclassified danced in Latin Combi 1 for the first time. The pair danced confidently to win the Silver Medal for Great Britain. Finland’s Timo Pyykkonen and Tuuli Harju, won Gold with their cha cha.