On May 3, a small force of our dancers cha cha’d into the Berkeley Classic competition. They waltzed, samba’d and salsa’d right into the leaderboards of almost every dance they competed in!

Starting with couple Mars Bau and Karsten West, they placed 4th in Silver Smooth Waltz, 3rd in Silver Smooth Tango, 4th in Silver Smooth Foxtrot, 1st in Silver Smooth Viennese Waltz, and 7th in Gold Smooth Tango. 

Couple Cole Spencer and Cadie Sparks placed 8th in Bronze Rumba, 7th in Bronze Paso Doble, 7th in Bronze Jive, and 8th in Silver Smooth Waltz. 

Couple Alexander Tahan and Persephone Ballatore placed 3rd in Silver Standard Viennese  Waltz, 3rd in Silver Samba, 2nd in Silver Cha Cha/ Rumba, 3rd in Silver Paso Doble, 3rd in Silver Jive, 5th in Gold Smooth Waltz/ Foxtrot, 6th in Gold Smooth Tango, 5th in Gold Smooth Viennese  Waltz, 8th in Gold Cha Cha/ Rumba/ Samba, 6th in Gold Paso Doble, and 8th in Gold Jive. 

Couple Toby Anderson and Marina Kenat placed 5th in Gold Cha Cha/ Rumba/ Samba and 7th in Gold Jive. 

Going into Nightclub, our dancers switched up their troops and competed in different pairings. Mars and Karsten placed 3rd in Beginner Argentine Tango, 5th in Beginner Bachata, 4th in Beginner Hustle, 3rd in Beginner Merengue, 4th in Beginner Two-step and 2nd in Beginner Salsa. Toby and Marina placed first in Advanced Hustle. Toby also led Cadie and placed 2nd in Advanced Nightclub Two-step and 2nd in Advanced polka. Cadie then led Cole and placed 6th in Beginner Bachata, 6th Beginner Hustle and 1st in Beginner Merengue. Alex led Cole into fourth place in Beginner Polka while Cadie and Caitlin Roeske placed 4th in Beginner blues and 5th in Beginner Lindy hop. 

At the end of the night, we had two couples showcase their skills in their premieres in the Novice category. Toby and Marina placed 6th in the Novice Jive. Alexander and Persephone placed 4th in the Novice Smooth Viennese Waltz as well as in the combined Smooth Waltz Tango Foxtrot. 

These were trialing times for the dancers, but they walked away from this last competition with their heads held high!