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Past Event Rambles
While I've been commenting on the events that I attend for some time, I've only recently decided to save them. For whatever
that's worth ;)
LDI TARHEEL DANCE CLASSIC 2002
| Tarheel Dance Classic |
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| Event Director Scott Hucks |
Tarheel Dance Classic 2002
This was my 1st go at a LDI (Line Dance International) event - though it's in its 7th season. It was held in Raleigh,
North Carolina, and made my 2nd trip to the state in 4 months. I've yet to see anything 'cept for the inside of the airport
& hotel ;) I'm sure it's a loverly state, wonder how many times I'll hafta go back before I see it?
Darn - I forgot to pick up a souvenir Tarheel! What ezactly is a Tarheel?
The event director Scott Hucks, hails from a line dancing & competition background. No wonder we had so much fun!
Attendance was good with approx 230 dancers. Things ran pretty smooth, especially when ya consider Scott had a very small
pool of volunteer staff/helpers, 8 in total I think? On the few occasions when I did have a questions, or needed assistance
- I never had to look far for help.
Really, the only suggestions I have for future events are pretty trivial:
*Posting changes in scheduling & TBAs outside of the teach rooms.
*Wrapping up competitions/awards earlier in the weekend.
*Setting up vendor spaces elsewhere - off the main ballroom space
*Shuttle service to/from the airport.
Oh! Lemme tell ya why I decided to venture off to this event in the 1st place...
First, It was priced purty cheap! At $65 for early reg, NO PAY classes & no fee for competitors who registered early
- I just can't pass up a good deal ;) Competition fees can run $10 - $30 per dance. The hotel Clarion Crabtree - formerly
Four Pointes Sheraton was reasonable at $69 a night. There was an OPTIONAL $20 dinner/show pass and the step sheet bound
books were only $8.
The 2nd attraction was lots of instructors I've never met/seen before that I was lookin' forward to learning from. It's
always great to meet folks whose stuff you admire & enjoy. PLUS all the big guns we know n luv & get to see at the
workshops round these parts.
The line up included: Scott Blevins, John Robinson(recovered & looking mighty fine), Barry & Dari Ann Amato, June
(The Lady In Black), Bill McGee, Larry Bass, Jackie Miranda, Hillbilly Rick, Junior Willis, Bev Cornish, Janet Martin, Arline
Winnerman, Mike & Betty Weeks, Roz & Nat Morgan, AND "Hollywood" Mark Cosenza (who convinced me to go)
along with Glen Pospieszny - hope I didn't miss anyone...
The 3rd reason was the competition format, which included line, couples, wheelchair, pro-am, and choreography. The choreography
comp has a unique lesson/teach type format, which appealed to me - along with a judges training course. And best of all, get
this NO YOKES! I've died n gone to fo'get "Western Attire" heaven!
And mayyyyyyybe I just needed to get the nasty aftertaste left from the Chicago"bad"lands event outta my system
;)
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| Carolyn R, Bay Watch Babes Carole (w/ an e) & Leslie, Glen, Mark & me :) |
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| Psst Arline, Don't let anybody move til they have BOTH hands on their hips |
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| No caption - just purty to look at ;) |
Soooooo, with that in mind, off I went to North Carolina seeking knowledge, and newfound enlightenment. Dag! Doesn't that
sound all noble n impressive like ;)
All in all, I can't say I came back any wiser ;)
The judges training course wasn't what I was expecting - not that it was bad, just didn't touch deeply on the topics I
hoped to learn more about. (One thing LDI's focuses on is the dance/dancer not the outfit) NO YOKES :)
I didn't learn many new dances - all my own fault. I was lucky enough to still stay out on the floor.
My teach take total for the weekend was embarrassingly low - pathetic really - even by my slackeresque workshop standards
;)
There were 50 time slots in total - I crammed in 3 whole teaches (Mark's, Mark's & Scott's) Good Gawd! - Where
the heck was I? In my own defense ;) I did take the "trainings" plus competed. (Ok, that accounts for about 4 hours
;)
Guess I was just too bizzy havin' fun :)
I HAD A FANTASTIC TIME OVERALL, as did everyone else I talked to! C'mon n git to it then eh!!!
Upon 1st entering the hotel my first impression was - uh oh - we're sprawled all over the place :|
The main ballroom, the two auxillary teach rooms and the lobby were all on different floors, separate from the main guest
room tower. But after learnin' the layout o' the land - getting back n forth wasn't hard or far - so no big deal. The Clarion's
rooms are decently done & fairly large. Check in was zippy, all staff were courteous & efficient throughout the weekend.
Our water cups runneth over in all of the dance rooms ;)
The temp flooring was good quality, not sticky, and covered a good ratio of floor space.
The "hotel" specific draw back I noticed was the understaffing / limited hours of the bar/restaurant. Friday
night offered one very friendly, but overwhelmed bartender to handle all food & beverage purchases. Restaurant hours
beyond that were extremely limited - for ex. 12:00 noon Sunday morning - closed up tight. Isn't that considered standard time
for eating??? Maybe just up here in the north ;)
There was a very large mall within walking range, & plenty of other stuff to access by car with ease. For future years,
since the event is pre-booked at that same hotel, I'd add one more suggestion. Contracting w/ Clarion to have service hours
set up to meet the average needs of dancers. Or, at least make available a limited menu of to-go type stuff - pre-made sandwich/salads
etc. With the exception of Saturday's buffet dinner, Tasty as it was... a yogurt, & the nummy airline pretzels ;) my
"meals" came from a vending machine.
ANYWAY...
Friday afternoon started off with 9 teach sessions - nope, didn't make it to a single one ;)
Then - and this part I thought was rilly cool! There was a brief break before the open dancing for previews of just Saturday's
teaches.
Hey! NO numb bums due to sittin' around for hours watching the weekend's worth of demos crammed into open dance time.
Sunday's teaches were previewed quickly on Saturday night.
I thought that worked out great - seemed to go over good w/ the crowd and made evybody happy!
On with the Friday night dance! Dan Ross handled the DJ duties for us. He did a great job - VERY FEW repeats over the
course of the weekend, a good mix of the new teaches & the golden oldies dancers requested.
THEN AFTER we wore him out ;) Larry Bass, Bill McGee n a few others tag teamed it to take over the music till they eventually
kicked us out around 1:30 am.
I was most pleasantly surprised n thought both night's dances were fantastic! Good on yas! Thanks for playin' for us!
Saturday was filled w/ competitions, teach sessions, and the big dinner/show.
Barry & Dari Ann Amato handled the entertainment portion; they did an awesome job. The instructors stood out doing
a routine that had a Red, White & Blue theme - my mostest fave! :)
Uhh here's where its gonna get vague cuz I stink with names, sorry.
The Amato's did their current routine - still amazing to watch!
We were treated to other spots done by a beauty queen, a troop of hula dancers along with Scott "Ho" Hucks complete
w/ leis, a graduate, and a choir - how's that for variety?
Plus we saw new COUNTRY recording artist, Michael Mason perform - ok - more like walked around n sang - but he does have
one o' them soothin' southern crooner voices and everyone enjoyed his music. Following that were lil quicky demos of Sunday's
teaches. Saturday night also featured a few walk thru reviews for the day's teaches during open dance time. None of which
took up too much time or got in the way of the fun!
I didn't expect to wind up dancin' mah booty off, being so far from home - I did just that! The open dance time was worth
the trip!
Each night we got in as much dancing as we wanted - ok- close as we ever get ;) Tho Saturday's dance ended late, it stopped
rather abruptly - I stepped out of the room for 5 minutes if that - came back & POOF it was over :(
Luckily, Bill McGee & Co. kept the music goin' in the lobby for those that wanted to get in more dancin!
Over the course of the weekend we got to do most of the new hits from recent workshops plus tons of stuff I've never seen
before...
...never stops me from givin' them a try so I stayed on the floor quite a lot!
I think for the most part, except for Scott's where you rilly gotta get the nuance of the dance from him, the best learnin'
comes from the dance floor - muckin' about during open dance time n pretending ya actually took the teaches.
I see a whole lotta step sheet readin' in my future as soon as I figger out what was what :)
Ya'll know how it is when you take lessons from sun up to sun down - Your lucky to remember 3 dances when ya get home.
I've decided - take 3 classes - cut out the middle man - fudge thru the others when ya get the chance and have FUN in the
meantime ;) Works for me :)
My "must take" 3 teaches of the weekend were all blocked during the same hour. I took Contagious so I missed
out on Stop It!, Kick N Drag & You're Not Listening. There are plenty I'll pick up to teach - those happened to be my
designated three.
Moving on to the "WOW" dances (Winners O' the Weekend) several had been done already recently around these parts
at workshops - noted w/ an *
Choreographers vary:
Barry & Dari Ann Amato
Do Your Thing*, Sugar Foot Rag*, Mail Myself to Mexico: music by Michael Mason
John Robinson
Feel the Rush*, Splish Splash*
June (Lady in Black)
Anybody Wanna*, Soft Touch
Scott Blevins - all of his were popular - like always
Hella Dance*, So Addictive*, Contagious* - Contagious has no sheet for it as of yet...
Junior Willis
Dancer's Night Out
Larry Bass
Hootchie Dance, Kick N Drag*, You're Not Listening
Bill McGee
Stop it!* Bump In The Night
Jackie Miranda
Jacaranda, Reaching for You - too bad Reach has been taught widely around here - this looked really nice!
Glen Pospoeszny
S.X.E*, Can't Stop Loving You *
Mark Cosenza
Too Funky For Me*, Adios
Roz & Nat
Monday's Waltz, And They Danced*
Mike & Betty Weeks
Can't Go Wrong, S.N.A.P.
Phloor Philla (Bryan McWherter & Cody Stevens)
This was done during open dance. Looked verra cool on the floor! My guess is some of the styling might not transfer well
from the step sheet. Hope someone who knows it (not me ;) teaches it up this way :)
As always this isn't a conclusive listing - only my limited recall...
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| Scott explains the rules for the newly added "Touch my bum" contest |
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| One skeptical contestant keeps her eye on the prize... |
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| Junior races off to be 1st to enter |
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| I'll just touch my own |
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| June lines it up |
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| Jackie Miranda - "I'm too young to watch" |
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| And the winner is - The Lady in Black! |
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| Awww shucks - we wanted to toucn n win! |
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| Next year's contest - Touch Mark's bum - win a car!!! ;) |
Hmmmmmm - what else?
Ohhh the competition! I only caught the early Sunday morning choreography entries. The poor judges looked whooped by
that time(understandably), as were the rest of us that showed up. I think it was a neat way to do it - I enjoyed the teach/learn
format & will look for similiar events in the future. PLUS NO YOKES!
I didn't see all of the dance entries and don't have complete results as of post time. I entered A Little More Spark,
& had fun uhhhh "challenging" the judges with it ;)
Of the others I learned, Carolyn Robinson's entry in the non-country division titled "Soul Man" felt great -
I've added it to my "to teach" list.
It was all very informal n relaxed - it's a shame more folks didn't get to take part.
Congrats to all competitors - I hope yas had YOKE FREE fun!
Top Ten (give or take) hi-lights of the weekend :)
10. Meeting tons of great folks & getting to watch them dance it up :) Especially The Lady in Black, The California
Bay Watch Babes, Larry Bass, Bill & Linda McGee along with the group of barstool sentries ;) Betty & Mike Weeks..
and everyone else I chatted with over the weekend. Like always, line dancers are the nicest folks around - but this group
was outstanding!!! I dunno what it was due to, but the atmosphere was sooooo fun and relaxed. These truly were some of the
nicest folks you'd ever wanna meet.
10a. NO YOKAGE!
9. There were also several youngin's that came & danced at this event - Isn't it cool seein' a different generation
having fun doin sumpin us old folks like to do ;) I love watching them & their energy on the floor!
9a. NO YOKAGE!
8. The instructors danced most of each night away WITH us!
I rilly like watchin the big guns out on the floor at events - they did it up well here! I heard several comments form
people that aren't workshop junkies what a thrill it was to watch the likes of Scott & John etc just DANCE!
Many times you see em pop in outta nowhere, dance only "their" teach dances then POOF - they disappear.
At this event, they stayed and played with us!
8a. NO YOKAGE!
7. The "Get back to the airport free" ride from the Baywatch babes was a bonus fer sure - thanks again!
7a. NO YOKAGE!
6. Event director Scott was out n about during the entire weekend, socializing and quickly tended to any situation that
arose. Great to have the "answer man" available.
6a. NO YOKAGE!
5. The most friendly group of dancers you could ever imagine! REALLY!
5a. NO YOKAGE!
4. Terrific open dances - both nights! Thanks again to all who helped do the DJ'n
4a. NO YOKAGE!
3. The S.X.E sandwich w/ Glen P. & John H. K dats my own personal thrillll ;)
3a. NO YOKAGE!
2. Hollywood Mark's magnificent teaches - naturally :)
2a. NO YOKAGE!
1. In case I forgot - ALL the fantastically friendly folks that were there!!! Hope to see yas out n about at other events
:)
1a. NO YOKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SO there ya have it, all in all this was kinda a "No frills workshop", but certainly worth the price. Not tons
of bells & whistles & hooplah - BUT the things that matter most for dancers were well planned & tended to accordingly.
I'm looking forward to next year! I'm also gonna try n add a few more events with some of the same folks involved in this
one to my regular workshop rotation.
It really was tremendous fun! Heck, if even if ya don't dance - just go for the party!!!
Thanks to Scott and his organization LDI for putting on a great LINE DANCERS EVENT!
Good luck & success in your future endeavors!
Check out Hollywood Mark's concise AND grammatical Tarheel review :)
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| Linda is carried out after a grueling weekend of sentry duty ;) |
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| S.X.E. sammich ;) |
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| Larry Bass/Event Security begins inspecting carry-ins ;) |
Thanks to all the great instructors, choreographers and dance event providers that keep us excited to be dancin!
Enjoy the Dance!
c
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