4 wall - 32 counts - intermediate

Trying new formats is a very hard thing to do when you create an event.Big Dave was recently invited to an Orlando “Experience” not to be missed.Here is his report…Diane and Sandy run this great eventand I’m so proud that they include me astheir DJ and co-host along with Pauline.We had a lovely crowd with us this yearand we really did have a fun transatlanticdance party.Pauline and I have enjoyed a ‘Busman’sHoliday’ to help with this new event inthe States for three years now. This yearwas the best ever as The Experiencecontinues to grow, develop and getestablished on the US event circuit.The guests were illustrious this year:Ria, Craig, Simon, Guyton, Shaz, Dan,Debbie and Joey and they all did anawesome job dancing, socialising andteaching some great new dances, all setto a fun ‘Movies’ theme.In the States most events are bigmulti-room affairs with three to fourroom options for workshops and socialdancing as well as theatre style seatingaround the dance fl oors. Diane andSandy have successfully organised avice-versa, taking a Brit style event tothe USA, a one room event with tablesaround the dance fl oor. Now in the USA,that is quite new and I can report that itseems to be working well, with around200 dancers joining us this year.From a DJ point of view, I love workingthrough a pre-published list of the teamsclassic dances over the weekend andeach night showcase the evenings hostsfor a half hour slot around midnight –The dancers particularly liked the screenshowing the up-coming dances andmade good use of the request slips eachevening.We don’t do a formal ‘show’ at theExperience, but thanks to the Movietheme, there was a lot of laughs withdressing up as famous stars and judgingtables on the Saturday evening! Afterthat, like every evening, we danced thenight away until the early hours, slippingin lots of fun bits along the way like theChoreographer Music/Dance Bingo, aquiz and our Dancer Oscars. Everyoneenjoyed their hot dog, popcorn andnachos movie treat at midnight too.The Experience had attracted a greatdiverse crowd asking for Improverthrough to Advanced dances, as wellas a good mix of country and pop too,something for everyone.One of my personal highlights is anight in a big local Country Club calledCowboys, where we have around 150dancers, both at the event and manylocals just with us for the night. I getto DJ for the night and this year Ria,Simon and Craig each taught a newdance. That is always a great start to agreat weekend.On Sunday evening we round it alloff with an informal chill down night ata local bowling alley for around 50 ofthe dancers still in town, this year ourchamps were Rona Kaye from New Yorkand our very own Craig Bennett. Thenwe danced some more in the alley bar,where I got to DJ again.The team then chilled out at a cool postevent party at Diane’s, a lovely fi nish toa fabulous weekend with good dancingfriends. And guess what? It is all set to beeven bigger and better next year with anincredible line-up. See what you think:Niels Poulsen, Rachael McEnaney, DeeMusk, Maria Maag, Guyton Mundy,Simon Ward - and our regular MC JoeyWarren who will be our ‘ringmaster’for the ‘Circus’ theme, hopefully “thegreatest show on earth”… What anExperience this will be! If you are freeon the weekend of 13th-16th February2014, you could do far worse than havea weekend in Orlando!56 • May 2013 www.linedancermagazine.com