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"Welcome to the 2003 Dance Team Showdown!".
Although a great idea on paper, Pedro managed to scare away a lot of the dancers with his surprise entrance!
"And hold this position for just a couple more counts and then we will go into part B."
Barry's latest creation was a bit painful for some of the dancers.....
"I find Line Dancing to be tremendously subjective in both its architecture and arrangement. The movements created back in the 1890's by the Hamlet Theatre of Dancemasters directly correlated to what we currently are experiencing here in 2003....."
Jeni Routon duped the dancers into coming into her new Line Dance Lecture Series by advertising a Phloor Philla workshop.
"And then I remember back a couple years ago, I had to judge this one dance team. And one of the guys on the team I used to go out with. I had to give them last place. I know it was wrong, but sometimes I get so angry and its the best way to take out my frustrations...."
"Yo Jeni, your workshop / lecture was supposed to end 20 minutes ago..... "
"Quit poking me lady, I'll get you that step sheet as soon as I get finished with my workshop."
Some of the dancers got a bit pushy with the instructors.
"I think Max said he'll get you that step sheet when he was finished with his workshop."
The Showstopper's competition was delayed a few hours so that nobody woke up one of the event sponsors.
"Come back soon for another Dancing Dean workshop, come back
soon for another Dancing Dean workshop, come back soon for another Dancing
Dean workshop"
Dancing Dean's virtual workshop had a few flaws, but allowed him to
stay at home and nurse his toothache.
"Hey you. Stop touching me. I said stop touching me!"
Dancer's looked on has Peter Metelnick's paranoia got increasingly
worse over the weekend.
"Hey, you're squeezing me a bit tight there
buddy..."
The Jamie Marshall takes time out to pose with one of her many fans....
"Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's got the best dance tattoo's of
them all"
"Well Pedro, this guy on Oz really had a nice one...."
Pedro's magic mirror was destroyed that weekend.
I'm not quite ready yet!
"I hate your event reviews, they are unfair and mean! You
don't know what the heck you are talking about half of the time and your
jokes are really stupid! - Oh
what did you say? You'd like a picture of me? - oh sure - CHEESE!"
Peter Metelnick takes a break with his favorite event reporter Mark
Cosenza as they discuss what Mark is going to write for his next event
review in Dubuque the weekend of March 21st.
Pictures courtesy of CJ.
Captions courtesy of Mark.
Dance Team Showdown
Feb 28 - March 2
EVENT DIRECTORS: Dale & Tanya Curry
ORG: Independent
Dale & Tanya Curry
The Fort Wayne Dance Team Showdown continues to be a thoroughly enjoyable event given the location and number of people that routinely attend. It’s one of those events that is drivable for me, so just for the pure social implications, this extravaganza is usually on my list of stops. While overall attendance was reportedly up, the Chicago crowd was considerably less this year mostly due to a lackluster open dance venue last time around. Happily, that showed significant improvement this year (more on that later) so maybe more of the group will consider checking it out next year. Anyhow, my fellow instructors Glen Pospieszny and Eve Yeaton were there as well as CJ, who once again took some great pictures for your viewing pleasure. This convention is attended by more dancers than any other due to the large number of team competitors as well as the very reasonable cost.
Although the number of top names this year was down a little from last year (minus Jo Thompson and Rachael McEnaney), the number of recommended dances was markedly higher. This was somewhat due to Peter Metelnick returning to this event again after a one year absence.
The registration fee here is probably the lowest of any regularly attended 3 day event. The following familiar and somewhat familiar instructors included:
|
Barry & Dari Anne Amato |
Brian Barakauskas |
Peter Metelnick |
|
John Robinson |
Judy McDonald |
Dancin’ Dean |
|
Pedro Machado |
Max Perry |
Jamie Marshall |
|
Ken Lasky |
Hillbilly Rick |
Lou Ecken |
John Robinson
This by all means is not an all-inclusive list! But to check the more complete list go to the danceteam showdown website at: http://www.danceteam.com.
Each hour during the day consisted of 5 to 6 different choices mixing in lines, couples and various technique classes. We definitely checked out many dance workshops and I made it a point to check around with many of my dance friends to see what they enjoyed. Because there were many folks that didn't regularly attend conventions such as this, there was a greater percentage than normal number of older dances, some of which were first taught last spring. Again, the Danceteam.com website has the complete list of dances taught at the event.
Notably missing this year, was Dena Rizzo who last year proved to be quite popular as she introduced Movements in Funk that included several hip-hop related dance moves. It was a shame she could not make it again this year.
As for the line dances, I do have plenty of brand new recommendations for dances that I had not yet seen. While last year I only found two keepers, this year had a much higher number of them! The following are my top picks and will definitely be taught sometime soon! You can access step sheets and purchase music links on my current playlist page. (Just scroll down to the “Up & Coming” section)
Irresistible - Peter Metelnick & Alison Biggs: Ignore what you see on the step sheet as far as the main music selection, this dance goes perfectly to a great Spanish tune Te Quiero Mas by Formula Abierta. This one is every bit as good as recent dance hits As They Danced and Destination Dancefloor! Without a doubt, Irresistible is my number one priority teach.
In Too Deep - Rob Fowler (Taught by Max Perry): Max singlehandedly has brought more great Rob Fowler dances here than anybody else. This one is country (gasp!) and 132 counts (double gasp!!). Plus there is a tag (triple gasp!!!) But guess what, it was not that difficult as the steps were easy and it flowed magnificently and still was easier than many 32 count dances I’ve done.
Phloor Philla - Floorfiller (A Teens) - Cody Stevens & Bryan McWherter (Taught by Jeni Roution): I must admit, we are way behind on this one compared to the rest of the world, so many of you stop your laughing at our slowness to pick up on this one. I hadn’t seen it til last month at Dance & Smile and y’know, I can only do so much….. Special thanks to Bryan for giving me and Eve a private on it so that we could do it during open dance along with the rest of the world.
Bryan McWherter "philled"
the "phloor" with his latest dance.
Guilty – Masters In Line (Taught by Pedro Machado): Music is Anastacia’s Love Is A Crime and is certainly going to be a hit. I didn’t have to bother learning it because Eve will be traveling the world and spreading the love with this dance.
Swing Your Chains – Dee Soares & Shaun Maguire (Taught by Max Perry): Another great one brought by Max. He has the best taste in dances! A little challenging but certainly flowed beautifully and just felt darn good on the dance floor. The music is slow though, so beware!
Tic Toc – Barry Amato: The dance made up for the song, which although decent, didn’t floor me. The moves on this one however, bring another great original dance to the mix and also is on our list of must teaches.
Plus here are a few others that get honorable mentions:
One Mississippi – Barry Amato: I plan to teach this one at the Dubuque event. It’s really easy, but goes flawlessly with the song, which is an excellent tune by hot new artist Jill King!
Daily Grind – Peter Metelnick & Alison Biggs (taught by Dancin’Dean): Another Shania dance done to one of my favorite tracks from Shania’s “Blue” CD. What’s with all those darn colors anyways? It’s a two step type of dance and the folks seemed to pick it up well! Great choice Dancin’!
Surrender – Judy McDonald: Easy and fun! The track also is terrific! I especially enjoyed the arms bursts!
Baby Come On – Bev Carpenter: Caught this one in open dance and it’s a shame that we already do Feel The Rush to the choreographed song! (I am one of the minority who preferred Feel The Rush to the Billy Gilman tune)…. Too bad, but it was one of the sharpest dances out on the floor and I believe placed near the Top in the choreography competition.
Other previously mentioned dances included:
Weak In The Knees – Kathy Hunyadi (taught by Alice Daugherty)
Chihuahua – Yvonne Anderson (taught by Ken Lasky)
Do It For Love – Judy McDonald
Rockin' My Life Away - Brian Barakouskas
Orange Colored Sky – Bob Izral (first place choreography winner taught on Sunday)
Stop It! – Rob Fowler (taught by Jeni Roution)
The Time of Our Lives – Juliet Hauser (taught by John Robinson)
SXE – Rob Fowler (taught by Pedro Machado)
Southside Stomp – Barry Amato
Feel The Rush – John Robinson
Like last year, there were several rooms (B,C,D,E and F) that were used for teaching and the majority of them were of decent size, although sometimes they were just way too packed for comfort.
Unlike most conventions, this one contains an extremely high number of folks that does not usually check out most conventions (not even Chicagoland) so that mostly can effect the large number of older dances taught as well as the open dancing and choreography competition, which routinely has more entries than any other US dance convention (outside of Worlds when held in the US).
Jennifer Jeffries shared MC duties with Barry Durand this year as part of the Choreography Competition as well as the "Chill Factor" dance-off held on Saturday Night. As us Chicagoland attendees have always noted, Jennifer does a terrific job handling these duties. It's so easy to come across as plastic, fake or boring, but Jennifer manages to avoid all of that with her commentaries and introductions.
MC Jennifer Jeffries kept things
moving
Open dancing was fun this year! A few oldie requests such as MMBop, Honky Tonk Twist and Syncopated Rhythm sprinkled the landscape of dances played, however, most of the favorites were played and the floor was filled most of the night. Note to Kickit Peter: This year, the one floor clearing dance specifically mentioned in his last year's report, River of Dreams, was played and this time, the floor was full. (Wooo!) As did other dances such as Dirrty, Feel The Rush, Too Funky For Me (my favorite -J) And They Danced, American Pop, Chihuahua, Yes, You Won’t, Shakatak, Phloor Filla, SXE, Do Your Thing, Stop It!, Hella Dance and of course Chill Factor.
DJ James Gregory
Dance floor etiquette was notably improved this year! Somehow, the Tush Pusher’s seemed to find a new hobby to annoy someone else with.
I watched the choreography competition this year and was kind of disappointed that some of the classically awful competitors were absent this year. Oh where, oh where is that air guitar gal and there wasn’t a strip tease dancer to be found! But one standard, was the inclusion of the Rick and Debbie Bates massive line up of dances. (Probably around 20 or so spread out between the different categories) I’m thinking that they really should just be their own category. While I admire their creative urges, I find it odd that they actually have a instruction venue that only includes their own material and those that are part of the Rick and Debbie group.
It got Glen and I thinking that maybe we should do the same thing. We should go ahead and tell Max and Peter to take a hike because we are going to create our own better dances to Do Your Thing and And They Danced. Step, Touch, Step Shuffle, Swing Your Arms Left, Right, Left, Right. Yeah! We just created a new dance. Fortunately, Scott Blevins stops by Charlie’s Wed Nights enough so that we can still do his stuff. Although, he hasn’t been there the last few weeks so we might have to rethink it! (And we have a great alternative to Dirrty all lined up – Step touch, Shuffle and Rock, Step back, Swing Your Arms Left, Right, Left, Right.)
Unfortunately, I missed the live Showstoppers show and everything else on Sunday due to other obligations at home, however, word on the street was that it was absolutely great as always and CJ provided me with some terrific pics. Jill King (One Mississippi) also performed for the crowds and sounds just as awesome as her recording.
Pictured are a couple of the acts from Sunday's show including hot new music artist "Jill King"
Given the improvements, if you missed this year, you shouldn’t miss next year. Especially if you are within driving distance! Oh, and despite silly rumors to the contrary, Tanya Curry did mention to the dancers that this was NOT the last year for the showdown.
The next event I will covering (and this time I will be also teaching at) will be the weekend of March 22nd in Dubuque, IA. For more details go to my Event Schedule page. Hope to see you all there!
If there is anything you wish to add about this event, please feel free to put your thoughts up on my message board by clicking on the icon below.
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