world line dance newsletter

TAMPA BAY LINE DANCE CLASIC 2008

What a fun time we had in Tampa this year!! The theme was FIESTA and the decorations were everywhere and it just set a festive scene for the weekend. The weather was glorious and sunny. Everyone got in the spirit for the Saturday night dance with some really beautiful/funny/creative outfits. You'll have to look at the pictures. There were a LOT of balloons and they added such color and fun to every room. Arline really goes all out every year with the decorations and it really adds a special flavor to this event. All of those decorations have to be put up and taken down so if you're ever looking for something to do, just ask the event director if you can help. You can imagine how tired everyone is by the end of an event and all of that stuff has to be organized, taken down, put away in an automobile and any of the directors would appreciate your offer to help. The hotel is in the process STILL of being redone. I think they have hired the slowest people in the world so if there were any glitches it was because of that. The only thing I noticed was that the service was a little slow on Thursday night but after that it was fine. The air conditioner was GREAT!!! I loved it. Of course, the rest of the world was freezing to death but I LOVED IT!! It's worth putting up with anything to be greeted by WARM CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. This is the only event that hands them out when you check in and it starts the weekend off making me happy. The rooms at this hotel are spacious and they have wonderfully soft beds with lots of pillows. They also have shelving in the bathroom to put stuff so it's not all over the top of the vanity. I like that. The food in the restaurant was good and about average price. They had the best potatos for breakfast I have ever had. You could order from the menu or do the buffet for breakfast and dinner. I'm not sure about lunch because Arline had food set up in the hallway so you could grab a quick sandwich, salad, fruit, bagel, pastry, drink, coffee, and some other things -- oh, yeah -- and those chocolate chip cookies!!! I missed the bar area this year but they are renovating that so it was closed. They did have a small bar area in the back of the restaurant where you could order light food or order from the dinner menu but it wasn't the same as the regular bar area. Hopefully they will have everything done by next year or I might have to go boss them around and get them moving!!

My favorite new thing this year was a new open dance/lesson room in the main area where the lessons are taught. There were big tables to sit and either watch the lesson or meet your friends and just dance during the open dance time. Jill Babinec was the DJ in this room and she would just play everything all day long and get up and dance and act crazy once the music started. It was just perfect for open dancing during the day and that's always one of my favorite things at any event. We would all go over the dances we learned when there wasn't anything else going on and just dance and chat and sit at the tables and eat lunch. Great new addition, Arline. I loved it. I love when events have a place that feels like "home" for the weekend. I like to have somewhere that you can tell your friends, "I'll meet you in the .....," and this was the perfect place to say, "I'll meet you in the open dance room." All of the ballrooms are spacious so the lessons were not generally crowded and if they got too crowded, people switched from one to the other. I don't know who was on top of monitoring this but they did a great job.

For people who want to be a tourist before/after/or during the event, this is a wonderful place to visit. We have everything!!! Gulf Beaches, golf courses, Busch Gardens, wonderful shopping and restaurants, professional sports teams, many attractions and so many things to do you would never get it finished in one trip. I keep a list of things to do in the area so if you're planning a visit, just let me know and I'll send it along. When someone tells me about a new place they found and liked, I add it to the list. Someday we're going to get it organized and get it on the website but I just haven't had time to do it yet. There are two very large malls close to the hotel and the shuttle will take you almost wherever you want to go within reason. There are food courts in both malls and there is an excellent restaurant area in International Plaza (one of the high-end malls). There are also restaurants close to the hotel and a very good steakhouse right next door. Lots of people went out to eat and shop over the weekend and some even went to have dinner on the beach. The hotel is very near the airport so it's super easy to get to and from quickly.

I like the way Arline does the dinner on Saturday night. First of all, the food is the BEST!!! Every year they have a great selection and the chef even came in at the end to find out if everyone enjoyed their meals. Most banquet chefs I know go hide at the end. LOL. The desserts were YUMMY!!! I'm not a salmon fan but theirs was delicious and they had chicken and pasta and salad, bread, veggies and other things to choose from. There are two times to eat and there are lots of tables. People who are doing dinner go in the ballroom early and then go to the dining area. If you choose late seating, you dance until you are called and if you choose early seating, you eat first and dance after. Sometimes dinners drag on too long and this is the perfect solution to that problem. When you are finished, you get back to your seat and dancing and when you're waiting, you just dance. Of course I had to wait to get a seat on the front row as usual but eventually people went to bed and I got to not have to climb over people. I whine until I get a seat in the front row so don't listen to me. LOL.

There were a lot of vendors there this year and I like the way that they are all set up in the hallway so you can shop between classes. If you're planning to come next year, I would suggest you reserve your room early. I think all the events are a little down in numbers this year -- at least all the ones I've attended seem that way to me -- because people are nervous about the economy, but hopefully by next year everyone will be itching to go to the ones they missed this year. I know I would go to every single one of them if I could and when I have to miss one that I like to go to, I'm really eager to go the following year. It was nice to see people from all over the world there this year. I met lots of people from Canada and Neville and Julie brought quite a large group with them and they are staying after at the cutest little cottage on the beach. In that list of Tampa things I mentioned above, there is also information about places to stay before or after the event so get a group together and join us next year. We try to plan some evenings out at the clubs and doing other things so that people can meet up and enjoy the visit. We're also only a little over an hour away from Orlando and the parks there.

The Thursday night free party was FUN!! We had such a good time. I always love the Thursday night dances. Probably some of you remember the olden days when there were no Thursday night parties but now we're totally spoiled to have this extra night to dance!! There were two open dance rooms on Thursday which made it fun for both the int/adv crowd and also the beginners and both of them were hopping, one with Olivia and one with Louie. All the DJs did such a great job all weekend playing all kinds of dances. There was a separate room for doing reviews and the review times were posted on a board so people could see what dances they wanted to review and just hop in, do a quick review, dance it with the choreographer/teacher and go back to open dancing. Olivia Ray had a third room that catered to beginners but she also played all requests during the open dance time so no one had an excuse not to be dancing. Jill Babinec was in the open dance room for the weekend and when it wasn't needed for lessons during the day, we did open dancing and she played all requests. The ONLY thing I ever thought could improve this event was more open dancing and this solved that little problem with the addition of the new dance room and it could also be used for lessons when it was needed.

Previews of the next day's dances were held each night. I prefer them at night but I also know when they are done in the mornings, that people get up and get moving but the bad thing about doing them in the mornings is that people have to get up and get moving!! LOL. As long as they are done, I don't care too much when they are. I do want to say, though, that when a dance is not demoed, it really hurts the class. I know I have grown to anticipate the previews and when someone isn't there to do it or if they haven't asked someone to demo it for them, I don't have a clue what the dance is and I will choose a class that I do know what the dance is going to be.

There were two-to-four lessons each hour running during the day with open dance slots worked in throughout the day. You can view the entire schedule at this link: http://tampalinedanceclassic.com
and there was a very good variety for every level. I have been noticing this year at all the events I've attended that the mix of levels is much more balanced now than it was in the previous couple of years and the dances that fill the floor tend to be more "doable" than they were in the recent past. It's nice to have the choice of doing a very difficult dance or a very easy dance or a medium dance at events and see them all doing well when they are played. I think sometimes things swing too much one way or the other and it seems to be a nice balance this year. If you stopped going to events because you were overwhelmed, I think you will not feel that way with the selection that is offered at most of the events now.

Friday night was as much fun as Thursday night and we just danced, danced, danced. Previews were done for the Saturday dances being taught as they were for each day of the event. The instructors this year were super!!

Michael Barr and Michele Burton (we don't often get both of them together so it was nice to have them here this year. They will be coming back for Marilyn McNeal's party in January), Scott Blevins, Stella Cabeca (it is always good to see Stella and we haven't seen her in awhile -- ask her about getting stuck in the elevator with Junior, John Robinson, Diane Poole and I don't know who else was in there!!), Mark Cosenza (was supposed to be here but was ill. We missed you, Mark, and hope you are feeling much better), Barry Durand, Bracken Ellis Potter, Neville Fitzgerald, Amy Christian-Sohn, Kathy "G", Diane Hogan, Rona Kaye, Margaret Koll, Marilyn McNeal, Bryan McWherter, Rosie Multari, Guyton Mundy, Gerard Murphy, Max Perry, Glen Pospiesny (who had on this cologne that smelled really good!!), Niels Poulsen (this was Niels first trip to the US and his classes were huge and his dances were well received.), Cato Larsen (Cato is another new face to the U.S. scene and people just enjoy him and taking his classes and do his HIT dance, Am I), John Robinson, Maurice Rowe (it was great having Maurice back with all of us in Tampa again for the weekend. I miss him!!), Raymond Sarlemijn (Raymond and his wife are such a striking couple and people loved having them at the event this year), Lou Ann Schemmel, Vivienne Scott, Carol Simmons, Junior Willis and I hope I didn't miss anyone. Everyone picked great dances to teach. We are lucky to have so many great teachers to choose from so thanks, everyone, for always being the pros you are.

SATURDAY NIGHT is the banquet and show. The people who entertained us this year were: Raymond Saljeman and his wife, Line, Michael Barr and Michele Burton, Stella Cabeca, Bracken Ellis Potter, Diane Hogan, Rona Kay, Margaret Koll, Marilyn McNeal, Rosie Multari, Guyton Mundy, Will Craig, John Robinson, Junior Willis and Arline, Trish, and Lynn. Margaret Koll and the group from the Villages.

After the show it was reviews for the next day and dancing until you couldn't dance any longer. Again there was the review room, the beginner-intermediate room, the main ballroom, and the open dance room running all night long so you could just dance any level you wanted to with whomever you wanted to be your DJ. I have to say that ALL of the DJs did a great job this year. I thought the variety of music played was very balanced even into the late-night hours. People stayed up later this year than they have in previous years and I always have fun staying up late and dancing until the wee hours.

There was a good turnout for the pro-am competition. You should really think about doing this next year. You really only compete against yourself and you are judged according to the job YOU do. I think every teacher should encourage their students to do this. It's such a good experience for people who want to compete but don't want to take the giant step of doing it alone. You just ask your teacher to dance with you and you can pick the dance or dances you want to do and put either a little or a lot into your costume since there are really relaxed rules. You dance the dances for about five judges and they give you a gold, silver or bronze rating based on how YOU do the dance without comparing you to anyone else, so it's a very positive experience and the room is always full watching the competition. If you don't have a teacher to do it with, just ask Arline and she'll either do it with you or find someone who will. I have always thought some of the big competition organizations should incorporate this concept into their events to let people TRY competing without committing bigtime to all the things that go along with that. BUT WHAT DO I KNOW?? LOL. Arline has always had this at any event she has run or participated in and she does a great job so if you want to give it a try at your event, get in touch with her and ask her how she does it. The room was PACKED watching the competition and everyone just did a great job. The competitors were: Lael, Pearly, Dave, Lynn, Ed, Korkie, Frank, and Tom. Sorry but I didn't know all the last names so I didn't put any of them.

I just want to give a big THANK YOU to Arline for hosting the event and Jen Cameron for doing the registration and thanks to the people who work so hard to put the floor down and make sure it's safe and to everyone who put up the wonderful decorations, specifically, Marty, Diane, B.C., and Bonnie and to the staff at the hotel who always had water out for all of us and got everything set up for the banquet. It was, once again, a magnificent weekend in our own back yard and it just makes me proud to show our city and surrounding areas to everyone who comes here. Everyone wants to stay forever when they come and you will too!! You know Florida is dancing heaven and the Florida teachers are so supportive of this event and make sure to bring their students and promote it all year long. It's just a special thing for us to be able to have such a large, important line dance event in our area and it wouldn't happen without all of the work that Arline and her staff and volunteers do to get it together and without the tremendous turnout we have from dancers all over the world. THANK YOU ALL!!

I'm just going to tell you my ONE favorite dance like I always ask you to choose and it certainly wasn't the only dance I liked. I had learned quite a few of them in Chicago and you can read which ones I liked there in the Chicago report BUT I would really like you to list about 5 of your favorites from the weekend and I will compile the list in the next couple of days and we'll add the list to this report so you will have a real sample of the dances that were popular rather than my just picking the ones I saw or took the class. I always feel bad when I do that because I tend to take the harder dances at seminars so miss some of the easier, really good dances. I generally can just pick the easy ones up so I will go to the classes to take the harder ones. I will tell you, though, that MY PICK OF THE WEEKEND was I HELD YOUR HAND, by Niels Poulson. What a beautiful dance this is and what gorgeous music. It is certainly not for everyone because it is at LEAST an hour teach NC2 but for those of you who like advanced dances, it is well worth the effort. It was one of those dances that people worked on all weekend like they did some of the all-time favorites that were very difficult when you learned them. My picks from Chicago were still some of my favorites from this weekend. The Chicago report is still online so if you're interested in seeing what was taught there, you can check it out.

HERE IS THE LIST OF THE MOST-PLAYED DANCES THAT STACY COMPILED DURING THE WEEKEND:
Faith In Love/Junior Willis & Craig Bennett
Tango Cha/Jo Thompson Szymanski & Deborah Szekely
Hot Spot/Team International
Rainy Nights/Neville Fitzgerald & Julie Harris
Bossy/Michele Perron
Notice The Danger/Guyton Mundy & Jordan Lloyd
Purple Rain/Rachael McEnaney
Head Phones/Maggie Gallagher
Creepin'/Scott Blevins Multiply/Paul McAdam
Burning/Cato Larsen Don't Drop Your Cha/Niels B Poulsen
Amame/Robbie McGowan Hickie
Break Free Cha/Scott Blevins
Higher & Higher/Max Perry
No One's Gonna Stop Me/Neville Fitzgerald & Julie Harris
When I Grow Up/Neville Fitzgerald & Julie Harris
What's The Deal/Dee Musk, Craig Bennett & Shaz Walton
Feed The Fetish/Scott Blevins
I Held Your Hand/Niels B Poulsen
Keep It Real/Scott Blevins
Those Apple Bottom Jeans/Joey Warren
The Smell Of Your Sweet Perfume/Simon Ward

BE SURE AND LOOK AT THE PICTURES SO YOU GET A REAL FEEL FOR WHAT THE WEEKEND WAS LIKE. If you would like to copy a picture or order one, you can do it through the picture service we used.  Just right click the picture and you can save it to your computer or there's an order form at the end of the slide show and you can order them as prints directly from the company. 

DANCES TAUGHT WITH YOUTUBE VIDEOS
HERE ARE THE DANCES TAUGHT AND THE YOUTUBE VIDEOS TO GO WITH THEM (THAT WERE AVAILABLE AND WE COULD FIND).  Thanks, Stacy, for helping me gather these up!!  If you have others that aren't on here, yet, let me know and Stacy will add them.  This way, when someone mentions a dance they liked you can go and check it out for yourself.  BE SURE AND ORDER THE OFFICIAL VIDEOS.   They will have a short teach of each dance taught at the event as well as the show.  You can order them by contacting Jennifer Cameron at Info@tampalinedanceclassic.com.  The price is $50 for the workshops; $60 for the workshop and show videos.   Contact 954 581-7749.

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