empressorchestra

The Empress Orchestra has been asked to perform for quite an unusual event ahead of the 2011 Blackpool Dance Festival this year.

It is called the ‘Blackpool Preparation Weekend’ and is the accumulative brain child of Tony & Amanda Dokman, Jonathan Crossley & Lyn Marriner.

As any competitive Ballroom dancer knows, preparation is everything and this is especially true ahead of the world’s most famous dance festival. The ‘Blackpool Dance Festival’ is regarded as the “Wimbledon” of the Ballroom Dance Calendar.

Set in phenomenal surroundings, with a world class orchestra and a star-studded cast of world famous Ballroom & Latin adjudicators, this isn’t just the competition that everyone wants to win, this is a truly ‘Open to the World’ competition that everyone strives to compete in.

To prepare for this most magical of Ballroom Dance Festivals in a truly unique fashion with two full days of lectures, workshops and both guided and stamina practise from gifted professionals Jon, Lyn, Tony and Amanda then please follow the link to the ‘Blackpool Preparation Weekend’.

The dates for your diary are the 14/15 May and the venue is the Spirella Ballroom, Letchworth, England.

I almost forgot… Along with everything else, you will be able to dance live to the world famous Empress Orchestra as we play our unique music ahead of the Blackpool Dance Festival 2011.

Please book early to avoid disappointment as spaces are limited.

We look forward to seeing you there,

Ashley Frohlick

From everyone involved with the Empress Orchestra we would like to wish all our visitors and associates a healthy and happy 2011.

We have some exciting prospects on the horizon of which I shall inform you when the time is appropriate and I shall endeavour to keep writing new compositions and orchestrations for the advancement of competitive Ballroom dancing in all its guises.

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick.

Many thanks to all that have visited the Empress Orchestra’s website since its “New Look” – Here are some stats since then…

The world of Ballroom Dancing sadly lost one if its finest advocates to cancer on the 12 November, 2010.

A true lover of dance, Oli excelled in all areas of his profession whether Ballroom, Latin or Formation and his passion for music along with his wonderful talent and affable personality made him a pleasure to be around and a seriously wonderful professional.

He chronicled the teaching of Bill and Bobbie Irvine beautifully in his book (and subsequent DVD) ‘The Irvine Legacy’ which not only paid homage to two incredibly special people in his life, but which also now acts as a unique reference book for dancers and teachers for generations to come.

Though I  knew him only briefly, his personality and zest for life, people, music and dance were infectious. Aside from some personal conversations we had we spoke about his new book: ‘Music Was My First Love’ (yet to be released) where I was honoured to be the first to read through the English version. Though the passing of his wonderful life is still raw to all that knew him, I hope that this book will be published. It’s far more personal than ‘The Irvine Legacy’ and gives the reader a glimpse into Oli’s formative years (and beyond) and how his love of music and dedication to dance shaped his spectacular success on and off the dance-floor.

Bless you Oli.

Ashley Frohlick

Many thanks for all the wonderful comments about the Empress Orchestra’s music for the London Ball 2010. Both the Dinner Dance and Competitions were very well presented and it was a pleasure to be involved in the inaugural event from the InterContinental on Park Lane.

Fine dining, excellent dancing and a lovely venue for Ballroom Dancing, it was an honour to perform for so many of the world’s ‘ballroom icons’ past and present.

The event seemed to be a huge success and we have been asked to perform again for the next one in 2011.

Those of you that attended we hope that you had a great experience, for those that didn’t, you missed something really special but we look forward to hopefully seeing you there next year.

Many thanks to Bryan & Carmen, Hans, Irene & Andrew for inviting us and also for putting on such a wonderful event.

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick

Back in May of this year I finished work on a brand new Samba for 9-times World Professional Latin Champion Bryan Watson and Carmen. I then opened up a competition for fans and friends of the Empress Orchsetra to ‘think of a title’ for this unique piece of music in return for a signed CD of our album ‘Always & Forever‘.

After much deliberation Bryan & Carmen have chosen a title for their samba… ‘Samba de Carson’.

This piece of music will be performed at the forthcoming ‘London Ball‘ (an event co-presented by Bryan & Carmen), and should you wish to listen (or dance) to it then tickets are still available for the event to be held on the 22 & 23 October 2010 at the InterContinental, Park Lane, London.

As nobody hit the nail on the head with Bryan and Carmen’s preferred title, the third umpire was called in (namely me) and my decision is that Julie Taylor came closest with her suggestion of ‘The Carson Samba’.

Congratulations Julie,  a CD will be with you shortly!

Many thanks to everyone that suggested a title(s) for the Samba, it was nice to see so many people joining in the fun and there were some great suggestions!

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick.

The latest DVDs from the Blackpool Dance Festival 2010 are now yours to own from those incredibly talented people at Studio Himawari.

World class recordings of some world class dancing to the world class music of the Empress Orchestra.

Available in ‘Standard’, ‘Latin’ and as a 3 DVD ‘Box Set’ which includes the ‘Invitational Team Match’ recorded on Saturday night during the Festival.

For all the dancers out there; this is a perfect way to see the world’s finest do what they do from the comfort of your own armchair.

Technique, poise, balance, shape, movement, lines, footwork, choreography and occasionally even a little musicality…

You can even watch them in slow motion, (though it sounds better with the music on!)

Please help support this incredibly costly venture by purchasing a copy or two from Studio Himawari.

It would be greatly appreciated also if you would support our very own costly venture by purchasing a copy of our album ‘Always & Forever’. This music is heavily featured on the Himawari DVDs and is an essential album to own if you compete or just love Ballroom Dance Music.

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick

Well a year has elapsed since we updated the Empress Orchestra website to give it its “new” look and I thank everyone for their comments on its appearance.

Most things have worked quite well; our ‘Home’, ‘Blog’ and ‘Personnel’ pages receiving the most figures along with many people watching the video clips and viewing our photographs.

Since May 2009 we have attracted readers from nearly 150 countries worldwide and have translated virtually the whole of our site into Japanese.

I’ll be reviewing the site’s content after the upcoming Blackpool Dance Festival and shall be updating the ‘Home’, ‘Video’ and ‘Testimonials’ pages in due course. I shall also endeavour to work on the servers for the Newsletters and hope to have the problems fixed in the not too distant future.

If you have any suggestions for content that you would like to see featured pertaining to the Empress Orchestra and the things that we do, please feel free to get in touch.

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick

Just wanted to let you know that I’ve embarked on a new samba for nine-times World Professional Latin American Champion Bryan Watson and his incredible partner Carmen Vincelj. Bryan asked me if I’d write some new tunes for the Orchestra for a venture that he and Carmen are heavily involved with in October (details to follow shortly).

As I know many visitors to the site will be dancing during the forthcoming Blackpool Dance Festival, I just wanted to share the fact that you’ll be hearing (and possibly dancing to) this brand new composition of mine as the piece gets its first airing!

So far I’m really excited about the score, in my opinion it’s as good as anything on our album ‘Always & Forever’, it’s a very different piece of music from the other sambas that we perform and I hope it will inspire great things on the floor!

Fingers crossed Bryan likes it too!

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick

Lily Plowman is the third of our five winners to be announced and she will be receiving her copy of the Empress Orchestra’s album ‘Always & Forever’ very soon.

Congratulations Lily!

Remember to be in with a chance of winning one of the remaining two albums (specially signed by the the members of the Orchestra) all you have to do is become a fan of the Empress Orchestra on its Facebook Page or join up as a ‘Friend’ right here on our website.

Best of luck,

Ashley Frohlick