Florida Freddy Ball 2007

By Luann Pulliam

It was fabulous weather and great dancing all weekend long at the recent Florida Freddy Ball 2007 held at the St. Augustine Golf Resort in St. Augustine, Florida. Each year the Fred Astaire Studios in Florida host this event to recognize their top performers in Business and Dance.

Thursday evening started us off with our Pro/Am competition and each studio battling for the most enthusiastic award. Energy was high and the room vibrated with cheers & applause! The competition continued through Friday evening when our Professionals took the floor to compete for the Regional Titles. Listed below are the results:

Novice Champion - Guillerimo Rubio & Erica Brown from Boca Raton
Mixed Novice Champions - Warren Brown & Karli Mair from Jupiter
Pre-Champ Champions - Chris Schultz & Diedre Williams from Ft. Walton Beach
American Smooth Champions & Open Smooth - Victor Luna & Dawn Westberry from Ft. Walton Beach
Closed Rhythm - Victor Luna & Dawn Westberry from Ft. Walton Beach
Open Latin Champions - Vladimir Velev & Gabriella Bodoc from Jupiter
Cabaret Champions - Eric Luna & Georgia Ambarian from Ft. Walton Beach

Saturday evening was one to brag about with the decor and the room setting the atmosphere for the prestigious Freddy Awards presentation and we all enjoyed the entertainment by a wonderful dance troop from New Jersey, the Chmerkovskiy's "Rising Stars" who were featured performers on Dancing with the Stars last season. May I add, the live performance was worth the trip!

The Florida Freddy is our way of pulling out the red carpet like the "Oscars" in Hollywood and this tradition dates back to the late 1940s when the first Florida award was presented. Today our instructors continue to strive to push the envelope - meeting and exceeding each category of these prestigious Freddy requirements. The following awards were given:

Most Hours Taught
Female—Gabriela Ocipova, Palm Coast
Male—Brian Oaks, Naples

Most Qualified Guest
Female—Kelle Chancellor, Tallahassee
Male—Darian Chancellor, Tallahassee

Most Enrollments
Female—Georgia Ambarian, Fort Walton Beach
Male—Brian Oaks, Naples

Competition Participation
Female—Dawn Westberry, Fort Walton Beach
Male—Brian Oaks, Naples

Freddy Recipients Females
1st—Dawn Westberry, Ft. Walton Beach (Gold)
2nd—Anastasiya Felis, Naples (Gold)
3rd—-Georgia Ambarian, Ft. Walton Beach (Gold)
4th—Gabriela Ocipova, Palm Coast (Silver)
5th—Kyoung Housel, Lake Park (Silver)
6th—Frankie Seifert, St. Petersburg (Silver)
7th—Tiffany Chancellor, Tallahassee (Silver)
8th—Andrea Bergbauer, Palm Coast (Silver)
9th—Kelle Chancellor, Tallahassee (Silver)

Freddy Recipients Males
1st—Brian Oaks, Naples (Gold)
2nd—Stefan Dobrev, St. Pete (Gold)
3rd—Victor Luna, Ft. Walton (Gold)
4th—David Flory, Ft. Myers (Gold)
5th—AJ Molter, Boca Raton (Silver)
6th—Walker Medlock, Panama City (Silver)
7th—Jim Carter, Palm Coast (Silver)
8th— Rob Rocha, St. Pete (Silver)

Executive Freddy
1st—Joe Trovato, Ft. Walton Beach (Gold)
2nd—Lynn Kawamoto, St. Pete (Gold)
3rd—Andrea McCain, Ft. Myers (Gold)
4th—Jeff Hajko & Brian Oakes, Naples (Silver)
5th—Michael Dill, Tallahassee (Silver)
6th—Belin Perry, Panama City (Silver)
7th—Enrique Curi, Sarasota (Silver)

W. L. Miller Freddy Award for the Top overall Instructor in the state of Florida:
Female: Ms. Dawn Westberry, Ft. Walton Beach
Male: Brian Oakes, Naples

W. L. Miller Freddy Award for the Top Studio
Ft. Walton Beach

Congratulations to all of our award recipients and thank you to each and every student, teacher, manager, and professional that helped make this year so successful! §