PALM SPRINGS 2022

 PALM SPRINGS 2022

3 years in the making! An all-star line-up released in 2019 for the inagural event scheduled for June, 2020…. then 2021…. and now, FINALLY, May 2022! The line-up had a few changes but still spectacular! The original hotel changed to the Margaritaville Resort! The dates moved from June to May. This first-time event still delivered! 

I want to share my thanks to Mark and Eve, all the staff and volunteers, and the fabulous instructors/choreographers/and dj’s! Your hard work and seamless efforts are appreciated!

So much dancing packed in to just a few short days - I liked everything I took! Friday: Running Polka (JP Madge); Let’s Make Some Bubbles (Niels Poulsen); Clang Clang (taught by Jill Babinec); Shake It Like That (Jonno Liberman). Saturday: Lady Domina (Jonas Dahlgren); Kissing Boys (Guillaume Richard); Legends Never Die (Guillaume Richard); Life is A Mystery (Jonas Dahlgren); Blinded By Beauty (Niels Poulsen). Sunday: Unleash The Power (Roy & Fiona); Better As One (Darren Bailey). All to be taught in the near future to one class or another!

We arrived in Palm Springs a day early and played tourist (took the aerial tram and hiked around the top of Mt. San Jacinto); stayed an extra day and played tourist again (spent the day at the Joshua Tree National Park and had dinner at Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown). Flights in and out went off without any glitches (not that all of them went that way!) and overall the experience was wonderful! Looking forward to the opportunity to attend this event again in the future!

WORLD DANCE MASTERS/SUNSHINE 'N LINE 2022!

 What is there to say about the AMAZING Rachael McEnaney-White? There is NOTHING this superstar can’t do!!!

We finally had the first ever US World Dance Master’s event at the Wyndham Orlando Resort and it was FABULOUS! Yes, the resort is a little dated. Yes, you have to walk outside to get to the ballrooms. But holy cow! The grounds are beautiful; there are lodging buildings everywhere! 2 pools and a hot tub are the center focal point of the resort - along with GATORVILLE! Wonderful buffet breakfasts! The circular building opens its entire pools-facing wall to create this open-air restaurant. Food was great! Prices quite reasonable (I certainly don’t pay $13 for a buffet breakfast at the Marriott Lakeside!). Now that we’ve been here once, we know what to expect for next year. I’m already creating my list of “must take with me’s” for next February.

The event itself was wonderful. Let’s start with DJ Dave who has a planned playlist of “must be danced” dances that are sent in advance; and then the DJ Feed is open the entire weekend to submit your other requests. The floor is hopping until all hours! And in the evening, you get a chance to recap the dances you took that day!

The choreographer’s! Granted, it was emotional from the mere fact that the majority who were here we haven’t seen (except virtually) in 2 years! But, that aside, to have Simon Ward, Maddison Glover, Roy & Fiona, Fred Whitehouse, Shane McKeever, Gary O’Reilly, Neville & Julie, Joey Warren, Dustin Betts, Christopher Gonzalez, and Suzanne Wilson as the main instructors for the weekend - quite the All-Star team! Not to mention - an event-opening teach by GUYTON!!!! Rachael even got in on the action teaching a new dance of hers!

I have not had to take this many workshops in one event since…. I don’t remember when - it’s been so long ago! My feet hurt, my head hurts, my body aches (and no, it’s not COVID!).

Plus - we had Gary Brey here - Line Dancer Web royalty - and members of the outstanding CountryVive team! 2 performances that were so amazing to finally see LIVE! What a treat!

The workshops. I took 6 on Friday; 4 on Saturday; and 3 on Sunday (planned on taking a 4th but slept through it!). Do I have a favorite? I have no idea. Right now I have 13+ dances all blended together in my head! 

Rachael - Country Liar. A fun country rolling 8.

Neville & Julie - Feel Alright. A very nice 64/2 cha cha.

Maddison Glover - Chasing Shots. Fun 32/2 rolling 8 with Simon.

Simon Ward - Vacation Cha. 2 wall cha cha

Dustin Betts - All Shook Up. Fun dance with Elvis knees!

Neville & Julie - Brave.

Fred Whitehouse - Zig Zag. One of my favorites of the weekend! Fun!

Roy & Fiona - Unleash The Power. Once I finally get through it all - I’m gonna really like it!

Joey Warren - Crazy In Line. This dance was taught by Simon and Maddie at Cowboys on Wednesday night for the event early-birds. It’s a fun 32/2 choreographed by all 3 of them.

Fred Whitehouse - 2+2. OMG! Gonna have to work on this one just a tad bit more.

(I think there was a theme. Start the event off with dances that are “easy” on the brain… hit them hard on day 2 with the mind-blowing teaches… and then let everyone recover on the final day with the gentle ones… Just my humble opinion!)

Shane McKeever - Forbidden Waltz. Beautiful.

Joey Warren - No Baby No. Fabulous waltz.

Neville & Julie - Not A Sad Song. Fun 64/2 with music by Parson James.

Since this was a qualifiying event for World Dance Masters, there were some competitions to check out as well! There was a choreography competition during the day on Friday and the WDM Team Competition that night; WDM Partners, Duos, & Pro-Am were on Saturday; and the Solo Finals with all the awards were on Sunday. It was fun to watch!

The DJs kept the ballroom floors hopping until the wee hours of the morning every night. There was no lack of opportunity to dance! And, unlike a lot of the regular events, this one goes Sunday night as well!

I’m tired. My brain is fried. But my heart is full having had a chance to see everyone, collect hugs from everyone, and do what I love to do - DANCE!

SCOOTER LEE 1/8/22

Fun dance day at the Siesta Bay RV Resort in Fort Myers today! 12 of us were there and we had Southwest Floria line dance shirts in all colors all over the place!

Karen (Wednesday) was our newest dancer and spent the majority of the day in the “newbie” section - and DID GREAT!!! She learned some new steps, got to dance some dances she’s already learned, and learned a few more! I got the chance to dance with her and she was AWESOME! Ina was just astounded by the number of people at the event! She did not ever imagine that many people would be there. She did great all day! Randa stayed on the floor and learned CHILL FACTOR! And stayed on the floor to DANCE IT! Such fun! Mary Anne, Annette, and Mary were new to the event - and were on the floor like seasoned pros! Social dances, new dances taught, floor split dances - they were everywhere and having the BEST TIME! Karen, Louise, Kathy, Linda - all Scooter Lee Workshop veterans - could be found throughout the floor always helping and guiding others along. A lot of fun being able to dance some of the classic dances that we don’t get to do very often. 

It was great being able to dance with Jo Thompson Szymanski, Michelle Burton, and Michael Barr. Superstars! Even Scooter was having a good time!

I’m not totally sure about all the dances that were taught, but I know these were for sure:

Empty Pockets - everyone was on the floor together to learn this one

Old School Bop - this was a favorite of the day; the floor was split with something - maybe the Cowboy Charleston?

Peppermint Twist - which I taught on Thursday; floor split with Cowboy Charleston

Cut A Rug - our group did it contra in the back of the room with several others joining us so we had a really long line!

Until The Dawn - Everyone learned together and really liked. The 2nd time it was danced, the floor was split with Rockin’ Cha.

Same Boat - another favorite of the day; newbie’s danced Just A Two Steppin’

Big Bang Boogie - Again, there was a floor split for this one but I’m not sure what it was.

Chill Factor - with Rocket To The Sun as a floor split

Take These Chains - 

The music we danced to for Cut A Rug was a boogie or swing song

The waltz “Love Lifted Me” was taught toward the end of the day

We danced “Dizzy” during open dance and it’s been requested to be danced in class

We danced “Gypsy Queen” in open dance and it’s been requested to be danced in class

We danced to “Uptown Funk” - the newbies danced Swingin’ Thing; the main floor was split a couple ways. The dance everyone wants to learn is “Uptown Funky” by Jill Weiss.

Great day of dance! Smiles everywhere! And pictures galore!  

"NOT TAMPA" 2021

 FLORIDA LINE DANCE CLASS (NOT TAMPA) 2021

I just love having events to go to and am so happy that they are starting to return to my life!!!

Another excellent weekend by Jen Cameron & the JC Dance Productions team!

I didn’t make it down to the ballroom early enough to catch Trevor’s teach of “Let Me Do My Thang” so I’ll have to go learn that one myself (as I heard it was really cute!); however, I did make the survivor photo Thursday night… (usually the ballroom shuts down around 2ish on that first night… could it do that when I make the concerted effort to last until that photo? Oh no! It never shut down until just after 3:00am!!! But - I made it!!!) The playlist was incredible and we got a lot of dancing in!

Friday’s schedule had several offerings that I’d already had (which helped prompt the goal of staying up til the end Thursday night!) - Out Out, Oh So Easy, Cyber Samba, Do My Thing, One Cha, Best Day Ever, Cyber Drop. I took two excellent workshops - “I Don’t Know What You Heard” (Rebecca Lee) taught by Christopher Gonzalez and “SUDA (aka Sweat)” (Philip Sobrielo) taught by Rachael McEnaney-White.

Saturday was a little busier even though I’d already learned Out Like That, Raised Like That, Just Fly, As Good As It Gets, Drink Drank Drunk, Cold Sets In, Latin Fusion, Best Life, Mesmerized, and Stressed. I learned Amy’s “Take You For Granted”, Tim’s “Go Down”, Rachael & Joey’s “Stuck”, John Robinson & Kelly Cavellaro’s “Mississippi Countdown”, and Darren’s “Don’t You Hold Me Down”. Thanks to 7 Arrow Media I was able to watch Saturday night’s show from my room and then headed down for some dancing at 10pm.

Sunday, without having a football game to race home for, I was able to take John’s “Come Waste My Time” and Tim’s “Double Back”… and stay for some MORE DANCING! We did not, however, stay until the last square was removed.

I have to say I was thrilled with the playlist each night - it was so nice to see different dances hit the list each night instead of the same ones EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT! Yes, there was some repetition - and for a lot of those, they were new enough that they should be repeated  - but there was also different ones every night, which really makes it fun!!! Thanks, JP!

The Marriott was decorated in all its Christmas glory, the staff were great, my room was comfortable, the breakfast buffet always one of my favorites. 

Home again - needing to figure out in what order I’ll be teaching all these dances - and preparing for the next big one - Sunshine N Line Florida Dance Masters in February!!!

TOP DANCES OF 2021

BEGINNER CLASSES

Dance Monkey (A. Johnstone)

Senorita La-La-La (J. Wetzel)
Sweet Caroline (D. Bailey)
Toot Toot (L. Burgess)
Where Oh Where (J. Thompson Szymanski)

INTERMEDIATE CLASS
Moses, Roses, Toeses (A. Glass)
Would Have Loved Her (D. Bailey)
Raised Like That (D. Bailey)
Give Me Shivers (J. Wetzel)
Good To Go (S. Blevins)
Midnight Mess Around (A. Nuno)
Out Out (S. McKeever, G. Richard, N. Poulsen)
Southern Dreams (M. Glover)
You You You (D. Bailey)

ADVANCED CLASS
Blood On A Rose (S. Ward & N. Poulsen)
Cold Sets In (G. Richard & J. Stoian)
Give Me Shivers (J. Wetzel)
Out Out (S. McKeever, G. Richard, N. Poulsen)
Thrill Me Cha Cha (T. Johnson & Hayley Wheatley)

Happy New Year to all!

NYSOL 2021

 NYSOL 2021

Thurs 11/11 - Day 1

Flew into the Stewart/Newburgh airport on Frontier. Elaine picked us up at the door. Walmart run (of course) and then the drive up to Honors Haven. Beautiful country!

Checked in, found our room, unloaded, then when for a walk out to the waterfall. Very pretty.

Buffet dinner was at 6:30 - our table is a Florida table with Betsy & Catherine and 2 other dancers that I didn’t know. Minnesota arrived while we were eating. So good to see Pam & Robyn & Linda et al!

Bonus teaches started at 8:30. Open dance started at 9 with a DJ that actually played requests! How novel!!

Chris Jacques taught his new one “Never Calming Down” (like it!) at about 10:30; Guillaume taught his (with Niels & Shane) “Out, Out” at about 11:00. Fun, fast!

Kathy & I headed to bed just after midnight…

Fri 11/12 - Day 2

The first workshop of the day was Games You Play by Derek Steele. I like the music; the dance is phrased but very doable. I’m not sure if I’ll teach it or not. May need to wait and see if it hits the charts at all.

Then it was a Guillaume Richard day! Started with Cold Sets In; ended with More (and another review of Cold Sets In).  Both are good dances.

Friday is when NYSOL officially begins and they have a “Welcome Party” with open dancing from 1-4 and hot and cold hors d’oeuvres starting at 2. It must’ve been right about 3:00 that I was done and it was naptime!

Last workshop (More) was at 5:00; dinner buffet opened at 6:30. Open dance started around 8:15. Made it slightly later than the night before.

Sat 11/13 - Day 3

The busiest day by far. Started right away with Rona teaching Gary’s “Easy On Me” at 9, John Robinson taught his new waltz “Come Waste My Time” at 10. I was going to go over Zoom again, but they switched rooms and I didn’t want to walk that far.

2:00 repeat teach of Thursday night’s “Out, Out”; 3:00 & 4:00 with Scott teaching his & Joey’s newest “Oh So Easy” and his & Jo Thompson’s “Latin Fusion”.  Then a tour of the “west wing” where all our Minnesota friends were housed.

Buffet dinner and then open dance around 8:30 - followed by Ice Cream Sundaes starting at 10pm! The ice cream pretty much finished me off - I was back in our room by about 11:30pm.

Sunday 11/14 - Day 4

Our flight back to SWFlorida was at 1pm - so we needed to take our “grab ’n go” lunch and hit the road about 10am. But I did have a chance to sneak into Jill Weiss’ 9:30am class where she was teaching two dances, with “Just Fly” being the first one. This is just the cutest dance - marked as improver but I’m going to teach it to my beginners - by Roy Hadisubroto, Fiona Murray, and Jo Thompson Szymanski. 

Flight to Tampa was uneventful; drive home the same. Good to be back in Florida where there’s no ice on the top of cars and I can’t see my breath when I’m outside!!! LOL!

FUN IN THE SUN 2021

 My first JC Dance Productions (and - bonus! FINALLY got myself a JC Dance Productions Shirt! Woo hoo!) since…. Florida Classic 2019! Seems like FOREVER ago!

Excellent dance weekend! Like with Raleigh, there were several offerings that I’ve already learned/taught, but still a nice selection of new and classic to keep me busy all weekend long.

Thursday night opened with Trevor Thornton teaching his new beginner dance “I Was On A Boat” to everyone - such a cute dance that my beginners are going to enjoy. On Friday, I enjoyed a re -teach of Amy Glass’ “I’m Here For You” and Rachael McEnaney-White’s new dance “After Taste”. 

Saturday was choreography competition day and WOW!!! What great choreography was presented! I wouldn’t want to be a judge! Way too many great dances to settle on just 2 from each category! Congratulations to all the the 1st & 2nd place winners as well as everyone who entered the competition! If you weren’t there, the competition can be found on 7ArrowMedia’s YouTube channel; and be sure to watch CopperKnob for the stepsheet releases!

Newcomer/Novice

Laura Gordon: We Got All Night

Wendie Smith: Laurie’s Walk

Intermediate/Advanced

Mark Paulino: Rude Dude

Jason Turner (with Laura Gordon): Salt

Phrased

Laura Gordon: So Electric

Wendie Smith: Little Big Mouth

The two workshops I attended on Saturday were “Gotta Have It” with Joey Warren (it was so good to see Joey again! I’ve missed those hugs!) and “A Sexy Lady” with Cody Flowers (co-choreographed with Kerry Maus). And finally, on Sunday I attended Dustin Betts presenting his new dance “Stressed” - such a cool dance! And then Chris Jacques taught Vicky St. Pierre’s “Madness”, which I learned years ago and absolutely LOVE! Am thrilled to be bringing it back for awhile!

Many thanks to ALL the choreographers for sharing their time and talents with us! So good to see everyone live and in person! The JC Productions staff and volunteers were on top of everything, as always, with a special shout-out to Kelly and Kellie for their outstanding efforts! Kelly was even able to “zoom in” on the show this year - if you haven’t seen it yet, go to their YouTube channel and check it out! Besides - you HAVE to see the kids!!! Such a special feature of this event.

The Marriott was top-notch as always. Front desk, event, housekeeping, and restaurant staff were all smiles and so helpful. They looked sincerely happy to have us all underfoot again! Even our server in the restaurant remembered us from past events and had tears in her eyes to see us back again! Awwwww!

Well done, Jen & Jason! Another successful event completed! Thank you for all you’ve done for us!