Kinda Country Line Dancing © 2008 All Rights Reserved - Site Designed and Maintained By Derek Robinson - Site Updated on 15.01.2012
MONTHLY DANCE. As you probably know we are restarting the Monthly Dance again after the Christmas and New Year period, and hope you will join us at Carnforth Ex Servicemen’s Club (map) at 7.30pm on Friday 11th March.
TOP TEN DANCES FOR JANUARY. The Kinda Country most requested dances in January can be found on the Dance page with ‘Free As A Bird’ top of the list.
NEW BEGINNERS CLASS. Because of the popularity of our Wednesday afternoon line dance session and a recent ‘Introduction To Line Dancing’ workshop I have received several requests from people who would like to learn to line dance. It is very difficult to intrigate complete beginners within an established class, also an afternoon session is not possible for many. With this in mind Audrey and I will be starting a new beginners class at 7.45pm until about 10.15pm on Monday 7 March 2011 at The Church of Ascension Hall, Torrisholme, LA4 6RH. Directions can be found on the Maps page of this site We will be concentrating on absolute beginners during the first hour followed by general social dancing, and all new dancers will be encouraged to join in. The charge will be £3 for the evening whatever time you come. If you know of anyone who would like to come along and give line dancing a try they will be made very welcome. It is advisable for complete beginners to come along from the start as the very basics will be taught at first with a gradual progression over a period of several weeks. If you require any additional information please email me at auder8@msn.com, through the contact box on this web site or telephone 01524 32224. The spot we are using for this new session was formally used by June Sherry who has not been very well lately and has decided to call it a day. We hope June gets well soon, and we would like to wish her and husband Neil the very best for the future.
INTRODUCTION TO LINE DANCING. I have been asked
to do another ‘Introduction To Line Dancing’ workshop at Stanley Rd Baptist Church in early May and hopefully that also will help to introduce new converts to our wonderful world of line dance. I will publish the details at a later date.
MORECAMBE LINE DANCERS. The next party night will be on Thursday 17th March 2011. St Patrick's Day, and we’ll see y’all there. The Country artist will be ????? It will be a Green Themed evening with a touch of help from Guinness. For further information contact John Carthy at Morecambe Line Dancers: http://www.morecambe-linedancers.co.uk/
NEW ZAC BROWN BAND ALBUM. The latest album by this band called ‘You Get What You Give’ was brought out at the end of 2010, and I can assure you it’s a ‘cracker’. We have all done dances to their music, the first being ‘Toes’, and more recently ‘Knee Deep’ which is to a track of the same name from this album. In general the music on this great album is not easy to choreograph dances to because of the structure of most of the music; the dances would be full of bridges or restarts which I know you all love doing! There are dances though, but having looked at them I don’t feel inclined to follow them up. There is one track that appealed to me with a ‘rockabilly’ feel to it which only required one very easy restart in the dance, and strangely enough I couldn’t find a dance for it. I gave it a whirl myself and you probably spotted it when you first opened this site; it’s called ‘Make This Day’ and the step sheet can be accessed from our ‘Dance Database’ page. The tracks are only available for download from iTunes USA at present, although the CD can be bought from Amazon UK Music. ‘Make This Day’ on our Home page. A 32 counter with easy steps and only one very easy restart it fits the jive/swing type music well. It’s a bit lively at 182 beats per minute , but can be danced very much on the spot, so you won’t have to cover a lot of ground. I’ve had requests to teach it, so we will give it a try on Wednesday afternoon.
04.02.11
instance, bands like ‘Lady Antebellum’ and ‘Sugarland’ are turning out great music to listen to and dance to. They may wear cowboy hats and boots, but are they or are they not country? Perhaps the cowboy hats are that dividing line I have been seeking. But there again it is quite common now to see some of the older established country artists appearing on stage with holes in their jeans, wearing baseball caps and tee shirts, so I guess that negates my reasoning. Anyway I’m getting off the subject. If you hear some music that makes you want to get up and dance, then do so. Whether you call it ‘pop’, ‘country’, ‘techno’ (whatever that means), who cares. As for myself; if I am going on a long car journey I usually pop an Alan Jackson or George Strait album into the CD player; both of these ‘country artists are great to listen to or dance to. Which leads me to the video on our Home page. The music is from the BBC Television series Transatlantic Sessions which is one of my favourite programs. It’s an assortment of great music from both sides of the Atlantic by very talented artists, and ranges from Bluegrass, Cajun, and Americana, to lilting Jigs and Reels from Ireland and Scotland and beautiful melodies sometimes sung in Gaelic from the Scottish Islands. I choreographed the dance for the completely selfish reason of wanting to dance to the lovely melody by Phil Cunningham. I know the music, and probably the dance too will not appeal to everyone, but again, who cares; I only wanted to dance to the music!
19.02.11
AN APOLOGY. As most of you are aware we had to cancel our Wednesday afternoon session recently at very short notice. A Rugby Tournament had been arranged for that particular day at the Vale Of Lune Rugby Club where we hold our weekly dancing. Unfortunately no one at the club thought to inform me beforehand, which caused considerable inconvenience to Audrey and myself. I think we managed to get in touch with most people by email, telephone or on the ‘grapevine’; but if anyone did turn up to dance and got offered a game of rugby instead please accept our sincere apologies.
‘I JUST WANNA’ DANCE’. Picking music to line dance to isn’t always an easy matter; I don’t want to get into the ‘country’ or ‘not country’ debate again because it’s been argued about since I first started to line dance and no doubt will continue in the future. I don’t really see it as a problem because if a particular piece of music doesn’t appeal to me, I can always sit it out! I have always enjoyed listening and dancing to ‘country’ music, although I find it hard to draw a line between ‘country’ and ‘not country’ nowadays as many of the modern artists on the country circuit have most certainly crossed that invisible line; especially in America where there are rich pickings to be found on the country scene. What I am sure of though is the superb quality of music and production of some of the modern artists we dance to. For
MY THOUGHTS ABOUT LINE DANCING IN GENERAL, EXERCISE AND MOBILITY. Watching people in clubs doing one line dance after another barely stopping between songs, I realized this is just like ‘watered down’ aerobics. Many of the moves are similar to aerobics moves. In fact, the popularity of aerobics might contribute to why people find line dance steps easy to do. Line dancing is based on foot patterns done in unison and does not require a partner. It's also suitable for people of all ages and ability. The physical side is only as demanding as the dancer determines, because he or she has the choice to dance or sit it out if the dance appears too physically intimidating. I remember years ago in my early line dance days finishing a line dance session with sweat running down my face and inside my shirt; in fact we used to carry a small towel attached to our belt to mop our brows with; or even the floor if the need arose. But of course times change and I find nowadays I rarely raise a canter, perhaps I’m enjoying my dancing in a more sedate way. I still get the exercise needed to keep my muscles in trim, well more or less, and I’m now aware that a gentle waltz is better for my heart than leaping about to dances like ‘The Beast’. I also suffer from a condition called, (by me), ‘Line Dancers Syndrome’! And I’m sure other dancers of a mature age will also discover that they also have this affliction. The symptoms which are, the inability to walk far, especially around Supermarkets and Shopping Arcades. I suppose like other contemporaries I have spent too much time getting from A to B by car instead of on foot. In fact I find it impossible to keep up with Audrey unless I am performing chasse’s or shuffles down the aisles which results in a far greater output of speed; and my side step around speedsters in mobility carriages has to be seen to be believed! Line dancing has certainly changed since the early days of ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ etc when our instructors taught us to dance with our thumbs in our belts, and the ladies joined their hands behind their backs; we were taught to hold our head up high, shoulders back and smile. How we managed to keep our balance in that position I will never know, especially as many of the older dances seemed to consist of ‘kicks’, ‘applejacks’, spins, ‘scoots’ and ‘Cajun hitches’. I think personally I prefer the earlier type of line dancing than the modern sophisticated style which is performed with lots of arm movements and styling; possibly because we all had such a wonderful time in the old days, even if we were shattered at the end of a session. These are just a few of my own thoughts about line dancing; and It would be interesting to hear anyone else's memories or thoughts about the subject of line dancing past or present? Perhaps you have some nostalgic memories of the past; perhaps something funny comes to mind? Let me know and I will gladly publish any of your thoughts or views.
MONTHLY DANCE CHART. The ‘Kinda Country’ dance chart for February, which is compiled from your requests throughout the month has been published on the Dance page and I’m delighted that my dance ‘Free As A Bird’ came out top for the second month running. The music ‘Bird On A Wire’ by Jimmy Barnes and Troy Cassar Daley was sent to me by a colleague last year and I liked the track so much I just had to choreograph a dance to it. (I do love a waltz!)
NEW DANCES. Not many to mention during the last few weeks due to the fact that we had an unscheduled break at the ‘Vale’ because of a Rugby Tournament that was taking place at our venue. Also we use the last Wednesday of the month to play requests only. We played about with several dances that hardly caused a raised eyebrow, although two are worth a mention. The first one is a recent dance by Jan Wyllie called ‘Waterlogged’; a pleasant little dance with ‘swimming’ arm movements. Although the gang seemed to enjoy the dance itself, they were not too sure about the arm movements or the unusual music. (Our dancers are a bit conservative!) But everyone at the ‘Vale’ would like to wish Jan all the best and hope she soon recovers from the effects of the therapy she is enduring at the moment whilst still gallantly managing to choreograph and teach dances during her illness. Another ‘oldie’ was revived called ‘The Ham’s Jam’ to ‘Stand By Your Man’ by the Dixie Chicks or Tammy. I had problems with this dance when I first taught it thirteen years ago; and guess what? I had problems again yesterday! At least I’ve always got ‘Rita the Memory’ to rely on when I hit a blank spot! The latest dance we did went down extremely well. It’s a cracking little 32 count improver dance by Gaye Teather called ‘Enjoy Yourself’ to the music of the same name by Billy Currington. With some nice little ‘hooks’ especially the quarter turn to face the new wall at the end. I have a feeling that this dance will stay around for a while like our favourites, Gaye’s ‘Oklahoma Wind’ and ‘People Are Crazy’ see Dance Database.
NEW ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS CLASS. Our new class starts on Monday 7th March at the Church of Ascension hall, Torrisholme, at 7.45pm. According to feedback I have been receiving there will be a good turnout for this new class because I have had many requests from people who want to have a try at line dancing. As I have stated previously the first hour of the session will be dedicated to completely new dancers, and I will be starting with the very basics of line dancing and gradually building up the tuition over several weeks. Social dancing will take up the remainder of the evening will, and I know from the ‘grapevine’ that this will be well attended too. Derek
03.03.11
would get, and I’m pleased to say that we appear to have recruited lots of new faces into our wonderful world of line dance. The program has been designed to introduce new dancers to line dancing via a gradual progression ladder by starting at the very beginning with the basic ground work, ie. explaining the structure of a line dance and how we go about teaching it by building up the dance section by section etc etc.
I have put together a program of 20 dances and we started the evening with a very basic 1 wall dance to ‘break the ice’, and then changed the dance into a 4 wall dance; the music I chose was the Tulsa Shuffle by The Tractors and everyone soon realised they were capable of learning to line dance. After that we were flying and we managed to teach two more very easy dances before we started the social dancing.
I have added a new web page especially for our new class - ‘Monday Class’,which will be updated weekly with the dances taught and scripts will be made available to download.
I have put together a program of 20 dances and we started the evening with a very basic 1 wall dance to ‘break the ice’, and then changed the dance into a 4 wall dance; the music I chose was the Tulsa Shuffle by The Tractors and everyone soon realised they were capable of learning to line dance. After that we were flying and we managed to teach two more very easy dances before we started the social dancing.
I have added a new web page especially for our new class - ‘Monday Class’,which will be updated weekly with the dances taught and scripts will be made available to download.
NEW BEGINNERS CLASSES. It’s all happening on the line dance scene around the bay! JULIE CARR has started a new beginners class at the Friendship Centre in Lancaster. The class is from 12 - 1-30 pm on Wednesdays. For further information see our Links page. ANGELA CLIFFORD has also started one recently at Silverdale, I don’t have the details but you can contact Angela by email:
angela.silverdollar@googlemail.com
KINDA COUNTRY NEW MONDAY CLASS. Our new class for complete beginners started on 7th March at the Church of Ascension hall, Torrisholme. The class was extremely well attended by new dancers wishing to try line dancing, and it was nice to see a significant number of experienced dancers who came along to enjoy the social dancing which took place during the second part of the evening. We received lots of very positive feedback from new dancers and experienced dancers alike about the new class. As always with a new venture we were a little unsure what kind of reaction we
think a few of them learnt something new about steps moves and rhythms that they had probably been doing for years without knowing too much about. It’s so refreshing to see experienced dancers up on the floor doing simple dances with newcomers and really enjoying the experience; and without a doubt their enthusiasm wears off on the new dancers. I have been to classes and dances elsewhere in the past and have come across a few dancers that would not get up and dance a simple dance, all they wanted to do was perform to harder dances, usually without a smile or any expression on their faces at all. Perhaps I am being a little critical because the vast majority of line dancers I have met fall into the first category and just love to dance to anything, and I’m pleased to say all the folk I am acquainted with are like that.
COUNTRY KICKBACK starts again on April 15th at Smokey O'Connor's in Morecambe, and the Manchester based band ‘Westridge’ are booked to appear. I saw this duo at Morecambe Line Dancers last year, also at the Morecambe Festival, and if you’ve not seen them perform, go along, because they are first class and I know you will not be disappointed.
MORECAMBE COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL. The festival has been arranged for Sat 28th and Sun 29th May this year and because of the popularity of the session held at ‘The Platform’ last year most of the action will take place there this year. I have been asked to teach a couple of dances at the festival this year and will be searching for something suitable and entertaining. At the time of ‘going to press.
COUNTRY KICKBACK starts again on April 15th at Smokey O'Connor's in Morecambe, and the Manchester based band ‘Westridge’ are booked to appear. I saw this duo at Morecambe Line Dancers last year, also at the Morecambe Festival, and if you’ve not seen them perform, go along, because they are first class and I know you will not be disappointed.
MORECAMBE COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL. The festival has been arranged for Sat 28th and Sun 29th May this year and because of the popularity of the session held at ‘The Platform’ last year most of the action will take place there this year. I have been asked to teach a couple of dances at the festival this year and will be searching for something suitable and entertaining. At the time of ‘going to press.
KINDA COUNTRY MONTHLY DANCE. The dance for April has been arranged for Friday 8th at Carnforth Ex Servicemen’s Club, Scotland Rd, Carnforth and although we don’t book an artist we do guarantee a night of non-stop dancing in good surroundings, with excellent company, and reasonably priced drinks
ST PATRICK’S NIGHT DANCE. We went along to Morecambe Line Dancers for this bash, and as usual the Carthy’s, Ann and John had laid on a great night of entertainment with the effervescent Katie Rhodes entertaining us with an excellent choice of music to dance to. The theme for the night was of course green, and when Audrey and I arrived I thought I had gone colour blind! There was green everywhere! Sash’s, hats, dresses, were all there in various shades of green ranging from emerald to turquoise, (well that’s nearly green). You will find a few photographs of the dance on our ‘Photos’ page and you can see lots more taken by ‘snapper’ Carthy on Morecambe Line Dancers web site.
MONDAY CLASS. We are about to start the fourth week of our new beginners class at Torrisholme, and everything is running as planned, and well above expectations. The beginners are progressing remarkably well and we are ahead of schedule with the chosen dances. The first two weeks must have been a little boring for some of the experienced dancers that came along because of the very basic, but important instruction given; but they all joined in with ‘gusto’ when I introduced new steps to the absolute beginners; in fact I
ST PATRICK’S NIGHT DANCE. We went along to Morecambe Line Dancers for this bash, and as usual the Carthy’s, Ann and John had laid on a great night of entertainment with the effervescent Katie Rhodes entertaining us with an excellent choice of music to dance to. The theme for the night was of course green, and when Audrey and I arrived I thought I had gone colour blind! There was green everywhere! Sash’s, hats, dresses, were all there in various shades of green ranging from emerald to turquoise, (well that’s nearly green). You will find a few photographs of the dance on our ‘Photos’ page and you can see lots more taken by ‘snapper’ Carthy on Morecambe Line Dancers web site.
MONDAY CLASS. We are about to start the fourth week of our new beginners class at Torrisholme, and everything is running as planned, and well above expectations. The beginners are progressing remarkably well and we are ahead of schedule with the chosen dances. The first two weeks must have been a little boring for some of the experienced dancers that came along because of the very basic, but important instruction given; but they all joined in with ‘gusto’ when I introduced new steps to the absolute beginners; in fact I
25.03.11
tingle. His voice has the same high range as John Denver but he is most certainly not a John Denver mimic. Although most of his songs were the music of Denver, he has his own style of portraying them which I found most refreshing. Chris also sang one song ‘a cappella’ (without music), which was pitch perfect and quite different. And the songs he sang that were penned by himself proved how talented this entertainer is. Another aspect of the show I must mention was the professional way the show was presented. The sound quality was first class thanks to his sound engineer twiddling the knobs and sliders at the back; and the act was also enhanced by a subtle change of lighting which was provided by well placed coloured spots. In fact it was hard to imagine this all took place in the lounge of a local village club.
To sum up, this was an evening of first class entertainment in pleasant surroundings which we all thoroughly enjoyed, and we returned home with smiles on our faces.
To sum up, this was an evening of first class entertainment in pleasant surroundings which we all thoroughly enjoyed, and we returned home with smiles on our faces.
To view a video of Chris Bannister following this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiFFVRBzp8E
web site:http://www.chrisbannister.co.uk/music.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiFFVRBzp8E
web site:http://www.chrisbannister.co.uk/music.htm
THE WONDERFUL MUSIC OF JOHN DENVER.
I usually line dance or provide the music for line dancing at Carnforth Line Dancers on Sunday evenings at Carnforth Ex Servicemen’s Club. I reluctantly gave it a miss last Sunday, 27th March as Audrey had purchased tickets for a show at Bare Institute Club featuring a John Denver Tribute artist by the name of Chris Bannister. Although I appreciate the wonderful songs of the late John Denver, I was a wee bit apprehensive about going along to this show because I have listened to tribute artists in the past and been disappointed, and wasn’t that keen to give up my usual Sunday night bash with the Carnforth gang because of this. Anyway, we went along with several of our friends including Joyce and Mel; (Joyce has always been a big JD fan). How wrong can I be! This was one of the best evenings entertainment I have witnessed for a long time. Chris just walked on stage, (well a corner of the room actually), and started to pick away at his guitar by way of introduction. He is an excellent guitarist which was so obvious from those first few notes. But what was to follow was completely unexpected. From the moment Chris started to sing the audience was captivated. He has one of those incredible voices that makes the back of my neck
I usually line dance or provide the music for line dancing at Carnforth Line Dancers on Sunday evenings at Carnforth Ex Servicemen’s Club. I reluctantly gave it a miss last Sunday, 27th March as Audrey had purchased tickets for a show at Bare Institute Club featuring a John Denver Tribute artist by the name of Chris Bannister. Although I appreciate the wonderful songs of the late John Denver, I was a wee bit apprehensive about going along to this show because I have listened to tribute artists in the past and been disappointed, and wasn’t that keen to give up my usual Sunday night bash with the Carnforth gang because of this. Anyway, we went along with several of our friends including Joyce and Mel; (Joyce has always been a big JD fan). How wrong can I be! This was one of the best evenings entertainment I have witnessed for a long time. Chris just walked on stage, (well a corner of the room actually), and started to pick away at his guitar by way of introduction. He is an excellent guitarist which was so obvious from those first few notes. But what was to follow was completely unexpected. From the moment Chris started to sing the audience was captivated. He has one of those incredible voices that makes the back of my neck
29.03.11
27.04.11
LINE DANCING IN NEW ZEALAND. I have a line dance contact in New Zealand called Jennifer Hobson of the Far North Foot Fiddlers. We have exchanged music and dances in the past, and it was from this exchange of music and step sheets that I first heard the track ‘Bird On A Wire’ by Jimmy Barnes and Troy Cassar Daley, the music I used for 'Free As A Bird’ which has been Kinda Country’s most requested dance during the past year. I recently received an email from Jennifer:...
“Hello Derek...hope you are well, just to let you know I have added your web site to ours...have been making and adding changes to our site today. Would you like to add ours to your page? We are still dancing ‘If Teardrops Were Pennies’......also another very nice Country dance is ‘Memories Of A Coal Miners Daughter’...clear country music.....keeping in touch...Jennifer NZ”.
I have posted a link to the Foot Fiddlers excellent site on our Links page as Jennifer suggested, where I’m sure you will find lots of interesting information about line dancing on the other side of the world.
LINE DANCING IN APRIL. Not a lot to report for this month. Very little has been happening on the Lancaster and Morecambe circuit. We held our Monthly dance at Carnforth Ex Servicemen’s Club on the 8th and we had a cracking time as usual with almost non stop dancing, ( I think we managed about 50 tracks!). I was pleased to announce that we had received an acknowledgement from Childline (Children In Need) thanking us for our donation of £190.00 raised by raffles. Unfortunately the attendance was once again low on the evening. There could be several reasons for this, perhaps because we don’t book artists? Perhaps it’s the venue which has a rather narrow dance floor? Perhaps there are to many alternatives available on Friday nights? Perhaps it’s me and my corny sense of humour? Who knows; the feedback is good and everyone who has come along said how much they enjoyed the music, dancing, patter and company. Whatever the reason we feel it is time to give the monthly dance a rest. Whether or not we try again in the future remains to be seen, but at the moment I have decided to concentrate my efforts on our Wednesday session at the ‘Vale’ and our Monday beginners class at Torrisholme.
COUNTRY KICKBACK started again at ‘Smokey Joe's’ in Morecambe on Friday 15th April. I didn’t make it myself as I was treating a very bad cold with paracetamol and whisky which I find most comforting, but not recommended before going along to a line dance. Apparently the numbers could have been better for this dance too. The band was ‘Westridge’ who always work their socks off when on stage
“Hello Derek...hope you are well, just to let you know I have added your web site to ours...have been making and adding changes to our site today. Would you like to add ours to your page? We are still dancing ‘If Teardrops Were Pennies’......also another very nice Country dance is ‘Memories Of A Coal Miners Daughter’...clear country music.....keeping in touch...Jennifer NZ”.
I have posted a link to the Foot Fiddlers excellent site on our Links page as Jennifer suggested, where I’m sure you will find lots of interesting information about line dancing on the other side of the world.
LINE DANCING IN APRIL. Not a lot to report for this month. Very little has been happening on the Lancaster and Morecambe circuit. We held our Monthly dance at Carnforth Ex Servicemen’s Club on the 8th and we had a cracking time as usual with almost non stop dancing, ( I think we managed about 50 tracks!). I was pleased to announce that we had received an acknowledgement from Childline (Children In Need) thanking us for our donation of £190.00 raised by raffles. Unfortunately the attendance was once again low on the evening. There could be several reasons for this, perhaps because we don’t book artists? Perhaps it’s the venue which has a rather narrow dance floor? Perhaps there are to many alternatives available on Friday nights? Perhaps it’s me and my corny sense of humour? Who knows; the feedback is good and everyone who has come along said how much they enjoyed the music, dancing, patter and company. Whatever the reason we feel it is time to give the monthly dance a rest. Whether or not we try again in the future remains to be seen, but at the moment I have decided to concentrate my efforts on our Wednesday session at the ‘Vale’ and our Monday beginners class at Torrisholme.
COUNTRY KICKBACK started again at ‘Smokey Joe's’ in Morecambe on Friday 15th April. I didn’t make it myself as I was treating a very bad cold with paracetamol and whisky which I find most comforting, but not recommended before going along to a line dance. Apparently the numbers could have been better for this dance too. The band was ‘Westridge’ who always work their socks off when on stage
often sexy dance, and it does not have lilt and bounce. West coast swing dances appear to be ‘cooler’, more chic, more sophisticated, and in general less ‘frantic’ than east coast swing. West coast swing dances are usually more difficult to learn for a beginner because it sometimes contains a more complex pattern of steps which can be 6, 8, or 10 count, although I have only seen the eight count pattern for line dances. A typical step pattern for a WC Swing line dance can be: Rock step, triple step, triple step, rock step (1-2, 3&4, 5&6, 7-8) and many variations. It often contains much more syncopation which requires a very good sense of timing and connection which results in far fewer line dances of this type being taught compared to East Coast Swing. Line dances are very often taught to West Coast Swing Music with the dance style being in the form of a Cha Cha, i.e. ‘Livin’ On Love’ to the music of the same name by Alan Jackson is typical and it is easier for the beginner to get to grips with, and both dance styles fit the music.
Blues, Big Band, Rock and Roll, Country, Smooth and Cool Jazz are some of the genres associated with West Coast Swing music but again the choice is not determined by who plays it but how it sounds.
West Coast Swing music examples: Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus, Boot Scootin’ Boogie by Brooks & Dunn and Good Times by Dan Seals.
West Coast Swing line dances examples: Let The Good Times Roll, Welcome To Burlesque, Some Beach, Home To Louisiana.
My dance ’PITTER PATTER’ is becoming quite popular again it seems. It did very well a few years ago thanks to the evergreen Max Perry who taught it in Europe the USA and Canada. I am also getting lots of requests for the music and dance locally. There is a compiled video below of the dance filmed in Spain and England.
Blues, Big Band, Rock and Roll, Country, Smooth and Cool Jazz are some of the genres associated with West Coast Swing music but again the choice is not determined by who plays it but how it sounds.
West Coast Swing music examples: Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus, Boot Scootin’ Boogie by Brooks & Dunn and Good Times by Dan Seals.
West Coast Swing line dances examples: Let The Good Times Roll, Welcome To Burlesque, Some Beach, Home To Louisiana.
My dance ’PITTER PATTER’ is becoming quite popular again it seems. It did very well a few years ago thanks to the evergreen Max Perry who taught it in Europe the USA and Canada. I am also getting lots of requests for the music and dance locally. There is a compiled video below of the dance filmed in Spain and England.
‘Pitter Patter’ - Spain - England
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EAST COAST AND WEST COAST SWING?
I was asked this question by someone when I said a particular piece of music we were dancing to was East Coast swing rhythm. I’m sure many more detailed explanations can be found but I will try and explain the difference as I know it, as simply as possible.
East Coast Swing and West Coast Swing are both variations of the Basic Swing dance that originated in America in the last century. What started off as a form of wild dance with kicks and jives, slowly evolved to a more sophisticated, graceful version. East coast dance is mostly energetic and characterised by rock steps. West coast dancing is more sensual when compared to east coast swing dancing. Both styles share many qualities such as music and some pattern similarities. It is best to focus on the differences. Both styles of dance are usually performed with a partner and many demonstration videos and articles about both styles can be found on the Internet. Like many other musical genres the rhythms and styles of EC Swing and WC Swing have been used very successfully by line dance choreographers My observations following are directed solely at the line dancer and are my personal thoughts on the subject, having tried many styles of dance, ‘Be Bop’, ‘Old Time’, ‘Rock And Roll’ and ‘Flat Footing’ to name a few; some successfully and some not worth mentioning, over a period spanning 60 years plus.
East Coast Swing was probably derived from the Jitterbug, which grew out of the dance halls of Harlem during the 1920’s.
When the older generation talk about swing dancing to the music of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry back in the 50's, this is the dance they were doing. The basic step is: Triple step, triple step, rock step, (1&2, 3&4, 5-6), six counts, although I have never seen a six count pattern used for line dances. When we talk about East Coast Swing in relation to line dances, the step pattern is much more flexible and the timing usually the standard eight count beat that all line dancers are familiar with, and the step pattern is usually a collection of syncopation and downbeat steps.
East Coast Swing music is diverse and includes ‘Rock & Roll’, ‘Country’, ‘Big Band’, and modern or ‘Pop’. With a wide range of music to choose from you can swing to almost anything. Swing music is usually written in 4/4 time with a tempo of about 145-170 beats per minute.
For beginners, the best tempo range is probably 135-155 beats per minute.
The East Coast Swing style of line dance is the easiest swing dance to learn for the beginner. It is a quick dance and the steps should be small and light. The biggest problem is taking steps that are too large which can make it difficult to keep up with the music. It is advisable to keep the dance compact, and keep the steps small, especially the "rock steps”. East Coast Swing is danced mostly on the balls of the feet, although there now seems a liking by choreographers to include heel struts and holds,(pauses), which in my opinion work rather well and adds attractive variation when dancing to suitable music. The dance style should have bounce and energy, and there is lots of opportunity for improvisation within the framework of the dance for the adventurous.
Some examples of EC Swing music are: Tall Tall Trees by Alan Jackson, Make This Day by Zac Brown, Things by Robbie Williams, Love You Too Much by Brady Seals and Fiddle Country Boogie Woogie Blues by Charlie Daniels.
Some examples of dances to EC Swing music: Billy B. Bad, Country As A Boy Can Be, How Long, Meat & Potato Man & Fiddle Country Swing.
West Coast Swing. Is usually danced to music with a slower tempo (generally 110-130 beats per minute). It's a smooth,
I was asked this question by someone when I said a particular piece of music we were dancing to was East Coast swing rhythm. I’m sure many more detailed explanations can be found but I will try and explain the difference as I know it, as simply as possible.
East Coast Swing and West Coast Swing are both variations of the Basic Swing dance that originated in America in the last century. What started off as a form of wild dance with kicks and jives, slowly evolved to a more sophisticated, graceful version. East coast dance is mostly energetic and characterised by rock steps. West coast dancing is more sensual when compared to east coast swing dancing. Both styles share many qualities such as music and some pattern similarities. It is best to focus on the differences. Both styles of dance are usually performed with a partner and many demonstration videos and articles about both styles can be found on the Internet. Like many other musical genres the rhythms and styles of EC Swing and WC Swing have been used very successfully by line dance choreographers My observations following are directed solely at the line dancer and are my personal thoughts on the subject, having tried many styles of dance, ‘Be Bop’, ‘Old Time’, ‘Rock And Roll’ and ‘Flat Footing’ to name a few; some successfully and some not worth mentioning, over a period spanning 60 years plus.
East Coast Swing was probably derived from the Jitterbug, which grew out of the dance halls of Harlem during the 1920’s.
When the older generation talk about swing dancing to the music of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry back in the 50's, this is the dance they were doing. The basic step is: Triple step, triple step, rock step, (1&2, 3&4, 5-6), six counts, although I have never seen a six count pattern used for line dances. When we talk about East Coast Swing in relation to line dances, the step pattern is much more flexible and the timing usually the standard eight count beat that all line dancers are familiar with, and the step pattern is usually a collection of syncopation and downbeat steps.
East Coast Swing music is diverse and includes ‘Rock & Roll’, ‘Country’, ‘Big Band’, and modern or ‘Pop’. With a wide range of music to choose from you can swing to almost anything. Swing music is usually written in 4/4 time with a tempo of about 145-170 beats per minute.
For beginners, the best tempo range is probably 135-155 beats per minute.
The East Coast Swing style of line dance is the easiest swing dance to learn for the beginner. It is a quick dance and the steps should be small and light. The biggest problem is taking steps that are too large which can make it difficult to keep up with the music. It is advisable to keep the dance compact, and keep the steps small, especially the "rock steps”. East Coast Swing is danced mostly on the balls of the feet, although there now seems a liking by choreographers to include heel struts and holds,(pauses), which in my opinion work rather well and adds attractive variation when dancing to suitable music. The dance style should have bounce and energy, and there is lots of opportunity for improvisation within the framework of the dance for the adventurous.
Some examples of EC Swing music are: Tall Tall Trees by Alan Jackson, Make This Day by Zac Brown, Things by Robbie Williams, Love You Too Much by Brady Seals and Fiddle Country Boogie Woogie Blues by Charlie Daniels.
Some examples of dances to EC Swing music: Billy B. Bad, Country As A Boy Can Be, How Long, Meat & Potato Man & Fiddle Country Swing.
West Coast Swing. Is usually danced to music with a slower tempo (generally 110-130 beats per minute). It's a smooth,
25.05.11
It is basically the same as it was when last updated in early June because it has been ‘down’, (technical term), since then. I have lost count of the number of messages that have passed to and fro between myself and the web site servers support team. I’m sure that the personnel I dealt with are very nice genuine people, but they do seem programmed with stock scripts that try and help in technical jargon that a layman like me finds very difficult to understand. Anyway, to cut a long story short, after another frustrating day trying to sort out the problem/s I decided to cancel my account with the web hosting company I use and start from scratch with someone else. I sent notification of cancellation, and guess what? Very early the next morning something very strange happened! I found that the site was back to normal and it was possible to update again without any problems. Perhaps the fault was mine all along because although I know my way around a computer pretty well, the world wide web and it’s strange language and protocols remain very much a mystery to me. So, we are now up and running again albeit well out of date, and it may take a little time to rectify this. Perhaps It was all a bad dream when I was trying to make heads or tails of the instructions I was receiving from the technical support team who someone said are based in the Philippines.
Comments or suggestions about how I can improve our site are always welcome. Derek
OUR WEB SITE IS UP AND RUNNING AGAIN
It’s a funny old world we live in. The idea of me being able to design and maintain a complicated web site containing messages, information, pictures and videos, that can be viewed anywhere in the world in a few seconds is something that I never dreamed I would be capable of doing when I was young. The idea had not even been thought about then let alone invented. It’s like something out of a science fiction movie, or should I say film. When I was young only Americans went to the ‘movies’, we kids went to the ‘flicks’ or ‘pics’ and joined a queue about 50 yards long to get in to see old black and white films through clouds of cigarette smoke, (usually made by the kids), about Cowboys and Indians, where the ‘Lone Ranger’ or ‘Hopalong Cassidy’ would be pursuing bandits, or riding to escape the chasing ‘Apaches’, usually in spotlessly clean clothing and not a hair out of place, and they always had two silver guns in brand new shiny holsters strapped to their waist. Or a special treat would be an episode of ‘Flash Gordon’, who travelled around in a space ship that looked suspiciously like a tin can with sparklers stuck in the end, which it probably was. Even now I believe that space craft are suspended on wire because I actually saw it when I was young. I guess I’m getting off the subject a bit, which is called not sticking to the thread in web forums. Anyway our Kinda Country web site is operational again as you can see, or you wouldn’t be reading this rubbish.
It’s a funny old world we live in. The idea of me being able to design and maintain a complicated web site containing messages, information, pictures and videos, that can be viewed anywhere in the world in a few seconds is something that I never dreamed I would be capable of doing when I was young. The idea had not even been thought about then let alone invented. It’s like something out of a science fiction movie, or should I say film. When I was young only Americans went to the ‘movies’, we kids went to the ‘flicks’ or ‘pics’ and joined a queue about 50 yards long to get in to see old black and white films through clouds of cigarette smoke, (usually made by the kids), about Cowboys and Indians, where the ‘Lone Ranger’ or ‘Hopalong Cassidy’ would be pursuing bandits, or riding to escape the chasing ‘Apaches’, usually in spotlessly clean clothing and not a hair out of place, and they always had two silver guns in brand new shiny holsters strapped to their waist. Or a special treat would be an episode of ‘Flash Gordon’, who travelled around in a space ship that looked suspiciously like a tin can with sparklers stuck in the end, which it probably was. Even now I believe that space craft are suspended on wire because I actually saw it when I was young. I guess I’m getting off the subject a bit, which is called not sticking to the thread in web forums. Anyway our Kinda Country web site is operational again as you can see, or you wouldn’t be reading this rubbish.
01.07.11
MONDAY BEGINNERS CLASS The dance class we started about 3 months ago with absolute beginners in mind has been very successful; and after about 10 weeks everyone is progressing fine. In fact I taught the first 64 count dance last night which everyone handled very well, It was a new dance of mine which I called ‘Swing And Things’ to ‘Things’ by Robbie Williams, - yes, you’ve guessed it! East Coast Swing!
The feedback on the dance was good, but the music was received with less enthusiasm. So I have found another track which I think will be more to the dancers liking. I will try it out with the Wednesday gang this week. I may have to change the name of the dance though. Ah well, you win a few, you lose a few.
Enjoy your dancing, Derek.
The feedback on the dance was good, but the music was received with less enthusiasm. So I have found another track which I think will be more to the dancers liking. I will try it out with the Wednesday gang this week. I may have to change the name of the dance though. Ah well, you win a few, you lose a few.
Enjoy your dancing, Derek.
CARNFORTH COUNTRY LINE DANCERS. The session had to be cancelled for Sunday 10th July because DJ’s Tommy and Derek were both unavailable for that date, fortunately Tommy as rescheduled his commitments and line dancing will now be going ahead as normal.
05.07.11
NEW LINE DANCE. I introduced a new beginners dance on Wednesday afternoon 13th July called ‘Step In Line’, a 32 count beginners dance which went down very well with our dancers. I have inserted a video of the dance opposite, and the step sheet can be obtained by clicking on the dance name in the dance database. It’s to a cracking track by Nancy Hays called ‘Get In Line’ which was first produced several years ago, and I’m amazed that only one other dance, as far as I know has ever been choreographed to the music.
It reminds me in many ways of some of the lovely fun dances we used to do years ago. - When dancers used to smile more, and keep in line! - Oh happy days.
It reminds me in many ways of some of the lovely fun dances we used to do years ago. - When dancers used to smile more, and keep in line! - Oh happy days.
14.07.11
MONDAY BEGINNERS CLASS. The new class we started several months ago at Torrisholme has been a success, and what started out as an exercise to attract absolute beginners to the wonderful world of line dancing has developed into a normal line dance session similar to our Wednesday afternoon bash. The reason for this is because everyone who attends can now dance! Some of the dancers lag behind a little because of the usual problems that occur when first starting to dance, i.e. They only dance once a week which does slow down the learning process compared to someone who dances two or three times a week. Having said that, they are a smashing bunch and I’m sure they are enjoying their new experience just as much as I have enjoyed teaching them. It only seems like yesterday when I was explaining the rudiments of walls, sections of a dance, the difference between a shuffle, a cross shuffle and a chasse etc during those first few sessions at Torrisholme. I must admit, I still get a kick out of introducing the basics to someone who has never line danced before, and even sometimes have never stepped onto a dance floor.
MONDAY CLASS PAGE. I have decided that the ‘Monday Class’ page on our web site which was aimed at our absolute beginners is no longer needed, and all future dances taught at Torrisholme will now be included in our normal ‘Dance Database’; and any other relevant information will be placed on this (News & Views) page.
HOW I STARTED. I remember the first time I first walked out onto the line dance floor, full of confidence and ‘know all’. No problems! Or so I thought having been brought up in a house where music was the norm. My father was an excellent musician and played in dance bands for years. I was taught my very first dance by my mother and older sister for our first ever School Dance in the early years following World War 2. I think it was an ‘Old Time’ Military Two Step or something similar, accompanied by my father playing the saxophone. The following years took me through several phases of dance including bebop, jive, rock and roll and any other new craze that came along in-between. We danced to
MONDAY CLASS PAGE. I have decided that the ‘Monday Class’ page on our web site which was aimed at our absolute beginners is no longer needed, and all future dances taught at Torrisholme will now be included in our normal ‘Dance Database’; and any other relevant information will be placed on this (News & Views) page.
HOW I STARTED. I remember the first time I first walked out onto the line dance floor, full of confidence and ‘know all’. No problems! Or so I thought having been brought up in a house where music was the norm. My father was an excellent musician and played in dance bands for years. I was taught my very first dance by my mother and older sister for our first ever School Dance in the early years following World War 2. I think it was an ‘Old Time’ Military Two Step or something similar, accompanied by my father playing the saxophone. The following years took me through several phases of dance including bebop, jive, rock and roll and any other new craze that came along in-between. We danced to
the latin sounds of Edmundo Ros, the big band sounds of Ted Heath and the jazz music of Louis Armstrong and Johnny Dankworth and many more long forgotten musicians.
Anyway, to get back to the subject; I had no qualms about starting to line dance and took to the floor full of confidence not knowing that this new form of dance was choreographed with pre designed patterns of steps and movement, and I couldn’t dance in my usual acapella way and make it up as I went along. - I was hopeless!! Anyway I soon realised that the most important thing to do was listen to the instructor and forget about doing my own thing. Although even now I sometimes get carried away and start to do a little ‘flat footing’, and have even been known to dance around with three legs, or on the back of a giant chicken!
NEW DANCES are coming out thick and fast now, and we have been doing some excellent ones recently like ‘Knee Deep’, ‘Inspiration’, ‘Hands On My Heart’ and ‘1-2-3-4’ to name a few. Unfortunately there are a lot of new dances being put on the line dance database sites that in my opinion are pretty dreadful. The first thing I do when checking out new dances, which is daily, is listen to the music. It doesn’t matter how good the choreography is, if the music is not good to listen to I don’t follow up the dance. I know line dance music is an individual taste, be it pop, country, latin or anything in-between, but I think the majority of dancers I know prefer a ‘catchy’ kind of music to dance to, usually with a good melody and that is what I look for. I sometimes discover a good dance from our dancers who have perhaps come across a new dance or music during their travels to festivals or workshops.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? If you have any views about any of the subjects I write about, or indeed anything else relevant to line dancing or music etc please get in touch and I will willingly include your views on this page. Email is preferred if you have computer access because I am better at ‘Copy & Paste’ than typing, but don’t let that deter you, I will include any kind of communication including letters. Enjoy your dancing, Derek
Anyway, to get back to the subject; I had no qualms about starting to line dance and took to the floor full of confidence not knowing that this new form of dance was choreographed with pre designed patterns of steps and movement, and I couldn’t dance in my usual acapella way and make it up as I went along. - I was hopeless!! Anyway I soon realised that the most important thing to do was listen to the instructor and forget about doing my own thing. Although even now I sometimes get carried away and start to do a little ‘flat footing’, and have even been known to dance around with three legs, or on the back of a giant chicken!
NEW DANCES are coming out thick and fast now, and we have been doing some excellent ones recently like ‘Knee Deep’, ‘Inspiration’, ‘Hands On My Heart’ and ‘1-2-3-4’ to name a few. Unfortunately there are a lot of new dances being put on the line dance database sites that in my opinion are pretty dreadful. The first thing I do when checking out new dances, which is daily, is listen to the music. It doesn’t matter how good the choreography is, if the music is not good to listen to I don’t follow up the dance. I know line dance music is an individual taste, be it pop, country, latin or anything in-between, but I think the majority of dancers I know prefer a ‘catchy’ kind of music to dance to, usually with a good melody and that is what I look for. I sometimes discover a good dance from our dancers who have perhaps come across a new dance or music during their travels to festivals or workshops.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? If you have any views about any of the subjects I write about, or indeed anything else relevant to line dancing or music etc please get in touch and I will willingly include your views on this page. Email is preferred if you have computer access because I am better at ‘Copy & Paste’ than typing, but don’t let that deter you, I will include any kind of communication including letters. Enjoy your dancing, Derek
22.07.11
last Wednesday in the month, and as you are aware we dance to requests only at the end of each month.
SADDLE AND SPURS. I went along to their dance night at Carnforth WMC on Saturday 23 July. After the unpleasant experience I received there on my last visit some time ago it was a nice surprise to be invited back by the new organisers. So with trepidation I went along, and the new people went out their way to welcome me and make me feel at home. I enjoyed a great evening of social dancing and entertainment with many friends in very pleasant surroundings, and look forward to their next dance. Dave Whitmore, the artist for the evening was in excellent voice. He played and sang many of the songs for well known dances, without making the mistake of trying to tell the dancers which dance is for this or that song, and thoroughly deserved the positive response from an appreciative audience at the end of his act....... Well done ‘Saddle & Spurs’. See Links page. Map
CARNFORTH COUNTRY LINE DANCERS have been running regular Sunday evening social line dancing at Carnforth Ex Servicemen's Club for many years now. Over the years thousands of pounds have been raised and donated to the North West Air Ambulance Service. Until recently the DJ spot has been alternated by Mike Aveyard, Tommy Lupton and myself. Unfortunately Mike can no longer do a Sunday night session which leaves Tommy and myself playing the music on alternative weeks. This is working quite well at the moment, but did cause a problem recently when Tommy and myself were both unavailable at the same time. We would like another volunteer to make the number up to three again. The arrangements are flexible and dates can be changed or swapped to suit. If anyone feels like having a go at playing line dance music please let us know. Because it is a charitable evening, only a very small fee is paid which just about covers expenses, but if anyone feels like helping us out we would be grateful.
For information contact: Joyce Cook 01524 377040, Carol Lupton 01524 823043 or contact me through the Contact Box on the ‘Dance’ page of this web sites .
SADDLE AND SPURS. I went along to their dance night at Carnforth WMC on Saturday 23 July. After the unpleasant experience I received there on my last visit some time ago it was a nice surprise to be invited back by the new organisers. So with trepidation I went along, and the new people went out their way to welcome me and make me feel at home. I enjoyed a great evening of social dancing and entertainment with many friends in very pleasant surroundings, and look forward to their next dance. Dave Whitmore, the artist for the evening was in excellent voice. He played and sang many of the songs for well known dances, without making the mistake of trying to tell the dancers which dance is for this or that song, and thoroughly deserved the positive response from an appreciative audience at the end of his act....... Well done ‘Saddle & Spurs’. See Links page. Map
CARNFORTH COUNTRY LINE DANCERS have been running regular Sunday evening social line dancing at Carnforth Ex Servicemen's Club for many years now. Over the years thousands of pounds have been raised and donated to the North West Air Ambulance Service. Until recently the DJ spot has been alternated by Mike Aveyard, Tommy Lupton and myself. Unfortunately Mike can no longer do a Sunday night session which leaves Tommy and myself playing the music on alternative weeks. This is working quite well at the moment, but did cause a problem recently when Tommy and myself were both unavailable at the same time. We would like another volunteer to make the number up to three again. The arrangements are flexible and dates can be changed or swapped to suit. If anyone feels like having a go at playing line dance music please let us know. Because it is a charitable evening, only a very small fee is paid which just about covers expenses, but if anyone feels like helping us out we would be grateful.
For information contact: Joyce Cook 01524 377040, Carol Lupton 01524 823043 or contact me through the Contact Box on the ‘Dance’ page of this web sites .
THIS WEEKS DANCES. The two dances introduced at our Monday night session are ‘Memories Of U’, a new dance by John Warnars, a 32 count beginner/intermediate dance to a Vince Gill track called ‘Take Your Memory With You’. A lively little number at 136 beats per minute with a distinct east coast swing feel to it, which I’m sure will be popular with Vince Gill fans.
The second dance introduced is a 3 year old improver dance called ‘Magic Moon’ by Robbie McGowan Hickie, of 32 counts, the steps are very easy, and compliment the music ‘Mr Man In The Moon’ by Patty Loveless perfectly.
I am trying to select something old, and something new when choosing the dances for our Monday class, because there are so many good dances we did a few years that have now disappeared into the depths of the line dance databases which I think deserve a revival, not only for nostalgic reasons, but to try and inject something fresh and different into our classes.
I refuse to be drawn into the present ‘Rat Race’ that in my opinion appears to be creeping onto the line dance scene now, where too many new dances are being churned out weekly by choreographers who are trying to keep ‘One step ahead’ (excuse the pun!), of their rivals; resulting in so many new dances being put into circulation that we don’t know which dance we are doing half the time, especially as many of the dances have similar step patterns. In fact it was only recently that I taught half a dance, and then continued with an entirely different dance for the second half! - I know, I’m half daft anyway, but if I can get mixed up with over 15 years teaching experience under my belt buckle, what chance is there for completely new dancers.
I apologise if I give the impression that I think all new dances are poor, because that is far from the truth. There are some excellent new dances being published now by choreographers like Robbie McGowan Hickie, Maggie Gallagher, GayeTeather etc etc, and we have learnt many of them recently.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AT THE ‘VALE’. There will be no dance tuition at the Vale this Wednesday because it is the
I refuse to be drawn into the present ‘Rat Race’ that in my opinion appears to be creeping onto the line dance scene now, where too many new dances are being churned out weekly by choreographers who are trying to keep ‘One step ahead’ (excuse the pun!), of their rivals; resulting in so many new dances being put into circulation that we don’t know which dance we are doing half the time, especially as many of the dances have similar step patterns. In fact it was only recently that I taught half a dance, and then continued with an entirely different dance for the second half! - I know, I’m half daft anyway, but if I can get mixed up with over 15 years teaching experience under my belt buckle, what chance is there for completely new dancers.
I apologise if I give the impression that I think all new dances are poor, because that is far from the truth. There are some excellent new dances being published now by choreographers like Robbie McGowan Hickie, Maggie Gallagher, GayeTeather etc etc, and we have learnt many of them recently.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AT THE ‘VALE’. There will be no dance tuition at the Vale this Wednesday because it is the
26.07.11
RAILWAY CLUB CHARITY NIGHT. Don't forget the Railway Club, Lancaster this Saturday for those who can make it for the "Help The Heroes" charity night. Its a sporting racing night with country singer A J Reynolds. See ya`ll there.
COMMENT FROM SUE PYSDEN. Hi Derek, I spoke to you at Saddle and Spurs last week and I just want to say thanks for your offer of help if ever I get stuck teaching. I agree with so many of your observations regarding the dances that are being choreographed now and I think that I'll keep my choice of dances as close to the ones you are doing as possible. I like Magic Moon and will certainly be teaching that, along with Pitter Patter. If you don't mind I will keep an eye on your site and try to keep my lessons similar to yours as far as I am capabale. Thanks again, Sue. (Sue has taken over the Monday and Friday line dance sessions at Saddle & Spurs, Carnforth and all at Kinda Country wish her the best of luck). See Links page for details
WEDNESDAY SESSION - RUGBY CLUB. Audrey and I are away for a few days next week and Mike Homes has very kindly offered to stand in for me on Wednesday afternoon
COMMENT FROM SUE PYSDEN. Hi Derek, I spoke to you at Saddle and Spurs last week and I just want to say thanks for your offer of help if ever I get stuck teaching. I agree with so many of your observations regarding the dances that are being choreographed now and I think that I'll keep my choice of dances as close to the ones you are doing as possible. I like Magic Moon and will certainly be teaching that, along with Pitter Patter. If you don't mind I will keep an eye on your site and try to keep my lessons similar to yours as far as I am capabale. Thanks again, Sue. (Sue has taken over the Monday and Friday line dance sessions at Saddle & Spurs, Carnforth and all at Kinda Country wish her the best of luck). See Links page for details
WEDNESDAY SESSION - RUGBY CLUB. Audrey and I are away for a few days next week and Mike Homes has very kindly offered to stand in for me on Wednesday afternoon
14.08.11
Aug 3rd to ensure that our regular “teenie boppers” are not disappointed, and can enjoy their Wednesday bash as usual.
TWO BY TWO. I came across a new video of my dance ‘Two By Two’ which was filmed in Spain. The dancers appear to be dancing an exhibition contra dance, which I must admit never crossed my mind; but it does look rather good.
TWO BY TWO. I came across a new video of my dance ‘Two By Two’ which was filmed in Spain. The dancers appear to be dancing an exhibition contra dance, which I must admit never crossed my mind; but it does look rather good.
28.07.11
DANCE CHART - JULY. The list of favourite dances for the month of July has been compiled and can be found on the ‘Dance’ page, along with YouTube videos. The scripts can be accessed and downloaded from our ‘Dance Database’ page.
HELP THE HEROES. Some of the gang went along to the ‘Help The Heroes' charity night at the Railway Club, Lancaster last Saturday, which was well attended, and I’m sure a considerable amount of money must have been raised for this good cause.
The line dancing was pretty limited because most of the evening was taken up with the ‘Race Night’ program, where Audrey and I lost most of the weeks housekeeping money! But we did get some good entertainment from O.J. Reynolds, the country music artist for the evening. I’ve never seen this singer before and was pleasantly surprised. O.J. has a really good voice which unfortunately was not appreciated by all. Some of the people in attendance were more interested in the beer and racing than listening to a live entertainer. I remember not so long when it was polite to at least listen to an artist before passing judgement. How quickly times change.
VOULEZ VOUS DANSER is a new dance by Gaye Teather to the music of Dave Sheriff. Once again Gaye has come up with the goods. It’s a cracking 64 counter with no tags or restarts, - choreographed to a great track of the same name by Dave Sheriff. I gave it a whirl at Carnforth on Sunday night where it went down well, and will be following it up again later this week. The script and video link can be accessed from our ‘Dance Database’ page.
HELP THE HEROES. Some of the gang went along to the ‘Help The Heroes' charity night at the Railway Club, Lancaster last Saturday, which was well attended, and I’m sure a considerable amount of money must have been raised for this good cause.
The line dancing was pretty limited because most of the evening was taken up with the ‘Race Night’ program, where Audrey and I lost most of the weeks housekeeping money! But we did get some good entertainment from O.J. Reynolds, the country music artist for the evening. I’ve never seen this singer before and was pleasantly surprised. O.J. has a really good voice which unfortunately was not appreciated by all. Some of the people in attendance were more interested in the beer and racing than listening to a live entertainer. I remember not so long when it was polite to at least listen to an artist before passing judgement. How quickly times change.
VOULEZ VOUS DANSER is a new dance by Gaye Teather to the music of Dave Sheriff. Once again Gaye has come up with the goods. It’s a cracking 64 counter with no tags or restarts, - choreographed to a great track of the same name by Dave Sheriff. I gave it a whirl at Carnforth on Sunday night where it went down well, and will be following it up again later this week. The script and video link can be accessed from our ‘Dance Database’ page.
SADDLE AND SPURS. I mentioned previously how this newly formed club are now working very hard to establish themselves on the local scene. They have a program of dance nights with live music laid on and we will most certainly give them our support in the future. Below is a list of their forthcoming events, and a program of their dance classes are on the links page.
01.08.11
WE’VE BEEN AWAY. Audrey and I are just returning to reality after spending a few days meandering on the beautiful Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire canals aboard my daughters narrow boat. It was so relaxing travelling along at 5 miles an hour or less with no traffic noise or distractions; in fact sitting at the front end (bow) where we spent most of our time, the very quiet engine at the rear could hardly be heard. Although we had the usual necessities aboard like central heating, television, computer etc they were not switched on once. We did relent and use our mobile phones, but only to convey messages to friends and family with pictures of herons and weeping willows to let them know what a great time we were having. We also succumbed to a few of today’s luxuries like barbeques, held on the riverbank and joined by friendly people from other boats. In fact it was like travelling back in a time capsule to long forgotten periods of childhood when I was growing up and spent most of the school breaks safely exploring the countryside in this very part of the country, when most or our days consisted of being released by our parents into a magical and exciting world armed with a few jam sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper and a bottle of dandelion and burdock, (the empty bottle to be returned intact as a deposit was paid on it!); no pizza’s or burgers and the only coca cola we saw was in an American film on Saturday morning at the local cinema. I think the only contact we had with a phone was when we went into the old red telephone boxes and pressed button ‘B’ to see if anyone had forgotten to retrieve their money back from unanswered calls. - If only!
SADDLE AND SPURS. We went along to their monthly dance at Red Court on Saturday night 13 August, and once again they put on a good show. Since they were re formed a short while ago the new organizers have gone out of their way to make people feel welcome at this club. The attendance was good, with several old friends and acquaintances now turning up again which is always a sign of success.
The artist for the evening was Charles Cole known as ‘Coles Country’, who has recently returned to the UK with his wife,
SADDLE AND SPURS. We went along to their monthly dance at Red Court on Saturday night 13 August, and once again they put on a good show. Since they were re formed a short while ago the new organizers have gone out of their way to make people feel welcome at this club. The attendance was good, with several old friends and acquaintances now turning up again which is always a sign of success.
The artist for the evening was Charles Cole known as ‘Coles Country’, who has recently returned to the UK with his wife,
MORECAMBE LINE DANCERS. I am looking forward to Morecambe Line Dancers next event with enthusiasm. The date is Thursday 15th September and I’m delighted to say John and Ann have booked Pete Redfern, one of my favourite British country music artists. Many of you have danced to ‘Splish Splash’ which I choreographed to Pete’s great track ‘The Rain Came Falling Down’. It looks like we will have to have a few run-through's of the dance before next month to make sure we are all ‘on the ball’ for that night. I’m sure the event will be a full house because John and Ann’s dance nights are always popular, and they have certainly hit the jackpot with their choice of artists recently. It’s a strange coincidence that when I received John’s email with information about their latest booking, I also received one from Chas and Pam Povey telling me that he, (chas) had just taught ‘Splish Splash’ at a class in Spain, where they spend a lot of their time; (some people have a lovely life!) Apparently the dance went down very well with the dancers on the Costa Blanca too, - Ole’.
The music ‘The Rain Came Falling Down’ can be downloaded for free from:
The music ‘The Rain Came Falling Down’ can be downloaded for free from:
http://www.peteredfern.com/
‘Splish Splash’ filmed at Carnforth Line Dancers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWMpLGNLG5M
‘Splish Splash’ filmed at Carnforth Line Dancers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWMpLGNLG5M
19.08.11
NEW DANCES. We have done very little recently because sessions at Carnforth Line Dancers and Kinda Country Torrisholme have not taken place because of the Bank Holiday period. One new dance we did manage to get in at Torrisholme and the Rugby Club was a very easy beginners dance by Jo Thompson Szymanski called ‘Shackles’ to Scooter Lee’s ‘Til The Shackles Fall Off', a nice little dance suitable for complete beginners. We also continued with our policy of “something old” and “something new”. The old one which we revised was ‘Cruisin’, using the Dave Sheriff track which most people prefer for the dance. I must admit everybody I spoke to said how much they enjoy our resurrection of the older dances which a lot of today’s dancers have never done. Another ‘oldie’ we dug out was ‘Heart Of An Angel’ by Scottish choreographer William Brown which is now 5 years old; you will see how popular this one was because it has crept into our chart for August.
DANCE CHARTS. The new dance chart for the month of August can be found on the ‘Dance’ page. Most of the popular dances are still there from July’s chart although there are a few changes this month that I find quite strange. As you know the chart is compiled from your requests, ie, all request slips for dances or music made at Kinda Country, Morecambe Line Dancers and Carnforth Line Dancers are entered into a database and the dances that have received the most requests go to the top. This seems to be quite strait forward and the logical way to put a favourites chart together.
The first thing I found unusual was the demise of the dance Pretty Belinda which I know is a certain floor filler, and I began to wonder why this should be. One clue was the remark
DANCE CHARTS. The new dance chart for the month of August can be found on the ‘Dance’ page. Most of the popular dances are still there from July’s chart although there are a few changes this month that I find quite strange. As you know the chart is compiled from your requests, ie, all request slips for dances or music made at Kinda Country, Morecambe Line Dancers and Carnforth Line Dancers are entered into a database and the dances that have received the most requests go to the top. This seems to be quite strait forward and the logical way to put a favourites chart together.
The first thing I found unusual was the demise of the dance Pretty Belinda which I know is a certain floor filler, and I began to wonder why this should be. One clue was the remark
made by the dancers I usually sit with at Morecambe Line Dancers which was “what dances have you requested?”, “ OK I’ll request something else then”. This saves paper but unfortunately makes it difficult to compile a true favourites chart. Also, perhaps some popular dances are not being requested by dancers because they know that dance will be requested by someone else and be played anyway. I would prefer that everyone requests their own favourite dances instead of making collective requests because at the moment it’s possible that a group of people are making one request for a dance that is the current favourite, and only one person making a request for a little known dance which means that both dances are receiving the same number of votes when one dance is obviously much more popular than the other.
This is probably the reason why a popular ‘floor filler’ like Pretty Belinda has dropped out of the charts when it’s so obvious to me that the dance is far more popular than other dances in the charts.
It would help me if everyone requests their own favourite dances in future and not collectively. Or if anyone can think of a different system that will work any better your thoughts would be welcome. You can email me or use the comments box on the ‘Dance’ page.
NO WEDNESDAY DANCING. There will be no dancing at the Vale Of Lune Rugby Club on Wednesday 7th September because the clubroom is required for another function; dancing will continue as usual the following week 14th September.
This is probably the reason why a popular ‘floor filler’ like Pretty Belinda has dropped out of the charts when it’s so obvious to me that the dance is far more popular than other dances in the charts.
It would help me if everyone requests their own favourite dances in future and not collectively. Or if anyone can think of a different system that will work any better your thoughts would be welcome. You can email me or use the comments box on the ‘Dance’ page.
NO WEDNESDAY DANCING. There will be no dancing at the Vale Of Lune Rugby Club on Wednesday 7th September because the clubroom is required for another function; dancing will continue as usual the following week 14th September.
30.08.11
little neck of the woods before the show,(I suspect John Carthy had a hand in that!). Very often an artist appears who thinks everyone dances to the ones listed in the charts of certain dance magazines, which is not the case. I for one refuse to follow like sheep and be told which dances I should be doing just because they are in someone’s chart. How many times have we seen an artist play a track because it is listed in a chart, and there is only half a dozen dancers on the floor doing it! This was not the case at Carthy’s ‘do’, The floor was full for most of the time simply because Pete and John had put their heads together beforehand. On the few occasions that Pete did let his hair down and played something a little unusual he still held the punters attention, because someone would always lead the floor with a suitable dance. I was quite happy to listen on several occasions to Pete’s guitar accompaniment which was first class throughout. So once again I have to say, and I know it’s becoming a bit of a cliche now, “Morecambe Line Dancers have turned up trumps again”, and we all had a great night thanks to The Carthy’s and I hope we will see Pete entertaining us again soon. Once again it’s a big thank you to Ann and John Carthy and Pete Redfern.
MORECAMBE LINE DANCERS PARTY NIGHT. Thursday evening 15th September. As always John & Ann’s functions are a good nights dancing and entertainment. The artist for the night was Pete Redfern, a singer and musician I have been looking forward to seeing for some time. I do like his music which I have used to choreographed dances to in the past, probably the most successful one being ‘Splish Splash’ to ‘The Rain Came Falling Down’. I had never met Pete before and was looking forward to seeing him live for the first time. We had a chat before his show and I was immediately impressed with the guy. He is very likeable and easy to talk to, also very knowledgeable about the line dance scene. He had obviously done his groundwork regarding the favourite dances in our
Mary, to continue performing his brand of Country music after living and performing in the Costa Blanca area of Spain for several years. Some of you ‘oldies’ will perhaps remember Charles as one half of Lonestar Country in the late 90’s.
Coles Country was a hit with the punters from the moment he began his show. I was very impressed with his professionalism which was top class. He played and sang, (yes, the guy is an excellent guitarist with a very pleasant voice), just the right blend of music, which included all the popular current dance tracks to keep the floor full plus some old classics to suit everyone’s taste. His presentation was superb, his sound system was excellent, and he was impeccably dressed; (perhaps Mary had a hand in this!) I’m sure we will see more of him in the future.
You can check out Charles’ gig dates, availability, listen to and download some of his music on this site:
http://www.coles-country.com/ For enquiries or bookings you can contact Charles on 01909 722676 (Office), 07758 449787 (Mobile) or e-mail colescountry@gmail.com
NEW DANCES. We’ve been a bit quiet in this department because of our short holiday, but did manage to introduce two new ones. ‘Blue Spanish Eyes’ choreographed by Juliet Lam, a nice little 32 count beginners rumba to the music of the same name by Bouke. The second one ‘Cowbow Yoddle Song’ by Pierre Provencher & Louise Bohemier to Cowboy Yoddle Song by Kikki Danielsson, a 32 count beginner/intermediate level dance was quite a hit with the gang, although I found it a bit frantic myself. Step sheets and video links can both be found on our Dance Database page.
Coles Country was a hit with the punters from the moment he began his show. I was very impressed with his professionalism which was top class. He played and sang, (yes, the guy is an excellent guitarist with a very pleasant voice), just the right blend of music, which included all the popular current dance tracks to keep the floor full plus some old classics to suit everyone’s taste. His presentation was superb, his sound system was excellent, and he was impeccably dressed; (perhaps Mary had a hand in this!) I’m sure we will see more of him in the future.You can check out Charles’ gig dates, availability, listen to and download some of his music on this site:
http://www.coles-country.com/ For enquiries or bookings you can contact Charles on 01909 722676 (Office), 07758 449787 (Mobile) or e-mail colescountry@gmail.com
NEW DANCES. We’ve been a bit quiet in this department because of our short holiday, but did manage to introduce two new ones. ‘Blue Spanish Eyes’ choreographed by Juliet Lam, a nice little 32 count beginners rumba to the music of the same name by Bouke. The second one ‘Cowbow Yoddle Song’ by Pierre Provencher & Louise Bohemier to Cowboy Yoddle Song by Kikki Danielsson, a 32 count beginner/intermediate level dance was quite a hit with the gang, although I found it a bit frantic myself. Step sheets and video links can both be found on our Dance Database page.
16.09.11
A NEW DANCE by 'yours truly’ called ‘I Saw Linda Yesterday’ was introduced recently, and can be viewed opposite. It is receiving very positive feedback with requests for the dance details from teachers in the UK, Netherlands, Germany,USA, Singapore, China & Japan. The dance script can be found on our Dance Database page,
27.09.11
7.09.11
WEDNESDAY SESSION - VALE OF LUNE RUGBY CLUB. Audrey and I will be away next Wednesday 21 September, and Mike Holmes has very kindly offered to stand in for us to ensure you all get your usual Wednesday afternoon ‘fix’. We will be back again the following week.
PAM POVEY’S BIRTHDAY DANCE. We had an great night of dance and entertainment at Smokey Joe's in Morecambe on Saturday night 1st October where we all helped Pam celebrate her 60th birthday. Husband Chas’ had gone to great lengths to make sure she had a memorable night, and the guests played their part by joining in with gusto to make sure the dance went down well. The artist for the evening was Pam and Chas’s friend Country Music artist Charles Cole, better known as “Cole’s Country”, whose act we saw a few weeks ago at ‘Saddle & Spurs’ Carnforth; (See report below dated 14.08.11). Charles lived up to expectations by keeping the dance floor full by playing a mixture of old and new dances; made easier by the fact that Charles is a dancer himself and knows which
dances are the most popular. He was also the guest DJ for the evening and managed to keep the dances flowing non stop all night long. Our many thanks to Pam, Charles and Charles for a good old fashioned Line Dance similar to the ones we enjoyed years ago when dancers all had a smile on their face.
KINDA COUNTRY DANCE CHARTS for September and the third quarter of the year can be found on the dance page. There is no change at the top with 1-2-3-4 holding it’s place at No. 1 in both charts, although two dances by Gaye Teather, -’Voulez Vous Dancer’ and ‘Baby Bubbles’ are chasing fast. YouTube Videos of the Top 10 dances for September can be viewed on the ‘Dance’ page.
2.10.11
WEB SITE UPDATE. Our regular viewers have probably noticed that the Kinda Country site has not been updated for several weeks. There are several reasons for this that include family illness, and ‘yours truly’ being a little off-colour for several weeks; but the main reason is of a more technical nature. I recently purchased a new computer to replace my 6 year old one which had started to creak, groan and slow down a with age, - just like me! To coincide with the launch of my brand new PC I purchased the latest version of the software program I use to run the Kinda Country web site. But as anyone who uses a computer knows, they sometimes have a mind of their own! They don’t use common sense in the same way as humans do. They are completely logical. And those magical little silicone chips etc that help to make things run smoothly are only as clever as the data that is put into them by humans in the first place, that is why things very often go wrong. And one of the problems when things do go wrong is finding a way to put things right again! You can’t ask the guy who did the the development because he doesn't live inside your PC; and no way is he going to leave his contact address inside for you; he’s got that much common sense! So what do we do? We click on that little blue button in the corner of the screen for help. Help! That’s a laugh! Have you ever noticed that the little blue button has a question mark on it? You’ve got it, - they’re not sure either! Anyway, after navigating through several menus and sub menus several times and finishing up at square one without resolving the issue, another little box pops up asking us to place a tick in one of the following radio buttons “Helpful”, “Unhelpful” or “Don’t Know”; the purpose being to help them supply us with a better service. By this time you are beginning to think - something’s wrong here! They are supposed to be helping me. So we then as humans start to use a little of our built in common sense. We decide we are going to find someone to talk to, which we should have done in the first place. Now this is when things really get interesting! After spending an hour trying to find a telephone number which was tucked away in very small letters somewhere we are there, or so we think!.....”Welcome to Customer Services”......If you require sales press 1, (you are connected immediately!), Etc etc. After being put on hold and listening to dreadful music for 10 minutes we get.....”Thank you for being patient, (“you must be joking”), our support personnel are all busy at the moment and will get back to you as soon as possible”......More music.....and finally someone says, “Hello kind sir, how can I be pleased to help you”. By this time we have forgotten what the problem was in the first place....So after explaining very politely that their marvellous software that their team have spent 2 years developing isn't working properly they come up with the ‘stock’ answer, - have you installed the latest ‘patch’,...To which you reply, “you might use sticking plasters in your country sunshine, but we British can’t see that as a long term solution”! So after trying to understand a load of technical jargon which again is foreign... Double Dutch! I politely slam the phone down and repeat a few well chosen words,....in English.
To cut a long story short, I have finally managed to resolve the issue of transferring the web site from an old computer to new and using a new software program at the same time,....all on my ‘tod’, and using good old British common sense! You may see some recent improvements to the site where I have restructured the ‘Dance Database’ and made changes which I hope improves navigation, particularly if you hover over the Navigation Bar at the top of each page. The site creation is ongoing and I hope to make future improvements, and am always willing to listen to suggestions!
SADDLE & SPURS DANCE NIGHT. We had a cracking night of dancing and music last Saturday night, 29 October, with a good turnout of dancers which was to be expected because ‘Westridge’ were the very popular entertainers chosen for the evening. Unfortunately ‘Westridge’ didn’t get off to a very good start. They arrived late which I believe was caused by traffic congestion around their home town of Manchester. This in itself was a little off putting because the artists were carrying gear into the room and setting up whilst the dance was in progress. I personally feel that this reflected somewhat on their performance early on. Their sound was way out, particularly during their first spot when all sorts of tweaking's to knobs and cables was taking place due to them not being able to do the usual pre performance sound checks. I have seen this band several times and their act has always been first class with excellent vocals and guitar, but I’m sorry to say that early on this wasn’t the case. Fortunately they grew as the evening progressed, and really came good at the end, and I’m glad to say they hit us with all they had in the final spot finishing the evening in their usual manner to resounding applause and appreciation. This excellent band have been booked to appear at Red Court on New Years Eve so don’t leave it too late to get your tickets.
MORECAMBE LINE DANCERS CHRISTMAS PARTY has been arranged for Thursday 8 December this year at the Railway Club, Lancaster. The band for this bash is the ever popular ‘Nashville Angels (Trio). Tickets will be on sale on Thursday 3rd November 2011 at £5.
KINDA COUNTRY CHRISTMAS DANCE. Will be held this year at the Vale Of Lune Rugby Club on Wednesday 14 December. Tickets are £5 which includes the Vale’s excellent ‘Hot Pot Supper’. They will not be on sale at the door and must be bought in advance. They can be obtained from Audrey on Wednesday afternoon 2 November at the Kinda Country Wednesday afternoon session at the Vale Of Lune Rugby Club, and on Monday evening 7 November at the evening class at Torrisholme Church of Ascension Hall. Remaining tickets can be obtained from Audrey (01524 32224). We are hoping to obtain an artist/s for this years dance providing we can find one who doesn’t need to set up gear on the dance floor as every part of the floor will be needed for dancers this year.
DANCE CHART. The chart for October will be published about Thursday 3 November when I have compiled all the data from requests for this month.
SADDLE & SPURS DANCE NIGHT. We had a cracking night of dancing and music last Saturday night, 29 October, with a good turnout of dancers which was to be expected because ‘Westridge’ were the very popular entertainers chosen for the evening. Unfortunately ‘Westridge’ didn’t get off to a very good start. They arrived late which I believe was caused by traffic congestion around their home town of Manchester. This in itself was a little off putting because the artists were carrying gear into the room and setting up whilst the dance was in progress. I personally feel that this reflected somewhat on their performance early on. Their sound was way out, particularly during their first spot when all sorts of tweaking's to knobs and cables was taking place due to them not being able to do the usual pre performance sound checks. I have seen this band several times and their act has always been first class with excellent vocals and guitar, but I’m sorry to say that early on this wasn’t the case. Fortunately they grew as the evening progressed, and really came good at the end, and I’m glad to say they hit us with all they had in the final spot finishing the evening in their usual manner to resounding applause and appreciation. This excellent band have been booked to appear at Red Court on New Years Eve so don’t leave it too late to get your tickets.
MORECAMBE LINE DANCERS CHRISTMAS PARTY has been arranged for Thursday 8 December this year at the Railway Club, Lancaster. The band for this bash is the ever popular ‘Nashville Angels (Trio). Tickets will be on sale on Thursday 3rd November 2011 at £5.
KINDA COUNTRY CHRISTMAS DANCE. Will be held this year at the Vale Of Lune Rugby Club on Wednesday 14 December. Tickets are £5 which includes the Vale’s excellent ‘Hot Pot Supper’. They will not be on sale at the door and must be bought in advance. They can be obtained from Audrey on Wednesday afternoon 2 November at the Kinda Country Wednesday afternoon session at the Vale Of Lune Rugby Club, and on Monday evening 7 November at the evening class at Torrisholme Church of Ascension Hall. Remaining tickets can be obtained from Audrey (01524 32224). We are hoping to obtain an artist/s for this years dance providing we can find one who doesn’t need to set up gear on the dance floor as every part of the floor will be needed for dancers this year.
DANCE CHART. The chart for October will be published about Thursday 3 November when I have compiled all the data from requests for this month.
31.10.11
TOMMY LUPTON’S BIRTHDAY DANCE. Phot
os. It was a full house at Tommy Lupton’s 70th Birthday bash at Carnforth Ex Servicemen's Club on Friday 4th November and what a celebration it turned out to be. Tommy has been around the line dance scene for many years now; in fact I can’t remember a time when Tommy and his wife Carol were not present at dances and classes somewhere in the Morecambe Bay area. Tommy has never professed to be a line dancer although he has been known to have a go at the occasional ‘Barn Dance’, applying his own inimitable style that includes many original and interesting variations! It’s with the music that Tommy really excels, having acted as a very entertaining DJ at Carnforth Line Dancers for many years, playing a huge part in their
os. It was a full house at Tommy Lupton’s 70th Birthday bash at Carnforth Ex Servicemen's Club on Friday 4th November and what a celebration it turned out to be. Tommy has been around the line dance scene for many years now; in fact I can’t remember a time when Tommy and his wife Carol were not present at dances and classes somewhere in the Morecambe Bay area. Tommy has never professed to be a line dancer although he has been known to have a go at the occasional ‘Barn Dance’, applying his own inimitable style that includes many original and interesting variations! It’s with the music that Tommy really excels, having acted as a very entertaining DJ at Carnforth Line Dancers for many years, playing a huge part in their
12.11.11
charity money raising activities. CLD have supported the North West Air Ambulance Service for many years now, and thousands of pounds have been raised in the past thanks to people like Tom and Carol who have given their time and effort to help this important and very necessary service. So congratulations to Tommy on reaching one of life’s milestones, and a big thank you to Tommy and Carol for a great evening of fun and entertainment.
£215 was also raised for the Galloway Society for the Blind, with donations on the door and a raffle.
The artist for the evening was Bob Morgan from Wallasey, an excellent Country Music singer and musician who entertained us with a variety of music for dancing and listening to. In fact Audrey and I were so impressed with Bob’s performance we immediately asked him to entertain us at Kinda Country’s Christmas Dance on Wednesday 14th December. You can find out more about Bob by visiting our Links page or the web site below:
£215 was also raised for the Galloway Society for the Blind, with donations on the door and a raffle.
The artist for the evening was Bob Morgan from Wallasey, an excellent Country Music singer and musician who entertained us with a variety of music for dancing and listening to. In fact Audrey and I were so impressed with Bob’s performance we immediately asked him to entertain us at Kinda Country’s Christmas Dance on Wednesday 14th December. You can find out more about Bob by visiting our Links page or the web site below:
This track is ‘two-step’ music at it’s best and I couldn’t wait to try and put a few steps together in the two-step style. Without going into too much technical detail,the two-step is marked by Line Dance choreographers who have adapted this six beat rhythm into an eight beat pattern to fit many of today’s line dances which I have done in the new dance I have put together for this music. You can see see the YouTube video I made to try out the dance, (‘Love Her So Much’) and access the step sheet from our ‘Dance Database’ page. Notice the adapted step pattern of 1-2, 3&4, 5-6, 7&8 which is followed throughout the dance, or to put it loosely in two-step terms, - slow,slow,quick quick slow, slow,slow,quick quick slow. I hope you enjoy the music and the dance.
I DO LIKE A TWO-STEP. I have always enjoyed a two-step, the music and the dance style. The two-step combination is used in many traditional dances like the foxtrot and polka, while modern twists on the two-step combination have been created for dances like the West Coast swing. The two-step is better known as a partner dance in Country-Western dancing mainly in the USA, but like most rhythms has been adapted by line dance choreographers like Max Perry, Jo Thompson and others in America and other countries. The style was very popular with line dancers in the UK about 15 years ago, but in those days most of us knew very little about dance styles and rhythms; we were just taught a dance by our instructor with no explanation about the dance style or music, probably because many new instructors like myself were new to the line dance scene and didn’t know too much about them either.
It’s surprising how many of today’s very excellent line dances we do are two-steps without us being aware of it; that’s why I try and explain a little about the dance style and music when introducing a new dance at our sessions.
I was very impressed with a track I heard recently called ‘How could I Love Her So Much’ by a young Country Music Artist called Nathan Carter; I wrongly assumed he was American when I first heard the music, when in fact he was born in Liverpool and is very popular on the Irish Country Music scene. Two-step is a simple 6-count step combination of quick quick, slow slow, with each ‘quick’ being one beat of music and each slow being two beats in duration.
13.11.11
KATIE RHODES at SADDLE & SPURS CARNFORTH, Sat 19 Nov 2011.
First a little about Katie Rhodes who was born in Manchester into a large Irish family. Many of her sisters and brothers are very talented musicians and vocalists. While Katie was young, her parents and siblings had an Irish/Country band which travelled all over the UK and Europe, little knowing that years later she would follow in their footsteps! In her early days, Katie was heavily influenced by the older country music constantly listened to and performed by her parents, with people like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Marty Stuart, being particular favourites of theirs. By the time Katie was old enough to become involved, her family's band had ceased to be, this was a big disappointment to Katie, who had learned to play the bass guitar to all of their songs, hoping to join them. It was whilst on a night out that she went to see an Irish band and found out that they were looking for a bass player and although she hadn't any real experience working live, Katie joined them, playing bass and singing mainly harmonies. The band did very well, playing venues all over the UK and abroad, but her real passion was to sing Country music.
On one occasion whilst watching the Blue Orchid band, Katie got talking to them and they invited her to get up and sing a couple of songs. She did and, as a result was immediately given her own booking in that same club, which was to be her
First a little about Katie Rhodes who was born in Manchester into a large Irish family. Many of her sisters and brothers are very talented musicians and vocalists. While Katie was young, her parents and siblings had an Irish/Country band which travelled all over the UK and Europe, little knowing that years later she would follow in their footsteps! In her early days, Katie was heavily influenced by the older country music constantly listened to and performed by her parents, with people like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Marty Stuart, being particular favourites of theirs. By the time Katie was old enough to become involved, her family's band had ceased to be, this was a big disappointment to Katie, who had learned to play the bass guitar to all of their songs, hoping to join them. It was whilst on a night out that she went to see an Irish band and found out that they were looking for a bass player and although she hadn't any real experience working live, Katie joined them, playing bass and singing mainly harmonies. The band did very well, playing venues all over the UK and abroad, but her real passion was to sing Country music.On one occasion whilst watching the Blue Orchid band, Katie got talking to them and they invited her to get up and sing a couple of songs. She did and, as a result was immediately given her own booking in that same club, which was to be her
debut night as a solo artiste. Since Katie's debut night, she hasn't looked back. Being a bubbly, happy go lucky type of person, and a bit of a joker in real life, she has developed her show with a touch of tongue in cheek banter which was very apparent with the very receptive audience at Saddle & Spurs. She says artistes need people like these in the crowd to give the artiste the belief in themselves. She says 'Without an audience, I am nothing', which is very true.
But to get back to the show! I must be honest I have seen Katie several times in the past, and although there is no doubt she has an abundance of talent, I always thought something was not quite right with her act. Don’t get me wrong, she was very good on each occasion I saw her but I personally thought her show could have been even better. And guess what! At Saddle & Spurs she was. I think her performance on the night was one of the best shows I have witnessed in a long time. I’ll start with the sound which was excellent, thanks to her sound engineer Duncan; every word was crystal clear with the backing music adjusted accordingly. Her choice of material was diverse with music to suit dancers as well as listeners. I was particularly impressed when she put down her guitar and treated us to some excellent ballads. I especially enjoyed Katie’s version of ‘The Fields Of Athenry’ which I found very moving and showed what an lovely voice this young lady is gifted with.
So thank you Katie, and also ‘Saddle & Spurs’ for another enjoyable evening. Their dance nights are rapidly becoming popular in our area, and the organisers go out of their way to offer a warm welcome to everyone.
We are looking forward to the next ‘Saddle & Spurs’ dance which will be held on 10 December and the artiste for the evening will be Dee D James.
But to get back to the show! I must be honest I have seen Katie several times in the past, and although there is no doubt she has an abundance of talent, I always thought something was not quite right with her act. Don’t get me wrong, she was very good on each occasion I saw her but I personally thought her show could have been even better. And guess what! At Saddle & Spurs she was. I think her performance on the night was one of the best shows I have witnessed in a long time. I’ll start with the sound which was excellent, thanks to her sound engineer Duncan; every word was crystal clear with the backing music adjusted accordingly. Her choice of material was diverse with music to suit dancers as well as listeners. I was particularly impressed when she put down her guitar and treated us to some excellent ballads. I especially enjoyed Katie’s version of ‘The Fields Of Athenry’ which I found very moving and showed what an lovely voice this young lady is gifted with.
So thank you Katie, and also ‘Saddle & Spurs’ for another enjoyable evening. Their dance nights are rapidly becoming popular in our area, and the organisers go out of their way to offer a warm welcome to everyone.
We are looking forward to the next ‘Saddle & Spurs’ dance which will be held on 10 December and the artiste for the evening will be Dee D James.
20.11.11
KINDA COUNTRY CHRISTMAS DANCE, Wed 14 Dec 2011.
It just gets better every year!
This year was particularly nice because our dancers from the Monday night class at
Torrisholme, started earlier this year came along for the first time.
What a great time we had. The first time I hit the ‘play’ button the floor was flooded and that’s how it went for the rest of the evening. Although I asked for requests there was really no need because having worked with the dancers all year I knew which dances would go down well. And apart from the supper and raffle breaks we played almost non-stop dance music.
I said previously that the scary ‘Big Bird’ had gone to roost for the last time after last year, but having had several requests to bring it back again I finally relented at the last minute, - the afternoon of the dance to be precise. I didn’t have time to rehearse anything and dived into the costume ‘cold’ hoping that the old saying “It will be alright on the night” was true, which it was and everyone seemed to enjoy a bit of ‘slapstick’. Just one moment of panic when I feared I might not be able to get into the costume having put on a few pounds since the last time I wore it, but I managed, albeit the fit was tighter than last year! I’m sure the ‘bird’ had put on weight too, it certainly felt much heavier than last year! I also seem to dance better wearing chickens feet than I do in boots! Keep your eyes open from now on!!
For the ones amongst you who have not seen Kinda Country’s rare bird before, it was hatched with the aid of the following materials:
- An old television aerial.
- Plastic and aluminium curtain valance track.
- Plastic plumbers pipe small, and large.
- Air extractor ducting (neck)
- Pet blankets (fur).
- Sponge and plastic balls (head & eyes).
- Curved shampoo bottles (beak).
- Various nuts, bolts & screws.
- Duct tape (plenty).
- Garden wire & plastic ties.
- A sewing machine (which no longer works).
- Many other, bits & pieces, sundries etc. (stolen from Audrey’s work box).
- And finally a choice selection of sticking plaster and swear words!
The guest artist who performed at our dance was Bob Morgan. I really like this guy, not only has he an excellent choice of traditional country music and songs, he is one of a rare breed of artists who has an excellent voice, and also a very good musician. And what a nice guy! Great to chat to and very personable. He went out of his way to try and please us, and although he has many years experience as a performing artiste he has the enthusiasm of someone just starting out in the business. He’s very rightly called ‘The Country Gentleman’ - very true, and I would recommend him to anyone looking to book a Country Artist in the future: singingbob@gmail.com
Audrey and I are now having a two week break before we start dancing again in the New Year, although it isn’t that much of a break for her with about 14 family members to cater for at Christmas; but she really does love it and always comes up trumps on that special day of the year when they all descend upon us.
A BIG THANK YOU to all the dancers that come along to make our sessions so happy, friendly and sometimes very funny; it has been a privilege to share the floor with you all during the past 12 months, and I look forward to continuing where we left off when we resume again in the new year.
AUDREY AND I WOULD LIKE TO WISH YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR. Derek Robinson
23.12.11
