Latest News ....
Mar, 09 - Report on Canadian Line Dance Classic, Mar
20-22, '09, St. Catharines, ON, Canada.
This year I had the privilege of joining the instructor staff at the CLDC, along
with Junior Willis, Lynn Warden (DJ), Max Perry, Jamie Marshall, Kathy
Hunyadi, Mark Cosenza, Amy Christian-Sohn, Jill Babinec (also DJ) and of course
event director, Judy McDonald, with hard-working volunteers Sue and Tina.
I was so hyped up about it that I hardly slept before and during the event!
ISOLATED - Debbie McLaughlin (UK), 32 cts, 4 walls, 1 restart and 3 easy tags.
Lovely NC2 to 'Light On by David Cook. Debbie's first choreography and she
did a great job. Here's a vid of Debbie doing it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avG8rEOGQzI.
A bit of a challenge in the middle section, just needs a bit of practice.
Debbie rated this as Adv, but it's not that hard.
CHA CHA CONCHITA - Jennifer Choo Sue Chin (Malaysia), 32 cts, 4 walls, 1 restart
(more of a skip), ending. Cute Chacha to 'Conchita' - Cha Cha version by
Lou Bega. Love that wiggle at the end of the sequence. Here's a vid
of the choreographer & friends .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOtvdYkjC0Q.
Rated as Beg/Int, but for me it's a solid Int. I taught this in my class
and they all said they love it, so decided to teach it at the event.
TOES - Rachael McEnaney, 32 cts, 4 walls, Improver. Music: Toes by
Zac Brown Band. As soon as I heard the lyrics to this song I wanted to do
the dance. All my classes like this one.
TANGO PERHAPS? - Carmen Mah, 32 cts, 4 walls, Beg. An oldie dance I
decided to throw in since there was going to be time after teaching TOES.
Music: Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps by Ross Mitchell.... tango version of the
song, or use any tango music. Here's a vid ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZsFnvX-5FQ.
I choreographed this in 2003 when I couldn't find a beginner level tango line
dance. I revised the stepsheet recently to add the arm description.
Thanks to everyone who came to my classes. There were 3 instruction rooms,
so lots of choices. The hotel beds are quite comfortable & someone
told me that the masage setting in the showerheads is great... how come I only
find out these things after the fact?! Lots of food places in the hotel
and nearby, free parking, and of course, Niagara Falls a short drive away.
Other dances taught:
Mark Cosenza: CRY JUST A LITTLE BIT, BODY CHA, HOTTER THAN COLD, SNEAKER NIGHT, DANCE SOME MORE
Junior Willis: INVISIBLE, HEAT WAVE, LET'S TAKE A WALK
Amy Christian-Sohn: JAI HO, ONE OF THESE NIGHTS, LONG TRAIN RUNNIN'
Max Perry - RIGHT NOW< FATED LOVE, SWEET TALKING WOMAN
Kathy Hunyadi - LET ME TAKE YOU THERE, ETERNALLY YOURS, THE WEDDING SAMBA
Jamie Marshall - SOLDIER'S DREAM (my favourite of the wkend, besides my own classes of course!), FEELIN' SO FLY, HIGH BID
Jill Babinec - STING ME, HONEY DO
Judy McDonald - ISRAELITES, TRYIN' TO GET TO YOU, 649
Next... Line Dance Showdown, Framingham, MA.
Feb 25, 09 - Update on the TV segment..... The Line Dance segment is to be aired on Wednesday, Feb 25, 2009 .... 3 pm..... rerun at 3:30 am the next morning! The show will also be aired on the website, http://www.cbc.ca/livingintoronto, for 1 week, and after that the seperate segments can be accessed in the different categories on the site.
Feb 5, 09 - It was a real blast on Wed, Feb 4th when the team (Mary Ito, Myrocia and Richard) from Living In Toronto came in to film the Int class. "Living in Toronto" is a 1/2 hr program produced by CBC here in Toronto (duh!) and airs at 3 pm, and for those nighthawks, 3:30 am! You can also catch it on their website. Mary Ito is the host of the show and she joined the line to try her hand... er, feet! ... at line dancing. Mary does salsa and has tried all different kinds of dancing, but this was her first time doing line dancing. She was great! She learned really quickly and was able to keep up with everyone. Because of music rights issues, Myrocia, the show's producer, provided the music that I used for the 'teach'... a version of La Bamba, a great song that most people already knew, and it was really easy to fit an easy dance to it, "Cucaracha" by Hank & Mary Dahl. The song has a strong ending, so I was able to fit in a Ta-Da! with a pose, at the end. I did a review of Michele Burton's "Shake Your Groove Thing" and then Phil Dennington's "Bosa Nova" to finish off the teaching segment .... and again Mary impressed us all by keeping pace with us. With Richard's able camera work whilst dodging around dancers, no major mishaps, although I found myself vining into him once,... the filming went smoothly ... that light sure is bright! The whole class was filmed, but they'll be doing major editing and I am guessing the segment will be about 6 mins, maybe less. Check back & I'll be posting the air date. Now today I'm resting.... it's my birthday and I have done ABSOLUTELY NO WORK today.... ummmm.
Jan, 09 - I am so excited! On Wednesday, Feb 4th, one of my classes is going to be filmed for TV! The host will be joining the class on that day and there will be a short interview with me. We are going to have our 2 minutes of fame on the small screen! LOL!
Jan 26, 09 - HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! GUNG HEI FAT CHOI!
Jan, 09 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Well, we're back from our short holiday in Orlando for the UCWDC Worlds competition and workshops. The dancing was great and so was the weather! I didn't miss the snow one bit! haha! Classes start back this week. New this month is the Monday evg class at Alexmuir JPS. There is also a daytime class at L'Amoreaux CC, 2000 McNicoll, at Kennedy, in Scarborough. This is a Toronto Parks & Rec class. Check the Classes page for details. Note: It is listed as "Country Line Dance: Advanced", but I anticipate it will be really a High Beginner level. You can email me if any questions.
Dec, 08 - MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!
Nov 28, 08 - ***NEW*** I will be starting a NEW BEGINNER CLASS in January, 2009. The first class will be Monday, January 12. Class time is 7:10 - 8:25 pm. Location is Alwexmuir Jr. PS, 95 Alexmuir Blvd., Scarborough. Check the flyer for details.
Nov 22, 08 - Well, just about recovered from the trip to Tampa. First of all, I decided to accompany some friends driving from Toronto to St. Petersburg.... don't ask me why, I don't know. We left on Tues am, arrived on Wed night and managed to get some beach time on Thurs before heading over to Tampa. Robert took the smart route and flew down on Thursday! These are some of the workshops I attended...UNDERSTANDING LEARNING STYLES workshop with Gerard Murphy.. This was really interesting and fun and I learned a lot....
WE SHOULD BE DANCING (
(Raymond Sarlemijn - entertaining instructor, gives lots of styling variations)
UNCHAIN MY HEART - Cha cha
BILLIE JEAN - Easy Beg dance that Raymond added
GOOD GOOD by Amy Christian-Sohn .... I learned this to demo with Amy on Sat night. Neat dance.... give it a go. Her class was packed on Sunday.
We stayed a couple extra days, went to the beach again (Ft Desoto) on Mon - it was cool but still enjoyable.... thhere was a commercial being filmed ... a family enjoying sunny Florida - they were all dressed in skimpy bathing suits while everyone else were wearing sweaters!! LOL..... then dancing in Largo on Mon night. We flew back on Tues to the cold and snow!
Nov 11, 08 
- NO CLASS at Club 300. I'm headinng to the Tampa Line Dance
Classic!
Oct 14, 08 - I hope everyone got out to vote today. I'm sick, had to cancel everything, but I did get out to vote. Luckily it's really close to my house. NOTE: Class tonight is cancelled.
The Windy City Line Dance Mania was great. Lots of good dances, I still remember some of them too! Check the pics on the Photos page. Looking forward to Dan's Orillia event in a couple of weeks and then Tampa in November.
While you're in the Photos page, check out the pics from the 2 workshops at the Thornhill CC in Sept and Oct.
June 11, 08 - Back from the jg2 Marathon, see pics on the Photos Page. Looking forward to the Great Big Party. See you there! Robert will be missing the GBP as he'll be riding in the Ride To Conquer Cancer. He's pumped and READY!! Thanks to everyone for all the support!
Apr 10, 08 - By request, I am opening a Beginner class on Fridays, 12:00 - 1:30, at Fantasy Dance studio. See Classes for details. Please pass the word around, but there is a limited number as it is not a huge space. Start date is Apr 25th.
Apr 8, 08 - Well, back from the Line Dance Showdown in Framingham, Boston. We drove to & from. On the drive there, my foot was a bit heavy as I got a speeding ticket on the I-90! I have to mail in a Guilty plea and they'll let me know what the fine is. Hmm, I wonder how much it will be? I stayed up waaay too late every night, but I did learn some dances and of course met up with lots of friends. Barry & Dari Anne Amato won the competition with their Ken & Barbie performance. All the competitors were fantastic, so think about attending next year!
Thank you to everyone that donated to Robert's Ride. He's over the minimum $2500. mark! WOOHOO! He's finally able to cycle on the road now that it's better weather here.
Mar 24, 08 - As some of you may know, Robert is participating in the Ride To Conquer Cancer event, June 21-22. It's a 2 day ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls, with a stopover in Hamilton. He's busy with our daughter's High School Robotics team .... they got to the quarter finals this past wkend .... and final competition is in a few days, but after that he'll be training more intensely. Read about his endeavours here, http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/robert_mah, and any support will be appreciated. Thanks! PS. The quickest way to donate is online through the website, and you get your tax receipt immediately. A cheque takes several weeks to process.
Mar, 08 - We had a good time at the Canadian Classic, held in St. Catherines, Ontario. The hotel has a restaurant and a snack bar on site, and lots of restaurants and shopping nearby. Lots of parking too. The floors weren't great, the new ones were supposed to arrive but didn't, so by next year, Mar 20 - 22, 09,they should be there. When we got back to Toronto I realised that there was little to no snow in St. Catherines, but there are still huge piles here! HAPPY EASTER!!
Jan. 08: - HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We got back on Sunday night from Nashville at the UCWDC Worlds event. Check out www.ucwdcworlds.com for the flyer for next year. Early bird price until Jan 31st, 2008. Had a really good time, as usual! Lots of dancing, people watching, socializing, eating, etc. Just a note that my new passport arrived the morning of Dec 31st, a relief as we flew out on Jan 1st! There is a link to a video from the event on the Photos page, see if you recognize anyone. I'll have some pics up as soon as I get them off the camera. Classes start back the 2nd week of Jan, so Club 300 on Tues 8th, Leacock on Wed 9th and by popular demand, Fantasy Studio on Fri 18th.
Dec. 07: - Well, our trip to Punta Cana was eventful .... lost passports, etc., but hey, it was warm weather with lots of food, friends, drinks, sunshine, the beach, food, ocean, food .... you get the drift. I would like to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS filled with lots of DANCING!! All the best in 2008.
Nov. 12, 07 - NEW! I added a photos page.
Oct. 24, 2007 - Today I taught "Sorrento" by Michele Perron and Max Perry. I had planned to teach it last fall when Nobby (Nobuko) Sagara was to come back to classes after summer travels. She had asked for for the stepsheet because she really liked the dance and wanted to review it while she was away. For whatever reason she never made it back to class and I learned recently that she passed away on Oct. 1 after being hit by a truck while she was on her usual early morning walk. The class loved the dance.
My nephew, Bryan, passed away on February 19th, 2007. Many thanks to everyone for the tremendous support. www.bryan-wong.blogspot.com.
This page was last updated on 04/10/09.
