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Email Mark Cosenza by clicking here.
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Thanks for stopping by! I set up this web page to give you all an idea of what is happening in the world of line dancing in the Chicago area. As for me, I've been involved with line dancing since about 1994. In 1998, I branched out into teaching and have had some nice success stories with my Choreography with published dances in UK's Linedancer and Canada's Dance Lines Magazine. To see the latest that I've created, check out my New Choreography section. This area also includes direct links to purchase and sample the choreographed music. Last year, dances such as Where R U , Waikiki Cowboy and B Squared were enjoyed by many across the country thanks to many great instructors across the country who took taught them. None of this would have ever been possible without the help and input of some great individuals along the way. Glen Pospieszny has been dancing for about the same amount of time as me. He's also a terrific choreographer and has the ability to really make his dances look good. And while Glen has impressed many with his Choreography, we've done quite well with our collaborative efforts. Our dance Runaround Sue took 3rd place in 2000 at the UCWDC World's Competition in Edmonton, Canada. Glen and I started a weekly line dance get-together Thursday nights at the St. James Church located on the far west side of Chicago in the fall of 1999. Since that time we are happy to meet and greet new faces every week along with our favorite group of regular supporters that includes Nadine, Don, Lori, Lola, Barb, Sally, Morry, Jodie, Basia, Deanna, Ida, Hisae, Mas & Kaz (this is by all means not an all inclusive list!). Thanks to these folks and many others, we feel extremely spoiled with the terrific dances we get to do - particularly when we visit other places and we find them continually doing a high percentage of the older dances that while are fun on occasion, can be a bit tiresome if they are continually played week after week.
Mark's Chicago Area Friends St James was created because nobody else does what we do and rather than see people quit line dancing all together (as some of our regulars would have done), we decided to keep line dancing alive with fresh and fun new material. Each month we continue to introduce a mix of fun beginner dances along with the best of the more challenging pieces of choreography that we come across. But all of us, whether the forum we run specializes in old or new, beginner or advanced dances have one thing in common, we all are doing our part to keep Line Dancing going and that is what is important. 2000 began a time when I have been invited to teach my choreography to other regions thanks to folks like Peter Metelnick and Doug & Jackie Miranda. Because of them and the positive word of mouth that resulted, my schedule has expanded with many new opportunities from other well respected Event Directors. I plan to continue teaching at a number of new and returning events in 2007. It's always a thrill to share dances (both mine and my personal favs from other choreographers) with dancers from different areas. Current bookings can now be found on my Event Schedule page. The Video Clip portion of this site has quickly become a favorite of both readers and Event Directors who enjoy being able to see our favorite dances instead of just reading about them. Glen, Eve and I were also very proud to host our very first event in 2003, which allowed us to continue the tradition for 2004 and beyond! Thanks to our great past associations with some excellent national and world renowned instructors, we are certainly fortunate to bring aboard some of the best names at one Line Dance Weekend extravaganza. For more information, check out the event flyer! Picking out dances from such great talent has always been tough! But the input from our class on all of the new dances reflects what we end up teaching on Thursday nights. While we have been building up with a great weekly group of dancers, we continue to do what we can through feedback and surveys. Also included on the site, is a list of the dances that we play weekly (or at least a few times during the month) in the Current Playlist section so that you already have a good idea as to what to expect! I am thankful to all of the folks that continue to check us out on Thursdays, thus allowing us to continue to introduce great dances from throughout the world. If you are ever in the area, I hope you will stop by and say hello. For details on how to find us, go to my Places To Dance page. Well that’s my world, I hope you enjoy the site!!!
Mark Cosenza |
