Ballroom dancing boring? Anyone who looked in at the AFAS Stadium in Alkmaar on Saturday saw a very different picture. Swirling dresses, gleaming dance shoes and couples pulling out all the stops to impress the judges. The very first Grand Prix van Alkmaar drew no fewer than 200 couples from home and abroad.
That was even more than the organisers had dared to dream of. Among all those dancers was Alkmaar local Koen Oostinga, who for once had not come to the stadium for the football. “Normally I’m standing here with a beer in my hand watching football. But this is really great fun too.” With his partner Nika van Wieringen he competes in the A class, a sign that the pair – to put it modestly – have got the hang of dancing. For Koen, who lives right in the centre of Alkmaar, it is a special home game. “I think it’s a really beautiful venue. We’re really enjoying today.”
For the occasion, the Kees Kist Lounge at the AFAS Stadium has been turned into a ballroom. Where crosses, headers and chances usually set the tone, dance couples now put their elegant moves on the ‘pitch’. From ballroom to latin, and from beginners to experienced competition couples. The audience watches – at times open-mouthed – as the competitors glide gracefully across the floor.
A dusty image
The driving forces behind the Grand Prix are Sina Findhammer Sawall and her husband Joost Findhammer. “I’ve been dancing since I was three, so that’s almost thirty years now,” says Sina. Their love of the sport gave the couple the idea of organising their own competition. “We don’t have a particular connection to Alkmaar, but there isn’t really a ballroom competition like this in the region. We’re from Hoorn ourselves and we’d like to make the sport better known, so we thought this was a really nice way to do it. The venue is great too, here in the AZ stadium.”
And that seems to be working. With 200 couples from five countries and a sizeable crowd, it is busier than Sina had ever expected. “Looking around me, I’m very happy with the turnout today. The number of couples is already higher than I expected, but there are also lots of spectators.”
She understands that ballroom dancing sometimes still has a somewhat dusty image. But according to her, there is little truth in it. “To some people dancesport sounds a bit old-fashioned, but nothing could be further from the truth. Especially for the higher classes we use well-known pieces of music that are actually quite hip. And today we even have groups competing who have never done a competition before. So really anyone can do it if you practise a bit.”
The clothing also shows how varied the competitors are, she says. “The couples who have been doing it for much longer wear really beautiful outfits and full make-up. But today there are also couples dancing in so-called ‘street clothes’. So not a full penguin suit or anything, just normal.”
And anyone who thinks the dancers just move a little gracefully across the floor is completely wrong, according to Sina. “Ballroom dancing is a beautiful sport, and it really is a sport. Dancing with a partner like that is so intense.”
A post on Facebook
Koen and Nika can confirm that it is indeed hard work. The two have been dancing together for two and a half years, which all started with a post on Facebook. “The story of how we met is quite special when I look back on it. Koen had posted on Facebook that he was looking for a dance partner. He wrote something like: I live here, I study in Amsterdam and I’d like a dance partner.”
“With my height included, of course,” Koen adds with a laugh. “Because that’s very important in this sport. It mainly affects your posture, your lines and the visual picture.” Nika continues: “One of my teachers saw the post and immediately said: Nika, you have to respond to this, just send him a message! So I did, and now here we are two and a half years later.”
And finding a suitable dance partner is more often difficult than easy, Koen stresses. “It sounds now as if it always goes that smoothly, but of course it doesn’t. Getting on well isn’t a requirement, but it does help. You spend so many evenings training together, so if you like each other a bit, it makes a huge difference.”
Nika recognises that all too well. “With some couples you can see they’re not exactly close friends. They dance all the dances and then go their own way straight away. That’s quite something to see, of course. We do it differently.”
And that shows during competitions too. “Our teachers don’t allow it, but we often give each other a high five or do something else silly,” says Koen. “We actually enjoy that, but it has to be a bit serious during competitions as well.”
Amid all the fun there is serious dancing to be done, of course. “We’re competing at two levels today, so it’s a bit of a busy schedule,” says Koen. “You dance different dances for a minute and a half each, then you find a new starting spot and the cycle starts all over again. It’s pretty tough.”
After their competitions Koen and Nika are quite tired, but above all satisfied. “We’ve danced better, but certainly worse too,” Nika laughs. Koen nods. “You do notice that five rounds of dancing take it out of you. It’s a lot, but we enjoyed it. Now we’re waiting for the prize-giving.”
An Alkmaar touch
And while the two wait for the results, people on the sidelines are enjoying themselves too. “Isn’t it wonderful to see them all beaming and dancing on the floor?” a volunteer says enthusiastically. “It really is top-level sport, unbelievable. And so many times in a row, I couldn’t do it.”
There is enthusiasm among the other competitors as well. “A really fun afternoon to show everyone how much fun ballroom dancing is and how beautiful this sport is,” says one of the dancers. And that is exactly what Sina and Joost want to achieve with the Grand Prix: not only offering experienced dancers a competition, but also letting others discover how much fun the sport can be.
The organisers did everything they could to give the first Grand Prix a real Alkmaar touch. Visitors were welcomed in the morning by cheese girls, and the prizes include a nod to the cheese city.
“We really did our best to make it an Alkmaar showcase,” says Sina. “We planned the programme with the audience in mind, and to get more children dancing we also invited a local dance school to give several performances. Because how lovely would it be if a child here today thinks: yes, I want to do that too? That would be really wonderful.”
If it is up to Sina and Joost, this first edition will not be the last. “We definitely want to organise more competitions like this here in Alkmaar in the future. Today is a great success, so it leaves us wanting more.”
The first Grand Prix ends well for Koen and Nika too. After five exhausting rounds, the pair finish third in the A class. A fine reward for their hard work.
And whether ballroom dancing is old-fashioned or not, one thing is clear to Sina: the sport is not only fun to do yourself, but also to watch. “It’s so beautiful to see the dancers give it everything. It really is something completely different from running, say. That’s fun too, but it’s much less enjoyable to watch,” she concludes with a laugh.
This article by Isabel van Avezaath was published by Streekstad Centraal on 1 November 2026 (translated from Dutch).
