It is with great regret that we have decided to cancel the All England Same Sex Dance Day at the Collesium, Watford on 7th October. Advance payments have been refunded and we stress that the London Open Championships and the All England Championships on the preceding Friday and Saturday go ahead as planned.
We have promoted regular dance competitions for many years and from within the regular dance establishment we have used our influence to promote same sex dance - often in the face fierce opposition. When we were approached by same sex dancers to promote a same sex event it seemed a natural progression. A politically neutral organisation dedicated to the promotion of same sex dance generally and in the UK particularly seemed a great idea. We were well aware that our successful established regular dance competitions would have to subsidise these events but it was in our view a worthwhile exercise.
Same sex dancers have been overwhelmingly supportive and enthusiastic and we had hoped that the "same sex dance profession" and the organisations that purport to represent your best interests would have been equally supportive. In reality the complete opposite is true. It is our opinion that, self-interest, self-promotioin and insecurity appear to be major considerations, over and above the best interests of promoting you - the same sex dancers. This attitude is epitomised by the newly formed ESSDA who have sanctioned an event to clash with our competition. At the time of our initial mailshot this event appeared on no calender of events.
Rest assured that although we do not intend to promote further same sex dance competitions we will continue to promote the interests of you - the dancers - from our positions of influence within the regular dance establishment.
We wish same sex dancers everywhere success and happiness.