In the beginning

I saw an ad in the paper and attended my first class at a senior center in 2002. Even though I'd shown up wearing flip-flops (gasp!) and I danced in circles looking over my shoulder the whole time, I was hooked. I started going there twice a week and found another class about 20 minutes away. A few months later when the instructor became ill, I volunteered to lead the class because nobody else would do it and I didn't want to stop dancing. I also started two new classes. When I realized that I needed more knowledge and training to do a better job, I joined the National Teachers' Association For Country Western Dance.

Broadening dance horizons

I choreographed my first dance in 2004 and entered it in a sanctioned UCWDC competition, where it won first place in its category and best dance overall. Since then I have written many other dances. Click HERE to see a list of my dances (published and unpublished), and go to Copperknob to find step sheets.

Finding line dance heaven

When I was teaching at an event in Mobile, I met the twins, Margaret and Rose. They told me about life here in "Disneyworld for adults," which I think were Margaret's exact words. Intrigued, my husband, Peter, and I rented a house in Chatham for a month in December, 2009. After only a week we knew this is where we wanted to be. We bought a house in Summerhill and moved to Florida in July, 2010; by August, I was teaching two 3-hour mixed (AB through advanced) classes a week. Since the pandemic, I have dropped back to two rec department (free) classes, and am teaching my second semester with the Enrichment Academy. That introductory class is open to non-residents as well as Villagers. In addition, after attending an open outdoor cardio drumming session with instructor Cindy Duncan, I converted one of my line dance classes to drumming. I'm enjoying that so much that I have started weekly drumming classes at Freedom Pointe (residents only). Beginning in June, I will lead an open cardio drumming class at the Wildwood Community Center. For more information on these classes, open the appropriate pages in the column at right.

Over a summer I taught a paid "classics" session at the Oxford Community Center. In 2015 I started hosting periodic half-day workshops for beginner and improver dancers in The Villages, inviting well-known instructors and choreographers John Robinson, Rachael McEnaney-White, Rosie Multari, Cody Flowers, and Julia Wetzel. Our 2020 workshop with Maddison Glover was cancelled due to the pandemic.

A dance partnership

I am very lucky that my husband also is a line dancer, even though it was a challenge to get him started. You will see Peter in all of my classes. He is my technological guru and new dance beta tester at home, and when I'm teaching he acts as an extra pair of eyes because he's alert to what's going on while I have my back to the class. He helps me do a better job by asking questions that students may be too shy to ask themselves. On more than one occasion when I have been unable to dance, he has conducted class in my place. He deserves the applause he gets when I introduce him.

Peter and I look forward to seeing you in our classes, and hope you discover or nurture the joy of dancing.