Some reviews from the 2011 weekend ....

At the Maggie G. Experience the dances were great, the decorations were beautiful, the food was included in the registration fee and we were fed like royalty, and a good time was had by all.  I have to get the survey finished and open the gazillion e-mails I had when I got home.  There will be lots and lots of pictures and videos posted on Facebook so if you are on Facebook, you can see the ones that are there now and the ones to come.  Lou Ann and Bryan McWherter went all out with their pictures and videos so be sure and check them out.  I'll let you know who else has posted pictures there so you can see them, too.  I'll try to post all the reports coming in about the weekend and I'm sure everyone will be talking about the dances.  There were some good ones.  Bryan McWherter did a great job, as he always does, as the Emcee.  Someone asked him what his Irish name was going to be and her said, "Hum, how about BRYAN MCWHERTER?"  LOL.  Maggie, Guyton and Scott taught some great old and new dances requested ahead of time.  Joey Warren, Debbie McLaughlin, and Dan McInerney did a great job with some dances that will be biggies that they on Wednesday night and then reviewed during the weekend.  Sandy Albano and Diane Petoskey, Big Dave (who single handedly DJ'd all weekend from morning until morning), and Pauline and all the great helpers outdid themselves planning the weekend.  Everything was held in one room and everyone had designated tables so you didn't have to wonder what you were missing if you were out of the room.  There were games and requests and top favorite dances by all the choreographers who taught and new dances and old dances and it was just a well-planned and fun weekend.  There was a pajama party on Friday, a wear everything you can find that flashes, which was so beautiful on the floor, on Saturday, and, of course, the table decorating contest on Saturday right after the banquet.  The show on Saturday night was started with a wonderful company of young Irish dancers from Orlando and followed by a great performance by Joey Warren and another by Guyton Mundy (he started off with Irish Step Dancing, if you can believe that and I thought he was pretty good -- especially since he had to keep his hands at his sides).  There was also an Irish dance by the famous long-ringleted beauties from the UK.  I don't think you will see Irish dancing like this in the near future as Maggie put the icing on the lasses' cake.  The highlight of the show was Maggie G. dancing with those great Irish dancers, Joey Warren and Dan McInirney.  They didn't have wigs so they went outside and cut some moss off the trees and used that for their grey hair.  Did anyone ever tell them the moss has bugs in it?  I wish you could have seen them doing their entire Irish routine, leaping and posing and stomping around the floor.  You will probably be able to spot Dan because he did a very substantial toe pounding and I think his toe will remember that for awhile.  I really, really, hope someone has a video of that because I want to see it again!!  This event will happen again next year and the guests will be Shaz Walton, Paul McAdam, and Craig Bennett.  The theme this year was St. Patrick's Day and there was more green than in the Bank of America.  LOL.  The table decorating contest was so much fun and the creativity was amazing.  I loved them all.  We didn't win but just planning it and doing it was the grand prize.  I just wanted to let the girls from the UK know that we noticed them jumping up and down in their low bodices when the judges were SUPPOSED to be judging the tables.  We had so much fun and it was great seeing everyone working together to create their masterpieces.  I took lots of pictures and hopefully Stacy will post them on the site.  The prizes and raffles were wonderful with passes to some great events and Dallas and Stacy won the puppet this year (I'm jealous!!!)  It was adorable!!  There was so much of that great English chocolate and candies on all the tables all the time.  I LOVE that chocolate.  Anyway, that's a little overview but thanks Sandy, Diane, Dave, and Pauline, the great instructors and everyone who helped make this a memorable weekend.  I loved the LIGHTED balloons and all the festive decorations everywhere and thanks to Jen and Jason for providing the wonderful dance floor that is such a pleasure to dance on.  I left today but there was more dancing after I left and then a bowling/dance party starting around five so they are STILL GOING!!!   I'm sure I missed a lot of things but I am TIRED. 

COWBOYS IN ORLANDO, Wednesday night – Pre party for the Maggie G weekend. We used to dance there years ago when it was named Sullivans, and always loved this club and remember the happy times there.  Dance floor is much smaller now, but certainly adequate. Big Dave Dee-jayed and the night reminded me of the reason the line dance community is so special, as we spent much of the night just visiting with friends from everywhere. It was great for Ray too, because we saw couples that we used to hang out with years ago, who just stopped in to visit that night. A couple of beers, laughing about past memories, promises to get together again……you know…..the kind of stuff that makes you think “I’m sure glad we came tonight.”  For me, just dancing with everyone there for a few hours made the trip very enjoyable. It was great to spend even a short time with UK visitors, Big Dave and Pauline, Dan M(taught What’s My Name) and Debbie M(taught California King)  Our own Suzanne Wilson taught Don’t Cha (Rob Fowler).

                                                       Marilyn

Thanks Sandy, Diane, Big Dave and all the choreographers and staff for for all your hard work making the Maggie G Experience event such an enjoyable weekend.   It was great seeing dance friends again from distant shores.  The hotel is very comfortable and the food is excellent.  Big Dave always does a great job accommodating us with our dance requests and brings good candy too!  The decorations were fabulous. 

What a wonderful lady Maggie is. She was such fun and a great instructor. I really enjoyed dancing with her. She had some great dances. Some old and new. I sure hope she returns to the states. Diane an Sandy did an awesome job on this event. Everything went  so smooth (Diane even to the green beans) and made it such a FUN event. Big Dave was great at playin the tunes an always took requests with a smile an kind words. Guyton an Scott did a really nice job with their teaches. I didnt go on wednesday to Cowboys but heard it was really good dancing an good instructors. My name is on the list for next year. Again Thanks Diane and Sandy for a wonderful event

                                                       Teresa

Last weekend, The Maggie G Experience was held in Orlando, FL hosted by “Diane and Sandy” along with Big Dave and Pauline (Pauline...Pauline...Pauline). 

Unlike other large-scale line dance events I attended previously, this one was more intimate with extra activities planned nightly, along with pre- and post-parties, and only one workshop room – only one lesson per hour so everyone participated together. All had a great time (re)learning dances (new and classic dances taught by each instructor, some of which voted for by attendees) and participating in theme nights. Big Dave did a superb job DJ'ing; each night he announced the dances (or that is what I think he was saying?!) and the table that requested the dance, which helped folks who submitted requests.

Wednesday night nearly 100+ dancers (local and non-local) gathered at a country bar (Cowboys Orlando). Even with 2 pillars on the dance floor, there was still sufficient room, and, for a bar, the dance floor was great. Big Dave hooked into the system and was in heaven DJ'ing at a country bar; especially the bar Guyton Mundy got his start! Plenty of open dancing and three lessons covering a variety of styles, music genres, and dance levels:

DON'T CHA (fowler): taught by local choreographer and instructor Suzanne Wilson. Great teach! Good selection of music (country song) and the dance is great for beginners. Those who can only use country music, I highly recommend teaching and learning this dance.

WHAT'S MY NAME (McInerney): taught by Dan himself. Solid intermediate dance to a track by Rihanna. Some tricky bits that were overcome with repetition, another well-choreographed dance by Dan.

CALIFORNIA KING (McLaughlin): taught by Debbie herself. Advanced dance for the 2 tags and 1 restart. The steps flow great with the music, another track by Rihanna – this turned out to be one of the most requested dances all weekend.

After relaxing by the pool and chatting with the new arrivals on Thursday afternoon, it was 8pm and the Maggie G Experience opened its doors! Based on submissions by attendees, Big Dave played our Top 10 Favorite dances followed by the first teach of the weekend by the wild Maggie herself, JIG ABOUT. This reminded me of her dance taught at the Tampa Linedance Classic called JIG IT UP – it was the same, but different. While in the Irish mood, we played Bingo, although there were no letters on the cards. Translating Big Dave's call of numbers, Maggie voiced them aloud with a twist, especially for “two fat ladies...number 88.” After the three winners, everyone stood on the dance floor to play Irish Bingo - those with numbers on the card (called by Maggie), had to leave the floor and the last person standing won! It was a quite a duo, but only one was left standing. After the games, Guyton's Top Five dances were played, followed by the pajama party (thanks to Tonya from PA) with “adult milk” and cookies. Those Biscoff crisps are goooooood!

Friday new and classic (old) dances were taught:

GUARDIAN ANGEL (gallagher): one of my favorite all-time dances to a wonderful song by Gareth Gates. The trickiest part of the dance are the first 8 counts and hearing the restart. Just make sure the good angel is on your shoulder and you'll do fine.

ALWAYS GOLD (blevins): solid intermediate dance that is predominately instrumental. At first I was not a fan of the song, but I enjoyed it more when dancing. This will take some work to master, especially because of the speed.

ROLLING IN THE DEEP (gallagher): superb song, okay dance. Straight 64-ct dance; I wanted more out of it because I just love the song. I just felt this dance could go to many songs rather than written specifically for this song. This was played quite a bit throughout the weekend.

PERFECT (mundy): brand new dance to the Pink song, F***in Perfect (there is a clean version available). And guess what, no hands! Reminded me of his and Craig's Bennett's dance DREAMS.

RIGHT TO BE WRONG (blevins): classic advanced dance that is being retaught at many events. Watching a select few dance this over the year, this has always been on my list to learn and was glad for the teach by Scott. The dance flows with the music perfectly. Definitely a 2nd and 3rd teach is required so I am sure to be right, not wrong.

Open dancing on Friday night consisted of everyone flashing one another....er....wearing accessories that flashed – pins, necklaces, bracelets, tiaras, buttons, glasses, cups, anything!

Big Dave played the ALL TIME TOP 10 and SCOTT'S TOP 5 dances as voted by attendees, plus we got a bonus teach by Joey Warren of his dance TALKIN TO THE MOON, dedicated to Jersey Gal Linda. At first I was not a fan of the song, but as I danced it more and more, it grew on me (now I really like it). The dance has a tag and restart, and are pronounced in the song. The game on Friday night was Choreographer Bingo – name that dance after hearing the first 20 seconds of a song.....although I did not win, I certainly had a lot of spaces filled in!

Saturday new and classic (old) dances were taught:

SHIV-A-REE (gallagher): great dance, great song. Thanks to Derrick who assisted Maggie getting through the teach. Highly recommend learning.

ANGEL (mundy): superb dance, great song. Glad this was brought back as Guyton's classic teach, as voted by the attendees. I remember learning this at Eastern's several years ago and could barely get through it – now the steps came back as well as the two restarts. An angel remained on my shoulder!

GET UP DANCE (gallagher): brand new dance released at this event. Music is to a peppy pop track (sounded like the Danish group Infernal but it was not). Played quite a bit after the teach.

CHA CHA WHEN (blevins): new dance to a remixed version of Cuando, Cuando, Cuando. Another fast dance, but certainly fun. I liked this one more than ALWAYS GOLD.

MMM DADA (mundy): great dance, great track. Do this 2-3 times and you can skip zumba class for a week! An A-B dance, with hands, that may even be faster than Guyton and Carey's dance, THROW IT ON ME. Guyton taught this in 45 minutes, allowing time for music at full speed twice! Those who started with the lesson, remained on the floor at full speed. Just a couple of parts I got mixed up on, but I kept kickin' and wigglin' through the sections so I picked it back up on part B.

Saturday night was all about green - table decorations and attire. Those of us from PA/DC Area had our “care package” shipped to the hotel so we were ready to deck-o-rate. Each group of people and their tables were unique. It was amazing to see how far folks went with their themes. After the tables were judged MAGGIE G's TOP 5 DANCES were played, as voted by attendees. “Finigan” also stopped by and went home with the auction winner......looks like I am headed to Desert Dance (in Arizona) this June with my win!

Sunday were recaps of some dances taught since Wednesday night, plus Guyton taught Craig Bennett and Simon Ward's dance BORN THIS WAY. While some folks said goodbye, others like me headed to the post-party event at the nearby bowling alley. This was so much fun and a great way to end the extended weekend. There were trophies for the top male and female, and wouldn't you know it, Dan M and I were neck and neck – if it were not for my last gutter ball! USA will prevail next year my friend!!! All in all, a great weekend. Will be booking tickets for next year's event with a different line up. Thanks to JC Dance Productions for a wonderful floor, Big Dave and Pauline and Sandy and Diane for making this event come true! Good times had by all and flying home with many memories! Now GET UP and DANCE!

                                                        John

                                                        Betsy