PLAYA BLANCA (Beginner Dance)

This dance was specially written for the V Young group of line dancers who had so graciously invited me to Tawau (see 2 posts back) to perform at their party and also to share my dances with them.

The official teach was at the party on Saturday night (8 Aug 09) but unfortunately no suitable videos were taken. Will do one later on and post it here.

Although it is a phrased dance, it is still manageable for the Beginner as the steps are easy and phrasing uncomplicated. The music's lovely and reminds one of sandy beaches and swaying palm trees :-D

Click on image to enlarge

Games People Play 2 (Beginner/Improver)

Eversince GAMES PEOPLE PLAY was released, many have tried the dance and liked it. There were also many more who said they love the music and would love to dance to it but preferred an easier version. And so, my friends, I give you GAMES PEOPLE PLAY 2.

It's a Beginner/Improver level dance, only 32 counts and 2 walls. Easy steps :-)

My friend Annemaree, an instructor in Melbourne, gave me valuable input as I tweaked the dance so that it would fit the level for which it was meant (I tend to get a little too ambitious most times.....LOL)

She has also put together an excellent demo/walk-through video to the dance (thanks Annemaree!) on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrkOAehTrV8

I shall be submitting the stepsheet to Yipee soon, and also sending it out to friends in my contact list. You can also view it below or download it from the 'CHOREOGRAPHY' section located at the right column of this blog.

Click on image to enlarge

The first official teach of this dance was last weekend in Tawau, Sabah. I hope you'll give it a try.

Enjoy!

Line Dancing in TAWAU

I spent a lovely weekend (August 8 - 10, 2009) in Tawau with the V Young Group line dancers, headed by their teacher Teresa.

Nicole, a friend of my husband's, who learns under Teresa, asked if I was free to make a trip there to share my dances with their group. It so happened that my husband was flying over for business and thus I also made arrangements to follow him. To coincide with our trip, the V Young group organised a line dance party on Saturday night, which was attended by 130 guests, including journalists from two local newspapers.

Special draw prizes were sponsored by PM Malaysia which distributes the FITLINE products from Germany.

After dinner, the V Young group and I started the ball rolling with our joint performance. I had edited 3 songs into one continuous track: the first saw me dancing THE TIME OF MY LIFE,

after which the V Young group came onto the floor to perform BLUE TRAIN,

and I finished off with my dance GAMES PEOPLE PLAY.

Several more groups came out to perform their prepared numbers before general dancing started and everyone hurried onto the floor to strut their stuff :-)

I had fun too as I knew some of the dances on the play list, and what I didn't know I tried picking it up as it was being danced....lol.

Later on in the evening, I taught my newest (as yet unreleased) dance, PLAYA BLANCA, to the line dancers. This dance was specially written for them and I'm absolutely glad they liked it.

The next evening, the group got together again and they requested for a review of PLAYA BLANCA, and also for me to share 2 more dances with them: GAMES PEOPLE PLAY 2 (a beginner/improver version to my Intermediate dance GAMES PEOPLE PLAY; stepsheet yet to be released) which they picked up immediately, and MY LOVE IS TRUE which was fine for the 1st wall but got a little chaotic for the other walls....lol. I am confident they'll master it soon enough, as I did go through it a little quicker than I normally would, due to time constraint.

Later in the evening, I was requested to showcase BORN TO ROCK and also THE TIME OF MY LIFE again. I also did a quick demo of ROOMBA (by Guyton Mundy) and BOOM BOOM (by Jose Miguel). All in all, we had a blast. I especially enjoyed making new friends and also getting to know people whom I had only communicated with online prior to this trip (eg. Suzie & Lilen)

I have been asked to return soon....lol. We'll see.....I'll have to work around my classes and my family commitment, but as the popular phrase goes....."I'LL BE BACK!”

CONGRATULATIONS! to the V Young Group for a successful party and a big THANK YOU for your invitation, your hospitality and your friendship.