I was excited to announce the following unprecedented & fresh records at 12th Best of Best :
(a) 22 couples entered in Open Amateur Standard event ;
(b) 18 couples entered in Open Amateur Latin event ;
(c) Entry from Myanmar ;
(d) four different Official Hotels were employed ;
(e) new event of Student-Teacher Latin in HK ;
(f) new event of Professional Rising Star Standard in HK ;
(g) Current World Professional Champion competing in Best of Best - Fabricio Cravero from Italy won the World Classic Showdance Championships on 18th December 2010, competed with his student from Singapore in Pro-Am 5-Dance event, the Final of which was for the first time moved to the evening X'mas Party.

When I knew the innovative move at 2010 World Dance Council (WDC) World Professional Standard Championships - one of the five compulsory dances must be executed in Basic Syllabus figures in each round, I assumed the responsibility of informing & educating the general dancing circle in HK of this ultimate meaningful WDC rule. I set up a game in the X'mas party by dancing with Gertrude 16 Bars of Basic Rumba and 16 Bars of Basic Quickstep and asked the audience to tell the name of the Basic figure at the specific Bar that I picked up at scene by random draw. The audience who told the correct name of the Basic figure was awarded with a X'Mas Gift. For the past 11 years of Best of Best , my wife Gertrude & myself have been acting as organizers & performers, which was getting overloaded for me as the entries are getting more (& I am getting older!). This year I was much relaxed for only dancing some Basic Figures and therefore had the leisure of enjoying the two last Finals in the afternoon session and made the following comments :

Open Professional Latin - the first three couples could be in any order
1st : Ussawagasemjit & Pradidsan (Thailand), powerful and electric dancing in CCC, Rumba & Jive. Paso had some distorted shapes, Samba showed some gapping ;
2nd : Nicolas Tse & Mabel Wan (HK), agile & flamboyant dancers, very consistent ;
3rd : Zhou Ping & Doris Li (China), improved a lot since I last saw them dancing in October. Much composed and organized. Well done ;
4th :Wong Yu & Cheung Suk Yi (China), talented Male dancer but Lady too raw ;
5th : Cheng Chak Man & Lo Nga Yan (HK), experienced Male dancer, still new partnership with expectations for continued developments in next competitions ;
6th : Ricky & Eltha Chan (HK), glimpses of brilliant dancing detected from the man. Would like to see more from the other side.

Open Amateur Latin - 2nd & 3rd couple were underrated in my opinion
1st : Michael Marquez & Stephanie Sabalo (Myanmar), fabulous & balanced dancing in every departments, lacking the Champions' look in my taste ;
2nd : Vander HinLon & Zhao ShanShan (HK), sophisticated & brilliant dancing with lots of charisma. However, I feel their dancing are too safe ;
3rd :. Chan Hing Wai & Tin Lai Kei (HK), another talented young couple from Hong Kong. Although Their height difference does not hinder their fantastic dancing but choreography changes could bring another dimension to their dancing ;
4th :Yang Han & Choi Yan Yan (HK), tall young couple could dance even taller, they have a bright future once they find their track ;
5th : Chan Kwok Hang & Law Dic Yan (HK), similar physique & talent with the 3rd couple, just need to eradicate the postural problem;
6th : Saengmani & Teerasartsilp (Thailand), happy to be included in this strongest ever Final of the Best of Best Championships.

Lawrence Chan

(a) Lawrence & Gertrude dancing Quickstep

(b) Prize presentation of Open Professional Latin

(c) Prize presentation of Open Amateur Latin