Barbara Joanne McColl Stopford (née McColl) is a Scottish professional

ballroom dancer Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

, teacher, and adjudicator. She specializes in International Latin. With

Sammy Stopford Sammy Stopford MBE (born 1956) is a professional ballroom dancer and teacher, and winner of the Professional International Latin American Dance Championship. He competed in Latin dance with three main partners. His partner from 1973-79 was Lyn ...

, she won in the professional Latin category four times at the

Blackpool Dance Festival The 8-day Blackpool Dance Festival is the world's first and most famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance, held in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England since 1920. It is also the largest bal ...

and three times at the UK Open. She is the Organizer of The World Championship WDC AL.

Career

Between 2 January 1987, when they placed 2nd at the ICBD World Professional Latin Championships in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and 26 May 1995, when they placed 2nd at Blackpool, McColl and Stopford competed in multiple British and international dance championships in the professional Latin category."Detailed results: Sammy Stopford & Barbara Mccoll, Professional Latin"
''Dancesport'', retrieved 23 November 2020. They placed first at Blackpool four times,Marge C. Enriquez
"Filipino ballroom dancer, 69, gets standing ovation in England"
''Lifestyle Inquirer'', 26 June 2018. in 1989, 1991, 1992, and 1994, and at the UK Open three times, in 1991, 1992, and 1994, and also won the ICBD European Professional Latin Championships in 1991. Since retiring from competition, McColl has been co-organiser with Stopford and

Donnie Burns Donnie Burns MBE was born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1959, where he attended Holy Cross High School. He is a Scottish professional ballroom dancer, specialising in Latin dance. He and his former partner Gaynor Fairweather were ...

of the Open World Championship in Paris. She and Stopford co-presented lectures at the Blackpool Congress that have been issued as a set by the

British Dance Council The British Dance Council was formed in 1929 as the Official Board of Ballroom Dancing (OBBD). The name was changed in 1985 to the British Council of Ballroom Dancing and in 1996, the name was changed to British Dance Council. The BDC is the reco ...

. McColl was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

(BEM) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as par ...

for services to dance, particularly during COVID-19.

References

External links

"Sammy Stopford (England) & Barbara Mccoll (England)"
at Dancesport {{DEFAULTSORT:Mccoll, Barbara Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) English female dancers British ballroom dancers Recipients of the British Empire Medal