Ray and I love to give parties!!! We had a FULL HOUSE with 155 dancers on the floor!! Peter and Alison were the STARS all day long and there were dances for everyone, easy, intermediate and advanced. The floor stayed full through all of them! We are so impressed with their professional teaching methods, their kind and considerate personalities, and the incredible choreography to great music choices! Alison warmed up the crowd with a little dance workout, which was a nice introduction to a full dance day.

DANCES: First they taught two very easy and cute dances that are choreographed by others: SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL (Kim Swan), and START TO SWAY (Sandra Le Brocq). They followed with their own choreography the rest of the day starting with RED DRESS (I was helping with lunch and missed it, but HAVE to do this one-great music!) and BRUSHWOOD CHA-CHA (nice easy intermediate). Then they did a really cool thing and demonstrated 6 of their dances, asking the whole crowd to choose which ones they liked the best! The top choices were LOOKIN’ FOR TROUBLE (got on the floor at night for this one, BR5-49 music, cute and tricky enough for all levels), WRIGHT OR WRONG, (music is country song On The Rocks and/or Call My Name by Charlotte Church-loved the steps), COME INTO MY WORLD, (advanced dance with beautiful choreography to beautiful music), and PUSH THE BUTTON (floor filler and very popular everywhere). You’ll want to do them all! THANK YOU PETER & ALISON FOR A MEMORABLE DAY IN OCALA!

LUNCH! “My honey” Ray got a new smoker last week and I’m happy about that because it’s bigger than the last and I think this was his best barbecue ever!! We served 172 and sang Happy Birthday to Peter and Alison who both have birthdays within a month. One of our huge cakes was special for them!

PRIZES! We gave away lots of prizes, including 3 great weekend passes: JG2 Marathon, June 1-4 in Raleigh, Masters in Line, July 14-16 in Orlando and the Tampa Bay Line Dance Classic, November 2-5 in Tampa. Thank you James & Jean, Jennifer and Arline for contributing passes to these great dance festivals! I’m fortunate to be teaching at the 2 Florida events!

OUR SPECIAL 50-50 DRAWING netted a generous $377, 50% won by Martha Carpenter from Dancin’ Country in Davenport. Ray and I are donating the other 50% to fellow dancer/instructor Phyllis Cannon-Whipple along with an additional $50 that Martha kindly shared from her winnings. Most of you know that Phyllis has had serious health problems. She will undergo her 3rd knee implant on April 28. We hope she does well and is back on the dance floor later this year!

AFTER PARTY! We were so happy with the return dancers Saturday night! Peter & Alison reviewed all the dances they taught. Even though they had to be at the airport by 10AM on Sunday, they stayed at the club dancing with us until 11PM, before they hit the road with Dennis, Marge and Sally for pancakes, ice cream and Orlando!!!

WE APPRECIATE good friends Dennis, Marge & Sally from Dancin’ Country in Davenport for hosting Peter and Alison while they vacationed in Florida last week and also helped at the workshop!
SPECIAL THANKS to Bill McGee, who drove to Ocala very early in the morning to make sure we had our additional dance floor laid in time for doors to open, and to Linda for my Easter bucket!
SINCERE APPRECIATION TO OUR D.J. RYAN, who we love having here at Midnight Rodeo!! You are SO SPECIAL!
TO ALL OF YOU! Ray and I sincerely appreciate each participant who traveled from near and far to be here, our loyal, dedicated staff of family and good friends and our local Midnight Rodeo dancers who constantly support us! Thank you Carol Craven, who couldn’t be here this time, for your incredible contribution to the dance community. These events are successful because of our connections to each other through your most valuable newsletter!
Midnight Rodeo MANAGER DAVE, and club DJ MIKE, you’re the best!

THANK Y’ALL FOR COMING TO OUR PARTY! OUR NEXT ONE WILL BE IN JANUARY, 2007! DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
Keep the “Rhythm in your Soles” and we’ll see you again on a dance floor somewhere soon! Ray & Marilyn
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