The Italian Country & Western Dance Championship by AICOWED is an international dance competition that gathers every year in Milan the best European dancers ready to challenge each other on one of the most beautiful dance floors of the WCDF circuit. And of course, where the best ones compete, the show is guaranteed. The 2017 edition took place on 17,18 and 19 November at the Crowne Plaza Milan Linate in San Donato Milanese near Linate and was a great success both in terms of entertainment and public. We talk about it with Layla Forgiarini who, together with Luana Giliberti, the Event Director, is the organizer of this event.
P. First of all, how was the 2017 edition?
Good morning and thank you for this opportunity to talk about our event. It went great, every year we say it’s the best edition but this year was the 10th anniversary and it was all wrapped up in a magical atmosphere. We are grateful for everything, hard work is repaid above all by the presence of competitors who love the Italian event, they love us and can take advantage of the competit to do shopping as well as visiting Milan. The competitions are not just a clash with opponents to beat, but also an opportunity to meet with those who you see maybe even just once a year or during events.
This year it was celebrated with an entertaining show that saw on the track a group of about 50 Italian dancers directed by Choreographer Luana Giliberti (the extraordinary Event Director) and Chiara D’Amato entitled “Some of the reasons why Italians are so famous abroad “, a fun and entertaining ideal catwalk between musical hits and characters dear to the general public that was enthusiastically welcomed by those present in the hall. It was a huge job, but the passion and talent of Luana and Chiara got the better of us even if putting together people from all over Italy for rehearsals was not easy.
P. Layla why create a dance competition where obviously technique and preparation are the main component of the event?
It is essential to clarify that we have not created anything because every WCDF event is a sort of format with a precise structure, rules and timing. Let’s say that we have added the Aicowed Country Cup (now in its 9th edition) that we called “the event in the event” because we wanted to give the opportunity to Italian social dancers to compete and be judged by an impartial committee and give the way to touch the extraordinary atmosphere that you live in our Dance Hall. It’s worth remembering that the participants in WCDF events compete for the title of world champion in their own category, while the competitors of the Aicowed Country Cup compete in a competition with a national title.
P. What should we expect from the 2018 edition?
Luana and I are not used to unveiling or giving anticipations, we are both reserved, but we can anticipate the dates for the 11th Italian country western dance championship, on 16-17-18 November 2018 always at the Crowne Plaza which is the home of our event, an extraordinary and functional location that is suitable for a dancer because it has everything: hotel, bar, restaurant, buffet and dance hall in one place. We must thank the Director, Mr. Tolasi and the head of the Meeting & Conference office Ms. Alessandra Miccoli who believed in us and continue to support our event with great enthusiasm.
