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6 March 2009
The University’s ballroom dancers were the toast of the Empire Ballroom in Blackpool last weekend when they won the national universities competition there for an unprecedented fourth year in a row. The Cambridge Dancesport Team competes against other universities up and down the country at five competitions during the course of the year, culminating in the nationals in Blackpool. It consists of 16 couples, each dancing one of waltz, quickstep, cha cha or jive. The 16 couples are divided into four teams (A, B, C and D) of four. Last Saturday the team competed in the Empress Ballroom, the spiritual home of ballroom dancing, against 80 teams from 29 universities. The 32 Cambridge dancers, of 18 different nationalities reflecting the nature of the student body in Cambridge, were among 1000 dancers competing at the Empress Ballroom. The four Cambridge teams were placed 1st, 3rd, 8th and 11th overall, giving the University victory in the A, B, C, D and overall categories.
Indeed, Cambridge beginners from recent years were placed 1st in waltz, 1st in quickstep, 1st in jive, 3rd in jive and 2nd in cha cha in the main team event. The Varsity match will be held on 2nd May, Cambridge aiming to make it three wins in a row against their Oxford rivals. Dancesport is a half blue sport for both men and women. Cambridge dancers have also won extraordinary full blues for 4 of our women whose performances demanded greater recognition by virtue of their outstanding success, both against university competition and on the open circuit. The Cambridge squad is supported by two coaches who live in Cambridge, who are both former captains of the team, and four coaches who visit Cambridge once a week or so to give lessons. Team members are expected to practise at least three times a week, and take a lesson as well. In a further development the nimble-footed students are to help local school children who are discovering the magic of the dancefloor. Inspired by the rise in popularity of celebrity ballroom dancing, Year 6 pupils from Milton Road Primary school in Cambridge began learning to dance in January under the watchful eye of experienced teacher Anna Castiglione (pictured right with Head Teacher Sue Romero) and are preparing their very own gala competition event next month. The pupils are training three times a week outside school hours, before school and at weekends. They have been invited to watch the Dancesport Team training session this coming weekend to pick up some tips, and one of the coaches, Paul Walker, will join the panel of judges at the competition on Saturday 4th April. Mail on SundayPublished29/11/08
Dancing changed my life
We've seen on Strictly how dancing can pep up a celebrity career. But - as the women featured here prove - it can open up a whole new future for the rest of us too Anastasia Castiglione Anastasia Castiglione, 34, loved Spanish dancing as a child, but in her teens was diagnosed with hydrocephalus (excess fluid on the brain) which stopped her dancing. She took it up again five years ago - and has opened a Spanish dance school for children. She lives in Cambridge with her husband Vincent and their four children, aged six to ten.
I got married and had four children but started feeling unwell again with fatigue, migraines and loss of vision. I found a specialist who operated on the shunt, which stopped the symptoms and changed my life. Before, I'd never been able to see where I was heading, but now I felt incredibly positive about the future and decided to take up Spanish dance again. When you're dancing you forget the world around you and for the first time in years I felt alive and vital. I started to realise I could exert myself more and decided to train as a teacher and open a Spanish dance school for children. I never expected it to be so successful so quickly, and I now dance or teach flamenco six hours a day. It's hard because my health is not straightforward. My surgeons are shocked I'm dancing - I bumped into one of my nurses recently and she said, 'Don't tell the other shunt patients, we don't want them all having a go!' I was despairing but you reach a point where you realise that the hydrocephalus is not going away, that there is no cure - and you can't give in to it. Dancing gives me purpose, passion, identity and a confidence I never dreamed I could have. I feel happy and fulfilled. It has helped bring me back to life. Cambridge NewsPublished: 24/03/2009 Anastasia Is Dancing up A Storm
"My ambition was always to be a professional dancer," explains Anastasia. "And I always wanted to teach children. I know it might sound corny, but teaching those children to dance is a dream come true for me. I really am living the dream - and I'm loving every minute of it." Aged just 19, Anastasia was diagnosed with a terrifying and incurable brain condition. Called hydrocephalus, it is best described as an excess of fluid on the brain - causing everything from memory loss and nausea to visual impairment and dizzy spells. At that point, Anastasia feared she would never dance again. Now, against all the odds, Anastasia runs her own dance school, Castellano in Cambridge. And she is currently in the middle of teaching 40 primary school children how to waltz, jive and cha, cha, cha as part of Classroom to Ballroom (a 12-week programme set to end with a bang: a gala dance night, complete with Strictly Come Dancingstyle competition). "Seeing their little faces light up when they get on the dance floor is wonderful," enthuses Anastasia. "They've come so far since week one, it's unbelievable. It just goes to show that what I believe is true: anyone can dance if they put their mind to it."
"The atmosphere was fantastic," she says, with a laugh. "You'd get all dressed up and then go out dancing with your brother and sister, your mum and dad, your aunties and uncles . . .When we weren't in Spain, I spent a lot of time dancing round the living room! "I just loved dancing - I still do. It takes you into another world, that's really the only way I can explain it. It takes you away from everyday life, from having four children running around you all day; it makes you feel free." As well as learning traditional Spanish dancing, such as flamenco, Anastasia took up both Latin and ballroom as a young girl. By her late teens, she had a job in conference management - but she was still dancing in her spare time. "I'd been going to the doctor for months and months," remembers Anastasia. "I'd started feeling quite sick, especially in the car. I was having really major headaches, dizziness and problems with my vision. And I'd lost a lot of weight: I was already quite slim, but you could actually see my ribs. "When I went to the doctor they seemed to think I was a teenager making a fuss; they didn't really take me that seriously." Then, early one morning, Anastasia woke with a searing pain in her eyes. "I literally couldn't close them because of the pain," she recalls, with a shudder. "I didn't want to go to the doctor in case they laughed at me again, so I went straight to the optician. Two hours later I was in hospital having emergency surgery." At 19, Anastasia had been found to have hydrocephalus - and it was clear fluid had been building up in her brain for months and months. "When babies have it, their heads swell up because their skulls are still soft," she explains. "As an adult, there is nowhere for the fluid to go, except out through your eyes, nose and mouth." Affecting an estimated one in every 1,000 live births, hydrocephalus is quite common among children. But it is comparatively rare in adults and, when it does occur, the condition is usually associated with an accident, such as a blow to the head. One of the many classes Anastasia runs through her dance school, Castellano. Anastasia had not suffered any kind of head injury; the cause of her hydrocephalus is still a mystery. "When I went into hospital that first time, it was critical," she explains. "They really didn't have much hope for me, in terms of recovery. It was scary. And, from that point on, my life changed: I decided I wasn't going to take any risks, I was going to play it safe." It took months for Anastasia to recover from the surgery, which involved a drain (known as a shunt) being inserted in her brain. She was left with memory problems, slurred speech and visual impairment - all symptoms of the hydrocephalus. "After the operation I found out my colleagues thought I had a drink problem, because I'd been slurring my words for ages," admits Anastasia. "Of course, I'd had no idea." Two years after the first op, she needed another to insert a shunt in the other side of her brain. Glad just to be alive, she decided to put her dreams of training to be a professional dancer to one side. "I was being physically careful," she adds. "Even when I had the children I opted for a caesarean, because I didn't want to put my body under any extra strain." For several years, all was well. And then, quite out of the blue, Anastasia's symptoms began to recur. By then living in Cambridge, with her husband Vincent and their children, she was whisked into Addenbrooke's suffering from extreme fatigue. Making a reasonable recovery, she soldiered on - only to relapse a few months later. "I've got four children, there's no way I could keep ending up in hospital," adds Anastasia, whose children Benito, Leonardo, Sofia and Alexandro range in age from 11 to seven. "That's when I met Professor John Pickard - and he literally gave me my life back." A neurosurgeon, Professor Pickard replaced one of Anastasia's cranial drains with a cutting-edge shunt; the operation, six years ago, was the first in a series of five surgeries. "The best way I can explain is that it's like a car having new spark plugs," explains Anastasia. "Every time he's operated he has relit my spark. "It made me realise that life is too short to be holding back and playing it safe - and that's when I decided to put my fears behind me and train as a dancer." Since then, Anastasia has trained with the Spanish Dance Society and qualified as a Latin American teacher (with the United Kingdom Alliance of Professional Teachers of Dancing). She has worked with flamenco star Felipe de Algeciras and Cambridge's own Clive Hurt, of CJ School of Ballroom Dance, who's helping her run Classroom to Ballroom. "I wanted to have my own identity," explains Anastasia. "I didn't just want to be Benito's mum in the playground: I wanted to achieve my own goals and show my children that, with a bit of persistence, anything is possible." Anastasia is the first to admit that realising her ambition of running Castellano (her own dance school, open to both adults and children) has not been plain sailing. Just before a crucial set of Spanish dance exams, one of her shunts started to fail and she began to struggle with her balance. "That was horrible," she says. "But you have to get on with it and also have faith in yourself." Anastasia launched Classroom to Ballroom at Milton Road Primary, her children's school, in January. Open to all Year Six students, aged 10 and 11, on a voluntary basis, she says it proved instantly popular: a total of 40 children joined up and have been training, early in the morning and at weekends, ever since. Culminating in the gala night on Saturday, April 4, the programme has, adds Anastasia, taught the children innumerable things - not just dance steps. "It's built their confidence, taught them to respect each other, helped them focus and learn about goal-setting," she enthuses. "And, most of all, I hope it's shown them that anything really is possible - and inspired them to go for their own dreams." ■ The Classroom to Ballroom gala will take place from 6.30pm on Saturday, April 4. All the children will be taking part in a dance competition, judged by a panel of local media personalities and professional dancers; cups will be awarded to the winners. All proceeds from the event will go to ASBAH - the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. ■ For more information call Milton Road Primary school on (01223) 712333 or visit Anastasia's website, www.castellanodance.co.uk. Published: 24/03/2009
Photo call: Friday 27 March, 1.00 to 1.30pm, Grand Arcade, St Andrews St, Cambridge This Friday, 27 March, a group of primary school children will have the ultimate dance lesson with Vincent and Flavia from BBC TV’s Strictly Come Dancing, as part of an electrifying event to mark the first birthday of Grand Arcade in Cambridge city centre. As the highlight of Grand Arcade's birthday celebrations, Argentine Tango World Champions Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace will perform two dances live on stage in The Atrium between 1pm and 1.30pm. Between the dances, the talented duo will run a workshop on stage with the children from Milton Road Primary School in Cambridge. Excited about the event, Flavia commented, “We are really looking forward to dancing at Grand Arcade’s first birthday. Dancing live is always a buzz but dancing in the middle of a shopping centre is not something you get to do every day. There should be a really great atmosphere and it will be a fun day.” The boys and girls, aged 10 and 11, are among forty pupils currently taking part in Classroom to Ballroom, an exciting new schools dance project inspired by the popularity of celebrity ballroom dancing. The novice dancers have spent almost 12 weeks learning the waltz, jive and cha cha cha, training three times a week before school and at weekends for the Classroom to Ballroom gala final on 4 April.
She continued, “The stars of Strictly Come Dancing have done so much to inspire children across the UK to give ballroom a go. As well as having fun and keeping fit, the boys and girls have gained so much confidence through the discipline of dance. We’re thrilled that Grand Arcade is helping to highlight our pioneering project as part of its birthday celebrations.” Sue Romero, head at Milton Road Primary School added, “Classroom to Ballroom has captured everyone’s imagination, pupils and parents alike. We hope to share what we’ve learnt with other schools so that more children can enjoy the benefits of ballroom.” Profits raised at the Classroom to Ballroom gala event on 4 April will be donated to the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (ASBAH – www.asbah.org) and also help support a school residential trip in 2010. Key contacts Classroom to Ballroom: Anastasia Castiglione, tel: 07718 538588 / info@castellanodance.co.uk Kavanagh Communications on behalf of Grand Arcade: Caroline Stern: 07776 300207 / caroline@kavanaghcommunications.com Additional contacts for related information: Milton Road Primary School: tel: 01223 712333 / office@miltonroad.cambs.sch.uk |
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Milton Road Primary School Headteacher Sue Romero (left) and dance teacher Anna Castiglione
In addition, Cambridge won the beginners' team match. This is only open to competitors who started learning to dance no more than a year earlier, and is something that the Cambridge team takes very seriously. Successful beginners one year can go on to be successful members of the full team in subsequent years
Over the next two years two shunts were inserted in my brain to drain off excess fluid. I'd been unwell with weight and memory loss, sickness, headaches and balance difficulties. The doctors said I'd have been a cabbage if they hadn't caught it.
WATCHING the children waltz around the studio, stepping neatly in time to the music, Anastasia Castiglione almost had to pinch herself. After years of struggle, the mum-of-four realised she'd finally made it: she was, at long last, living her dream.
Anastasia's passion for dance dates right back to her early childhood. Her father is Spanish and she has many happy memories of spending summer holidays in his homeland - attending seemingly endless fiestas with her family.
Dance teacher Anastasia Castiglione developed Classroom to Ballroom to bring the benefits of classical dance into schools. She said, “An exclusive lesson with Vincent and Flavia is what dreams are made of. For these lucky children, it’s a great reward for their hard work and the timing couldn’t be better. It will be the best possible dress rehearsal for the school’s gala final the following week.”