I was driving home from Sainsbury's yesterday when Charlie Puth's song "One call away" (or Save the Day as I think of it) came onto the radio and it reminded me that I had not yet done the write up for Karl-Harry Winson Workshop I attended a few weeks ago.  Karl-Harry also won Male Dance Personality last weekend at the 20th CBA's and had nominations in many other categories as well - so congratulations to him on his recent success - I'm sure he will be up for more nominations at next years awards as well.

It was a great afternoon and my second time in a year meeting Karl having previously seen him in late July last year at a workshop hosted by Boogie Shoes in Cheltenham. I particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to dance "Jealousy" in his presence, an old favourite dance of mine which has seen a revival recently - although despite my request for "Unpredictable" one of my all time favourite dances and my favourite of his, it was unfortunately not played :-( never mind. We also got to dance some of Karl's other well know dances, "Knock on wood", "A thousand miles", "Alcazar", "Your place or mine" and "Alvaro" - there were probably others too but I can't remember what they were now.

Pop that Lock

The first teach was "Pop that Lock", a 64 count, 4 wall, Intermediate line dance to the track of the same name by Adam Lambert. It's a funky track, very catchy to sing along to, with a great beat and 15 count introduction which is very unusual and takes some getting used to. As for the dance I particularly enjoyed the 'Camel Walk' steps, the knee pops and the 'Chill factor' knee turn brush steps all of which fitted really well with the music. The dance does have one restart but you can hear it in the music so its fairly straightforward and as it's on wall 2 you can get it out of the way early and don't have to worry about when it's coming up like in some dances. 

If you'd like to view the dance or script please click below to view.

To view the script on Copperknob (not yet available on Linedancerweb) please click here.

Stitches

The second teach of the day was "Stitches" a 64 count, 4 wall, Intermediate line dance to a track of the same name by Shawn Mendes. This is a great upbeat track and at the time of being taught this it was actually number 1 in the UK pop charts, its also very catchy and I was humming this days later. As for the dance itself I particularly liked the heel twists at the beginning and the turning toe struts both of which are not that common in line dance choreography at the moment. The dance does have 3 restarts but they are all easy to hear and we had no trouble with them.

The script is currently not on Copperknob or Linedancerweb but Karl had some scripts we could collect so I've scanned this one in on my computer and if you click here you can view it.

Hey Elvis!

Our third teach of the day was "Hey Elvis", a 32 count, 4 wall, Improver dance to the track of the same name by Bryan Adams. This is a proper rock and roll track with a great beat and the dance is very straightforward and easy to follow - it goes great to the music and it is easy to get distracted as you can't help but sing along to the song. There are a few tags in this one but its a case of them looking worse than they actually are and they fit in so well and are easy to hear so there really is no need to worry about them.

Now unfortunately, when I went to record this dance on my iPad I accidentally had it set on photo mode: result 1 photo and 3ish minutes of aching arms for nothing. By the time I realised my mistake the dance was over and as this was the second time we danced this there was no option to re-record so I don't have video. Sorry :-( Here's one of my pics instead)

The script is on Copperknob though so you can view it here. I have looked on YouTube and I can't see that anyone has done a video yet but as soon as they do I will upload to this page. I'd also ask that if anyone has a video they could send me a link, or if they are dancing it could video and send it to me - (get in touch via the comments below)

Karl-Harry Winson recapping Hey Elvis

Save the Day

Of course I can't finish without mentioning "Save the Day", this dance has been talked about a lot, it was very popular at last weeks Crystal Boot Awards, is currently 7th on Linedancer Magazine's top 50 and is also 7th on Copperknob's most viewed chart. I honestly believe that this will end up in the number 1 spot based on all the buzz I've heard and potentially think this could be up for a nomination at next years CBA's (You heard that here first lol).

By the time of Karl's workshop late January some clubs in the area (mine included) had already taught this but as quite a few of those present at the workshop did not know this. Karl did do a quick teach which helped me as I'd missed the teach in class and had tried to learn via youtube and the script so hadn't really danced this properly. I really like the video already on youtube so didn't video this again and I'll link the video below.

Since returning to class this has continued to be very popular and the girls and I have been adding in the 'Superhero' moves so ably demonstrated by Karl in the video below. The song is also very catchy and I couldn't help but sing along to it when it was played on the radio. It's a real mood booster.

To view the script for "Save the Day" click here.

Dances to watch

So as much as I really enjoyed all of the dances we danced at the workshop I think the one's that are likely to be the big hits are "Save the Day" (no surprises there) and "Pop that lock". Watch this space!

Winning Dances

Absolute Beginner - Lipstick Powder & Paint by Stephen & Claire Rutter

Beginner - Ticket to the Blues by Niels Poulsen

Improver - The Bomp by Kim Ray

Intermediate & Dance of the Year - Uptown Funk by Rob Fowler

Advanced - Shades of Passion by Rob Fowler

Dance of the Decade - Beautiful in my Eyes by Simon Ward

Congratulations to all of the winners - I'm sure we'll be dancing the above dances for many years to come. I look forward to what line dancing has to bring over the next 12 months and look forward to seeing the 21st CBA awards (no I don't have tickets).

My next post will be a review of the Karl-Harry Winson event I attended in Abingdon.

Firstly, I just want to say a huge congratulations to all the nominees for the Crystal Boot Awards (some of whom are featured below), every single nominee strongly deserved their nominations and has contributed to make Line Dancing in the UK (and beyond) as wonderful as it is, so thank you so very much to you, the team at Linedancer Magazine and also to the instructors out there without whom many of us would not be line dancing.

Before I go any further I would just like to confirm that due to various commitments over the weekend and technical issues with access (thanks Betty Drummond for finally getting me access!) I was unable to watch much of the weekend over the live broadcast so much of my information comes second hand from my Mum and Facebook so thank you to all those who have posted pictures and videos online from the weekend.

So without further ado the winners are (with photo's courtesy of CBA website):

Dedicated Dance Artist - Outstanding Achievement: Natalie Thurlow

Dedicated Dance Artist : Richard Palmer

Dedicated Dance DJ: Dave Baycroft

Female Dance Personality: Jo Thompson-Szymanski (on the left)

Male Dance Personality: Karl-Harry Winson

UK Instructor & UK Choreographer: Rachael McEnaney-White

International Instructor: Ria Vos

International Choreographer: Niels Poulsen

Dancers' Choice : Walt Hsu

The Irene Crossley for the love of dance award: Jean Webb

Star Award for outstanding contribution: Jean Garr

Hall of Fame: Nicola Lafferty

Coming up in Pt 2 - Winning Dances

Happy New Year!!!

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas and are now quite recovered from the festivities.  I can hardly believe the Crystal Boot Awards are now less than a month away and the voting closes very soon so I have decided that this post will feature both the intermediate and advanced dance nominations.

Intermediate Nominations

There are 8 nominations in this category which are listed below as per the running order on the CBA voting page. I have also included the scripts and videos so that these can be compared side by side.

Eternal Secret

Choreographed by Ria Vos, this Intermediate dance is a 32 count, 2 wall line dance to "The Secret" by David Nall. Choreographed in August 2014 the track is currently 16 in the intermediate charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here.

Fireball

Choreographed by Kate Sala, this Intermediate dance is a 64 count, 4 wall line dance to the track of the same name by Pitbull. Choreographed in August 2014 it was a huge hit throughout late 2014 and 2015 and is still showing 37th in the intermediate charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here.

We only live once

Choreographed by Robbie Mcgowan Hickie, this Intermediate dance is a 64 count, 4 wall line dance to the track of the same name by Shannon Noll. Choreographed in November 2014 the dance is currently 19th in the intermediate charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here

Uptown Funk

Choreographed by Rob Fowler, this Intermediate dance is a 64 count, 4 wall line dance to the huge track of the same name by Mark Ronson Feat. Bruno Mars. Choreographed in November 2014 the dance is currently 27th in the intermediate charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here.

Up

Choreographed by Alison Biggs & Peter Metelnick, this intermediate dance is a 64 count, 2 wall line dance to the popular track of the same name by Olly Murs Feat. Demi Lovato. Choreographed in November 2014 the dance is currently 6th in the intermediate charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here.

Darling Hold My Hand

Choreographed by Julie Harris & Neville Fitzgerald, this intermediate dance is a 64 count, 2 wall dance to another popular chart song "Hold my hand" by Jess Glynne. Choreographed in March 2015, the dance is currently 24th in the intermediate charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here.

Slam Goes the Door

(Muted video due to copyright)

Choreographed by Julie Harris & Neville Fitzgerald, this intermediate dance is a 32 count 4 wall line dance to "Good Goes the Bye" by Kelly Clarkson. Choreographed in March 2015, the dance is currently number 1 in the intermediate charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here.

Your Place or Mine

Choreographed by Karl-Harry Winson, Ria Vos & Robbie McGowan Hickie, this intermediate dance is a 64 count 2 wall dance to "Bedroom" by Alvaro Estrella. Choreographed in June 2015 the dance is currently 8th in the intermediate charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here

That's all for the intermediate dances, below you will find the nominations for the Advanced Dances.

Advanced Dance Nominations

There are 7 nominations in this category which are listed below as per the running order on the CBA voting page, scroll down to review all nominations.

The Remix

Choreographed by Karl-Harry Winson, & Yvonne Anderson, this advanced dance is an 80 count, 2 wall dance to "Remix (I like the)" by New Kids on the Block. Choreographed in October 2014, the dance is currently 29th in the advanced charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here

Found Someone

Choreographed by Kim Ray, this advanced dance is a 32 count 4 wall line dance to "I finally found someone" by Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams. Choreographed in March 2015, the dance is currently joint 29th in the advanced charts with 16 other dances on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here

Young Blood

Choreographed by Alison Biggs & Peter Metelnick, this advanced dance is a 32 count, 4 wall line dance (videos online state this is an intermediate level dance but the script and video links on thedancefactory uk website confirm this is an advanced dance). Choreographed to "Young Blood" by Sophie Ellis Bextor, in January 2014, this dance is currently 2nd in the advanced charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here

Twisted Sister

Choreographed by Guyton Mundy, this advanced dance is a 32 count, 4 wall dance to "She keeps me up" by Nickelback. Choreographed in December 2014, the dance is currently 3rd in the advanced charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here

Flashlight 

Choreographed by Julie Harris & Neville Fitzgerald, this advanced dance is a 32 count, 2 wall line dance to the track of the same name by Jessie J. Choreographed in June 2015, the dance is currently 6th in the advanced charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here

Shades of Passion

Choreographed by Rob Fowler, this advanced dance is a 72 count, 4 wall line dance to "Earned it" by The Weeknd. Choreographed in January 2015, this dance is currently 15th in the advanced charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here.

Superheroes

Choreographed by Maggie Gallagher, this advanced dance is a 32 count, 4 wall line dance to the track of the same name by The Script. Choreographed in September 2014, the dance is currently 1st in the advanced charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here

So that's all the advanced dance nominations. If you are ready to vote you can visit the CBA's website by clicking here to vote for your favourite dances. 

I will be posting the Dance of the Decade nominations later this week so please revisit then to review the final dance nomination category.

Hope to see you then!

Welcome to the third of my posts about the nominations for the Crystal Boot Awards to be held in Blackpool 2016. In today's post, we'll be looking at the nominations for the Improver dance of the year to help you decide which of the dances you would like to vote for. This category has 8 dances so I will list each dance in turn with the key details, video and script to firstly remind you of the dance and help you make up your mind which one you would like to vote for.

The nominations for Improver dance of the year are:

Corn Don't Grow

Choreographed by Tina Argyle, this Improver dance is a 64 Count, 4 wall line dance to
"Where Corn Don't Grow" by Travis Tritt. Choreographed in May 2014 this dance is currently number 13 in the improver charts on Linedancer Magazine's website.

To view the script click here

Wonder Train

Choreographed by Ria Vos, this Improver dance is a 64 count, 2 wall line dance to "Wonder what you're doing for the rest of your life" by Train feat. Marsha Ambrosius. The dance was choreographed in September 2014 and is one of 6 nominations at the CBA's for Ria.

To view the script click here.

Cecilia

Choreographed by Willie Brown & Heather Barton, this Improver dance is a 32 count, 4 wall dance to "Oh Cecilia (Breaking my heart) by The Vamps. The dance was choreographed in October 2014 and is currently 22nd in the Line Dancer Magazine Improver Charts.

To view the script click here.

Rock & Roll King

Choreographed by Rachael McEnaney-White, this Improver dance is a 64 count, 4 wall dance to "Rock and Roll is King" by the Electric Light Orchestra, The dance was choreographed in December 2014 and is currently 23rd in the Line Dancer Magazine Improver Charts.

To view the script click here.

South Australia

Choreographed by Gary O'Reilly, this Improver dance is a 32 count, 2 wall dance to "South Australia" by Nathan Carter. The dance was choreographed in November 2013 and is currently 17th in the Line Dancer Magazine Improver Charts.

To view the script click here.

Tell the World

Choreographed by Robbie Mcgowan Hickie, this Improver dance is a 32 count, 4 wall dance to "Tell the World" by Eric Hutchinson. The dance was choreographed in March 2015 and is currently 6th in the Line Dancer Magazine Improver charts.

To view the script click here.

Heavenly Cha

Choreographed by Dee Musk, this Improver dance is a 32 count, 4 wall dance to "What'll Keep me out of heaven" by Brandy Clark. The dance was choreographed in February 2014 and is currently 2nd in the Line Dancer Magazine Improver charts.

To view the script click here

The Bomp

Choreographed by Kim Ray, this Improver dance is a 64 count, 2 wall dance to "Who put the Bomp" by The Overtones. The dance was choreographed in May 2015 and is currently 3rd in the Line Dancer Magazine Improver charts.

To view the script click here

So those are the Improver dance nominations. If you are ready to vote click here to go to the CBA website and vote for your favourite dances. Or if you haven't got your other selections ready, take a look at my posts on the AB dances and Beginner dances by clicking on the relevant link.

Welcome to this weeks review of Live Laugh Line Dance (Episode 51)  the last episode of 2015 until the show returns in 2016. I'm a bit late watching this so if you also haven't watched this yet please click here to catch up on Episode 51.

Episode 51

This weeks episode was a look back at the dances being danced and the personalities who were featured on the show. The episode opened with an interview by Nikki Sharon with Rob Fowler at the Bracklesham Bay Summer Ball where he was a featured choreographer. He mentioned his current projects specifically "Legends in Line" the aim of which is to preserve the classic dances and to teach those to people who may have missed this the first time around or as Rob Fowler described it, "A tribute and a celebration of all the dances that we've danced on the dance floor for 20 years." It sounds brilliant, and I know we are considering this as one of our options for a dance weekend next year.

The first interview was followed by the opening dance "Price of Admission" choreographed by Daniel Trepat, Darren Bailey, Magali Chabret & Rob Fowler. This dance was taught at the Bracklesham Bay Weekend and is a lovely dance to a nice country song of the same name by Bradley Walker.

Hillary Kurt Webster than interviewed Karl Harry Winson also at the Bracklesham Bay, they were discussing the various genre's of music and styles of dances that we are currently enjoying dancing too. Hills also complimented Karl on his success at the 2015 CBA's where he walked away with three awards for Male Dance Personality, UK Instructor & Dance of the Year (with Robbie McGowan Hickie) for "Alcazar". This year he has been nominated for UK Choreographer, UK instructor, Male Dance Personality, Intermediate Dance for "Your Place or mine" (with Ria Vos & Robbie Mcgowan Hickie), and Advanced Dance for "The Remix" (With Yvonne Anderson) along with "Alcazar" for Dance of the Decade so I think he has a good chance of winning in at least one category.

The next dance featured was "Pop 'n' Drop" by Dee Musk and Ria Vos (also one of my current favourite dances) and was another dance taught at the BB weekend. This dance goes so well to the music whilst being a bit of a challenge as well - good fun to dance to.

We then had a brief entertainment with OGR sound (Glenn Roger's family) before moving on to "Shut up and Dance," choreographed by the shows sponsors Alison Biggs and Peter Metelnick. This is actually my favourite pop song of 2015 and the dance looks brilliant. Unfortunately, in the region where I dance this wasn't widely danced and I don't recall it going high in the charts (it's currently 37th in the intermediate line dancer magazine charts) which is a shame, compared to "Black Magic" which is still riding high at number 4.

Nicky then interviewed  John and Jo Kinser who talked about their 30 years in line dance and reminisced about the various workshops that used to exist including workshops on technique. This has been a hot topic of discussion recently on both the line dancer magazine facebook page and also within my own class. Some of the instructors such as Rachael McEnaney-White do include tips on styling when teaching their dances but this is not widespread. I know several people in my own class are interested in doing a workshop on Styling and Technique so it would be interesting to see whether anything comes of this.

Our next dance was "Gods of Love," by Dee Musk a great track and a good one to sing along too (the track is very catchy). Dee was also a featured choreographer at the BB weekend and was interviewed by Nikki where they discussed Dee touring all over the world, from Japan to Rio and visiting Europe in between - she is very popular at the moment and has been nominated for 5 CBA's for 2016, UK Choreographer, UK Instructor, Female Dance Personality, Improver Dance (Heavenly Cha) & Dance of the Decade (Little Red Book) so I expect to see her to walk away with at least one of the awards.

The final dance this weekend was old favourite "Patient Heart" which has seen a massive surge in popularity in recent years and is regularly a floor filler at my local classes, a great sing along track this will be around for many years to come.

That's all for today - here are the scripts for the dances featured in the episode:
Price of Admission Daniel Trepat, Darren Bailey, Magali Chabret & Rob Fowler (Imp)
Pop n Drop Dee Musk & Ria Vos (int)
Shut up and Dance Alison Biggs & Peter Metelnick (int)
Gods of Love Dee Musk (Imp)
Patient Heart Michael Vera-Lobos & Lisa Foord (Int)

Welcome to the second in a series of posts about the nominations for the Crystal Boot Awards 2016. In today's post, I'm going over the Beginner dance nominations to help you decide which dance you would like to vote for. This year the category has 7 nominations which I will list below with video's and scripts for you to view to help you make up your mind.

The nominations for Beginner dance in no particular order are:

Until the Dawn

Choreographed by Gary Lafferty, this Beginner dance is a 32 count 2 wall line dance to Meghan Trainor & Charlie Puth's "Marvin Gaye." Choreographed in June 2015, this has been a very popular dance, fun to dance (and sing) to and is currently number 4 (as at today's date) in Linedancer Magazine's Beginner Charts.

To view the script click here

After the Storm

Choreographed by Tina Argyle, this Beginner dance is a 32 count 2 wall line dance to "Calm after the Storm" by The Common Linnets. Choreographed in May 2014, this dance is currently number 3 (as at today's date) in Linedancer Magazine's Beginner Charts.

To view the script click here.

Triple Mix

Choreographed by Lorna Mursell, this Beginner dance is a 32 count, 2 wall line dance to "Country Medley" by Nathan Carter. Choreographed in October 2014, this dance is currently number 2 (as at today's date) in Linedancer Magazine's Beginner Charts.

To view the script click here.

Piano Man

Choreographed by Robbie McGowan-Hickie & Tony Vassell, this Beginner dance is a 48 count, 4 wall line dance, to "Shake your Boogie & Roll" by Pete Stothard, Choreographed in June 2014, this dance is currently number 9 (as at today's date) in Linedancer Magazine's Beginner charts.

To view the script click here.

Snow Girl Charleston

Choreographed by Carrie Anne Green, this Beginner dance is a 32 count, 4 wall line dance, to "Snowgirl" by Hermes House Band feat Lou Bega. Choreographed in February 2015, this dance is currently number 7 (as at today's date) in Linedancer Magazine's Beginner charts.

To view the script click here.

Just Add Moonlight

Choreographed by Maggie Gallagher, this Beginner dance is a 32 count, 4 wall line dance, to "Just add moonlight" by Eli Young Band. Choreographed in April 2014, this dance is currently number 8 (as at today's date) in Linedancer Magazine's Beginner charts.

To view the script click here

Ticket to Blues!

Choreographed by Niels Poulsen this Beginner dance is a 32 count, 4 wall line dance, to "One Way Ticket" by Eruption. Choreographed in May 2015, this dance is currently number 1 (as at today's date) in Linedancer Magazine's Beginner charts.

To view the script click here

So those are our Beginner dance nominations. If you are ready to vote click here to go to the CBA website and vote for your favourite dances - Or if you haven't got your other selections ready, the improver nominations will be featured in my next post (to be uploaded at the weekend).

Alternatively if you want to view the nominations for the Absolute Beginner category click here to view my post on these.

Episode 50's review is very late so sorry about that but it has been a very busy couple of days, with the start of the festive period and various festive activities on my schedule.

I actually watched this weeks episode over a week ago but it has taken until now to sit down and write up this weeks episode so if you haven't seen it yet please click here and select episode 50 to watch the show,

Episode 50

This weeks episode opened with an old favourite of mine which I have not danced in years. The dance was "Drip Droppin' "by Kate Sala, which has also featured on the show before. I remember when this dance came out a few years ago it was one of several dances to Alexandra Burke songs which were popular back then. Do you remember dancing "Playing with fire" or "Broken Heels" ? I'm ashamed to admit that I don't think I could do any of these now :-(

The next dance seen was "Is it over?" by Fred Whitehouse & Niels Poulsen to a track by Wynona Judd, this looks like a great dance beautiful to watch so I'll keep my eyes peeled for this one as I've not come across this yet.

"Dream lover" was the next dance we saw. Choreographed by Daniel Whittaker, this dance is great for Improvers and goes really well to the music. (I particularly like the touch steps in the dance). The music is good fun to sing along to as well as long as you remember to keep on dancing!

We've seen "Alcazar" quite a few times recently by Robbie McGowan-Hickie & Karl-Harry Winson, Karl Harry Winson is very popular at the moment with several of his dances in the linedancer magazine charts and no fewer than 6 nominations in the CBA Awards for 2016. My favourite of his is currently "Get up get down" but I don't think this has featured on the show yet, possibly a suggestion for a future episode.

"Please me" is an interesting dance with a "Bridge" which you don't see in line dancing very often, I've not done this one but one of my classes has just taught this on a weekend away so I'm sure I'll get the opportunity soon. "Please me" is a Dee Musk & Kate Sala dance. Dee Musk is someone who we've been seeing a lot of recently of on Live Laugh Line Dance and her dances have been doing very well lately. I'm looking forward to learning this one.

The floorfiller, "Uptown Funk" was next which is still a great dance to dance to - It's been around for a year now as we were dancing this after I had my little boy, and this little dance has also received a CBS nomination in the Intermediate category. I still enjoy doing this and hope it's around for a bit longer. That is something I've noticed with the majority of today's selection. Few of these are very recent which is a shame with so many great dances around at the moment.

The final dance of the evening was "Wave on wave" - our blast from the past of the week. We've seen this one on the show before but it is an absolute classic and still one I enjoy doing (if I can remember it!)

That's it for today's review - I'll upload a review for the latest episode 51 later this week, for now here are the scripts from this weeks episode. Enjoy!

Drip Droppin - Kate Sala (Adv)
Is it over? - Fred Whitehouse & Niels Poulsen (Int)
Dream Lover - Daniel Whittaker (Imp)
Alcazar - Robbie McGowan Hickie & Karl Harry Winson (Int)
Please me - Dee Musk & Kate Sala (Int)
Uptown Funk - Rob Fowler (Int)
Wave on Wave - Alan Birchall (Imp)

Ok so the nominations have been announced for the 2016 Crystal Boot Awards - Do you know who you are voting for? Thought not. So over the next few weeks I will be posting a series of blog posts about the nominations and listing them so that you can compare them all in one place.

Today I'm going to go through the nominations for the Absolute Beginner Dances. There are 4 nominations in this category so I will list each dance and provide you with the dance details, video and script.

In no particular order, the nominees for Absolute Beginner Dance are:

The Galway Gathering 

Choreographed by Maggie Gallagher & Gary O'Reilly, this AB dance is a 32 count 4 wall line dance to Nathan Carter's "Games People Play". Choreographed in January 2015, this has been a very popular dance and is currently number 3 (as at today's date) in Linedancer Magazine's Absolute Beginner Charts.

To view the script please click here.

Uptown Funk AB

Choreographed by Debbie Hogg, this AB dance is a 32 count, 4 wall dance to "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars. Choreographed in February 2015, this is a great floor split to the widely danced intermediate version for dancers with less experience who want to dance to the great track but aren't yet at the intermediate level. It's also still popular at number 5 in the Linedancer Magazine's Absolute Beginner Charts.

To view the script please click here

Lipstick, Powder and Paint

Choreographed by Claire (Butterworth) & Stephen Rutter, this AB dance is a 32 count, 4 wall beginner dance to a track of the same name by Shakin' Stevens. Choreographed in February 2015 this is fun little dance is currently number 2 in the Linedancer Magazine charts.

To view the script please click here

Mamma Maria

Choreographed by Frank Trace, this AB dance is also a 32 count, 4 wall beginner dance to a track of the same name by Ricchi E. Poveri. Choreographed in 2009 this dance has slowly taken off and is currently number 1 in the Linedancer Magazine Charts.

To view the script please click here

Ready to vote?

Ok, so those are your nominations, now it's time to decide which dance you like best out of these and when you're ready (and you've chosen all your favourites in each category) you can cast your vote online by clicking here.

Alternatively you can vote via post, telephone or text - full details here.

JUST REMEMBER ALL VOTES NEED TO BE CAST BY 12.00 GMT on 11/01/2016.

Welcome to this weeks review of Live Laugh Line Dance! - If you haven't watched Episode 48 the please click here to watch  Episode 48, otherwise please keep reading.

Episode 48

Before I discuss this week's episode I just want to say that I usually really enjoy watching Live! Laugh! Linedance! It's great to see what other clubs are doing across the country and beyond, to see the great line dance personalities on our screen, and the latest dances with the odd classic thrown in which makes you go 'ooh I used to do that etc.' But I have to say I was very disappointed with this weeks episode.

Classics

This was the theme of this weeks show, but all of the video clips shown have been broadcast in previous episodes and this was just a mismatch of old clips. The classics shown were: (Scripts linked in title)

Vertical Expressions - Vera Fisher & Teresa Lawrence (Int)

Shania's moment - Nathan Easey (Int)

Red hot salsa - Christina Browne (Beg) (to the longest track ever I swear)

Lamtarra Rhumba - Tony Chapman (Int)

Swamp Thang - Max Perry (Int)

Just a Memory - John Dean & Maggie Gallagher (Int)

Scotia Samba - Liz Clark & Bev Clarke (Int)

Now, before anyone gets on their high horse to defend the classics, I love all of the dance's above and I actually think a classics episode is a brilliant idea, but it would have been nice to see some of the other classic dances we do like Into the Arena & Shakatak (You can probably think of many others) and new clips - not clips recycled from previous episodes - Just a Memory was from Christmas last year (either that or someone has had a very early Christmas social this year), 

The other issue is that we only had a 'recap' show a few weeks ago, which yet again was a compilation show of previously shown clips. I could even understand if these episodes were broadcast over Christmas or the Summer holidays, perhaps if the crew wasn't available but to have this show now at a time when there are a lot of line dance weekends going on, the crystal boot nominations have been announced and dancing is very popular with the return of Strictly - it just seems silly to me, particularly with new video's being uploaded on file sharing websites like youtube and facebook week on week.

If it was to be a compilation show, why not all the CBA nominees so we can be reminded as to what we're voting for with voting details for each one 'a la' tv talent shows. Why not a current chart playlist (although how you'd work that out at the moment I wouldn't have a clue!), a compilation of up and coming choreographers or even a classic episode showing different footage and more dances rather than wasting 5 minutes of screen time on Red Hot Salsa!

I miss the line dance chat and interviews - yes Nicki Sharon spoke to Alison Biggs about the up and coming live laugh line dance! party's but they've been promoting those for a while now and I want to know more about what is going on on the line dance scene in general not just when they are filming next.

I know they filmed at Bracklesham bay and I'm sure there has been filming since then so where is the rest of the footage from this as we've seen next to nothing.

Come on Live Laugh Line Dance! You can do better than this!

Do you agree with me? Please comment below whatever your opinion

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).

Welcome to this weeks review of Live Laugh Line Dance! - If you haven't watched Episode 47 - I don't want to spoil the fun for you so please, stop reading, click here and watch the current week (47 at time of writing) episode.

Episode 47

This weeks episode was hosted by the lovely Hillary Kurt Webster as Nikki Sharon was at a line dance event. Hillary always comes across as a really fun, but down to earth character so I do hope I get a chance to meet her at some point.

Episode 47 kicked off with "The Bomp" a favourite of the Live! Laugh! Linedance! team as it has appeared several times on the show and is still very popular on both Linedancer and Copperknob. This recording was made at the Bracklesham Bay weekend and it features Kim Ray dancing in the 2nd Row (dressed in red) It has also been nominated as the Improver dance of the year at the Crystal Boot Awards - (nominations for the CBA's will be discussed separately in a further post).

Alison and Peter then introduced "Knee Deep", an improver dance of theirs from 5 years ago (has it really been that long?), I haven't danced this one in a while but I remember it being a lovely little dance, to a great track by the Zac Brown Band - a good one to sing along to and also one of the first revivals of the "walking around in a circle" steps which is very popular right now and found in a lot of dances.

"Goodbye California" was this week's entry from Rob Fowler, - this is new to me but I really love the music and the dance seems to go really well.

Next up we had a short piece from Nikki who was (very appropriately) dressed up for what appeared to be a halloween outfit for a themed night on her weekend away. In the piece she encouraged dancers to go on line dance weekends away with their clubs (which I very much encourage) - for those who haven't been I can promise you that once you've been on one weekend you will definitely want to go on another.

Ria Vos, is a very popular name in line dancing at the moment. Recently she has written some lovely dances of which I count "No man's land," this is a beautiful dance but unfortunately the video was not that impressive. Well to be frank it was a bit of a mess... dancers going all over the place, very few people knowing what they were doing... but at least they looked like they were having fun :-D I'd also like to give a special mention to the lady in the pink top at the front - whilst all hell was breaking loose around her she kept going (and to me that's what line dancing is all about.)

The next dance was "Wasn't expecting that," by Richard Palmer and Lorna Dennis. I've heard this song on a number of occasions, it's beautiful and emotional and incredibly sad at the end (if you ever watch the artist music video please have a box of tissues to hand). 

The Classic dance this week was Kathy Hunyadi's "The One for Me" which I have never come across before however it's a fun little dance to a lovely track by the Rascal Flatts (one of my favourite country bands) and I hope it pops up again in the future.

In honour of the Halloween theme of last weeks episode the music over the credits in this weeks episode were replaced with "The 'Rogers' Mash" Glenn Rogers own take on the famous 'Monster Mash'. It was a fun one to listen to and I laughed a few times, it makes a nice change from the usual music on the end credits.

That's all I have time for today. Scripts for all dances featured in this weeks episode are featured below. I also have no affiliation to the TV Show whatsoever. Please feel free to add any comments below on your thoughts for this week's episode.

The Bomp Kim Ray (Imp)

Knee Deep Alison Biggs & Peter Metelnick (Imp)

Goodbye California Rob Fowler (Int)

No Man's Land Ria Vos (Int)

Wasn't Expecting That Richard Palmer & Lorna Dennis (Imp)

The One for Me Kathy Hunyadi (Imp)