Cool Country 9
Las Vegas, NV
March 12 - 14, 2004
EVENT DIRECTORS:
Doug & Jackie Miranda


Doug & Jackie Miranda

Here we have an event that was basically put together in a little over a month.  Who else could manage this feat, in a brand new location nevertheless, but Doug & Jackie Miranda.  This event formerly was held in nearby Laughlin, NV, but now has moved onto the more high profile Las Vegas strip at the Sahara hotel.  For those of you keeping track as just where the Sahara is, it's not far from Circus Circus and the Riviera.  For most people, the end result may have spelled disaster, however, Doug & Jackie being the consummate pros managed to pull off some amazingly decent numbers for this last minute effort. 

Now, I can tell you that this was not one of the largest events attended with little over 100 registered guests.  However, these types of events are excellent for both dancers and instructors as they have the opportunity to mingle more with one another and dance more of the dances that they are familiar with.   The end result left just about everyone leave with smiles on their faces.

The format was only one workshop room, in a nice out of the way of the smoke and casino atmosphere area.  At first many were skeptical about the lack of choices on both days, but thanks to the high quality of the instructors choices for dances, everyone enjoyed this much more relaxed format.  And because there is soooo much to do in Vegas, those who might have already known the dance or just wanted a break could always check out some of the other great activities that Vegas has to offer. 

Your instructors were:

Scott Blevins, John Robinson, Bryan McWherter, Mark Cosenza, Judy McDonald, Mike Sliter and your event directors Doug & Jackie Miranda.

The complete schedule of dances for Fri/Sun and Saturday can be found by clicking on the appropriate days above.  My favorites were as follows:

Cha Cha Tonight - Scott Blevins:  Only the memory exercises with the two "optional" endings makes this one tricky at all.  Very basic for Scott but it also matches the music and frankly, I had fun doing it and I know many others will as well.  This one should do as well as Bidness.

Imagine - Bryan McWherter:  I missed the class, but Bryan gave me a private on it.  Again, a few tricky moves but the biggest challenge on this one will be identifying where the tags come in.

Ya Know - Bryan McWherter, Mundy, Parson & Warren:  I learned this one back home on a floor that was way to small to handle the way this one travels.  The dance is fine if you have the space for it.  (BTW, many from our class prefer the dance "In The Zone" to this song as they say it hits flawlessly and is not too fast of a dance for the song as they think the music In The Zone is....)

Last Call - Mike Sliter:  A nice country waltz that should be looked at by anyone who wants more country in their line dancing.  Very popular with the Vegas workshop attendees.

What Ya Thinkin' - Doug & Jackie Miranda: Missed the lesson unfortunately, but the dance looked marvelous.  Also country (Egads! Two at one event! Don't tell anyone. ) 

Honorable mentions - Starr Crazy - John Robinson; When I Leave - Judy McDonald and Time To Ride - MIL (taught by Scott Blevins) I don't know, these hip, hippity hop dances all look the same to me, but I'm sure you'll all jump on this one. Maybe I'm alone when I try and seek out those dances taught with a spark of originality in the music.....  The one dance I already knew that was taught was Johanna Barnes Naughty taught by Bryan McWherter.

My teaches included the debut of my latest Superstar along with Sway and one of my current favorites, Blindsided from local Chicago area dancers Lucy Strack and Betty Maddox.  All were requested a number of times during open dance so that sure looked like a nice sign of acceptance. 

The dinner show turned out to be one of the most fun for both us instructors and dancers.  The idea here was for Doug to play an old dance and at least two of the eight instructors were required to dance four walls of it.  Three of the more experienced dancers were recruited as judges just to make sure we were doing the dance as written.  The end result was loads of hilarity as we all tried to remember old "classics" like Watermelon Crawl, Achy Breaky Heart (we lost on that one), Tush Push, Hooked On Country and Titanic.  The end result of our attempt at this rendition of this forgotten dance is below (yes, that's Jackie Miranda wrapped around Scott's leg)  Many asked if we rehearsed this and it is scary to say that we did not and it just kind of happened.