The Manchester Grand Prix 2013 was held on Sunday 30th June at The Forum, Wythenshawe.
The Grand Prix which was first held in 2011, is the only International Wheelchair Dancesport Competition currently held in the UK.
Almost 100 competitors and visitors from 11 European countries and clubs across the UK descended on Manchester for the event, following a surge in international interest.
Dancers competed in all classes from Debutante to Elite Class including a fabulous Elite Latin Combi 2 Final comprising couples representing Malta, Slovakia, Netherlands, Belgium and Israel. Malta’s Steven Fenech and Roxanne Buttigieg were the winners.
Belgium dominated the Latin Duo Class 2 category taking Gold, Silver and Bronze and a marvellous display of Combi Class 1 Latin was provided by Marek Zaborowski and Katarzyna Bloch from Poland. An outstanding young couple who showed a depth of musicality and style throughout.
Ballroom results included a win for Germany’s Jean-Marc Clement and Andrea Nauman in Combi Class 2 and Belgium again dominating the Standard Duo Class 2. This lady has an acute awareness of body line and shaping.
Israeli dancers, Nachum Prital and Gal Cucuy gave the most memorable performance with their space age presentation to win the showdance category. All entries in this section were of a particularly high standard.
Local dancers from Manchester Group Strictly Wheelchair Dancing came away with a total of 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze Medals with other competitors from the UK taking a further Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medal making the UK count 11 medals.
The International panel of adjudicators included : Grethe Anderson (Norway), Chairperson of the IPC Wheelchair Dancesport Committee; Corrie Van Hugten (Netherlands), President of International Wheelchair Dance Foundation (IWDF); Oliver Beetz (Germany), Iwona Ciok (Poland), Peter Elliott (Great Britain), Andrej Micunek (Slovakia) and Ray Bulpitt (South Africa).
The event was sponsored by Wythenshawe Community Housing Group, Easi-Drive and Fish – Specialist Disabled Insurers.
We are already looking ahead to the 2014 Manchester Grand Prix International Wheelchair Dance Championship and are seeking partners and sponsors for this ever-growing sport and international event. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor or partner is asked to contact the competition organisers.
Photos from the day are in our Gallery.
Sponsors:
Wythenshawe Community Housing Group 
