Why the 21-year-old Eichenrieder is more happy about fourth place than about four medals at the World Championships and European Championships.
Eichenried – Three European Championship titles and one bronze medal at the World Championships – that's Annalena Hennig's haul from the past few weeks. She is already looking forward to the medals, says the Eichenrieder. Much more valuable, however, is a fourth place, danced in front of 6000 spectators with her best solo performance ever to date.
First things first: In Porec, Croatia, the Dance Star association held its World Championships. More than 10,000 dancers from three continents took part. And Hennig was already impressed by the opening ceremony. "As a representative of your country, you walked with the German flag from the city to the beach, where a large open-air stage was set up and a beach party took place with the most beautiful fireworks I have ever experienced."
Everything was set up for a great weekend on which the Eichenriederin wanted to fulfill her dream. "I wanted to be world champion when I was five," she says. Most of the time something like this motivates, this time it paralyzed the 21-year-old. "I put so much stress and pressure on myself. I couldn't sleep for days before."
Nevertheless, she delivered solidly in her jazz dance. "That was my best lap. I finished fifth out of 35 participants. That's all I expected here."
+Highly professional: rehearsal before the mega show.
© private
Modern dance followed, and suddenly the Eichenriederin showed nerves. "I was so scared, my feet were shaking. I danced like I was standing on a Jell-O." The uncertainties did not go unnoticed by the jury, the deductions in the grades ultimately brought her 15th place out of 40 participants. "Disappointing," Hennig admits honestly.
At that time, however, she did not yet know what would happen to her during acrobatic dance. "I could have won there," she says. She had looked at the competition beforehand. "No one could compete with the level of difficulty of the technique and gymnastic elements. I had by far the most difficult choreography." However: "The others danced their program extremely cleanly. And I was so nervous and screwed up things that I've never screwed up before. It was a disaster. I've never been so mad at myself."
In the end, the third place and thus the bronze medal jumped out. "That's not bad either, but for me it was a big disappointment, but it motivates me all the more for the next World Cup," she announces.
+Rich booty: Annalena Hennig won three titles at the European Championships in Duisburg.
© private
Obviously, however, the expert jury had also recognized Hennig's potential, because they invited the Eichenriederin to the big show finale. The judges had seen 5000 dances in the days before, of which the 20 best choreographies were selected. "And mine was the only one among the acrobatic dances," Hennig says happily.
What followed was also new for them: a highly professional event in front of 6000 spectators. "We had 45 minutes of rehearsal, and I was chosen the right background and the right light for my dance. We conducted interviews. Then 20 dancers performed in front of a huge audience," enthuses the Eichenrieder. "And I was one of those best of the best." She just wanted to have fun now, "and then I danced my solo better than ever". In the end, she was voted fourth, "just short of third place," she adds. But that was definitely the highlight of these weeks.
And certainly to be rated higher than the three European Championship titles she won afterwards in Duisburg. In the run-up, many clubs had quarrels with the organizer, so that the starting field was reduced to a third, "I thought that was a shame because very strong competitors were also missing," says the athlete, who then concentrated on her performances. "To get to the final, you had to get a certain number of points in the preliminary round," she explains. She succeeded in this in acrobatic and jazz dance as well as with her modern solo – in contrast to the competition. "The others didn't manage the points, so I was alone in the final in all three categories," she explains. She confidently danced the final again and won the three titles. "Three times European champion – of course, no one can take that away from me now. But it just doesn't feel so blatant because the strong opponents were missing," says the Eichenrieder, who will not rest, "because now I'm training for the World Cup in Portugal".
