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  One week prior to the event, a lot of work still needed to be done.

  

  I know it's getting harder and harder to think up original themes for these events, but frogs?

   "Don't worry Fran, I have everything under control.  You can go tend to the dancers now."

  Co-Event Director Fran DeWar has the utmost confidence in Cindy to handle things at the registration desk.

  

  "Munch Munch, Welcome to Phoenixfest.  Your registration is somewhere in that box over there.  Help yourself hon."

  
   

  "And after the dragon was slayed, the prince and humpty-dumpty were now reunited.  The 3 Bears opened a great new catering service and joined in the celebration."

  Joanne Brady made some extra bucks and at the same time,  entertained the children at her daycare service by reading from her book of Fractured Fairytales.

   

  

   "Glen Pospieszny prepares himself mentally for his next workshop."

  

  "Hey Joanne, these folks traveled all the way from Minnesota just to meet you!  Would you mind taking a picture with them by this fake cactus?"

  "No sorry, some of the flyers on my table are crooked and I gotta straighten them out".
   

   

  

  It was a custom in Phoenix for the dancers to present the instructors such as Mark Cosenza with gifts such as these lovely porcelain flower bouquets after their workshops.

  

  Yvonne was presented with this lovely porcelain horse. (Getting it on the plane must have been fun.)
   

   

  "OK Mark, see if I click this camera, and look into the lens, it will take a picture of us through the lens reflection without additional assistance."
  Technology in Scotland is a bit backwards at times.

  
   

  
  
  "This event was really terrific.  You really gotta check it out next year.  I think it will be in April.  I'll have some great new dances to show you." 

  Glen talks up the event to the locals in nearby Scottsdale.  We'll see you all next year!!!!

  Pictures and captions courtesy of Mark.

   

Co-Event Director: Fran DeWar

As a 2^nd year “veteran” of the Phoenix Dance Festival, my expectations were again high for a great time.  The definition of a great time for me is to watch and learn some great dances, interact with a fun group of dancers and instructors as well as afford the opportunity to share dances with others.  I’m pleased to say that all of the expectations were met and even exceeded thanks to wonderful surprised I received shortly after I had arrived.  You see, while I was thrilled as always to see a lot of my favorite folks from the Phoenix/Tuscan area as well as a great representation from Southern California, my surprise came at the arrival of a few of the wonderful dancers from Minnesota as well as a wonderful couple from our Chicago class, all who hadn’t said a word to me about coming out to this event.  Let’s just say that really made my weekend complete. 

Our folks always have reservations about coming out West for events due to a past history of dances being done that were unfamiliar to those outside of the Pacific time zone.  (Note: Arizona is only partially on the Pacific Time Zone, but you get the drift…-J)  With the internet and the dance lists spreading the word on what’s hot, it has helped at least create awareness for certain dances and bring us all together on the same page. 

 Instructors included familiar names such as Yvonne Anderson, Michele Perron, Doug & Jackie Miranda, Michael Barr, Joanne Brady, Guyton Mundy, Jamie Marshall, Michelle Burton, Evelyn Khinoo, Glen Pospieszny, Bracken Ellis, DJ/Instructor JP Potter as well as myself (Mark Cosenza). 

Instructor/Choregrapher Evelyn Khinoo even decided to combine her instructor experience with her honeymoon as she recently wed a very personable gentlemen by the name of Dennis.

Evelyn Khinoo spent her honeymoon in Phoenix w/ new hubby Dennis

Folks here like to start early apparently since there were 8am demo’s on both Friday and Saturday of all of the dances being taught.  (Note: Most dances were given two teach slots so that everyone could have a chance to learn a dance they really liked from the demo.)  Although the schedule did change a lot, the original list of dances to be taught is here.

 
Schedule changes were difficult to keep up with, but communicated pretty well via the giant schedule.

Lots of dances I liked from the demos, but the ones that I put on the top of my list were as follows:

Eruption – Yvonne Anderson: Already taught this one to the Thursday night folks in Chicago.  A nice rhythm and a simple dance – this should be big!

You Can Dance – Doug & Jackie Miranda: The music is wonderful from the magnificent Michael Buble.  Another one I highly recommend because the steps fit the song perfectly.  (This will be my next teach…..)

 Doug & Jackie Miranda

Party In Pink – Jamie Marshall: I didn’t care for the dance when it was first introduced because I felt that another dance was a better fit for the originally choreographed song.  However, once I heard and saw it done to Play That Funky Music, I was a lot more impressed with it as was Glen.  This one will be taught by Glen soon as it also got a high endorsement from our Chicago dancers.  It’s also not terribly hard even though it might look like it with the funky moves.

Atlantis - Jamie Marshall & John Robinson: Another dance currently on our Favorites list.

Last Days of Disco – Michael Barr (co-choreographed w/ John Robinson):  This one was already taught to our dancers a few weeks ago, but nice to do it with the packed class.

  Michelle Burton & Michael Barr

Michele Perron

Invitation To Dance – Michele Perron: Funky fun dance that was well received by all.  Guyton seemed to be the biggest fan of it.

Cadillac Ride - Guyton Mundy: Another favorite of our Thursday night Chicago dance crowd.

Evercool – Yvonne Anderson and Glen Pospieszny:  Love the dance now that they changed the song to George Michael’s I Want Your Sex.   Fun dance but not recommended for those who don’t like turns.

 Glen Pospieszny & Yvonne Anderson

I would have liked to have checked out more dances and I guarantee other good ones were presented, but my classes and duties were a plenty so not much time to check everything out.  My teaches were This Night (Billy Joel’s This Night), Let The Good Times Roll (Huey Lewis’ We’re Not Here For A Long Time), Handsome (A blast from the past done to Handsome by Soda) and B Squared which was a beginner entry co-choreographed and co-taught with Glen Pospieszny (On A Slow Boat To China – Bette Midler and Barry Manilow).  No videos yet except for This Night due to the absence of CJ.  It was great seeing Evelyn, Yvonne, Jamie and Jackie mingling with the folks at my workshops – their presence always adds a lot of color and fun to the classes. 

The dinner show was one of the best I have ever witnessed (and thankful to be a part of).  The theme and set was from the Copacabana and I heard the set took Dwight Nelson (co-event director) 9 months to complete!  The effort was well worth it!  All I can say is, check out the video if you can.

Open dance did pack the floor most of the night with the dances.  One thing that was nice was that there was a table right outside and many times, dances were called out in advance, so if we didn’t know the next few, it was no big deal and we could take a break. 

 JP Potter

Fran DeWar, Dwight and Sandi Nelson and the staff also receive major kudos for working with the many schedule changes and the ability to quickly communicate these to the dancers with the large dance board.  Overall, a wonderfully organized event and I look forward to it again next year. 

 Note: Sorry to those I missed in the pics dept (Bracken, Guyton, Jamie and Dwight & Sandi Nelson - I tend to have so much fun I forget all about taking the pics....)