appeldance

UCWDC Worlds 2007

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 21:31:51 GMT

When you think of Nashville, you think of country music. That makes it the perfect town to host the UCWDC World competition. Especially this year, with the excellent music selection for the competitions and social dancing by the DJs all week long.

OK so a general overview of the good and the not so good. Overall UCWDC Worlds was very well run this year. They kept the schedule very well for a comp of this size. The social dancing in the swing room was a good time and lasted into the wee hours. The Gaylord Opryland is beginning to show signs of being behind the times, especially in the very un-healthconscious food court area. At the same time it is a unique place to hold a competition with unusual details like the Godiva chocolate shop and the 12 foot tall plant lady walking around the atriums. The DJing and music selection this year was great. All my students remarked on how they liked the songs they danced to. More highlights: quick belt buckle delivery this year, complimentary boarding pass printing at the concierge desk, free internet access in the rooms, impromptu Chrisanne dress modeling show by Brandi Tobias. That last one wasn't in the program. The only major debacle we noticed was with the trophies being held up in customs and then arriving with about a quarter of them broken. That should be an easy fix for next year though.

My week very relaxing after Thursday morning. I had three country proam students: Carolyn Wilburn (Silver Advanced), Becky MacCorkle (Open Novice), and Lynn Macy (Diamond Novice) who competed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Worlds is a little different than other comps: the divisions are very large, the floor is larger, and you don't do the music previews on the competitions floor. The music previews are held in smaller ballroom nearby. All this can make Worlds a little intimidating for students, but Carolyn, Becky, and Lynn stepped up and performed very very well. I was especially pleased with the new Cha-Cha routine I had just choreographed in November, and which all three students performed beautifully for the first time at Worlds. They received many compliments on this particular dance, including a very enthusiastic one from Carolyn's husband, Harlyn :)

Thursday morning we got the results and my students cleaned up:
Carolyn is the 2007 ProAm Female Classic Silver & Gold Advanced World Champion!

Becky is the 2007 ProAm Female Classic Open Novice 2nd place winner!

Lynn is the 2007 ProAm Female Diamond Novice 4th place winner!

Thursday evening was a great show of Line dancing (Crown & Superstars) with our very own Mona Arvidson performing her Solo medley. We had cheering section in the bleachers just for her. After this there was a the Bombshel Stomp Off street line dance competition which get the energy going. After awards we retired to the swing room again and set up a home base on one of the oversized divans and socialized with the other dancers from all over the world.

Friday I had to get up early for the ProAm swing competition, which ended up being very small. I danced with Carolyn, Becky, and MaryDee. My students were very pleased with the cool swing trophies they gave this year. Becky in particular was very relived that she won, seeing as she was the only one in the Open Advanced division. Later on the I had a break before the Swing Invitational show and yet another awards ceremony. UCWDC brought lots of swing pros in this year so there were some great performances to watch from: Jordan & Tatiana, Ronnie & Brandi, Parker & Jessica, Miles & Tessa, Kyle & Sarah. Having all the swing comps on Friday made for a great party in the swing room that evening. Special thanks to John Lindo, Louie St.George, and Phil Adams for DJing the swing room all week.

Saturday was the last day of the competition with Couples Classic Open, Crown, Masters, and Showcase competition. Kudos to Sam and Denise Miller who danced away with 1st place in both the Masters Classic and Showcase divisions. I was also so proud of Chad Guidry & Shelley James for their 5th place in the Masters Showcase, and Bobby Pritchard & Kimberly Hromcik for 1st place in Division II Couple Classic. Fabulous dancing everyone! See you next year.

ACDA Nationals 2006

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:35:10 GMT

This year's ACDA Nationals competition was held in Dallas at the Doubletree Galleria. The best thing about the event being held at this hotel is the wonderfully hot chocolate chip cookies you receive upon check in! The event ran smoothly and on time. Sunday awards were even early, which is almost unheard of and extremely welcome.
RECAP:
Friday: The evening started out with the Int/Adv ProAm divisions competing. I had one student, Carolyn Wilburn, dancing in the Silver Advanced division. She danced exceedingly well so we were ready for the swing comp to follow. The competition moved smoothly through the Int/Adv divisions and finished early enough so that those competing in the swing competition had plenty of time to change, freshen up a bit, grab a drink ( a pre-swing competition ritual) and warm up prior to competing. I had two students competing in the Int/Adv Swing ProAm: Carolyn Wilburn in the Senior division, and Becky MacCorkle in the Open division. Both students danced extremely well in this as well. Swing is always the most relaxed competition for Carolyn and Becky. Later on the main ballroom settled down quickly but the party continued with late night dancing in the swing room.

Saturday: On Saturday afternoon, the ProAm Open competitions were held. Open is usually a large division because there is no age restriction so anyone may enter. Becky danced extremely well in the Novice Open division, as she always does. Then it was time to watch the shows and for more late night swing dancing to all hours.

Sunday: The couples competitions finished up in the afternoon, and there was a short period of time while the directors prepared for the awards ceremony. I am very proud to report that both Becky and Carolyn won the ACDA National Championship titles for their divisions. They deserve congratulations also for winning their Swing divisions as well. I know they are pleased with their performances, as they should be.

Kudos to Virginia Rainey, Judi Caudle and Patricia Morris, the event directors, for running the event so smoothly which allowed everyone to get on the road early after a long, fun-filled weekend. This was Becky's first year on the ACDA circuit and she commented that the ACDA events were very warm, welcoming and felt like they were run by family. All of us look forward to seeing everyone on the ACDA circuit again next year. See you at Nationals 2007!

Dance Houston Championships 2006, Houston, TX

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 03:31:33 GMT

The Dance Houston Championships wrapped up July 28th-30th this year. It was held at The Melody Club, the home of Houston swing dancers, with its fabulous bar and huge dance floor. This place has so much history and memories that everyone tends to overlook the dusty corners. It's home to our local events and they wouldn't be the same without it.

The good: the vocal acrobatics of MC David Young, Best Bites economical and delicious catering, Michael Stephens & Jamie Callahan's Anything Goes dance to 'Baby Got Back'

The not-so-good: the leaky roof that left puddles on the dance floor & the two hour dancers meeting

Dance Houston is the largest local event and draws competitors from all over the region, including Louisiana and Oklahoma. Although they have been the official Houston City contest for many years, Whip Inc. has announced their intention to change all that by adopting SWRDA rules and requesting the dominant place in the local regional event hierarchy. This would mean that Dance Houston would no longer be a city contest, and henceforth be classified as a higher contest than Regionals. This has created confusion among competitors, which will remain until the final ruling on this request at the next SWRDA meeting. Only time will tell.

So, overall great food, fun, and dancing. Let's get to the pictures:

Ruby and Jamie got back!

Local entrepreneurs Michelle and Nancy show off their booths of bling.

Texas Classic

Thu, 25 May 2006 02:56:37 GMT

Friday-
The Texas Classic http://www.thetexasclassic.com hosted by new owner Kathi Bittner started on Friday, May 19. I got to the hotel and checked into room around three in the afternoon. The venue was fabulous...it was the Hilton hotel on Post Oak situated in the Uptown Houston area near the Galleria. The hotel and staff were excellent. My only complaint is that the design of the hotel is a little confusing. More than once I made a wrong turn and that was before I started my celebratory drinking:-) My hotel room was very nice and I was glad that my view was of the swimming pool...next time bring swimming suit. Although, night swimming is the only safe way for me...during the daylight the reflection off of my white body could be blinding. "Pale, is the new tan"

Registration check in for the competition was quick and easy. The staff manning the registration area were informative and pleasantly cheerful. I think that this is very important because the very first contact that you have at an event is the registration process and it should be a good first meeting. The ballroom was a good size for the competition and the floor was great...kudos to Gerald Morris for the floor. After a little searching I was able to find the dressing room' s. They were in a separate room off of the ballroom, but still close enough to make quick changes easily. The dressing rooms were very well stocked with clothing racks, mirrors, chairs for those with balance issues. There was also safety pins and all of the other essential items needed to look like a country and western superstar. Big points in this area!

Warm ups...why do they call them warm ups anyway? I mean you go out on the floor, with everybody else that is competing that evening and try to dance your routine on the floor that has no room on it whatsoever. You get bumped and cut off from the line dance and then if you get warm, you will be cold by the time you finally get to that dance in the competition. Really, the only true purpose of the quick run time that you have on the floor is to get a feel of the floor and the music...with a slight possibility of anxiety thrown in for no charge.
Friday night competition ran on time and my student Carolyn Wilburn danced wonderfully. Then immediately following the country event was the swing, hustle and salsa competition. After the C&W there is always a mad rush from the ballroom to to quickly change for the swing. Those of us dancing C&W with hats on have to take time to do something about...HAT HAIR!

The swing competition was well attended and had many competitors. I had four students that danced; Carolyn Wilburn, Mary Dee Harris, Becky MacCorkle and Lynn Macy. All of the girls were awesome!! I have truly found the secret to good dancing...pick beautiful talented ladies and then I look great. (good taste goes a long way)
I left before the end of the swing competition because I had to be up early the next morning.

Saturday-
I had to teach at 9:00-11:00 and then practice with Susan. A short nap and it was already time for Novice. I danced with Lynn Macy and Becky MacCorkle. The afternoon went smoothly with only a couple of creative moments on my part:-) After the session I quickly went up and changed for show rehearsal. We started the rehearsal with the tribute to Trini DeSilva. The run thru was quick and efficient . Then Susan and I ran our routine to music. I left the ballroom as others were about to come in and take their seats for the evenings competition and show. I went back and showered, ironed clothes and headed back down to the ballroom. I just missed Chad Guidy and Shelley James Masters waltz...*&%@#.
The tribute to Trini went very well. I have been professional throughout the whole period of time that the routine was being put together. I thought only about the mechanics of the routine and video presentation. It was when I entered the floor to dance that the emotion of the moment struck my face red and watered my eyes. I could not and did not want to contain the emotion that I felt...so I let it go.
Immediately afterwords, I had to change and pull myself together so I could dance the swing with Susan. She had perfect understanding as she let me compose myself and then focus on our task together. We danced and had one major problem, but it is still fixable and I am looking forward to Grand National's this coming weekend. The show itself was not too long, but still very entertaining. There was lots of time between the Masters Competition and the show that gave spectators a chance to social dance.

After the show I did swing award's and my girls rocked...more on placement's later:-)

A new friend at the swing awards!

I changed and opened a bottle of Chateau Nuf De Pap...yeah baby!
A quick visit to the staff room for a party. This is also where I think Kathi had done a great job. She made the staff and the attendee's feel special and important. Way to go Kathi. Staff room was great. Good food, good selection(healthy-not healthy) and drinks, COOL! Nice touches.

Sunday-
An early morning again, more choreo and then watched the competition. On a side note, one of the competitor's Donnie Stewart fell to the floor clutching his right knee during Nite Club 2. I feel bad for him and hope that he is going to be alright. Hopes of a speedy recovery to Donnie.
All the couples danced great and there was a lot of improvement for the competitors. I had multiple couples dancing that I coach. It was nice to see them dance live instead of watching just the video. But unfortunately there were several uncontested divisions.

Overall, I think the Texas Classic was a very well ran event, with a great new venue and lot's of nice special touches. Also, there was a good gathering of upper level dancer's, which makes coaching more available to competitors that want help with their dancing.
I always try to support the local country event's, but I would recommend this event to everyone.

My girls placed very well and I am happy that they all were pleased with the way that they danced this weekend.

The Swing Placements-

Mary Dee Harris - Silver
Lynn Macy - 2nd Newcomer
Becky MacCorkle - 2nd in Intermediate
Carolyn Wilburn - 1st in Advanced

The Country Placements-

Lynn Macy - 2nd Overall Diamond Novice
Carolyn Wilburn - 2nd Overall Silver Advanced
Becky MacCorkle - 1st Overall Crystal Novice

Great job ladies and I am very proud of you!

Appel Swing Party...Houston, Tx

Wed, 17 May 2006 18:45:36 GMT

I held Another Swing party in Houston on Saturday, May 13. It was a very good party, not as large as most of my parties, but it was packed with mostly new people...at least new to my party. SWEET!

I will probably never schedule another party in the month of May again. There are just too many great functions that happen at the same time and not everyone can attend everything. I also, did not have workshops ahead of time which will not happen again. I think that the workshop's help get the party...partying sooner:-) That and the wine:-)

So many beautiful ladies...So little David:-)

I played a lot of new swing music that evening. As usual I spent hours scouring the stores and internet for music. It is not a business or a hobby...it is an obsession! I like finding good music. I could play what I know is safe but, I occasionally like to try something new and different. If it works I play it again. If not then I scrap it or use it for teaching.

Speaking of music...I released my website AppelDance.com
On my web site there is a link to my iTunes iMix of 99 WC Swing Songs.

What is an iMix? A iMix is a playlist of songs that I can put together and then publish on the iTunes web site. You can purchase the songs straight from iTunes after you have opened an account and downloaded the free software. One song is .99 cents or the whole playlist is less than $100.00. This means that you do not have to search for good music. I have done it for you:-)

It was also exciting to see Brian Spivey and Valerie Menard debut their awesome classic swing routine to "Baby Get Lost" by Queen Latifah. It was a fabulous performance, especially for the first time on the floor and I was glad that I could provide a good venue for them to debut their swing routine. As usual Valerie was sexy as ever and had everyone's attention immediately, while Brian demonstrated what a man with rhythm looks like. It was fun to watch and I will be looking forward to seeing them compete in Atlanta at the Grand Nationals.

Good Luck Guys!

Texas Hoedown - March 2006

Fri, 12 May 2006 19:52:27 GMT

I just got back from the Texas Hoedown http://www.dancetexashoedown.com which is an ACDA country event held in Ft. Worth, Texas and it was awesome this year! I have attended the Hoedown every year for the last four or five years and I believe that this years attendance was better than in previous years. Even the upper divisions of couples, Division 1 & 2, had more competitors dancing this year. Kudos to Jerry and Virginia Rainey who are the event directors of the Texas Hoedown.
The hotel that the event was held at is a Holiday Inn that is making the change into a Radisson. This year they were completing renovations to the hotel. This made the stay a little more uncomfortable but, I think in the long run the hotel is going to be much more upscale, especially with the addition of sleep number bed...SWEET!
Some of the things that I like about the competition and its venue is the laid back and inviting way it is presented. Everybody feels good about being there. I also think that it is great that they have a liquor store just next door to the hotel...how convenient. In addition, there is a Cracker Barrel to eat at just across the street, as well as, a large selection of restaurants just two miles down the freeway. It was a great event this year and everyone had a good time.

My students danced wonderfully...

In the Country and Western competition:
Becky MacCorkle won 1st place overall in the Novice Copper Division
Carolyn Wilburn won 1st Place overall in the Advanced Silver Division

In the Swing Competition:
Mary Dee Harris placed 6th in the the Novice Swing
Becky MacCorkle placed 1st in the Intermediate-Advanced Swing
Carolyn Wilburn placed 3rd in the Intermediate-Advanced Swing

"Country BLING"

Also, Virginia Rainey recognized me as a special addition to the Texas Hoedown...Thanks again to Jerry and Virginia Rainey for another great competition!