THE MARATHON 2018
Exciting, as always, to see friends from around the country at events, and the Marathon is just a GREAT event! We came in on Wednesday so we wouldn’t miss any part of it!
The schedule was full of awesome offerings, which always makes it difficult to choose what to attend.
THURSDAY
*Muddy Waters - Darren Bailey. I’ve wanted to learn this ever since I first saw it. Amazing dance!
*The Good Parts - Amy (Glass) Bailey. Amy always comes up with nice dances and this is no exception! 32 count, 4 wall to the Andy Grammer track of the same name.
*Tip Toe - Fred Whitehouse. First learned this at the Xperience New Orleans but it’s been so long now that I needed another teach on it. Glad I took it again - just a fun dance!
*The Wolf - Gemma Ridyard. Another dance from the Xperience and I really needed the second teach! Funky fun!
*Mood Swing - Maddison Glover (and Chris Watson & Simon Ward). Easy, country, west coast. I always enjoy learning from Maddy!
*Hasta Luego - Joey Warren (choreographed by Debbie Rushton). Easy, fun! A samba-y, latin-y dance that just made me smile.
FRIDAY
*Loving Me Speechless - Gemma Ridyard. Goose bumps! Very turny, but I really liked it!
*Not About Love - Megan Wheeler. I hadn’t taken a class from Megan before and this was a good opportunity to do just that! One of those dances that you get to get your “groove” on!
*Naked - Scott Blevins (and Rhoda Lai). May just end up being the #1 dance of the entire event!
*Filthy - Joey Warren. I had my first teach of this at the Xperience... I had another teach at the Gary/Joey weekend. And I took it again! I finally have it well enough to fake my way through it on the open floor at night! (Which is to say, I STILL need more work on it!)
*Don’t Sweat It - Shane McKeever (& Rebecca Lee and Fred Whitehouse). Rachael taught it first... now Shane. With a little work on my own, I might be able to do the first 16 counts! LOL!
There were more dances that I was interested in taking, but did not have the brain matter nor body ability to move another inch!
SATURDAY
Had very little energy to exert on Saturday! Did take 2 teaches, sat in on @ third and video’d it for myself for later, and sat in on a fourth - ending up standing up in the back so I could actually try it!
*Grow - Shane McKeever (& Kerry Maus). This is a fun dance - don’t let the ABC throw you off!
*The Way She Moves - Gemma Ridyard (Video’d this teach for myself to learn later - I just didn’t have what was needed to do it justice! Complete disconnect between my brain and my feet!)
*Stars In The Night Sky - Shane McKeever (choreographed by Paul James Culshaw). Once I got through the first 3 counts (again - blaming the disconnect between head & feet!), the rest was very smooth. Another dance to the Greatest Showman soundtrack that is well worth checking out!
*Taps - Darren Bailey. I watched this teach... and liked it so much I had to get up and try it in the back of the room. Like it even more after dancing it. Like it A LOT!
SUNDAY
Watched the choreography competition. Congratulations to all the competitors! There were some great entries!
Watched Amy (Glass) Bailey’s teach of “So Tied Up.” Cute dance! One I’ll be excited to learn once I regain sanity from the weekend!
Final teach of the weekend was Darren Bailey’s “Schoolyard King”. A 2-wall, 64 count, no tags/restarts, dance. This dance has a fun & interesting middle that took a minute to figure out but is really cool!
Congratulations to Scott Blevins & Jean Garr - another exceptional event! Beautiful decorations, fun show, lots of vendors, helpful staff, wonderful array of instructors & choreographers. And the hotel is awesome!!!
Home safely Sunday night... class right away Monday morning. First teach? Naked by Scott & Rhoda!
