Dreams are Made and broken every year in the dazzling Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England. Fierce competition, brutal politics, and stunning artistry are all on the
program at the world's most prestigious competition, known to ballroom dance enthusiasts simply as "Blackpool." The mere fact that the majority of dance competitors are never winners but only
contenders is in and of itself a testimonial to the love of the art, regardless of the outcome.
Sharon Savoy's lifelong love affair with dance manifested itself early. At the tender age of 16 she left home to train under George Balanchine at the School of American Ballet in New York. An
accomplished ballerina, her desire to dance more expressively and with a partner started her on the path that culminated with the competition ballroom circuit. There, her passion and artistry
led her to become a four-time Blackpool Champion in Exhibition style. But, as with all obsessions, her success came at a cost.
In this spellbinding book, Savoy offers a backstage pass to a world where rhinestones and high heels accompany explosive athleticism and staggering talent. Dancers come by the hundreds just to
be able to say they too "danced at Blackpool"---even if they are eliminated after the first round. It makes them part of the universal family of ballroom dance to be able to say they competed
on the world's most famous floor against the very best. With emotinally absorbing and energy-packed prose, Savoy provides an insider's close-up view of all the players who compose this
glamorous world that is part dance, part sport, and part art.
