A hot new move!

An E-Interview with Rose Knows...
2001 Berlin Dance Competiton
1st Place - Amateur Division

Josephine Beza and Paul Chivers
April, 2001

Video Photo Credits -- Rene Delgado and Michelle Tanchoco

Rose Knows - What was the Song you used in the competition?

Paul and Josephine - We used an edited version of Celia y Tito, by Celia Cruz and Tito Puente.

Josephine and Paul Rose Knows - What inspired you to pick that Song?

Paul - Nicole DaSilva once mentioned to me that it was one of her favourite Salsa songs because it had such an incredible descarga. However, up until the competition, I had only heard it two or three times. When I started looking for competition music, I decided to get a copy of the song and listen to it in-depth. I liked it immediately! I was amazed at the energy level projected in the music. I picked that song because it had a fast tempo, a good energy level, and lots of different types of accents.



Rose Knows - How often did you practice?

Paul and Josephine - We rented studio space (on average) about four times a week. On top of that, we would go to different nightclubs and practice, so some weeks we would be dancing together six out of seven days. We always made sure to take a least one night a week off, so that we didn't get sick of dancing (and each other)... ;-)

Josephine and Paul
Rose Knows - How did you decide what moves you wanted to use?

Paul and Josephine - First, we listened to the song and tried to understand the different feelings in the music. Some parts of the song were elegant, others were very percussive and broken up, and others were energetic and dramatic. From there we choreographed the best accents in the music, and then worked backwards to fill everything else in. We used whatever moves looked good and went with the music.

Rose Knows - Why did you decide to compete?

Paul - Honestly, I didn't have any intention of entering the Berlin competition. A mutual friend mentioned to me that Josephine was looking for a partner for the competition, thought that we would dance well together, and suggested we become partners. I thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up, so I said yes.

Rose Knows - Will you be competing again next year?

Paul - For sure! I mean, a lot can change in twelve months time, but I definitely have intentions to compete again.

Rose Knows - What advice would you offer to next year's competitors?

Josephine and Paul
Paul - Start working on your dancing right away! The reason is that when you are preparing for a competition, you are so busy working on competition-specific aspects of your dancing (presentation, not forgetting your choreography, interacting with your audience, staying in the centre of the stage) that you have very little time to practice your basic dancing technique (balance, timing, weight transfer, partnering). You need to have solid dance technique before you start training for the competition, so that you can focus all your efforts on the specifics of your routine and not on fundamentals.

Rose Knows - What did you think of having the 3 levels -- amateur, semi-pro and pro?

Paul and Josephine - As long as there are enough competitors for each division, it's a good idea.

Rose Knows - What did you think of the level of dancing this year compared to last year?

Paul and Josephine - We didn't see the competition last year, so we can't comment on whether the level of dancing has changed. From what we heard, there's been a tremendous improvement in the calibre of dancing in Toronto over the past year.

Rose Knows - What would you do differently, if anything?

Josephine and PaulPaul and Josephine - Hmm... not much...:-) We're very happy with the way things turned out.

Rose Knows - Did you train with any other instructors? OR Which dancers/instructors inspire you?

Paul and Josephine - During the competition, we trained a bit with Oren Shoshan, and also with Teddy Olaso. Bong Gonzales and Trionne Moore also gave us a lot of help with our choreography.

Rose Knows - Any other comments you'd like to make?

Paul and Josephine - What an exciting two months! We were blown away by the audience response at the finals. Even when we first walked on stage, before we started dancing, we were amazed by the energy level in the audience. Thanks to everyone that supported us and to everyone that helped us with our choreography.