Dancing bosses expel DWTS star
Her skilful partnering of Tamati Coffey on Dancing with the Stars has impressed the show's judges but Samantha Hitchcock is on the outer with her sport's governing body.
She and national ballroom dance title holders Timur and Yulia Mullayanov have been deregistered by the New Zealand Dance and Dance Sport Council (NZDDSC) as punishment for helping other young dancers with their steps.
The trio's temporary expulsion from competitive dancing has sparked a furore in the dance community and shattered the sport's genteel image as lawyers for both sides battle it out.
The council claims Hitchcock, who is due to dance in the final of Dancing With The Stars on Tuesday night, and the Russian-born Mullayanov siblings, who have now been stripped of their 2008 title, breached the rules governing amateur dancers in New Zealand by helping prepare other young dancers for competitions at the Colleen Murray Dance Centre in Christchurch.
"This whole business has become a joke," said the centre's director Colleen Murray, who has also been deregistered by the council for 12 months.
"The council is turning amateur against amateur and professional against professional and doing nothing to promote the true spirit of dance sport."
Hitchcock is bitterly disappointed by the council's decision to deregister her and believes its actions are harming dance sport in New Zealand by prohibiting talented amateur dancers from passing on their knowledge to youngsters.
"It's a real shame," Hitchcock said. "This whole situation is a perfect example of the way New Zealand is staying back in the dark ages. New Zealand will continue to be a small pokey country in dancing if the current people controlling the sport continue to hold this attitude."
Murray, whose past students have included Dancing With the Stars judge Brendan Cole and regular competitor Aaron Gilmore, said the problems began when she agreed to let Hitchcock, who was studying natural medicine in Christchurch, and the Mullayanovs, help out at her studio.
Amateur dancers are allowed to teach social dancers but the trio, none of whom were on the centre's payroll, broke their sport's rules when they started passing on their skills to other registered (competitive) dancers while they were still competing as amateurs themselves.
"We never realised we were doing anything wrong," Yulia Mullayanov said.
But in November last year, just 10 days before they were to compete at the Australian nationals, the Mullayanovs received a letter from the NZDDSC informing them they had been stripped of their title and disqualified from taking part in any dance competitions for 12 months.
The suspension period was reduced to six months after the pair hired a lawyer to challenge the council's ruling.
Murray and the Mullayanovs believe they have been unfairly singled out as an example to other amateur dancers.
"This is not an isolated case of amateurs teaching. I have the names of many top amateur competitors who are also teaching in studios throughout New Zealand," said Murray, who has hired a lawyer to fight her deregistration.
Murray now wants the council disbanded and the rules governing the sport changed to bring them in line with those in Australia and many other countries, which allow amateurs to teach under regulated conditions.
The Mullayanovs, who have spent thousands on legal fees, want to get on with their goal of becoming amateur world champions.
The NZDDSC is standing by its decision. President Grant Macown said the council had a responsibility to ensure the rules and regulations were adhered to so dancers and business could compete fairly on a level playing field. The disciplinary action had followed serious breaches of council rules that had occurred quite openly over several months.
Two of the affected dancers had since admitted to breaching council rules through their solicitor, he said.
"We do not believe there are grounds to deny the justice of the actions that were taken, and consider Colleen Murray's recent actions as sensationalism and potentially damaging to the New Zealand dance sport industry."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/2345077/Dancing-bosses-expel-DWTS-star