We are very proud to introduce this wunderful judging team!
Judges HTM - Heelwork to music:
Vanda Gregorová - Czech Republic
My name is Vanda Gregorová and I live in Prague. I have been involved in dogdance since 2004 with my first own dog, long haired chihuahua called Brutus. Actually I have 5 dogs - three chihuahuas and two australian shepherds. My most succesfull dog in the ring was my aussie girl Brandy - she was magnificient heelwork dog, unbeatable in our country - we have won Czech Championship ten years in a row. Brandy has won many international competitions throughout her life. Among other events, we represented the CZ team four times on WCH-2010, 2012, 2014 and 2017 and every time went to the final regardless of HTM, Freestyle or both. My best World Championship was 2012 in Salzburg, Austria - I got 2nd place with Roxy the chihuahua and 3rd place with Brandy in Freestyle and also in HtM. Year ago I placed with Brandy 2nd in FS and 3rd in HtM at OEC in Holland, where I also competed with my another dog, Daisy the Chihuahua and together we took for CZ 2nd palce in Team competition.
Now my future competition dog is my young aussie Pete, rest of the pack is retired.
I became a judge in 2011 and have since then done a lot of nice judging experiences including Crufts International competition last year, or some big events in Sweden, Russia, Italy, Israel, Switzerland, France, Hungary and more, but I've never been judging OEC before - so I'm really excited and looking forward!
Esther van Oorschot - Niemeijer - Netherlands
Hi, my name is Esther van Oorschot-Niemeijer. I am 33 years old and I work as a psychiatric nurse with elderly people in a group home. My home town (or rather, tiny village) is Niawier, which lies all the way at the top of the Netherlands. I live there with my husband Christiaan and our 4 dogs: Yuna and Raven (Shelties), Alice (Australian Shepherd) and Izzi (Chihuahua). I do Dog Dancing with all the dogs, as well as some other sports. I am also a breeder of Aussies and Shelties, and some of the puppies I have bred also do Dog Dancing with their owners.
I first got in contact with the sport when I watched Crufts on TV, a long, long time ago, when I saw Mary Ray performing with Quincy (bullfighting routine). I fell in love with the sport right then and there. I started training my dogs some tricks, and enrolled in my first competition in the summer of 2007. Since then I have competed in many countries, and have been part of the Dutch team with three different dogs at 3 OEC’s and 3 World Championships. I have also competed at Crufts in 2012, with my ever-barking little friend, Sheltie Jamie.
I have trained and competed both in Freestyle and Heelwork to Music and I love both divisions. I have been a judge since 2014. I have judged in at least 8 countries, including at 1 OEC (2014) and at 2 World Championships (2016 and 2017). I have also organised quite a few competitions, amongst them the OEC in 2013 and the World Championships in 2018, in the Netherlands. I feel honored to have been asked to judge at the OEC 2020 in Germany, and I am really looking forward to it! What I want to say to all competitors is; have fun with your dog inside and outside of the ring; he or she is always going to be the best dog of the competition for you, no matter what happens!
See you there!
Nóra Karlyik - Hungary
I saw a dogdance demo about 20 years ago and I was so impressed by it that I immediately knew I wanted to do the same with my dog. I have been an active competitor of dogdance since 2003, I am currently starting competing with my 3rd freestyle dog, my young bearded collie Lipton. Over the years I have participated at many competitions both as a judge and as a competitor. What I love most about dogdance is creativity: the competitors choose the music for themselves, design the fitting choreography, the movement of their dogs and themselves.
Still, the most important thing is that both hander and dog have fun during a performance.
I have represented Hungary at the OEC as a competitor in 2012 and 2016 and at the International Freestyle competition of Crufts in 2013. I have judged in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Russia, but the biggest challenge for me was judging the OEC in 2014. I also had the chance to judge video competitions on a number of occasions, including a Japanese competition.
I believe the OEC is a wonderful tradition which has provided a friendly environment for dogdancers from all around the world to get together. It is a great honour for me to be invited to judge this competition, because the world's best competitors perform here - it is always a great experience to see the breathtaking choreographies.
Judges Freestyle:
Esther van Oorschot - Niemeijer - Netherlands
Hi, my name is Esther van Oorschot-Niemeijer. I am 33 years old and I work as a psychiatric nurse with elderly people in a group home. My home town (or rather, tiny village) is Niawier, which lies all the way at the top of the Netherlands. I live there with my husband Christiaan and our 4 dogs: Yuna and Raven (Shelties), Alice (Australian Shepherd) and Izzi (Chihuahua). I do Dog Dancing with all the dogs, as well as some other sports. I am also a breeder of Aussies and Shelties, and some of the puppies I have bred also do Dog Dancing with their owners.
I first got in contact with the sport when I watched Crufts on TV, a long, long time ago, when I saw Mary Ray performing with Quincy (bullfighting routine). I fell in love with the sport right then and there. I started training my dogs some tricks, and enrolled in my first competition in the summer of 2007. Since then I have competed in many countries, and have been part of the Dutch team with three different dogs at 3 OEC’s and 3 World Championships. I have also competed at Crufts in 2012, with my ever-barking little friend, Sheltie Jamie.
I have trained and competed both in Freestyle and Heelwork to Music and I love both divisions. I have been a judge since 2014. I have judged in at least 8 countries, including at 1 OEC (2014) and at 2 World Championships (2016 and 2017). I have also organised quite a few competitions, amongst them the OEC in 2013 and the World Championships in 2018, in the Netherlands. I feel honored to have been asked to judge at the OEC 2020 in Germany, and I am really looking forward to it! What I want to say to all competitors is; have fun with your dog inside and outside of the ring; he or she is always going to be the best dog of the competition for you, no matter what happens!
See you there!
Nóra Karlyik - Hungary
I saw a dogdance demo about 20 years ago and I was so impressed by it that I immediately knew I wanted to do the same with my dog. I have been an active competitor of dogdance since 2003, I am currently starting competing with my 3rd freestyle dog, my young bearded collie Lipton. Over the years I have participated at many competitions both as a judge and as a competitor. What I love most about dogdance is creativity: the competitors choose the music for themselves, design the fitting choreography, the movement of their dogs and themselves.
Still, the most important thing is that both hander and dog have fun during a performance.
I have represented Hungary at the OEC as a competitor in 2012 and 2016 and at the International Freestyle competition of Crufts in 2013. I have judged in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Russia, but the biggest challenge for me was judging the OEC in 2014. I also had the chance to judge video competitions on a number of occasions, including a Japanese competition.
I believe the OEC is a wonderful tradition which has provided a friendly environment for dogdancers from all around the world to get together. It is a great honour for me to be invited to judge this competition, because the world's best competitors perform here - it is always a great experience to see the breathtaking choreographies.
Annette Soell - Germany
My name is Annette and I live with my 3 dogs Josy, Jilly-Ann and Hicks in Germany.
I work as a human physiotherapist and since 2019 I completed my education as a physiotherapist for dogs, too.
I started with dogdance when I was 15 years old and it is my greatest passion since 12 years now.
In 2014 I became a judge and I had the opportunity to judge a lot national and international competitions in the last five years.
I am very happy to be part of a wonderful event and to be able to see all the amazing routines from the first row.
Looking so much forwart to see you there!