Several months ago, whilst channel hopping on a Thursday night, I came across something rather interesting. A tv show called Live! Laugh! Line Dance! was just starting, and being stuck at home on maternity leave with a baby who'd only just gone to bed, I sat down to watch whilst eating my hastily prepared dinner.
I have to confess I was a bit sceptical of what the content was likely to be. Line dancing in the UK is seen by many as tongue-in-cheek and rarely gets the attention and respect it deserves, but when I saw that it was produced by one of my favourite line dance personalities, Glenn Rogers, my hopes were lifted and once I'd watched my first episode, I felt it was a true and accurate picture of line dancing right across the UK (based on my own experience).
The show is now on during a Saturday afternoon on Showcase TV at 15.00 and is part of my regular weekly tv viewing, so with the start of this blog, I have decided to write a review of each week's episode.
If you've not watched it yet - stop reading and click here and check you are watching episode 44. If not click here and choose number 44.
Episode 44
This week's episode was hosted by internationally renowned choreographers Alison Biggs and Peter Metelnick (
Dance Factory UK) who are also sponsors of the show.
The show opened with Karl Harry Winson's "Alcazar", a great dance which has the capacity to fill the floor wherever it is played. The video clip on the show was taken at the Bracklesham Bay Summertime Ball in August 2015, which some of my own friends attended, and if you look very closely I believe that is Karl Harry dancing in the 4th row on the left side (from the front) after he popped in on the weekend.
The next dance introduced was Kim Ray's "The Bomp" - currently no 1 in the Linedancer Magazine charts and a great track with steps that remind me slightly of
Miller Magic (remember that one?). Alison and Peter also reminisced about some of Kim's previous dances, namely a dance to Pretty Woman (possibly called "
Rodeo Drive"?) and also the very popular dance "
It's up to you" which to this day is still one of my big favourites. I understand this was also danced at Bracklesham Bay so fingers crossed there is some video of this to come in a future episode.
"Hit the Base" was the next dance to be shown. I've not dance this yet but I think this is going to be a big hit - it's showing as 4th most viewed on Copperknob and is also one of Line Dancer Magazine's most viewed dances. It's a great dance by the fabulous Daniel Whittaker to music which has a great beat - I'm really looking forward to doing this one.
"Tell the World" has been a very popular dance in recent months for choreographer Robbie McGowan Hickie. A fun dance for Improvers which is fairly easy to grasp and with music which most of us have come across on the TV adverts for Windows 10 (I wonder if the person in charge of UK marketing for Microsoft is a line dancer?).
Moving on, our classic dance this week is the amazing "Shania's Moment" by Nathan Easey. I love this dance, it really shows line dancing at its best and I think it's a dance all line dancers must learn. It's danced everywhere and its great if you want to add your own variations as there is so much you can do with this. I hope this will be around for many years to come.
"Tuesday Blues", is a new dance and one I have to say I am not familiar with. It's choreographed by Simon Ward known for dances such as "Titanic", "Turn Me Loose," and "Outta Control". The music is Elton John's, 'I guess that's why they call it the blues" and from the video the dance looks like it fits really well to the music. I'm sure we'll probably be seeing more of this one soon, I can see its the 2nd most viewed dance on Copperknob already and its also one of the most viewed dances on Line Dancer Magazine too.
The show ended on "Hit the Road Jack" a fun little improver dance from a few years ago by Alison and Peter. This still seems very popular as I've seen it danced at classes, socials and events this year and I think its another dance that will stick around for a few years yet.
That's it for today. A full list of the dances featured on the show are listed below with links to the scripts on Copperknob (its easier to link to them than line dancer magazine)
Dances featured:(with links to Copperknob for scripts)
Alcazar -
Karl Harry Winson & Robbie McGowan Hickie (Int)
What did you think of this weeks show? Please add your comments below.
About the Author
A self confessed cheese-and-choco-holic mum of one living with my partner, cat and dog deep in the depths of the North Cotswolds. I love anything creative - knitting, crochet, adult colouring etc and am usually found working on some project or another. Why not join me on my adventures as a first time mum as I experience the ups, downs and everything in between that comes from being a working part time mum
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