JG2 MARATHON!!!!!!!!!
Ladies & Gentleman step right up n prepare
to be dazzled n amazed by one of the greatest Line Dancing events in North America!
Lots of us locals headed down to North Carolina the
weekend of June 1st for James Gregory's & Jean Garr's acclaimed dance event. This was my 1st visit, surely
not the last. James & Jean are excellent hosts who are out n about the whole time making sure things run smoothly.
James rarely slept over the course of the weekend making sure every detail was tended to. Jean makes a loverly Emcee
too :)
The theme was Under the Big Top. They did
a fantastic job creating a Circus atmosphere for us at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel. Balloons, circus animals, balloons &
more balloons were everywhere. Did anyone get a balloon count? I think they multiplied during the wee mornin'
hours ;) The decorations were amazing. My fave events are like this one, that go that extra
mile to create a festive party mood for us dancers. Jg2, Ft. Wayne & Hertha's Autumnfest rank on
top in that area :)
Now the mood's all set - time to dance!
Registration was cake for both the hotel & the event. Although this event was a lil pricey, I think
most folks feel they got their money's worth. The hotel layout worked very well - easy access to the
7 dance rooms equipped w/ temp flooring, (no skimping there). These were used for lessons during the day,
4 of them stayed open each night with designated DJ's to fullfill everyone's dancin desires. I stayed
in the main ballroom with Wildman Louie o' course :) so I never saw what went on in the other rooms. Couples
pattern dancing w/ Jerry & Phyllis, open dancin' w/ Tim Hand, and country dancin w/ Dan kept everyone dancin'
all thru the night.
Seein' as my mostest favorite DJ isn't Dj'n currently
:(
My used to be 2nd fave DJ Louie will be
my stand in fave :) I'm glad was there to step up to the mic :) I luv his choices of alternate
music. Now if I could only get him to gimme his version of the Electric Slide :) That was a total hoot! I'm
comin' to the realization it isn't so much what ya play - it's how you play it. The best DJ's are able to create that
sizzlin' undercurrent of excitement that makes for an awesome time. Kevin n Louie both do that better
than most.
Cuz frankly, the playlist itself for the
weekend was a lil uhhhhhh repetitive? Ok - a lot repetive n we still had a fantastic time!
Did ya'll order the latest Guinness Book
of World Records?????? I'm positive we'll be in it for breaking any previous n most likely preventing
any future attempts at settin' records for dancin' Chill Factor, Yes You Won't, & Sex Machine
the most times over a weekend. I'm thinkin' when the hotel security staff knows all the words to our
music - we've heard them too often ;)
Actually, I'm not complaining about the repetition
of those & several other songs - they did keep the floor filled each n every time they came on...I do wish that
we could have done more of the workshop dances over the course of the weekend.
Perhaps I missed them, but for the most part beyond
all of Scott's dances (past n present) I didn't see too many of the the new ones played. Competition
dances were also done over n over...
I attended a whopping 6 classes ;) out
of the 90+ that were offered. 2 of them were on technique, of those that were dances, I only recall seeing Max's
Diablo Baila once on the floor.
I tried to get into Scott's So Addictive - way
too crowded :( so I popped into John's Honey What? in the main ballroom which was also packed. Dunno if there
are rooms large enough anywhere to accomodate their teaches ;) both dances were popular.
From what I heard, more than actually saw from other
dancers the faves of the weekend were:
All of Scott's including Hella Dance
Kevin & Rena Ward's I'm Alive
Max's Si Ya Samba & Hombre
Peter's And They Danced
Johanna Barnes & Brian McWherter's Yes You Won't
(I reallllllly liked his Walking Away)
Kathy Hunyadi's 6 hours to Brooklyn
Andrew's Torneo Italiano - din't see it, I just
luv to say it - Torneo Italiano Torneo Italiano Torneo Italiano ;)
A.T. Kinsons Moonrise
Judy McDonald's Party Up
John's Staten Island Groove
Pepper's Tush
Johnny Two-Step's Leave It Up - aka the Viagra Dance
Plus tons of others I've missed...
The highlight of the weekend for many was the
dress up parade :) Tons of fun, lots of hilarious costumes n plenty of goofin' around. You might recognize
some of the gals known as the "Bearded Ladies" (See Below) Just in case you don't, they were: Sally, Lynne, Dianne,
Rosie, Jen, Lisa, Nancy, Ginger, and myself. We had lots of fun with it :)
Now, onto the competition! There were several
of options for competitors over the weekend. Lots of top notch people from all over the globe dancin' their hearts
out all dressed up in their finest yokage n cowboy attire ;)
I'd have worn new yokage myself - if I could
find one that is... There weren't many venders compared to some big events. Grant Austin was the largest of those there.
Anyway - speakin to the clothing vendor (Who wasn't able to define what ezactly a UCWDC yoke is either) She said "Manufacturers
are not making yoke type clothing cuz it doesn't sell n isn't popular on the retail market."
Sooooooo unless you can sew, can afford the mega
$$$$ custom made apparel, or already own a previously purchased yoke from your local tractor supply store ;)
Your pretty much outta luck.
I find it ironic that you can't get what's required
for UCWDC competition from vendors at UCWDC dance events.
It sure would be nice to have updated rules reflecting
the needs of the dancers and style of today's dance. Line Dancing has evolved way beyond Country Western - the clothes
and rules should too. Nothin' says "Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay" like a Western Yoke ;)
K nuff on that - onto the Choreography.
Which was fantastic! The best I've seen yet!!!!
(Side note for those keepin' track, we're 4 for
4 that have bent the "rules" a teensy weensy bit for whatever reasons ;)
Oh, btw, if anyone knows what ezactly an "Attire Penalty"
means when applied to choreography scoring - please let me know."
I liked most of what was presented as much as the
workshop offerings. Stiff competition to say the least! We know most of these names & already do their
dances! Soon we'll be doing even more! I really enjoyed meeting some more of the faces behind the steps sheets
:) These mighty talented folks brought out some great dances. Congrats to all of yas! Hope to see ya's in the staging area again soon:)
Thanks also to Lisa, Ginger, and Nancy who helped me with mine yet again :) Yer da bestest!
Since the JG2 site is EXTREMELY fast in
posting results. I can add the rankings here. Some times you wait months for results, considering the score
sheets are a waste of paper when tryin' to figure out who placed where....this was MOST HELPFUL.
Did I mention there were some really great dances????
Do give them a looksie on Kickit. (They were
also included in the $20.00 step book.)
LD Choreography-ABC
James
"JP" Potter 1ST PLACE Candlelight
Mark Cosenza & Glen Pospieszny 2ND PLACE Sha Na Na
Amanda DeLisle 3RD PLACE Cowboys Lie
Shaun Mcguire & “The Kim” Robbins 4TH PLACE
Ghost
Jackie Miranda 5TH PLACE The Storm Is Over
LD Choreography-Non Country New/Nov
Debi Bodven 1ST PLACE I Love to Boogie
Steve Lescarbeau 2ND PLACE Tush
Traci Grande 3RD PLACE Alive
Kandy
Johnson 4TH PLACE Hey Bad Boy
Carolyn Robinson 5TH PLACE Night Fever
LD Choreography-Non Country Int/Adv
Jackie Miranda 1ST PLACE What A Night
Debi Bodven 2ND PLACE It’s A Miracle
Glen Pospieszny & Mark Cosenza 3RD PLACE The Whistler
Yvonne Anderson 4TH PLACE City Limits
DQ Johnson 5TH PLACE Right There Waiting
LD Choreography-Country New/Nov
Traci Grande 1ST PLACE I Slipped
Carole Daugherty 2ND PLACE Take Me Home
Fran Chelius 3RD PLACE Jessico
LD Choreography-Country Int/Adv
John Dembiec 1ST PLACE Sink or Swim Polka
Yvonne Anderson 2ND PLACE Some Girls
Dolores Daroca 3RD PLACE Same But Different
I'da bet my one n only yoke that City Limits would have taken 1st place...seeing
as it has been floor tested n proven popular all over already, as that is a major part of the criteria in judging.
Shows what I know eh??? SO next time I open my mouth about changin' flight arrangements - slap me.
Sorry Yvonne...
These were competition entries by the Big
Guns...
Pro Challenge
Bryan McWherter
& Johanna Barnes 1ST PLACE Yes You Won't
Brian Barakauskas 2ND PLACE Rock My Life Away
Kevin Ward & Rena Ward 3RD PLACE I'm Alive
Jeni Roution & Melissa Reimer 4TH PLACE Shattered
Judy McDonald 5TH PLACE Party Up
As for classic line we had our 2 hometown girls
who competed and totally ROCKED in my opinion. They just keep gettin better n better n better :)
LD Female Open Intermediate
Jennifer Weiland CHAMPION 1ST PLACE
Johanna Barnes CHAMPION 2ND PLACE
Melissa Reimer CHAMPION 3RD PLACE
Heather Frye CHAMPION 4TH PLACE
GO HEATHER!!!!!
LD Female Open Novice
Jennie Johns CHAMPION 1ST PLACE GO JEN!!!!!
Lacey Saunders
CHAMPION 2ND PLACE
Suzanne Cross CHAMPION 3RD PLACE
Tammy Ward CHAMPION
4TH PLACE
LD Female Superstars
Lou
Ecken CHAMPION 1ST PLACE GO LOU!!!!
Jeni Roution CHAMPION 2ND PLACE
Angie Bryant CHAMPION 3RD PLACE
Ya'll get to dance with Jen n Heather all
the time :) You may remember Lou from Wadhams tho - She was an awesome dancer then, now the rest of the world knows
it too :) There was a routine demo show on Sunday afternoon along with the awards ceremony. Mary Lou, her twin sister Kay, and Barry Durand did a routine
called Mirror Mirror. It was phenomenal! Like it took my breath away n gave me chill bumps :) I've
seen trio routines before, they are usually great to watch, this was the best I've ever seen!!!!
I also enjoyed the cabaret duo w/ Jenni &
Melissa and the all male review w/ John R, Bryan - my newest fave gonna be a big gun, what a sweetie
:) & Andrew K. How could ya not enjoy that ;)
Oh, I almost forgot... Another perk of the weekend was seein all the YOUNG folks
out struttin' their stuff. We don't have nearly enough young dancers in our area...sure was great seeing them so involved.
I missed the competition that had a bit of controversy around it due to the big "V" live n learn I'm sure will be a
lesson applied here.
Also at this event they invited all competitors to perform in the Saturday evening
showcase. That was an experience in itself...now that its over I'm glad I took part - wasnt the smoothest thing getting
to that point tho. Everyone did a great job with their routines - hope everyone enjoyed their efforts.
For a complete list of all dances taught over the
weekend along with all of the choreography entries see the JG2 Site, great pics too.
Do check out Hollywood Mark's site for his complete
review and some more fantastic pictures.
Also take a peek at Pepper's site - She is an awesome
Webmistress :) She did the home page art herself plus is the creator of the JG2 site along with a slew of
others. Oh, she dances too! :)
The whole weekend was a great time with the exception
of our comically tragic trip to the WaffleHell House ;)
Tip O the Day - if a large limo chauffering Usher
is in the parking lot - Come back another time, cuz you ain't gittin' no waffles ;)
Actually, I'd go again just to have another mis-adventure
- be hard to top this one :)
I hope to be back next year for the JG2
2003 Marathon - SUPERHEROES is the theme! Pack your tights - see ya there!
