Comments From Others: Fun In The Sun 2010
FROM: MARIILYN MCNEAL, BoarsNestFarm@aol.com
This year’s Fun in the Sun, was in my opinion, the best one ever! From start to finish, the entire weekend was relaxed and fun, full of great dances, many from the Marathon, plus many new ones. Having Rachael here this year was of course fantastic, and the surprise guest appearance by Niels, was most definitely a great addition to this weekend’s list of favorite instructors.
What makes a dance event a success? Perhaps it’s a great list of instructors, maybe some really good new dances, plus some classics long forgotten, or never learned by those who started just a couple of years ago. Many of us believe the DJ sets the atmosphere both in the ballroom and for the whole weekend, by playing a general selection of mainstream dances, using the request list that is offered for the dancers’ choice, adding some of the newline, beginner and “blasts from the past” and by adding his/her own personality to the evening. Louie did all of that this weekend, and greatly enhanced the happy feeling we all experienced. He also announced in advance, the next 5-6 dances coming up on his playlist (so we could room hop, take a break, grab a snack), and kept his dance floor fun and full all night! Thanks Louie! You were exceptional this weekend!
NEW this year at Fun in the Sun was a room dedicated to Beginner dancers. Ferrel Mazzato Deejayed this room the whole weekend and made it a great success with her smiling face and great choice of songs! I left that room at 12:40AM Saturday night, and the floor was still full. John Robinson was dancing with us (as only he can). This room provided the opportunity for beginner through easy intermediate dancers to be a big part of the weekend. An impromptu teach by Ira Weisbud, of his new dance Sweet Heaven(Barry Manilow music) was an added treat and received a great round of applause! Check it out for your beginner classes. Ferrel kept the happy music going, making this room a definite PLUS to attract dancers to events. Thanks Ferrel! You were exceptional too!
Rob Glover was MC and as usual, entertained the crowd with his own special personality.
The show was great with local groups entertaining along with an hilarious skit by the team of Rachael, John and Junior team, against Guyton, Will and Joey. Really funny! And no one in the room will ever forget John Robinson's rendition of a bumble bee!
DANCES: There was a collection of new and recent choreography presented by Rachael, Scott, Guyton, Neils, Bracken, Maurice, Amy, (and possibly others that I missed), plus even more in the Beginner dance category. Several Florida instructors offer great dances by popular instructors, as well as their own new scripts. The schedule is still posted online, so you can view in full what was taught this weekend. My own classes were One Last Dance(Maag & Anderson) and Sunglasses(Tajali Hall). Love them both!
I didn’t take too many classes myself as I’ve been recovering from exhaustion from the last three weeks – Ray and I have been pushing the envelope more that usual lately. Fortunately, I knew many on the schedule, but did take or watch these and liked the following:
ALL of Rachael’s, especially Snap Your Fingers, ALL of Scott’s, Hustle & Flow (Maurice), Someone’s Gotta Go (Will Craig), Be Back Soon & The First Thing (Debbie McLaughlin), Little Red Corvette(Rob Glover) Freedom & Baby, Baby, Baby (Bracken), and beginner dances Try, Try, Try, Redneck Rock & Roll(by our own Lindy Bowers), Big Trucks, Volare, Shoop, etc. etc. all by various artists. Check out the whole schedule for lots of good dance choices.
Several Midnight Rodeo dancers attended Fun in the Sun, and I just love it when they ask for no less than a dozen different dances to be taught at our Thursday night dance class in Ocala! One at a time, we’ll get them on the floor in the next weeks, starting this Thursday! I DID write them all down – really I did!
Thanks Jen and Jason, for inviting me to join your staff again this year. I appreciate the opportunity to teach for you and always enjoy the good feeling that exists at your events. Your new dance floors are awesome, the whole weekend was casual, friendly and it was great seeing friends again and meeting some new people. This hotel and location are perfect for locals and visitors to our area.
P.S. My personal thanks to those Beginner dancers from Ocala, who came down on Saturday to experience your first event out of town. I highly recommend the Tampa Bay Line Dance Classic, November 4-7, 2010 for your next trip. Event Director, Arline Winnerman, also provides a room dedicated just to YOU!
FROM: FROM: lindy (kicknboot@cfl.rr.com)
Whew.....just had a wonderful weekend at Fun In The Sun. Lots of good dances taught and I was very gratified that some peeps from my classes came to get a taste of the fun we have at events. Some couldn't stay the whole weekend and came for just a day and evening, etc. and some stayed the whole weekend. They all left crying cuz they were tired but couldn't stop dancing!!! How cool is that!! I was very honored to be invited to teach this year and I taught 4 beginner level dances to good groups of people who then requested those dances all weekend. It was truly a family reunion atmosphere....I found Doris and Carol from California, who I hadn't seen for a few years, and Adrienne from New York, on and on....lots of old friends and new ones too. Ferrel played the evening open dance music in the beginner room and did a spectacular job of it. That room was FULL every night. Louie kept the ballroom going and most of us ran back and forth. Louie even played Lynne's "OUR ORDINARY LIFE" for us. (I would love to have taught that one but it is not beginner, so will do it another time). All the peeps in my Monday class know it and love it as much as I do, so we got to dance it (with Adrienne) and that was very special. I think this will be a big dance for Lynne (at least I hope so)....it is very well choreographed. I think Louie played everything everyone asked him too and that is a big job for sure...always so many requests and never enough time to get them all in. Rob did his usual excellent job of emceeing. The whole weekend was a lot of fun and I know I speak for others too because I kept hearing people talking about what a good time they were having. Thanks to Jenn and Jason and everyone involved in the process of putting on a great event.
DANCE!!! :-) lindy
lindy's lines
407-721-5106
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lindyslines/
NOTE FROM ME: Thanks, Lindy, for showing me Lynne's OUR ORDINARY LIFE. Cute dance. You should check it out.
FROM: LOU ANN SCHEMMEL
I have uploaded about six videos from FITS to my Youtube channel, ocdcdance (see link below). One is a walkthru by Will Craig of Troublemaker (sorry about the music in the background) and there are others, demos etc. Check them out when you have a chance. Had such fun there - great dances were taught....
Lou Ann Schemmel
louanndancer@me.com
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ocdc+dance&aq=1
NOTE FROM ME: Be sure and bookmark Lou Ann's site because she's always adding new dances and does a short teach of all of them. She's a good dance picker so it's a good place to check out dances when you're going "Now what am I going to teach?" Oh, and I really liked Troublemaker and it's on the rport page
FROM: Sandi Larkins , ridesthewind@gmail.com
What a wonderful time we had at this event ! So well organized, so much fun, so many dances, so many great instructors, so many new friendships formed, and soooooo many sore feet!! The puppies were barking loudly when we all hit the sheets that night.. One of the very best times I've had at a line dance event and I must give alot of that credit to my wonderful friends that came with me - Sandy, Terri and Bob, Marla and Eric, Mary, Sharon, and Naj!!
The Beginner Room - The beginner room at this event was a big hit! Many positive comments and having a dedicated beginner room was very much appreciated by many. Ferrell Mazzato was our DJ and played request after request, no matter what it was, and always with a smile on her face and a positive attitude!!
DJ Louie St George - You did something that I thought was so very nice....Thanks so much for coming over to our group on Thursday evening and asking us to write down any requests we may have...and then he played everyone of them in between some of the harder dances we didn't know.......Very considerate and thoughtful Louie...Thanks so much...!
At the Saturday night dinner, we had the pleasure of dining with Niels Poulson, Junior Willis and Ferrell Mazzato......You were all so very gracious, considerate and kind. What a very special evening you gave us.
Now, I have a very SPECIAL THANKS to JOHN ROBINSON - This event was the very first for several of my friends, for some it was their 2nd event, but for all of them, it was their first JOHN ROBINSON EXPERIENCE!! John is without a doubt one of the most entertaining instructors I've had the pleasure of taking a class from and my friends are all in agreement...They just loved him too!...We laughed and we laughed and we laughed....We even managed to learn the dances through all the laughing! :-) Thanks for a memorable time! You are one of kind! And yes, we are heading to Sanford, Fl. to The Barn for a day workshop with none other than -------John Robinson and Junior Willis - We can't wait!!
Thanks again to Jennifer and Jason, all of the instructors who taught at this event, to Louie and Ferrell, and everyone else that was part of the staff............THANKS!
FROM: maureenmholley@bellsouth.net
Also just back from Fun in the Sun and had a GREAT time. We brought 2 gals with us that are new to the workshop scene, and I have to say they had a ball. One of them took just about every class that was available!!!!! We had a lot of laughs. I was happy to see the beginner room that was added this year, and also the chance for a dance option in the evening. I have to say Louie was exceptional this year. I loved how he called the dances in advance so you knew what was coming, and that he played such a great variety of dances as well. In the past we had stopped going to the event because we didn’t get much dancing in at night – it seemed to be centered on the “Gyton” type dances. So, all in all – we will be back next year!
FROM: FROM: Betsy Courant (egc123@aol.com)
This was the 6th year for this event, originally called Florida Masters, and special to me as the first Florida Masters was also my first event. I've been to all 6 events and this year was one of the best if not the best. There were so many great dances taught I've come home with a list to learn because I couldn't make all the workshops. Jen & Jason did a fabulous job once again and their new floors were great - I didn't have any issues with back or knee pain as I sometimes do and was able to dance til the wee hours each night(morning) and, for the first time, danced up to the last dance and until they closed the room.
Louie did a great job as DJ and because this isn't a huge event, we had a better chance of having requests played. At open dance in the afternoons whatever you asked Louie to play he would - whether there were 2 or 10 dancers on the floor for the song. I never made it to the other night dance room as there were so many great dances done in the main including some of my not-so-new favorites - Together Forever, Right to be Wrong, Brucie, Cowboys & Kisses, Feel, Come On and Dance (Mundy/Glover), Slow Burn, Nu Flow, Let's Get Saved, Street Soul, Last Minute, How Come the World Won't Stop, Faded, Addicted, Lost in You, Give it Back, Poetry in Motion, Bring It, and even Zac's Hips and Paul McAdam's Run This. Rachael, Jamie Beaver and Joey Warren did a great job on Run This and helped me immensely to remember at least some of the dance.
On to the new dances taught:
I was thrilled when I found out Rachael would be at the event this year and my favorite of the weekend (if it's possible to have only 1 favorite) was her new dance Snap Your Fingers, a west coast swing rhythm. The class was packed and the song was played often during open dance. I also took Rachael's nightclub Everything I Do and I Run to You and look forward to dancing these at future events, and finally got a teach of Rapper's Delight for much-needed styling.
The big surprise of the weekend for me was Butterfly Daze by Amy Spencer & Adam Berman to "Butterfly" by Jason Mraz. Amy did a great job with the teach and I posted a video I shot of Adam & Kerrie from Sunday open dance on YouTube. Amy said she has a few changes with the step sheet and should have it out soon. I saw lots of video taping each time this was done in open dance and was told by instructors they'll be teaching it so look forward to this at future events as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fNn_kQHxXc
Nightclub 2s are my favorite style and I'm going to love Scott's Trouble Is as much as I do his dance Feel. Trouble Is is a little trickier for me than Feel and one I'll need to work on at home.
Scott's other teach - Murder Machine - is a fun dance to do and another to work on at home. I thought part B would be more difficult than A, but the way Scott has choreographed the steps to hit the words it's actually easier for me than A (just have to remember to add the "bop bops"). Glad he taught using the words and not numbers, or it would have been a hot mess for me as the timing is all over the place.
(You're Making Me) Hot Hot Hot (Jeppsson) - really cute dance Scott taught - well received and popular at open dance.
I already knew Debbie McLaughlin's dances that were taught - Oh Ruby, The First Thing and Be Back Soon -all of which I really like, so was happy to see so many others on the dance floor doing these dances. Oh Ruby and Be Back Soon were played quite often at open dance all 3 nights.
Maurice Rowe's Hustle & Flow to Million Dollar Bill by Whitney Houston is a great dance. Not too tricky and another I hope to see on the dance floor at future events.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ESzJx8BL1s
Jamba Jump - Zac did a great job teaching this crazy dance by Daniel Trepat and Pim Van Grootel.
Guyton's My DNA reminds me a bit of his Hey Hey Goodbye and is fun to do.
The final workshop of the weekend for me was The Stroma Dance, an advanced phrased dance by Niels Poulsen (our surprise guest instructor). Louie played the song at open dance later on after Niels had left and, except for the tag, we managed to get almost all of it - especially when the music kicked in for Part B and the samba turns. A fun dance to do when you hit all the spots in Parts A and B.
Workshops I missed but I've put on my list to learn are:
Someone's Gotta Go to "Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson and Troublemaker, both choreographed by Will Craig and taught by John Robinson. Lou Ann posted a video walk-thru of Troublemaker on YouTube and I posted a video from open dance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFF7xImlU5s
Hey Soul Sister (Potter/Luna) which was very popular at open dance. Also Bracken's new dance to "Kandi" by One Eskimo. Not sure if she's named the dance yet - be on the lookout for the step sheet.
Scott Schrank's Wild Nights and Things I Believe, John Robinson's The Way You Are and Junior Willis' and Craig Bennett's Change.