|
Lazy Boots Western Dancers Valentine Festival 2009 (13th - 15th Feb 09)
Report
Thankfully all the bad weather had passed by the time everyone started to make their way down to Port Talbot for our 2009 valentines festival at the Aberavon Beach Hotel. Our numbers were down a little this year due to the credit crunch and a number of illnesses amongst our regular guests, but we also had some new faces from as far afield as Yorkshire, Surrey and West Sussex.
On Friday evening we were superbly entertained by Bobby D Sawyer. He played 3 solid sets of excellent country music including one or two songs which are not often heard, for instance 'Kick My Ass' by Big & Rich. This was Bobby's first appearance at a Lazy Boots event but I’m sure it won't be his last. Keep your eyes open for his next appearance.
On Saturday morning, Terry & Caroline French started the dance instruction off with a new partner dance called 'Heaven Can Wait' choreographed by Allen Mathias to the Kenny Chesney song 'Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven' featuring the late Bob Marley's band The Wailers. The dance was very well liked by all, though most dancers preferred Allen's alternate music track of 'Some Things Never Change' by Chris Gray, and this was the track we used for the rest of the weekend. Ken Harrison was on next and following on from last year had a brilliant fun dance for everyone 'Cowboy On The Run' choreographed by Rep Ghazali. The music for this is a Country song by the Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou. We had already prepared the props for this dance (kazoos last year) and gave everyone a string lasso for the optional lasso twirling sections. Together with the gallopping and stomping this dance brought a smile to everyone's face. In the afternoon we had 2 line dances from Terry, a very easy one called 'This and That' choreographed by Gary Lafferty to the Mark Chesnutt track 'Woman' and then a slightly more challenging one 'No More Cloudy Days' to the Eagles track of the same name, choreographed by Alan G Birchall. Ken and Dorothy taught the latest new dance from Diane Jackson, dedicated to them called K & D Stroll. The music for this dance is a track by Lee Ann Womack called 'Someone I Used to Know' and is on the album 'There's More Where That Came From' but it is 'hidden' within the last listed track on the album - a bonus track as it were. In the hour before breaking for dinner of all of the dances were recapped ready for the evening dance session.
Saturday night's live band was the brilliant Spur. These 2 young guys from Taunton just keep getting better, and they are no strangers to Lazy Boots events though this was their first visit to Port Talbot. As always 3 great sets of country music covering a wide span of time (some of which were hits before either Mark or James were even born!!), all performed with superb vocal harmonies.
On Sunday morning, Ken & Dorothy taught the partner dance 'Sunset Mambo' by Dan Albro. The listed music for this was 'Everybody wants To Go To Heaven' by Kenny Chesney with The Wailers, however, Ken had selected some alternate tracks and the favourite was 'The Nightshift' by Aaron Tippin from the CD 'People Like Us'. Terry and Caroline finished the teach sessions with another partner dance from Allen Mathias called 'Smilin' In My Dreams'. The dance had been written for 2 tracks of music 'Smilin' Song' by Vince Gill and 'I Can Dream' by Alan Gregory. Terry figured that we were more likely to see Alan Gregory at one of our clubs than Vince Gill, so he used the Alan Gregory track. Before the festival closed down at lunchtime, there was time for recaps of all of the dances taught.
|
