What can I say, but what a wonderful year we had this time around.    The biggest question is always about numbers and ours were up considerably from last year  I have the attendees to thank for their continuing support and left me with the impression that we did our job well enough for a return next year.  I’d also like to thank the Chicago Southsiders, many of whom attended for the first time, for adding an extra burst of energy this year.   The dances they did before the start of the Saturday night show was a wonderful treat for me and others to watch. 

Registration as always was a breeze thanks to a top notch staff lead by Tina Veliotis along with full time staffer Sue Rodgers.  These two and the others working throughout the weekend made our jobs a breeze and the registrations went smoothly for the dancers.  The floor crew also worked their butts off to make sure everything was ready for dancing before open dance began on Thursday night.  And let me tell you, the number of dancers coming out on Thursday night was unbelievable and open dancing went on Thursday night until well after 4am! 

The complete schedule and instructor list is posted here. 

Before I mention the dances that stood out to me, I need to preface this to mention that I teach a class that loves the intermediate dances and some of the fun beginner offerings for an occasional break, so the mix of dances I bring back to my Thursday Night class caters to that.  The majority are also not highly into hip-hop music, but that doesn't mean we don't throw a few in once in awhile, so keep that in mind when you read through the dances below that we'll be teaching.

Mark Cosenza, Eve Yeaton & Tina Veloitis

Dances that we already have taught include:

Battlefield – Junior Willis (taught by Mark Cosenza): Nice music, nice dance and the moves fit wonderfully.  32 counts keeps this one from being too difficult for the average dancer.

Fiona – Michael Barr (taught by Mark Cosenza):  Lots of folks were doing this one and many more came to the class to learn it.  Definitely a keeper and one of Michael’s future classics.

Love, Sex & Magic – Lawrence Allen (taught by Carol Daugherty): Carol had a great class for this one and this filled the floor during open dance.  Lawrence can check this one off as his most popular dance to date.

Leave The Boat – Rachael McEnaney: Glad to see this one catch on and the workshop was quite popular.  I heard the music going and couldn’t resist stopping in even though I was MCing the Choreography Competition in the other room.  (Shhh, keep that as our secret.)

Other dances that I have to somehow fit into my schedule before year end:

Neville Fitzgerald Taught some Popular Dances at the Event

Can’t Get Enough – Cato Larsen: The music is different and refreshing from your average track.  The moves were tricky enough to keep your interest and not lose interest in the dance.

Can’t Get Involved – Neville Fitzgerald: I took the Sunday Workshop for this and it was definitely a challenge if only because my brain was swimming.  Love the dance though and will be giving this one a shot.

Bad Influence - Jo Kinser (w/ Mark Furnell): I enjoyed meeting Mark for the first time as he co-wrote this dance and attended the event.  They both were kind enough to take me through the dance as I couldn’t attend the workshop.  This was my favorite dance of the weekend and Glen is teaching this at the Tampa Bay Classic. 

649 - Judy McDonald:  Why hasn’t anyone made mention of this dance yet?  It was a hit at Canadian Classic (but missing a step sheet) and it had a lot of folks in the class learning this.  Speak up people.   Certainly one of you from the workshop liked this enough to pass the word along.

Like It Rough - Lawrence Allen (taught by Neville Fitzgerald):  A fun beginner dance with great music.  A must if you have a beginner class that doesn’t much care for country dances.

Shoes of Another Man - Jo Thompson: It was such a treat seeing Jo again on the dancefloor as it has been much much too long!  I was thankful to have her here and look forward to more.  As for this dance, the dancers loved it and I’m sure this will be high on the charts.

Jo Thompson & Scott Blevins

Mama Maria – Frank Trace: Frank just is a walking bowl of happiness.  When I saw him play this catchy music, I couldn’t help but join in the fun and dance along.   It is very basic beginner in that most all could join in without a lesson.   The energy that Frank brings to the event is hard to duplicate.

Hey Mama! - Scott Blevins (co-written by Maren Oslac): The most popular and anticipated dance at the event.  2 Rooms were opened to accommodate all of the attendees. 

Supremes Cha Cha - Michelle Perron:  I missed the workshop due to my desire to see Cato in action for the first time, but others have given great reports on this one  and I liked the music, so this is definitely on my short list.

Time To Play and Spinning To The Sound – Metelnick & Biggs continue to put out solid dances that the average dancer can relate to.  Best of all, they rarely pick out songs I don’t instantly love and both of these dances were no exception. 

Booty Music – Team USA (Thompson, Miranda, McDonald): Glen’s teaching this one already both to our class and at the upcoming Tampa Bay Classic. 

Booty Music won the Professional Choreography Competition

Break The Dawn – Team International (Metelnick, McAdam, Fitzgerald): I’ll be teaching this one in Tampa.  I thought the dance was amazing personally considering they created this in less than 48 hours.

Choreography Competition Entries:

If I Could Change – Ruben Luna: Beautiful dance already popular with the California crowd.  Kudos for the local support Ruben has received and Kathy G will be tackling this dance for the Tampa Classic dancers to enjoy.  This one should do well.  And congrats to Ruben for winning and coming aboard on our staff for 2011!

Double Dog Dare – Heather Frye (co-written with Kevin Winn): This took second overall in the finals, but I can tell you that it was extremely close with the night judge crew as Ruben’s dance won by a hair – 4 to 3.

Peter Metelnick Teaching Break The Dawn

To purchase a step disc of all of the dances from the event for only $20 (including shipping), please email me with information on where to send your check or purchase one through PayPal and use your credit card here ---> (no additional fees necessary)

The folks responsible for such a tremendous Dinner Show!

As for the dinner show, one of the dancers said it best.  Each year I love the show, but each year I love the show even more!  This event certainly believes in the quality instead of quantity approach when it comes to the acts.  You should definitely considering purchasing this as part of the DVD Package.

Glen kept the instructors happy all weekend by keeping food and drink available for all in the hospitality room and Eve was constantly working to make sure the rooms were kept comfortable, dancers were happy and water was aplenty (along with numerous other behind the scenes things that are important for all).  This couldn't have been possible without everyone pitching in.

Mark Cosenza & Glen Pospieszny

I also would like to thank Glen for going the extra mile and running out during the middle of the event to the copy place getting out 300 extra copies of Scott’s New Dance for all to enjoy.  As Event Organizers, this is the type of teamwork that makes a difference to most folks and shows that we do listen to the dancers when we hear from them. 

Special thanks to Event DJ's Louie St. George and Jill Babinec for both doing an amazing job keeping their Open Dance rooms busy and lively all night long!  I couldn't decide where to go as I hopped back and forth between room to room.

And finally, I have to remark on the hardest working videographer in the industry, CJ continues to amaze me with all the hours he puts in to make sure you have the perfect event video.  You are going to want to purchase his latest creation and you'll feel like you are reliving (or at) the event.  You can purchase your own by going here.

I honestly didn't get any flack about anything all weekend.  I did talk to some folks about the recent events that happened with the Sept newsletter and agreed that whether or not the opinion was accurate wasn’t the issue.  It was that an Event Director was speaking out about it was and for that, I sincerely apologize to those offended by it.  It’s our jobs as Event Directors to do what we can to bring together all of the dancers and not drive wedges into the dance community.  It is something I’ll remember going forward so that we can all benefit and grow together in the coming years.  Although, if there is a positive side to all this, you do find who your friends are, who is sincerely interested in bringing together the dance community and who is most interested in pursuing a political career.  Something for all to ponder.  And finally, people now know that I have zero political agenda with my recommendations.

Your thoughts are welcome so let me know by sending me your comments.

Special Thanks to CJ for providing all of the videos you see on this page and Kaz for the wonderful pictures... Lots of additional photos can be found on my Facebook Page.