Who would have believed that an evening class in line dancing at a local school in Toronto fifteen years ago would have caused such a major life change, but it did so for me. From that first evening I was hooked and I have never looked back. An avid dancer from a young age, I delighted in this new form of dance and expanded my interest and love ten years ago to include choreography and instruction. Since that time I have written over 70 dances and have been privileged to have many dances published (click to see published dances **) and my dance ‘Clap Your Hands’ nominated for ‘Beginner Dance of the Year’ at the 2005 Dancers’ Choice Awards in Vegas. More recently 'Soft & Slow', 'On My Mind', 'Small Stuff', 'Dance Zone', 'Ami Oh', 'Pirate On The Run', 'No Tricks' and 'Our First Love' have been popular world wide. The most popular YouTube Video is 'My Heart Won't Let Go' (written with Fred Buckley & Double Trouble) which has had over 118,000 views.
Initially instruction was not on my agenda, but I was invited to teach my dances and have now taught at events across Canada, the US, the UK, Japan and Australia. It was an absolute thrill and incredible honour when I was awarded the Dancers' Choice Award for Female Instructor of the Year 2006, which was presented at the Vegas Dance Explosion, and nominated again for the same award in 2007. I was greatly touched that so many dancers nominated and voted for me and very much appreciated their support.
My aim with my instruction is to try to ensure that all of the dancers in my classes gain confidence in their ability to learn and that the process is fun. I want them all to leave my class with smiles on their faces.
In another role as part of the line dancing community, eight years ago I set up this website initially to allow for a central location for Canadian line dance instructors and dancers to find each other through the ‘Dance Class Listings’. My favourite activity next to dancing is writing so the logical next step was to start writing reports of events I attended and, together with photos, put them on ‘Stay In Line’. I hoped that reading about the enjoyment dancers have at these events would encourage other dancers to attend. Many of these reports have now been published in the UK Linedancer magazine, 5678 Dance and ‘The Beat’ NZ. To my surprise and delight two of my articles were nominated for The Beat Awards in NZ and my monthly column was also nominated for an Award. I have also interviewed country singers, including Dierks Bentley, Jason McCoy, the Road Hammers, Lisa Brokop, Jake Mathews and Sean Hogan whose songs have been enjoyed by line dancers and these too have been published. More recently I interviewed talented husband and wife duo, Joey+Rory and Canadian country sensation, George Canyon. I have also turned my hand to a few short stories with line dancing as a focus. At this point there have been over 113,000 visitors to Stay In Line.
As you will discover on this site I am also the co-organizer, with Fred & Eddie Buckley, of two annual LD workshops. 'Let The Good Times Roll ....' is into it's seventh year. Fred and I teach at this event along with two invited Canadian instructors. Our Spring Workshop features two international guests. We have been thrilled that both events have been well attended with lots of fun and laughter as well as great instruction and dancing.
However, as well as the enormous pleasure I get from teaching, dancing and choreography, one of the greatest benefits I feel I have gained from this wonderful activity is the friendships I have made which I cherish. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be part of this friendly and welcoming line dance community and look forward to making more friends in the future through my dancing and teaching.
