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Text Box: May 15, 2012 So nice to see the sun. Maybe Spring has finally arrived. Cam has just uploaded a number of pictures on the photo gallery. These are pictures from Sweethearts Jamboree, Dee's Spring Fling, Columbia Basin Spring Fling and Should Be Dancing In The Valley. We also updated the Events Calendar. I have included events that that are in the Lower Mainland, Okanagan and Washington state. Cheers, Ember _____________________________________________________________________________________ November 15, 2011 In just a few hours, I will be off to Vegas to attend the Vegas Dance Explosion hosted by Doug and Jackie Miranda. The first time I went to Vegas was in 2006 and I have attended this event every year since. One of the attractions of going to an international event is meeting new people from all over the world. My friend, Pat from England, called last week and she is coming out to Vegas. This will be her second trip to the Vegas Dance Explosion. It will be nice to see my line dance friends from Washington and California and from Ontario and Alberta. I have so many friends that I have met through line dancing and I look forward to seeing them today. The article below was submitted to Carol Craven’s newsletter last year from Judy Romanenkov. Thanks, Judy for letting me put your article on my web page. The article says it all. Why I go to line dance events by Judy Romanenkov 10. Learning new dances. I was once asked, after coming back from a line dance event , how many new dances I learned and then it was followed by "so how much did each dance cost you?" If that's all the reason you went, you'd come up with a foolish figure. It could even be downright dumb because you can learn a new dance on the net without spending a dime. Laura, a dancer in SF knows all the dances and learnt them from Youtube. 9. People. Dancing with lots of people from many different places makes it extra especial. It's a joy to dance with friends from home in a different location, catch up with friends that you see only at events, greet familiar faces and make new friends. You meet some of the nicest people at linedancing events. 8. Seeing a new place. Sometimes a line dance event is a very good reason for seeing a new place. It's a 2 in 1 kind of thing and then some. Looking down at the overpowering beauty of Niagara Falls from your hotel room and then going down to the ballroom to dance at Judy MacDonald's Canadian Classic, or admiring the historical grandeur of Washington DC and dancing at Barry Durands Easterns are couplings that can't be beat. 7. A line dance vacation (even if it's a mini one). This is separately listed from #8 because it could be going back to the same place many times. We all know that taking a break is good for the body, mind and soul and a linedance break does wonders to your whole being. 6. Event shows and entertainment. Different events have their own particular shows - most of them involving choreographers and teachers. The Vegas Dance Explosion once was a master at this, with shows every night (5 of them), the ballrooms so festively decorated, costumes and all and once bringing their entire cast from the Majestic theater, then a magic act and so on. The shows put on by the couples and line events are particularly enthralling with their best couple dancers showing off their tricks, throwing their partners up in the air, sweeping the floors with them, wrapping them around their body all with exquisite grace and perfect timing. 5. Local Shows. This pertains to only one place. You guessed it - the show capital of the world. In last week's Vegas Dance Explosion, we went to MGM for dinner and to see "KA". Having seen a lot of Cirque de Soleil shows and pronouncing "O" to be the best, I didn't realize how little prepared I was for what I was about to see - a magnificent mesmerizing masterpiece. In a world of superlatives I found it wanting to crystally describe it. 4. Dance Competition. This also pertains to only one event - The World's. This is where the world's top dancers compete for world titles. It's the Olympics of country and line dancing. 3. Instructors. Now we're coming down to the nitty gritty. The first thing you look at when you take an event flyer in your hand is who are going to be there. You look for the names of choreographers who have given you all these wonderful dances. The stars who have sent you to rapturous heights. The teachers, dancers you admire. 2. Learning, dancing with choreographers. Learning the dance from the choreographer her/himself is needless to say something special. They now incorporate technique while teaching their dance and their personal teaching style add flavor and pizzaz to the workshops such as Philip Sobreilo's dance mantra: breeaathe and smiiiille, Roy Verdonk's rapid fire funny words or sounds, their little vignettes and wits sprinkled here and there while teaching. And at open dancing when their dance is called, it's great to have them lead it. Hats off to Rachael McEnaney, the reigning queen of linedancing. Not only is she out there leading her dances but dances the others too. When she danced Americano by Simon Ward at Vegas it plain took my breath away. And when it was time to close on Sunday, she went around kissing and hugging people goodbye and so did Guyton Mundy. Such jewels! 1. A megadose of dancing high anytime you want it. And finally, the central reason why you're there - to dance - naturally. When a judge in "So You Think You Can Dance" said that dancing is her drug, I couldn't agree more. I take dancing in 3 stages:  1) Learning a new dance which is a task.  2) Once learned there's a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.  3 ) And when mastered and you can hear the beat coming out of your body, when there is a  perfect melding of music and movement and you're not thinking anymore about the steps  because your muscle memory has kicked in, you're in the moment, in the zone, you've reached a kind of bliss, a Dancer's high and that's why you're there. And if there's open  dancing during the day you can pretty much get it anytime you want. It's no wonder that  the lobby (the real lobby) dancing at Worlds and the open dancing during the day at Vegas  were sorely missed. It's something precious and rare. For us solar-powered people, we  equate it with energy and vitality. At night, specially when they turn down the lights, it's  time to unwind and slow down. Then after midnight into the wee hours, forget it, that's  sleep time and I'm afraid that if I deprive myself of sleep I won't be dancing for long.  Although during the evening dances Vegas gives you all the opportunity as no other event  does to stay high with four ballrooms going on at the same time: the main ballroom, all  request room, posted playlist room and beginners room. Those are my reasons and I'm sure you have yours and you probably won't agree with  some of mine. For sure, no event is perfect but if you go in there with the attitude that you  will have fun and you'll have that dancer's high regardless, you will. Judy Romanenkov   _______________________________________________________________________________ October 1, 2011 Just got back from Westbank (north of Vancouver, B.C.) where I attended the annual line dance event called "Harvest Moon." Our instructors were Michelle Burton and Michael Barr, Susan Clark and the event director, Deb Selzler. We learned a variety of great new dances and I was very pleased to come away with a number of very well crafted beginner dances. Michelle conducted an informative technique class that focused on making line dancing moves easier to execute.  Also, Michelle and Michael incorporated technique suggestions in all their classes. Susan was the D.J. for the event and did a fantastic job playing requests, leaving no one sitting for long. A delicious sausage and pancake breakfast and spaghetti lunch were enjoyed on Saturday. The instructors and event directors provided a very warm and welcoming venue, conducive to learning and socializing. Thanks to you all.  Looking forward to next year's event. CLICK HERE FOR PIC'S OF THE EVENT ______________________________________________________________________________ July 31, 2011 I thought summer might be here but it looks like rain again this morning. I hosted a social yesterday and despite the fact that it was a long weekend and many folks were on holidays or busy hosting BBQ's, we had a good turnout. Thanks very much to all the dancers that came to the social.  I hope you all had as much fun as I did. Click HERE if you would like a copy of the play list. We got as far as Mojo Mambo and then we did Bella's Cha Cha, Downpour and finished with Blue Night Cha. I also taught the two new beginner dances. I will have pic's of the social up later this week. ______________________________________________________________________________ March 1, 2010 Hello Dancers, Spring is almost here. I am getting ready to go to Belfast, Ireland and will be away from March 10th until the 21st.. I am going with my pipe band and will be very busy playing the pipes at numerous events over there. I hope to have a little free time for a line dance class or two and I would love a game of golf. I just wanted to say THANKS to the 26 dancers that attended my first Saturday social on February 27. I received a number of positive comments about the social. We danced for almost 4 hours.  The dances were mostly beginner plus dances.  I wanted to keep everyone up on the floor dancing.  I reviewed all the dances and if the dance was a bit tricky, I tried to split the floor with a beginner dance. The dancers brought goodies and we stopped for a break and enjoyed a delicious assortment of treats. I plan on hosting more Saturday socials and hope to see YOU there. The dances listed below are some of the ones we did at the social on the 27th. Rainy Night, Chica Boom, Downpour, Cumbia Semana, Under The Sun, Mandolins In The Moonlight, Cool Chick, Hop It, Wanna Dance, Linda, Eh, Rio, Louisiana Swing, Mama Maria, Big Girls Boogie, Country As Can Be, Stuff You Gotta Watch, Ay Amor, Heart Of An Angel, Go Mama Go, Toes, Jersey Girls   ______________________________________________________________________________ January 28, 2008 Happy New Year to all my line dance partners. I hope to see you at the various line dance events here in the Lower Mainland, and at the events offered elsewhere in Washington and B.C. in 2008 ** I am planning to go to Las Vegas again in 2008,  my third trip.  Doug and Jackie Miranda offer a fabulous 5 day event in the middle of November at the Riviera Hotel.  The event features instructors from all over the world. **Check out my Events Page.  I will have the events listed for the B.C. and Washington area for 2008.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Please look at my Class Schedule.  It would be great to have you join our class.   :)   ______________________________________________________________________________ June 15, 2007 Marpole Oakridge Community Centre held their annual community days celebration on Saturday,    June 2nd, 2007. Throughout the day there were demonstrations of some of the programs offered at the community centre. Community Days also included a kid's play area, community service booths and a food stand. There was something for EVERYONE. My Line Dance class was asked to demo.  We did our demonstration at 1:10 p.m. We did a variety of dances including newer dances and a few classics. In order the dances included: Boot Scootin' Boogie, Rock Around The Clock, Irish Stew, Happy Feet, Syncopated Love, A Gigolo, Rio, Bop The B, Bella's Cha Cha, Not Going Home and Waltz Across Texas. I would like to thank my dance friends for their support.  The dancers that helped out this year were: Jamie, Alan, Audrey, Ann, Ted, Carrie, Landis, Joanne, Huguette and Sally. You folks are GREAT. Thanks to our fans/spouses Beth, Helle and Cam. ______________________________________________________________________________