| 2009 at Lilleshall Memorial Hall | |
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The class comprises of dancers of mixed ages, preferences, likes and dislikes. We don't generally
split the class for teaching purposes. We teach linedances at all levels and all genres, the entire
class takes part in the instruction, or not, as they see fit. Our aim is to ensure that our dancers
can go onto a dance floor anywhere and enjoy themselves. The class is incredibly enthusiastic, very
knowledgeable and quite demanding - we wouldn't have it any other way.
The comments on each dance are purely personal opinions and are not intended for any other interpretation. Recent dances taught are:- |
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| Forever Is Over Dee Musk The Saturdays "Forever Is Over" |
The music and the dance were released on 5th October, we put it down to teach on the 8th as it just has that feel good factor that Dee Musk seems to have the knack of achieving. 64 counts, 2 walled, a nippy 136 bpm and just 3 restarts. Generally the dance steps are straight forward and the dance has a nice little step/kick sequence in it about halfway through that the class liked. The restarts are easy to spot after a couple of times through so didn't confuse the class to any degree and all in all the dance scored quite highly with the entire class. This dance now joins Dee's other top quality dances 'Water And A Flame' and 'Release Me' on the request list. |
| Say Hey Love Bracken Ellis Potter Michael Franti and Spearhead featuring Cherine "Say Hey (I Love You)" |
This is an easy little dance, just 32 count and 2 walled. We were just walking through the dance before the Class started, not intending to teach it, and the early arrivals picked the dance up from just watching it - so we taught it to the entire class. They all loved it. The steps are all easy and the whole dance is just lots of fun to do. If you're looking for an improver dance with a nice mambo feel to it then I'd recommend this one. |
| Painted Pony Peter Metelnick and Alison Biggs Beverley Knight "Painted Pony" |
We were looking for a Night Club 2 Step dance that came close to Dee Musk's 'Water And A Flame' which we had already taught (see below) when 'Strength In Numbers' and this dance came along. We elected for this dance purely on the grounds that it was marginally the easier of the two. 32 count and 2 walled and just one restart after 8 counts of Wall 3. The steps flow nicely throughout as expected and the dance fits the music superbly. It's worth spending the time on both the steps and the count, we also dancd the first Wall a few times before going onto the second Wall. This strategy paid dividends and the entire class gave this dance high marks. |
| Time To Play Peter Metelnick and Alison Biggs Big Ali featuring Dollarman "Hit The Floor" |
They're not exactly the new Brooks and Dunn, but Big Ali and Dollarman's song is awesome to dance to. The steps aren't too difficult and precisely reflect the song. The class weren't too sure about this one at first but after a couple of times through realisation of just how good this dance is dawned on them and now they love it. A little tag at the end of every Wall 3 puts the dancers on to the 12 o'clock so technically this is a 3 wall dance similar to '8, 9, 10 Let's Do It Again' - guess who choreographed that dance! |
| Why Don't We Just Dance Peter Metelnick and Alison Biggs Josh Turner "Why Don't We Just Dance" |
Another quality dance from the Dance Factory, this is a 2 walled, 64 count, intermediate level dance and has just one easy 8 count tag at the end of Wall 4. The steps are straight forward and flow with the music superbly. The song is traditional new country and I could listen to Josh Turner's voice all day. I recommed this to you all. |
| Run Peter Metelnick and Alison Biggs Jamie Knight "Run" (Wayne G Radio Edit) |
This 2 walled, 64 count, intermediate level dance is quite busy at 127 bpm and has just one restart in the 3rd Wall which is easy to spot. The choreography is quite straight forward, the only part that gave any trouble was in Section 5 and 6, whch require a bit of practice to reach a high level of perfection. The Class like this dance a lot and the entire Class rate the song very highly. The only problem with the song is that after 2 minutes the beat becomes subdued for about 30 seconds but the tempo of the dance needs to be maintained. For the first couple of times through to music I found it useful to call the count out at this point, to keep the Class together and in time. Once the Class was familiar with the song there was no problem. |
| Bad Influence Jo and John Kinser and Mark Furnell Pink "Bad Influence" |
We were lucky enough to have local instructor Marie Tooth at the Class to teach this fun 64 count, 4 walled, intermediate level dance. Hand movements are not always popular with the Class but the macarena style moves in Section 5 went down well. The chance for some individual styling wasn't missed by most of the Class. The choreography is straight forward, flows well and has an ending. This dance ticks all the boxes for the Class, if you're not dancing this then you're missing out. |
| L.O.V.E. Love Peter Metelnick and Alison Biggs V V Brown "L.O.V.E." |
This is a swing style, 64 count, 4 walled dance from The Dance Factory which has become one of the Class's favourites immediately. The dance is at lower intermediate/improver level and is easy to teach. Be warned, the song has just an 8 count in. The Class particularly like the 'kick, rock, strut' sequence in the 5th Section and the 'jump steps' in the 7th Section as both these have the potential for that all important individual styling. Evidently the music is popular as there are already two dances to the same song, we taught this one as it was the first to be published and the choreography is such that the Class can have fun with it. I recommend this dance to you all. |
| Release Me Dee Musk Agnes Carlsson "Release Me" |
This is a fine 64 count, 4 walled, intermediate level dance. There are 2 restarts which occur at the same point in the dance. The choreography is straight forward and easy to teach. The 7th Section took a little time to get right but practice makes perfect. The Class like this dance and it appears on the request list every week. |
| Water And A Flame Dee Musk Daniel Merriweather and Adele "Water And A Flame" |
This smooth style dance from Dee was immediately popular with the entire Class. The choreography flows along reflecting the mood of this superb song. The Class particularly like the syncopated rock sequence in the second Section and the restart is easy to spot in the 6th Wall. The dance is 40 count and 4 walled, the music is a gentle 74 bpm. |
| Heaven In My Woman's Eyes Daniel Trepat Tracy Byrd "Heaven In My Woman's Eyes" |
This is an improver level, 32 count, 4 walled dance to a fine two stepping song. The choreography is straight forward and the dance is fun to do. |
| Got Me Breathless Maggie Gallagher Mica Paris "Breathless" |
The simple choreography lures the instructor into a false sense of security in this 32 count, 4 walled, intermediate dance. At 120 bpm, no tricky turns and a highly syncopated 8 count in the third section, I thought this would be a 10 minute teach - it wasn't. I recommend that this is taught in some detail and if possible slow the music until the class is more at ease with the choreography. Patience is definately a virtue with this dance, but well worth the wait! |
| Roomba Guyton Mundy Pitbull "I Know You Want Me" |
This phrased dance in two parts is just lots of fun with plenty of opportunity for that all important individual styling. The steps are easy, there's a 4 count hand movement that's easy and the sequence is easy - AAB, AAB, AAB, AAA. However, check you have the correct version of the song - the one you need is approx 4 mins 4 secs long. The version on the Now 73 compilation CD is not the right one! I encouraged the class to take small steps as it does travel quite a bit but we still lost the back couple of rows to the car park on every other wall. No matter, the entire class had lots of fun with this dance. |
| Sag Drag and Fall Frank Trace Sid King and the 5 Strings "Sag Drag and Fall" |
This is a very easy dance from the choreographer of Duck Soup fame and is about the same level. The song is just over 2 minutes in a rockabilly style and is a 5 minute teach. The class took to this dance straight away and local instructors who have seen us dance it have taken it away to teach their classes. It's great fun and we love it! It's also a good floor split with The Lennerockers and the dance "My New Life". |
| Hotter Than Cold Rob Fowler Katy Perry "Hot and Cold" |
64 count, 4 walled at easy intermediate level, but a little quicker than you first expect! The class particularly like the middle section of this dance. The choreography is fairly easy as can be expected at this level, there are a couple of times where combinations of 1/2 turns can be taken out for those that aren't too keen on turns making the dance accceptable to most dancers. With a quick 8 count in, dancers need to be on the floor and ready to begin before the music starts. |
| Action Darren Bailey Toby Keith "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" |
A fun and stylish 32 count, 2 walled, low intermediate dance from Darren Bailey. The dance is all about the second section which has the heel taps and hip sways. The script does say that the choreography for this section is merely a guide and dancers should do what they feel - the class was up for this one and had lots of fun with it. |
| Father and Daughter Karen Hadley Heartland "I Loved Her First" |
This is a very nicely constructed 48 count, 4 walled waltz at improver level. It has just one tag which is easy to remember. The song has become one of our favourites. The class took to this dance immediately, I recommend it to you all. Well done Karen! |
| Real Time Maggie Gallagher Young Divas "This Time I Know It's For Real" |
A 32 count, 4 walled, improver dance with two restarts. The dance is choreographed to this remix of the song so having the original is no advantage. The choreography is fairly straight forward, flows nicely and is absolutely spot on for this level of dance. |
| 2 Of Us Maggie Gallagher Michael Jackson "Ben" |
This is a 40 count, 2 walled, smooth night club 2 step dance to a favourite song of Maggie's. It was launched at Daniel Whittaker's Tarporley event on 27th June and is at intermediate level. The dance has that feel good factor and at first doesn't seem to be extraordinary. After a few times however it becomes apparent just how good the choreography is. As ever with this type of dance the steps are straight forward but the timing takes a little getting used to, particularly the 4th section of the dance. Fortunately the dance is helped greatly by having an exceptionally well written script. I recommend this dance to you all. |
| Speak With Your Heart Peter Metelnick and Alison Biggs Collin Raye "Don't Tell Me You're Not In Love" |
32 count, 4 walled dance at intermediate level to a superb song. It has a semi syncopated rumba box which isn't seen in many dances and Peter and Alison have possibly taken a leaf out of Dee Musk's book for a tag by incorporating the main dance steps in it with a little tweak to restart the dance on the 12 o'clock wall. All in all a very nice dance. |
| Coochie Bang Bang Scott Blevins Alex Swings Oscar Sings "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" |
A superb 64 count, 4 walled line dance at high intermediate level. The music is Germany's Eurovision Song Contest entry and is a top quality swing dance track. The main dance is relatively straight forward but does have quite a few 1/4 and 1/2 turns. The turns are manageable, the class just needed more time than usual to get used to which way to turn. Patience has its own rewards and having taught the first wall we spent some time just dancing that wall to music (slowed down a little at first) before we progressed to wall 2. This wall is where dancers meet the first tag - a very stylish and fairly easy 20 counts with no turns. We then progressed through to wall 5 where we reach the second tag - a very stylish and slightly tricky 20 counts with a 1/4 turn. Not all the the class achieved the choreography immediately but none let that stop them enjoying the dance. After the second tag, dance through to the big finish facing front. The class loved it and it was requested several times after the teach was completed, each time getting better and better. I recommend the dance to all intermediate dancers, you just need to take your time learning it. Linedancer Web Site and YouTube have videos of the dance if required, we found them very useful for this dance. |