Adjudicators, Officials, Music

Adjudicators – Officials – Music – Chairpersons

Adjudicators

Marcus BärschneiderMarcus Bärschneider

TSC Blau-Gelb Hagen (TNW)

I started dancing at the age of 11 with Karl Breuer and Vicky Lohse and was able to achieve my first successes after just a short time.

After the first separation of Ballroom and Latin dances in the youth, I became the first Latin champion in the age group of juveniles in North Rhine-Westphalia.

This was followed by:

  • German youth vice-champion Latin
  • Multiple West German vice champion in Latin and 10 dances
  • Finalist and semi-finalist in the German Latin and 10-dance championships
  • Finalist French Open, Dutch Open, and Danish Open Latin
  • Semifinalist US Open
  • Quarter Finalist Blackpool U21 and several times German Open Latin

My active career ended in 1993.

I have been working as an adjudicator in Germany and abroad since 1988. Since 1994 with the S-License and Formation License in Ballroom and Latin.

Holder of the Trainer C license (not active).

I started my career as a fashion designer and qualified cutting technician and am currently Senior Training & Development Coordinator and training manager for the DACH region and international trainer in talent management.

I wish the organizers the greatest possible success and the participants a lot of fun and a fair competition.

 

Walter BonteWalter Bonte

Netherlands

Former Dutch professional Standard finalist.

Member of the sportscommittee of the Dutch Dancesport Fedration (NADB) and WDSF adjudicator for the Netherlands.

Walter has been judging many competitions in equality dance.

He was moderator for the dance-events of the EuroGames in Rotterdam in 2011 and Antwerp in 2013.

Sandra CaspersSandra Caspers

TTC Rot-Gold Köln (TNW)

  • 1980 Inspired by the film “West Side Story”
  • 1994 Started her amateur career in Latin & Ballroom
  • 2002 Change to Professional Division Latin & Ballroom (national and international titles included)
  • 2011 Return to the amateurs Sen I S – Latin & Ballroom (national and international titles included)
  • 2018 World Champion WDC AL 10 dances
  • 2018 World Champion WDC AL Tango Solo
  • 2019 Finalist WDSF PD WC Latin
  • 2019 Finalist WDSF PD WC Ballroom
  • 2019 Finalist German Championship PD Sen I Ballroom
  • 2019 German Champion PD Sen I Latin
  • 2020 End of active dance career
  • Judge since 2001
  • 2003 judging her first equality competition
  • since 2005 dance and team coach for Latin formations, show and freestyle couples, Latin & Standard and specific and special dance sport fitness

Motto:
“What matters in life is not how much you dish it out, but how much you can take!”

Heather GladdingHeather Gladding

United Kingdom

Heather has been dancing since she was 4 and turned professional in 1979 at the age of 17.

She has 45 years of experience as a trainer, adjudicator, dance studio manager, and in the theater and film industry.

She holds a Fellowship of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and an adjudicator’s license from the British Dance Council.

Since 2001 she has taken part in all Gay Games and EuroGames as well as many other Equality tournaments.

As a co-founder of the European Same-Sex Dance Association and the United Kingdom Same-Sex Dance Council, she was a committee member on both associations for many years. In these roles, she has contributed to the development and promotion of same-sex dancing since the beginning of the equality dance scene.

She founded and trained (along with her wife Hadass Armon) the first all-male equality show dance team, Guyz In Sync, which was very successful over five years of competition. Among other things, Guyz in Sync reached the semi-finals of the British Sky TV dance competition “Got To Dance”, thereby making equality dance sport accessible to the general public and an audience of millions.

For many years she ran Studio LaDanza, a successful dance studio in central London. Since Studio LaDanza closed, Heather continues to offer dance classes to this day.

www.heathergladding.com

Petra MatschullatPetra Matschullat

Boston-Club Düsseldorf (TNW)

  • WDSF/DTV Instructor & Trainer
  • WDSF/DTV Judge
  • Board Member & Vice President Sport of TSTV (Association of German Dance Sport Trainers)
  • Dance sport trainer and choreographer Ballroom and Latin
  • Instructor of trainers and adjudicators
  • Dance teacher and dance sport teacher ADTV-certified
  • Former professional dancer: Latin / Standard / 10-dances

Successes as a dancer

  • Multiple 7th place of the World Championships Professionals over 10 dances
  • Finalists and semi-finalists in the European Championships over 10 dances
  • Multiple German vice-champions Professionals over 10 dances
  • Multiple finalists German Championship Professionals over 10 dances
  • Multiple finalists German Championship Professionals Latin and Ballroom
  • Finalists German Championship Freestyle Latin and Ballrooom
  • Finalists of Holland Masters in Ballroom and Latein
  • 13th out of 195 couples at the Rising Stars Latin in Blackpool (2000)
  • 2nd place in the German Grand Prix Final over 10 dances (2000)
  • 2nd place freestyle standard French Open in Paris (1996, behind the reigning world champions Kim and Cecilie Rygel)
  • 3rd place at the European Cup of Professionals over 10 dances (1996)
  • DPV award “Allrounder of the Year 1997”

www.petra-matschullat.de

Barbara Nagode AmbrožBarbara Nagode Ambrož

Slovenia

Barbara Nagode Ambrož is the initiator and author of the Cuban Experience Educational Program, documentary, and the book titled “Back to the Roots”. The project’s aim was to delve into authentic Cuban and Latin music and dance forms and their impact on competitive Latin-American dance styles. In 2022, she was honored with the Carl Alan Award for “International Recognition of Excellence”.

With 38 years of experience as an adjudicator, Barbara has been teaching, lecturing, and adjudicating dance competitions in 58 different countries across all five continents. She also serves as a member of the WDO Education Committee. Barbara resides in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and shares her insights through her blogs at www.barbaradance.com and podcasts available on Spotify under “Barbara’s Dance Room”.

Lutz Peinke-DeanLutz Peinke-Dean

Tanzsportklub Residenz Dresden (TVS)

I danced competitively for 30 years – right up to Senior I S Standard. I ended my active career in 2002. I have been a judge since 1998 and currently hold the licence S Standard and Latin.

I’m really looking forward to judging this German Championship again – this is already my 3rd time.

Frank RöpkeFrank Röpke

TanzArt der etwas andere Tanzsportverein Hannover (NTV)

Those who have been involved in the same-sex dance sport for a long time as spectators or dancers will know him: Frank Röpke and his partner Tim Grunwald won almost everything there was to win in the highest class of men Latin between 2000 and 2003 – among others the EuroGames in Hanover (2001) and Copenhagen (2003) as well as the GayGames in Sydney (2002). Since November 2003 Frank has retired from active dance sport – but is still on the road all over Germany as judge with an S-Latin/S-Ballroom license.

Jeffrey van MeerkerkJeffrey van Meerkerk

Netherlands

Jeffrey van Meerkerk, WDSF official with judging licenses for Standard, Latin, Formation, ShowDance, Wheel Chair all at highest level.

After ending his active DanceSport Career, Jeffrey was elected as NADB board member. For 8,5 years he was the President of the NADB (Nederlandse Algemene Danssport Bond).

Currently he serves as WDSF Board Member in the role as Vice President for Communications

Officials

Jörg AckermannJörg Ackermann

TTC Rot-Gold Köln e.V. (TNW)

  • Born in 1991
  • First dance course in 2008
  • Member of TTC Rot-Gold Köln since December 2018
  • First competition in DiscoFox November 2021
  • First competition in Ballroom October 2022
  • Currently active in the HGR II C Standard
  • Vice President of the TTC Rot-Gold Köln since April 2022:
    Management of the membership administration
    Presenter of various events in the club

Martina BruhnsMartina Bruhns

TSA des 1. SC Norderstedt (TSH)

Somehow music and dance were companions for all my lifetime. Being a child, I started with “carnival cheerleading dance”, had short side trip to rowing, which at least has a “rhythm”. Turning 14/15 I finally was allowed to go to a dancing school. In those days dancesport was shown quite often in TV, the big competitions like “ARD Masters Gala” or formation championships. That’s what I wanted to do, too! From the time I started dancing I experienced some fateful moments that always made me return to competition dancing and since the mid 90’s I am dancing continuously. Currently I dance in S-class in Masters II Ballroom but am active also beside the dancefloor as judge, master of ceremony or chairperson of smaller and larger competitions.

I am delighted to be master of ceremony at this year’s German Championships of Equality Dancing and wish all participants an unforgettable weekend with fantastic moments of dancing, joy and pleasure.

Gabriele KunauGabriele Kunau

Tanzsportclub Dortmund (TNW)

Gabriele Kunau has been involved in dance sport since the 1980s. She has been a member of Tanzsportclub Dortmund since 1998, for which she last danced in Master III S together with her husband Klaus Meng until 2022. The first contacts with the DVET were also made at Tanzsportclub Dortmund, which organised the 7th German Championship for same-sex couples in 2011. Gabriele Kunau has been a master of ceremonies for many years, both in her own club and at major events such as the DanceComp in Wuppertal, the Bonner Sommerpokal and the WinterDanceFestival (WiDaFe). She presented the 14th German Championships 2018 in Cologne for the DVET.

Gabriele is very much looking forward to being on the microphone for the DVET for the second time in her home town of Cologne and wishes all participating couples a great dance weekend, lots of fun in dancing and, of course, lots of success.

 

Niels MengeNiels Menge

TTC Rot-Gold Köln (TNW)

I started Equality Dancing in 1998 with my partner Armin Lohrmann at the Amsterdam Gay Games where we became second in A-class latin. Gay Games Sydney in 2002 (4th place), 4th place in Gay Games Chicago and 3rd place in that same year at the World Outgames in Montreal were other highlights of our dancing career. We stopped dancing together in 2006.

I was very happy to be able to present the dancing event at Eurogames Barcelona in 2008 and Gay Games in Cologne 2010.

Apart from the moderation at dance sport events I am also a dance teacher and a judge for competitions.

Music

Andrea SchlinkertAndrea Schlinkert

pinkballroom Berlin (LTV Berlin)

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Chairpersons

Dörte LangeDörte Lange

TTC Rot-Gold Köln (TNW)

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Thorsten ReulenThorsten Reulen

pinkballroom Berlin / btc Grün-Gold der Turngemeinde in Berlin 1848 (LTV Berlin)

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