Newsletter

Well, I hope you like all of the changes here! Hopefully, this will help streamline your navigation experience and enjoyment as you check out the various pages on this site. Our Windy City Linedancemania section should be easier to review and you should find our online payment section a bit less confusing. (I hope!) I’m thrilled to see the registrations are coming in so early in the process!!

We also have replaced our Current Favorite Dances section with our Chicago’s Top 10 list. I thought it would be great for the dance community to not only know about the new dances we are introducing, but give folks an idea as to which of these dances also have longevity potential. I can’t get to every dance out there so this is not meant to show that these are to represent the Top dances everywhere, but I’d like to think I’m doing my part to share with other instructors the dances that are not only being enjoyed as we introduce them, but also stick around longer than the first weeks you might hear about them.

The list is strictly based on our dancers feedback and they not only are voting for their Top 5 but rating which of those 5 they enjoy from #1 to #5. The weighted rank is then translated to our Top 10. No claims that this speaks to all of the dancers everywhere or is to be taken as the scientific end all in deciphering a great dance vs. one that is just greatly hyped, but I thought it to be a fun and informative way to share their feedback regarding the dances that they enjoy.

This month, congratulations are in order to Maggie Gallagher’s Argentina, which placed #1 last month with our dancers. This dance was definitely overlooked by many perhaps because it might seem a bit overwhelming at first glance, but the class really caught on quick and I’ve had to review this one much less than some of the other recently introduced dances. It might also be because we do use a different version than the one Maggie recommended that was from Madonna as opposed to Generation Pop and has a nice mixture of Spanish and English lyrics! And the scoring on this one wasn’t even close to our second place favorite, I Gotta Feeling. But who knows, there are always many dances that are loved one month and then forgotten the next one. I hope that’s not the case here, but you never know so it will be interesting to see how things unfold each month.

The page also includes "Other Favorites" that perhaps haven't made the Top 10 yet but are still being recognized by the dancers along with a “Recurrent List” of dances that have stood the test of time. (In the line dancer community, that just means dances that have lasted over a year -.) So for those instructors who don’t mind introducing some good dances that were missed when introduced (hey, they may not be new, but they still are new to you!), you might want to give some of these a look as they are proven winners with our folks.

Last month, we introduced a few more new dances I Gotta Feeling from Niels Poulson, What It Takes from Kim Ray and Wild from Craig Bennett. With all of these dances being 64 counts, it has been a bit challenging for our dancers to gather instant comfort in the memory department. I took a break following those by introducing an easy beginner dance from Lawrence Allen called Like It Rough that's done to Lady Gaga's I Like It Rough. Equally important should be taking a break to just throw in a beginner dance or two that's fun and doesn't take a lot of brain power. They may not prove to be our most popular dances, but the dancers do enjoy the break from the constant thinking each dance takes to memorize.

Oh and remember a few month's back when I was talking about all of the new dances done to Lady Gaga's hit track Bad Romance? Well as it turns out, I opted not to teach any of them, but rather than bring in yet another new dance, I went ahead and resurrected on older one that not only our class enjoyed, but fits the track marvelously! That being Pat Stott's classic, Don't Feel Like Dancing. Give it a shot for your class if you like the song as much as we do!

Again, Glen and I don’t claim to hit on every great dance out there, but I will say that we do our best to find the best cross section of choreography in the world, whether they be from the short list of hyped and consistently mentioned choreographers or from some others that don’t really get much recognition yet contribute some fun dances. It's great to get feedback from many sources, but please, I beg of all of you, before blindly teaching a dance because Joe Dancer recommended it, please check out whether or not Joe Dancer is truly teaching from a cross section of choreographers or just sticking to plugging the latest dances from a relatively short list of people.

By the way, this month I will be teaching at Judy McDonald's Canadian Classic event in Ontario, Canada. I had such a great time last year and I'm excited to see Peter & Alison join the group this year!!! For information on registering, go to Judy's Website! I hope to see many of you there March 19th - 21st.

I’ll continue to review video links in my quest to find our next teaches and now share the videos of the dances we are teaching with everyone. I also hope you consider using our music links when downloading your music as this site isn’t free and it would help pay for the costs incurred with running our fun and informative site.

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