Saturday of the World of Clogging workshop was busy indeed! ANOTHER 28 classes offered within 7 time slots, vendors to shop, and a fun dance to end the night.
Better fuel up...
Tough decisions had to be made to choose a schedule. I picked Sheryl Baker's teach of "She's With Me" for my first class. Sheryl did not disappoint! Cute choreography, good song choice, and just a fun class experience overall.
My eyes are still puffy from the allergic reaction. The swelling went down as the day progressed.
The Dance Police may issue a citation to JP Simkus! I don't think this Indiana clogging director attended the "Good Time" teach by Matt Koziuk, despite wearing a "Good Time Cloggers" tee shirt. That just seems wrong, JP. Prepare to defend yourself in the court of clog! :)
My teammates and I LOVED the "Shout Mountain Music" routine by Jeff Driggs. It was my favorite teach of the day.
Jeff called Pennsylvania clogging instructor Barb Elko to the stage (as seen in the cover photo) to help demonstrate partner work. Great job, Barb!
Learning the Hambone section was hilarious! The room was full of missed slaps and claps, laughter, and maybe an apology or two when a slap went awry.
The Riverside Cloggers of West Virginia were still friends at the end of class. They must've picked up the Hambone sequence quickly.
Before lunch, teammate Jaime asked Jeff and Gavin about the difficulty level of their afternoon teach with Sherry Cox. Their answers apparently satisfied her, because she did join me and other teammates for the "No Excuses" teach.
But first, LUNCH!
This is where things didn't make sense. The instructors announced that the hotel restaurant would be serving quick $5 lunch specials to get folks fed and back on the dance floor. The restaurant folks told us the specials weren't happening until dinner.
?? The lunch break is one hour. We get 2.5 hours between the final class and the start of the fun dance. Wouldn't it make more sense to serve the quick specials at lunch?
With all the confusion at the Holiday Inn restaurant, we opted to hit the food court at the mall. Amber from Kentucky joined us, and she was a delightful addition to our table! We swapped pet stories, and Amber told us about some of her other hobbies, including competitive swimming. Thank you for joining us, Amber!
(I have a cousin named Amber who also lives in Kentucky and is also delightful. Coincidence? I think not. Clearly, Ambers hailing from the Bluegrass State are awesome...)
I enjoyed "No Excuses" with Jeff, Sherry, and Gavin. They need to come up with a cool name for themselves when they teach together. Sherry joined dancers down on the floor for a run-through.
A routine choreographed by Debby Claxton of Florida was taught by Judy Waymouth of Canada at the World of Clogging workshop in Ohio!
This apparently confused the sound system, as class began with technical difficulties. Judy's voice wouldn't come through the speaker, but another instructor's mic came through loud and clear. At one point, we chuckled and started dancing the steps called out by the phantom instructor! The situation was soon resoloved, however.
I've had an opportunity to learn from Debby Claxton at the Florida Clogging Festival, and her energy level is no joke! It was cool of Judy to bring Debby's name and choreography to an area where she doesn't typically teach.
Wishing you a speedy recovery, Judy!
During the same time slot, teammate Jaime attended Alyssa Keller's hip-hop class. I don't have any photos, but Jaime loved the class!
What kind of clogger shows up at a workshop and doesn't dance?! My teammate Dustin, that's who! We gave him plenty of grief about it, but he did stop by for a good reason.
Dustin privately coaches a pageant contestant who clogs for the talent portion of her competitions. He stopped by to pick up the shiny silver clogging shoes she ordered for the Miss Kentucky pageant.
Next up for me was Stephen Auten's "Auctioneer" teach. Even though he nearly killed me by cranking up the music to full speed at the end, this turned out to be my second favorite dance from the weekend. Thanks, Stephen! I loved this music choice.
A friend's clogging team is adding this routine to their repertoire, so I may get to perform it with them in a couple months!
Meanwhile, my teammates enjoyed learning "Sax" with Matt Koziuk. In addition to being a skilled clogging instructor, he consistently wins at wearing the best socks. I believe he was sporting Spiderman socks here.
Instructor Katie O'Brien and several others assisted when it was time to literally tear up the dance floor.
Saturday evening brought another fun dance, including the famous "lights out" dance.
Excellent job by the workshop organizers and instructors.Looking forward to returning to this workshop next year!
Congrats to the winners of the World of Clogging competition on Sunday! I missed it other than a brief peek into the competition room when I checked out of the hotel.
I needed to make it to West Union to attend a very important (and fun) graduation party. My clogging teammate and former duo partner is now a high school graduate! Way to go, Molly! Best wishes to the class of 2018!
If you attended the World of Clogging workshop, what was YOUR favorite class?