Worlds XIII, Nashville, TN, 2005

This was my first taste of the Worlds & Opryland Hotel combo experience. This was also the first time I’ve ever brought along my husband and young adult sons to a dance event.  None of them have the slightest interest in dance so initially my men-folk were none to keen on the idea – we started off with a “c’mon – try it you’ll like it!” approach.

Event Director, Anthony Lee and his considerable staff, set a perfect table to serve up a satisfying blend of spicy International flavored dancing with a heapin’ helpin’ of down home southern hospitality.

The Opryland Hotel, just as in all reports, is truly nothing less than spectacular!  None of the pictures do it justice.  It’s COLOSSAL!  But actually it doesn’t take long to get the lay out of it – it’s all organized with each wing having its own shops, restaurants and lounges.   Being from Michigan it was a welcome change to have the high open dome sky ceilings – it felt rather like you were outside on a spring day strollin’ through the vast gardens and waterways.   “Fetch me another Mint Julep will ya shuga?”   Plus the locals got “them neat southern accents” too ;)

So - plenty to do and see that would appeal to anyone’s individual tastes; whether staying within the complex, at the nearby BIG mall, or choosing from the other local attractions. 

It’s like a big ole tourism buffet – shopping, shows, nightlife, scenery, restaurants… The Works – all set down right in front of you.   Keeping non-dancers entertained for the week was a pc o’ cake.   We spent some time doin’ the other touristy type attractions in the downtown Nashville area too.   I’d recommend it as one of the few events to bring along the whole famdamily…But enough on that…  

The magnificent main course – the DANCING! 

I can’t compare this World’s to previous years, seein as I've never been...but I can talk about what made this year’s event stand out as one that was not to be missed!   While I read only some of what was posted on the forums about this year's event - I don't quite agree...

For dancing non-stop, and meeting all of the RDDA needs (Recommended Daily Dance Allowances)

Worlds XIII was THE place to be!

Broken down into the basics, sorta like a dancer’s pyramid of the 3 main food groups …or the reasons most folks attend workshops.

DANCING:  For the folks that crave it ‘round the clock!

Worlds provided more than just the essentials!

Non-stop open social dancing that practically ran 24/7 throughout the event!   The Grand Ballrooms were available for different types of dancing in the evenings and kept things cookin’ into the wee morning hours.  It seemed 2 nights started later than expected - but c'mon there was a WEEK of dancing offered! 

Essentially, no matter what your schedule or time preference was – you could find a spot to just go dance!  The Line Dance Lobby, located in the center of the event was just great! This was kept open for day time dancing hour after hour…day after day….. Naturally, there were quite a few repeats during the course of the week too.  (I’ll list those further down) But that also meant you never missed out for too long on all your faves.  This also gave us a chance to dig deeeeeeeeep into the past and pull out those dances we don’t get to enjoy as often! 

All of the open dance music appeared to be generated by request – so even those more obscure dances got their chance on the floor too!  Another aspect that was great about the line dance lobby was that it was open to the general public and was usually surrounded by smiling faces of enthusiastic watchers – great exposure to what our dancing is actually all about!    The venders lined this lobby and it was great to be able to shop while ya danced ;)  Plus you could be just passing by and hop on the floor for a lil McHappy dance to go - then be on your way again. 

One more dance mainstay that really stood out at this Opryland event was the excellent quality of the essentials - Sound, Floors, Space, Temps – all were excellent – in each and every dance room – Line, Couples & Swing, upstairs and down!   Very satisfyin' indeed!

All of the event DJs deserve major kudos for doing such a great job!  Thanks to my fave LOUIE, and James, Dan, John, Tim and BJ, along with the rest of the impressive team.  We were quite a diverse crowd to satisfy and they did it quite handily.  "May I take your order please?" ;)

THE LESSONS: For the crowd with an appetite for MORE:

Lots of lessons were available every day with international instructors, who offered a wide variety to choose from, including the style, level, and music for dances taught. Classes ran from 9:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. basically every day, with 4 BIG rooms for plenty of choices.  The typical session block offered 2 classes for couples, 2 classes for liners, with 1 of these sessions always being a “free” class.  There were also quite a few “Drive Thru” teaches done in the line dance lobby of some of the easier country stuffs.  Many of these were done to prepare for the evening shows, which invited dancers onto the floor while songs were performed or artists spotlighted.   

THE SPECTATOR’S DREAM:

Watching WORLD CLASS social & competitive dancing:

From a spectator’s viewpoint – Worlds is unsurpassed!  We’ve all seen some remarkable dancers in our travels, but we rarely see this number of exceptional dancers at the same time in one place!  I’m talking jaw dropping, tongue waggling’ amazement!  Just watching this kinda talent in dancers is inspiring - nothing anywhere in the states draws the caliber of dancers as those assembled together at Worlds.  It’s a great  chance to see some of the biggest n brightest heavy hitters in the dance scene,  along with a chance to meet n mingle with the up n comers – especially all the young guns!    Most all of the BIG GUNS - UCWDC - or otherwise are there!  You could spend an hour name droppin ;) 

The shows, numbers, skits,routine demos, and competitions were awesome - leaving everyone hungry for more!  Performers I remember seeing include Nancy Hayes, Suzy Boguss, and Hot Apple Pie...

NEW Dance Reviews: 

I’m only including the NEWEST dances that were taught during the event that caught my eye.

There was a steady feast of latest & greatest floor fillers like;  What It Is?,  Funkalicious,  Lose It, Dipstick, Slow Burn and Street Soul etc. were also included in the more than 65 Line Dance sessions and showed on the floor during open dance quite regularly!  I’m purty sure "Natural Selection" and "Suds in the Bucket" broke any previous records for most played during the week ;)   Even "Bucklehuck" was in the group of songs we had several helpings of ;)

Here's my event top picks...

For the Funky/Event Crowd:

Cadillac Ride – Guyton Mundy

Hip Hop moves - the floor/knee work will keep some of us elders off the floor ;)  Well liked by Guyton fans – should be a big “event” dance.

For the Social Crowd:

Dana’s Dream – Max Perry – smooth & dreamy – my personal fave of those I learnt.  Taught this one already - it’s loverly! 

Envious (Crazy Chris) taught by Scott Blevins – A few twists make it interestin’ without being over the top for the mainstream dancer – should do well with most intermediate folks...has gone over very well at my class. 

For the Country Lovin’ Crowd:

Atlantis – J. Marshall & J. Robinson – nice COUNTRY song, dance is do-able by most, has those “Sweat” squishees that I luv ;)

Hot Apple Pie – Amato & Royston – New country group of same name – progressive “muzik mafia” type sound – watch for their cd to be released!  I'm anxious to hear more!  Maybe by Ft Wayne????

For the EZ crowd:

Jump In: (Chris Watson) Taught by Max Perry – most everyone can do this fun lil dance.  Was my 1^st teach out of the Worlds chute – went down well in both classes.  Just 2 ez tags that are a welcome break within the dance J

Here's my OOPS - I MISSED:

Nope - I don't take many classes so...these weren't seen by me, but I’m hoping see the following dances that were on the teach schedule with instructors as listed: 

“Mystery Class” – Mundy & Blevins – taught later on Sunday - heard it didn't happen?????

Love Bug, & Mustang Sally – Verdonk

Funky Fever & Beyond the Sea - Rob I - is this guy a hoot or what?!?!

Caribbean Two Step – Robinson

Don’t Give Up – Amatos

Movin’ Up, & Go On – McDonald

Guapacha, & Like That – Oakley

Shake Yourself Loose – Hunyadi

Get the Line Dance Party Started, & Interactive – Hering

SOB – Kaye

Making Something Of It – Marshall

Schedules: 

Also despite what you might have heard - given the occasional and in my opinion insignificant glitch, everyone I spoke to said, and according to the posted schedules, things ran on time and went off without a hitch.  Considering the scale of this event - that alone is remarkable!  The shows were entertaining, the dancing was fantastic, and the atmosphere was inviting and gracious. 

World Dances:

This was a personal high interest area for me.  This I admit is biased!   Absolutely...no doubt about it... hence the IMHO!

It seems and I could be wrong but it appears we import more dances than we export - as in any fair trade market - you like to see an equitable balance.   What you would expect the end result to be is having the very best, of the best, locally on a World wide scale.

I'm always very curious about all these dances we read the hype about.  When looking for teach material, I used to dig right into them - then after previewing 'em -  think hmm why is this being called special?  Now I've learned to be more selective. 

These days it often seems that nearly every dance written is “spot on” and guaranteed to be the next floor filler.  No disrepect meant, but odds are NOT EVERY dance can be a perfect 10.  Especially given the sheer numbers of dances produced...even a bag o' tater chips has a few brown ones mixed in with it - and YES some people to like those ;) 

So given that I was there "scouting" these new "must do" dances -  I hafta say…….There weren’t many danced during open dance that we haven’t seen or done here in the states.  Unless I repeatedly missed them night after night. 

Keep in mind that US dancers were heavily outnumbered and requests came from everyone, and the DJ were not only from the US. Numerically speaking -  the folks that traveled must have outweighed the request sheets.   But - like I said - few of those "awesome" dances showed on the floor, despite what the lists say... 

Below appears a remarkably small list taken from Worlds open dance, tho I was pleased to see them - scarce as such. 

You take it from here...There is great power to influence with the written word in our dance community - for good or for bad.... please don't take MY or any ONE person's/group's word as fact - as in any thing, always be an informed consumer.   Check it out yourself!

Also I've noted their ranking as of 1/31/05 on Carol Craven's list

Cheetah – MIL – Looked verra good, it should pop here in the states (3 votes)

Speechless – Tom Mickers – Absolutely beautiful!  I dunno how most of us will look doin' this, but heck - we should try!  Tom Micker's dancing it just left ya speechless! (3 votes)

Trust Me – Geri Morrison –  I’ll enjoy watchin', tho not necessarily lissinen to Louie sing ;)  (42 votes on Carol's)

Jungle Fever – Raymond Sarlemijn  – Choreography Competition Winner – Just plain silly fun!  Need a sheet for the sequencing…otherwise join in on the floor.   Ya get to make gorilla noises ;)  Thanks to the youngins who tried to guide us along!  (No list votes - just requested!)

Dance All Night, Roy H - danced by me and the travelers - Judy shared that with us at Windy City - Fun dance for most everyone -Why aren't ya'll doin it ;) (Also not on the list)

Beat It Up by MIL - danced alot (4 votes)

Incidently, 2 other dances that are big our way...

CRABBUCKIT int, Gerard Murphy(1 vote), and HIT THE ROAD JACK beg, Ian Dunn(3 votes), were not done once while I was in the dance rooms....

Wonder why???  Could it be they aren't "crackin" dances?  

Doubt that, they're very popular in our area.  Could it be they just haven't been quite so hyped?   More likely.

Also, from Carol's list dated 1/31, of the dances ranking in the top 50 - 17 of them I never saw done once.... and some are quite high on the list....

So WHY would the most active dancers from around the world not be wanting to dance these highly voted on and talked up dances?

Isn't that a good Question -  guess I'll leave it up to you to figger out  ;)

SO in conclusion as this really is a side ramble - We hear alot from the UK, and even from FL. Which is great!!!  I luv the groups n eword!  

Sporatically we hear from other parts of the States and around the globe too.  It might be nice hearing more on the "quiet" dances from those unheard regions.  I'm not promoting censorship - just more sharing of what's happening in other areas from time to time! 

AND I don't mean hype just for the sake of hype... just a lil exposure for those dances that truly deserve it and may not leave your hometown floor otherwise...

I know you're all dancing and enjoying lots of good stuff that isn't being "talked up" for all the world to see - Perhaps it's time :)

But do keep dancin' n enjoying what you like - just feel free to share! 

My that went off  ;)  sorry bout that..... I just think when ya look at those lists you have to remember they are subjective. 

Also of note is the survey done by Dodee for the year end Top 50 in 2004.  What happend to the bulk of all those "Hit" dances - and what would the list be like if we saw more showing from the rest of the quiet World?   Anyhow, thats a topic that wasnt meant to be here in the 1st place...

It all started with wanting to see what I was missing up close n in person ;)

BUT that isnt anything to do with the event or its directors or dj's just seemed a good place to talk about World dances!

And finally, if there was one thing missing missing at Worlds – it had to be US participants – I missed seeing many of the usual workshop addicts we normally see at big events.  I sincerely recommend you re-add it to your event to-do list!  I can’t speak for previous years but this year was just fantastic!   And realllllllllllly if it lacked in anything at all, it wasn't event specifics – it was dancers… It seems the UCWDC is doing all it can to rebuild that somewhat shaky alliance it has with us liners...  The next step is ours...  

Many people there spoke in comparison to previous year’s attendance, and it being down again this year…which is just a shameful waste of good dancing ;)   Whatever the cause...though that seems to be the trend with most everywhere of late….

Dancing has become sorta like fast food these days eh?  

People only want what they want, when they want it, how they want it, and only when they want it, and when they don't get it exactly how they want it - they don't come back.

Some want McCountry, McNonCountry, McEasy, McHard, McPhrased, McClassics, McHipHop, McWhatever!!!

It has made us McBetter McInstructors as we try to please McEveryone... though it ain't always McSimple ;)

It's great to know that everyone is McRight and YOU can have it YOUR own McWay - especially at McWorlds!   JUST McDance!