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Just over a month ago I went to a Maggie G Workshop in Oxford but with a very busy couple of weeks (I got engaged!) I have neglected this blog a bit and have only now got round to doing my full write up. So apologies for that.

I'm also going to Legends in Line in Blackpool tonight and I am so excited to see Maggie and all the other legends at the weekend, especially as my ankle's much better now so I can pretty much dance normally again now. So with a great weekend ahead I thought now would be a very good time to write up the last workshop.


This time, Maggie taught 3 dances which were as follows:


Falling for you:

The first dance Maggie taught was 'Falling for you' a 64 count, 2 wall advanced dance choreographed to 'Still falling for you' by Ellie Goulding (and from the Bridget Jones's Baby soundtrack). This was a great dance and I really enjoyed doing this, it flows lovely to the music and when the beat kicks in you really get going on it. The dance has quite a few 'running steps' in, we also see the diamond steps which have been really popular this year and which we also saw in Maggie's Corazon Diamante but they work so well in this dance that I can't imagine doing anything else. The dance does have 2 tags but I found these relatively easy as you can hear them in the music. All in all a great dance which I expect will shortly be climbing the Line Dancer Magazine Charts.

You can view the script on Linedancer Magazine's website by clicking here

You can also view Maggie's video from her Facebook page below.





Boomerang

Maggie's second teach was a 32 count, 4 wall improver dance to 'Boomerang' by Ward Thomas. This is a fun dance to a country track which upon first dancing to I immediately started singing to the very catchy tune (and I guarantee you will too.) The dance is improver level so there is nothing too challenging in it, it also goes fantastically well to the music and I love the way the dance starts with the Stomp and Rock step. There is just the one tag but it is basically just 2 rocking chairs so it is really nothing to worry about.

If you want to view the script on Linedancer Magazine you can click here.

You can also view a video of the dance below.




Where my love goes

Our last teach was 'Where my love goes' to a track of the same name by Lawson (who also were the artists behind another of Maggie's hits 'Roads'). It's a 32 count, 2 wall intermediate line dance and it was my personal favourite out of all the dances taught that day. The track is beautiful, the dance has this lovely flow to it and I particularly enjoy the turns in the dance (they look great too). As with all of Maggie's dances this one also goes fantastically well to the music and the track is a great one to dance too. There are 2 easy restarts and a tag but it's just a sway step so nothing to worry about. As I said this was my favourite dance of the three and the one I'm really hoping I get to do again.

Want to view the script on Linedancer Magazine? Click here.

Or you can view the dance below.


The Sunday workshop was absolutely fantastic and in addition to the above dances we also danced Second Hand Heart which was released here at Woodstock last year. Also with Legends around the corner, we also took the opportunity to dance two of Maggie's classic dances - 'Mony Mony' and 'Na Mara'. I'm really hoping we can do them again this weekend at Legends. It was also really surprising just how many people got up and did them at Woodstock

That's all for today - I hope you enjoyed reading. This blog will be fairly busy over the next few days with updates from Legends in Blackpool and I will let you know what we're learning, what we're dancing and who is there in my next few posts so please stay turned and (wifi permitting) I will let you know what we're getting up to for those who aren't able to join us.



See you on the floor!


I think I have just about recovered from yesterday. My feet are still quite sore, my throat is hoarse (from singing/talking I think) I'm shattered and am unable to do anything mentally taxing but other than that I'm ok because I'm still riding high on the euphoria from yesterday (and the weekend in general).

Yesterday was one of my all time best days of line dancing in my life, if not the best!

We were celebrating the 5th Anniversary of Boogie Shoes run by Jamie Barnfield in the Gloucestershire area and what was even better was that we were joined by Maggie Gallagher!

Photo of Jamie courtesy of Julie Rudge

The day kicked off at 2pm rather appropriately with Maggie's 'Second Hand Heart', a former number one hit in the Linedancer Magazine chart which currently is in second place. Even at that early stage the floor was full and throughout the day I think there was rarely a time when it wasn't full which wasn't really surprising as we had over 120 dances throughout the day.

We also danced Maggie's 'Sax' which she taught here for the first time when she visited us late last year so it felt very special to have the opportunity to dance 'our dance' with Maggie in the same room where she originally taught us.

Here we are dancing it the first time she taught us (in November) and the floor was even busier this time!




Moving on to the teaches, Maggie taught 4 dances and these were as follows:

Bring on the Good Times

Maggie co-choreographed this dance with Gary O'Reilly and it's a fun little dance to a lovely upbeat country dance track which I am still humming away to almost 24 hours later. It's a 32 Count, 4 wall beginner dance to a track of the same name by Lisa McHugh. I love the steps on this one and it fits really well to the music. There are 2 restarts (or as I think Maggie put it one restart that you do twice) both on the front wall and they are really obvious in the music as you do them after the artists sings 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday too...' on both occasions so you can hear it coming. The restarts themselves are also very easy to do so although this is a beginner dance there is no reason this should put anyone off. 

If you want to view the script you can click here to view on Linedancer Magazine's website and you can view the video I took below:


Corazon Diamanté (Diamond Heart)

This dance was a collaboration between Maggie G., Gary O'Reilly & Roy Verdonk and is a fabulous dance to a hot latino track by the even hotter Enrique Iglesias called 'Duele El Corazon' (so glad I don't have to say that as I have no idea how to pronounce it.) The dance is a 48 count, 2 wall intermediate line dance with 2 restarts but as you can see from the video below neither restart threw any one off. I really loved the steps in this and the dance felt really unique with reverse samba steps which I've not done in any dance before. There's also a really good opportunity to put your own 'stamp' on this dance and I'm looking forward to seeing this one danced in the future as it has a lot of potential for putting in your own individual personality and dance experiences into.

To view the script click here to view on Linedancer Magazine's website. You can view my recording of the dance below.




Hey Boy Hey Girl

This is a 24 count, 2 wall improver dance to a track of the same name by Jive Aces feat. Rebecca Grant. It's a great track for those who love rock and roll and the dance goes really well too. There are 2 restarts (a feature of the day?) but these are not intimidating and none of our dancers had any real problems with these. It's quite unusual to have a 24 count dance, we don't get many of them but this is a good dance and its very easy to get into the rhythm of it.

To view the script click here to view on Linedancer Magazine's website. Unfortunately we only did the dance once so I didn't video it however Maggie has previously had the dance videoed when she taught it in Ireland so you can view the video previously taken below.




Stand by you

This was Maggie's final teach of the day, and was only known to a handful of people in the room which is why she decided to go ahead with the teach. I'm so glad she did, I've featured this dance before on a previous post but I've never had the opportunity to learn it despite loving the track which has also been played on several occasions on Ranch Dance Radio. The dance itself was the hardest one we did on the day without a doubt but it was also my favourite. The dance is an Advanced, 60 count, 2 wall dance choreographed to a track of the same name by Rachel Platten. There are 3 restarts which take some getting used to but as you can see in my video below this didn't seem to faze the dancers which is good. I actually think this might be a potential nominee for the advanced category of the CBA's next year - I guess we will have to wait and see.

To view the script on Linedancer magazine click here or scroll down to view the video.




So those were the teaches during the day, Jamie also recapped Boogaloo with Maggie as he's been doing that one in his class and it was really great to dance it with her as well. 


Evening Social


After an hours break for dinner (and a change of clothes for the majority) the evening social then started and as well as recapping some of the dances Maggie had taught earlier in the day we did some of her older dances such as Caribbean Pearl, Gambling Man and Superheroes.

Maggie also did a demo of Gerry's Reel which you can view below which is to a proper Irish track by the Corrs and which sounds very much in the style of some of the Riverdance music. When I first heard the music a few months ago I thought it pretty much had Maggie's name written all over it so I emailed it to her. She choreographed Gerry's Reel to it and this was actually the first time I'd seen it danced in the flesh (so to speak). I also understand that her Irish Dance Troupe Celtica intend to use the track in their showcase so I really hope I get the opportunity to go and see that.

If you want to view the script click here or to view the video scroll down.





Eagle eyed viewers may also have noticed that we also had some other guests who you most likely will have heard of. You can see them dancing above (they are all so talented!) and they were Joyce Plaskett and Steve and Claire Rutter. Steve and Joyce also gave us a demo of 'Seize the moment' which was co-choreographed by Joyce and was a beautiful dance. Unfortunately my camera was throwing a wobbly at that moment so the video I took didn't come out right but you can view the dance script by clicking on the link above which also has a video.

During the day we danced 'Lipstick, Powder and Paint' and Jamie asked Steve and Claire to come to the stage to lead the dance for which they had won the Crystal Boot Award in the absolute beginner dance category - so it was brilliant to have an opportunity to dance with them as well.




I also had the opportunity to talk to Steve and Claire and I'm hoping to do a feature on them in the near future so please keep your eyes peeled for that.

I'm going to finish there and I just want to end by saying thank you to Maggie, Jamie, Johnny and Lynne for such a great event, everyone I spoke to was really enjoying themselves and the atmosphere was fantastic.

Thanks for reading - please let me know which was your favourite dance in the comments below and don't forget to use the like and share buttons below.
Dancers June Ingles, Karen Williams, Jamie Barnfield, Sarah Higgins & Linda Milne enjoy the Hawaiian fancy dress night. (Photo courtesy of Karen Williams)
A few of my lovely line dance friends have recently returned from the Maggie G. Experience weekend in Southport earlier this week and told me how fantastic it was and one of them, Linda Milne stated she thought it was 'probably the best ever' weekend she'd been on. So of course me being me I had to find out more and knowing so many of those that went from my local classes was able to obtain a full list of all the dances taught over the weekend. In addition many of the group had the opportunity to meet the lovely Lorraine Brown (host of Ranch Dance Radio) and she also interviewed some of them including Jackie Clouting, Linda Milne, Mike and one of my Instructors, Jamie Barnfield who's dance Tequila Boom Boom! has been featured in this months issue of Linedancer Magazine. If you want to listen to the interviews please click here to listen to this weeks show.

Lorraine Brown & Maggie G. (Photo courtesy of Lorraine Brown)


The weekend featured Maggie Gallagher and Rob Fowler as the main choreographers along with DJ Dave Baycroft who also taught a couple of dances as well. Having looked at all these dances I think there is a very good chance that these will be appearing in the Linedancer Magazine charts over the coming months so watch this space.

Here are the dances that were taught at the weekend with script links and videos:

Thank you to Jackie Clouting for providing me with the details of all the dances taught at this fabulous weekend.

Maggie Gallagher


 I'll be alright
A 64 Count, 4 Wall, Intermediate dance to a track of the same name by Beckah Shae. The below video was taken at the weekend and Maggie is joined in the front row by choreographer and instructor Jamie Barnfield of Boogie Shoes.



 Stand by you
A 60 count, 2 wall, Advanced dance to a track of the same name by Rachel Platten. The below video also features the fabulous Gary O'Reilly dancing with Maggie in the front row.



 Boogaloo
A 32 count, 4 wall, beginner dance to 'Dance yourself dizzy' by Liquid Gold. This dance was jointly choreographed with Gary O'Reilly.

Secret Love
A 32 count, 4 wall, intermediate dance to 'Secret Love Song' by Little Mix feat. Jason Derulo.


Rob Fowler


A 48 count, 4 wall, improver dance to 'Teddy Bear & Too Much (Medley)'  by Cliff Richard.
Dance choreographed by Rob Fowler, Shelly Guichard & Conor McVeigh.


A 64 count, 4 wall, advanced dance to a track of the same name by Thomas Rhett.



A 32 count, 4 wall, improver dance to a track of the same name by Rachel Platten ft. Andy Grammer. Dance choreographed by Rob Fowler, Dee Musk, Shelly Guichard & Conor McVeigh.



A 96 count, 4 wall, intermediate dance to a track of the same name by Jools Holland & Ruby Turner.


Dave Baycroft


A 48 count, 2 wall, intermediate dance to 'Mirror' by Karia feat. Elena. Dance choreographed by Dwight Meessen & Robbie McGowan Hickie.


Take it off  - Unfortunately there is no script currently available for this dance but as soon as it is I will upload this. NOW AVAILABLE!!!! However what I can tell you is this is a 64 count, 4 wall, intermediate level line dance to 'Take it off' by Inna and choreographed by Karl Harry Winson.



In the meantime here is a video taken at the weekend by Lorraine Brown of the dance 'Better when I'm dancin''


Full dance floor at Maggie g weekend for better when im dancin X
Posted by Lorraine Brown on Friday, 11 March 2016

So many dances taught! No wonder everyone was so tired after the weekend. Which dance of the above is your favourite/ which would you most like to learn? - please tell me in the comments below.
Do you ever feel like some people seem to follow you around?

You haven't seen them for ages and then you seem to see them everywhere?

That seems to be happening to me at the moment when a surprise guest at one of my class' (Boogie Shoes) social's turned out to be no other than Maggie G dropping in for a night at our social in Berkeley.

To be honest it was hardly a surprise, and no one seemed particularly surprised either as clues were placed on Facebook indicating a famous choreographer was coming and then the secret was leaked earlier and the day and I got a facebook message at about 3pm informing me she was coming.

It's only been a few weeks since I last saw Maggie at a workshop in Woodstock when she taught 4 new dances so I was half expecting her to teach one of those. In fact she had another dance up her sleeve! (Where does she get all of these?)

Our one teach for the evening was SAX, an intermediate 2 wall dance to the track of the same name by Fleur East - previously of X-factor fame and now the feature music on the ASDA Christmas advert.

I have to say it was a great dance which I really enjoyed doing - Maggie is also an excellent teacher so I was surprised on Tuesday when my instructor taught this as to how much of the dance I still remembered.

Maggie videoed her dance on the night and unlike last time when only my shoe featured in the Second Hand Heart video, this time you get the rest of me - although being on the end I am not in it the whole way through which is a blessing as I did not have the dance as perfectly as I would like to have done.

To view the script please click here

or watch the video below


Here is another video of my new dance Sax.The video on YouTube is muted as I'm told sound has been blocked in 244 countries!!
Posted by Maggie G Line Dance Choreographer on Sunday, 8 November 2015

Let me know what you think of it.

PS. I also got to have a quick chat with Maggie and congratulated her on her 2 Crystal Boot Award nominations for "Superheroes" (told you this would get a nomination) and"The Galway Gathering."
Maggie asked me for my votes and if you also like both dances please vote (full details available on the Crystal Boot Awards website).

Last Sunday, I was very fortunate to be able to attend Maggie G's workshop in Woodstock (near Oxford) hosted by In Touch dance. It was a fantastic afternoon, with a great atmosphere and the venue itself was completely sold out, indeed the only reason I managed to get a ticket in the first place was because a friend pulled out last minute or else I should never have been able to go.



As well as dancing to some of Maggie's recent hits such as Superheroes and Roads and classics such as Caribbean Pearl and Just a Memory, we were fortunate enough to learn 4 new dances: (Scripts are linked under dance names)

Adrenaline Rush
- A 64 count, 2 wall intermediate dance to shine in the light by Anna Rossinelli
Demo
Love the music for this - was very popular with the dancers on my table as well - I'm still singing this it's very catchy.

Second Hand Heart
- A 64 count, 4 wall intermediate dance to Second hand heart by Ben Haenow & Kelly Clarkson (previously on the X Factor)
Demo
My favourite dance - love the anchor steps, the hip movements, great song (I am a Kelly Clarkson Fan)
Really hope I get another opportunity to dance this - think this has staying power.

Locklin's Bar
- A 32 Count, 2 wall improver dance to Lochlin's Bar by Michael English
Demo
Lovely Irish style track, lots of fun to dance with some great steps.

Head in the sky
- A 32 count, 4 wall improver dance to Head in the sky by Anna Rossinelli
Demo
Really liked the music on this - reminded me of the music for the dance 1929.

I really liked all of the dance's Maggie taught and I'm looking forward to seeing more of all of these in the future and most likely in the dance charts.

(Thanks to Maggie G and Keeley @ In touch dance for such a great event)