The Katz Modern Line Dancers!

Monday 21 December 2009

It's CHRISSSSTTTTMAAAASSS!!!!

Dear Dancers,

Can you believe it's almost the end of 2009 already?! We have just ONE more class this year - and thats THIS Wednesday, 23rd December in Westergate.

We had three lovely parties last week - the balloon challenge was an eye opener! (Photos to follow....) I just want to end the year with a summing up of what has been a great year for me of linedancing and fun......

What a great year I have had dancing with all of you lovely people! I consider myself to be incredibly lucky to be in the position of running classes full of such lively fun loving people. Each and every one of you are important to me, I look forward to seeing your smiley faces before each class opens!

Im not just saying this to butter you up either! I truly mean it - my lovely 'London' crew, with incredible people like Kellie, Christine, Suzannah, Debbie, Isabel, Lisa, Viv, Pat, Jean, Linda-Carol and Carol-Linda, Sarah Lou and Paige, Jeanette, Diane and their gorgeous daughters and the rest! And our brilliant 'early class' dancers such as Doreen, Vera, Rene, Brenda, Eileen and Claire.......how could I fail to smile on a Monday morning when I wake up and know that later in the day I'm going to be greeted by a mass of smiling, cheerful easy going brilliant people?

Some people have questioned my sanity about continuing the class in West Wickham - wondering why I would want to drive so far every week to carry on teaching you. Well, Ive just answered that one everyone - because I LOVE THEM!!

Thank you all so much for your cards and prezzies, Ive been very good and they are still wrapped up under my slightly ad hoc Christmas tree, waiting for me to open them on Christmas morning !

When I started up my class in Westergate (originally in Phillip Howard School) I was nervous about it, not knowing how I would be accepted into this new community. I needn't have worried for one second as the people that joined the class on Wednesday nights turned out to be just as fun loving as I was!!!! With people like Linda, Jane and her lovely daughter Charley, Jane-Kate and Kate-Jane, Chris from the Barnham Bridge Inn, all our lovely little dancers that make up my front row! Mick, Liz, Kim, Richard, the very quiet and sensible Julie and her slightly cheeky looking hubby Bill, Gill, Ian, Paul and Nicki....our dancing sisters Jean and Paulina, Sue, Mick the Butcher, and so many more people.......how could I fail to enjoy this class just as much as I enjoy Monday nights? The answer is I couldnt - and I wouldnt want to be without any of you - you light up my days with your smiles, friendly encouragement and enthusiasm for Line dancing......thank you for your brilliant Christmas prezzies! The cat theme was very much appreciated - I loved opening each gift so thoughtfully wrapped one by one by our lovely Linda.....and the mummy cat and her two little kittens now have pride of place on the speaker next to the TV as I type!

Fridays little afternoon class was a new venture for me this year - initially we tried a beginner class followed by improver but it didnt entirely work and so the improvers class has be held back whilst we concentrate on attracting new dancers into our hobby. The people that have joined this class are, once again, fun loving indivuals that NEVER fail to make me laugh every time we meet up - this could be down to the exceptionally funny Chris (with the hat) and Chris (without the hat!) and their escapades -- although the laughter that comes from the back row girls (Jane, Linda, Maria etc) makes me wonder what Im missing out on at times being stuck at the front!

I love Fridays class just as much as the other two classes - they are brilliant people! Anne and Jim are always up for a giggle, Debbie, Brenda, Sandra, Jackie and our newest member Pat have taken to linedancing like ducks to water (we arent going to mention the progressive partner dance we learned this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and I think we have created several potential line dance addicts, about which I am very proud! Thank you for your prezzies everyone - once again beautifully wrapped by our Linda and cat themed......! brilliant!!

Teaching at the Viking club is a pleasure for me too - many of the dancers at the club have been dancing there for years, and have seen the coming and going of several instructors before my arrival in 2006. They took me under their wing, and any early apprehension I may have had about teaching a very gifted class of intermediate dancers soon dissapated (impressed with my big word eh?)and I very quickly began to look forward to Saturday afternoons in the company of such lovely people like Roger (ROGER!!!!), Helen, Ann, Yvonne, Welsh Annie, Sue, Angie, Sally, Sue and lorna etc....by the end of the last season I was looking forward to that break from teaching on Saturdays but by now I've had enough rest and am looking forward to getting back to the club in March to start a new season of brilliant dances (probably not yet written!!), with this fab group of people who I now consider to be as special and as precious as the dancers in my own classes.....

And before anyone asks me if Ive been drinking, no I havent! haha - Ijust thought Id take this opportunity to let you all know just how special you all are in my life, and if you cant tell people that at Christmas, well, when else can you!?

Im going to take this opportunity to wish you all a very very Merry Christmas and a happy new year - and I look forward to seeing you all in January......Im on the mend now for sure, blood tests are all normal, iron levels are going up, and with only a tiny bit of a cough left I think I can safely say that this horrible virus that has had a hold on me for the past month is well and truly behind me. Thank you all as well for all your well wishes and real concern for my health - Im only sorry that you all looked so worried!

Take care everyone, Im now going to sit back in front of my lovely warm wood burning stove with Andy and watch a nice Christmassy film.

Lots of love

Julie xxx (and Andy xxx)

Sunday 13 December 2009

CHRISTMAS PARTIES THIS WEEK TO GO AHEAD!

Dear Dancers,

Well, the good news is that Im finally (fingers crossed) on the mend, tho not quite firing on ALL cylinders, enough of them are working for me to have the energy to have three parties this week!! whoop whoop!!!

So with that in mind the details are as follows:

MONDAY 14TH DECEMBER - OAK LODGE PRIMARY

Doors open at 7 p.m. all levels!!

Please bring along a plate of something to share, and your own drinks for your own tables.....

We will be having a raffle so please bring along a pound or two to take part....and lets see out the year in style with all your requests, and a bit of fun and games too!

WEDNESDAY 16TH DECEMBER - WESTERGATE COMMUNITY SCHOOL

After much deliberation it has been decided to bring the PARTY FORWARD TO THIS WEEK!! It was originally planned to take place on the 23rd but we have now found out that a large number of dancers will not be around on Christmas Eve Eve to join us for fun and frolics, and so we are partying on the 16th instead!! However, there will still be a class on the 23rd to finish off the year with a bit of a festive boogie - so no doubt it will feel like we are having two parties in a row!!

The Raffle will take place this week on the 16th only tho!

Doors open at 7 p.m. all levels!!

Please bring along a plate of something to share, and your own drinks for your own tables.....

We will be having a raffle so please bring along a pound or two to take part....and lets see out the year in style with all your requests, and a bit of fun and games too!


FRIDAY 18TH DECEMBER - ALDINGBOURNE SOCIAL CLUB

Our newest and smallest club will be celebrating Christmas in style this Friday, so please do don your gladrags and get ready to party by bringing along a small plate of food for us all to share and a couple of pounds for the raffle!

I will play all your requests and we will be having a bit of fun and games too...so see you there! Doors open at 1 p.m. .....

Well thats it peeps - see you soon - all dressed up and glam! (that's you not be - try as hard as I do, I never quite manage glam and at most 'brushed up' is all I ever acheive!!!)

Take care

see you soon!!

Julie xxx

Tuesday 8 December 2009

Update - Tuesday 8th December....

Dear Dancers,

Well, I 'am' improving (I think) at last! but not 100 percent yet......although Im going to be brave enough to stick my neck out and say that tomorrows class in WESTERGATE SCHOOL will go ahead!!! *touches wood!

The class tomorrow (8th Dec) is NOT in the usual place (school hall) as it is being used for a school Christmas production. Intead please drive around to the 6 villages sports centre (just behind the school - follow the drive round to the left) and come into the main entrance where you will be directed up to the 'Drama Studio' on the first floor.

The Drama studio is not big enough for everyone to fit into at once - so we are operating TWO SEPARATE CLASSES just for tomorrow.

6.30 - 7.45 BEGINNERS ONLY PLEASE!!! If you arrive for the 8 o'clock class please wait outside the doors until the beginners have finished.

8 - 9.50 Improvers/Intermediates only....these dances will not be suitable for beginners.

I will try my best to teach you some new dances tomorrow night but if I find myself run out of energy I will have to revert to a request night...I hope this is ok with everyone, and can only apologise once again for having a rubbish immune system that has been knocked out by two viruses!!!!!

Hope to see you tomorrow! We will have a list by the door so that you can start to write down what you may like to bring along to our Christmas party which will be on the 23rd December....starting at 7. p.m.

FRIDAY 11TH DECEMBER - ALDINGBOURNE

Very sorry but there is no class this Friday as I have a prior engagement that cannot be cancelled. But we will see you the following week for our Christmas Party! whoop whoop!!

MONDAY 14TH DECEMBER.....WEST WICKHAM....

Keep those fingers crossed that my energy levels have returned folks for Mondays drive up to town - as we really want to end the year on a high note and a Christmas party for you all!! Watch this space for updates....

Thats all for now peeps!

Take care and hope to see you soon.

Julie xxx

Sunday 6 December 2009

CLASS CANCELLED MONDAY 7TH DEC - Still poorly...

Dear Dancers,

Much as it truly truly TRULY pains me to do this, I'm afraid that I have decided to close tomorrows class in West Wickham (Monday 7th December) due to feeling no better today with this virus/flu that I have had for three weeks now....

Please do email me on julieandthekatz@msn.com or text me on 07799741288 if you would like to be added to my email/text list for updates on class closures etc.

The 14th is our final one before Christmas and will be our party night! As we now have no chance to make a list of 'who's bringing what food' to the party perhaps you could cast your minds back to previous parties and bring the same thing again?

Its not a great plan Ill grant you! but it IS a plan!! (my brain hurts!)

so for instance - if you came to the summer party - and brought a plate of food - perhaps you could bring the same again? but! (there had to be one right?)

what if you werent at the summer party?!! well - perhaps you can cast your mind further back to last Christmas and bring what you brought then!!!?!? haha

This isnt going to work well is it girls? Well, we can but try eh!? Im bringing the plates, bowls, forks and serviettes....all we need now is the food!

Remember to bring your own drinks for your own table - and some coins for the raffle too!

We have a lovely HUGE 'snowman' from erm The Snowman as one of the prizes, or a lovely bottle of wine - or a huge tin of Quality street! and perhaps one or two other prizes too......

Thats all for now folks - if you are a member of my Wednesday class and are reading this wondering if Wednesdays class will go ahead - all I can say at the moment - is I have no idea - and please watch this space.....I truly hope to be better by Wednesday - or at least on the road to recovery.....keep those fingers crossed!

Take care everyone and see you all sometime soon.

Julie xxx

Saturday 5 December 2009

An update on my illness.....December 6th....

Dear Dancers,

Well,I would love to be on here telling you all that Im fit and healthy once more but unfortunately that isnt quite the case....

I am still recovering from the effects of two nasty cold/flu viruses (one on top of the other) and think my recovery may take a little longer than anticipated.

I cannot tell you what a bad patient I am! I hate being ill, I hate having to 'rest', and I hate not being able to go out and about as normal. But most of all I hate not being able to dance and to teach....:(

Some days are better than others, and just as I think Im turning a corner and getting better the following day Im worse than ever.....the doctors have sent me for a chest xray to check how my chest infection is going, and the results should be back in a week.

In the meantime, Im stuck indoors, doing nothing (which is truly driving me crazy!) just waiting to get better - Andy is looking after me really well, but is now beginning to come down with some flu symptoms himself.....lets hope he doesnt get it too bad himself, or we will both need looking after and will be putting out an advert for a nurse!

I hope you arent missing your dancing too much - Linda very kindly ran the Friday afternoon class for me yesterday - taking in her own cd system and having a little social for the group - thank you so much Linda - it was much appreciated by me and I know, by the dancers themselves.

At the moment Mondays class looks doubtful - so please do check on here before setting off for class on Monday - I will post a message by Sunday evening letting you know if the class is on or off.

I truly hope I am able to do Wednesdays class - as that will be almost four weeks Ive been ill by then....and they tell me its not the flu! Yes well I have my own opinion on that!

Thats all for now folks, as I say, please do pop back on here on Sunday evening for an update of how things are, and Ill end this by saying once again how sorry I am that the classes are all so up in the air at the moment. I have already bought some lovely raffle prizes for your Christmas parties so I do hope so much that they will all go ahead.

Keep your fingers crossed for me eh!?

take care everyone and hope to see you sometime soon.

Julie xxx

Wednesday 2 December 2009

CLASS CANCELLED TONIGHT....WED 2ND DEC

Dear Dancers,

I am so sorry but I cannot run the class for you tonight as I am still very unwell.

I appear to have caught a second virus on top of the first one and have been ordered to stay in by my doctor.

Next week the hall is being used by the school for a christmas show and so we have been offered use of the Drama studio - which is quite small and so i will have to split the class into two groups.

beginners 6.30 - 7.45
improvers/intermediates 8 - 9.45

please allow the beginners time to leave before you arrive as there isnt enough room in the studio for everyone.

so sorry about tonights class - hopefully ill be ok for next week - but please do check back on here to make sure before you set out for class.

take care everyone and hope to see you soon.

Julie xxx

Saturday 28 November 2009

No class Oak Lodge - Monday 30th November....plus other diary dates...

Dear Dancers,

First of all can I apologise for having to cancel this coming Monday's class, but I have been very poorly, and doctor's (and Andy's) order's are to take it easy and rest until I feel 100 percent.

The good news is that I am finally beginning to feel a little better, which is better than a bit worse every day as it has been for the past two weeks!

I want to send get well wishes to Mo and Lin who have also been struck down by the lurgy!! Get well soon you two - lets all get together again on the 7th December shall we?!!

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR DATES - ALL CLASSES

MONDAY'S - OAK LODGE - WEST WICKHAM

December 7th - normal class
December 14th - CHRISTMAS PARTY NIGHT!! There will be a list by the door on Monday 7th for you to all make a note of what you would like to bring to the party food wise....please bring your own drinks and dress up in your glad rags! You will be taught a couple of fun dances during the night - and there will be a Christmas Raffle too!!

December 21st - December 28th - NO CLASSES

January 4th - we re-open for the New Year!!!!

WEDNESDAY'S - WESTERGATE SCHOOL - WESTERGATE, CHICHESTER

December 2nd, 9th, 16th - normal classes

December 23rd - CHRISTMAS PARTY TIME!!!!! There will be a list by the door on Wednesday 2nd, for you to all make a note of what you would like to bring to the party food wise....please bring your own drinks and dress up in your glad rags! You will be taught a couple of fun dances during the night - and there will be a Christmas Raffle too!!

December 30th - No class

January 6th - CLASS RE-OPEN'S FOR THE NEW YEAR!!!

FRIDAY'S - ALDINGBOURNE SOCIAL CLUB - ALDINGBOURNE, CHICHESTER

My apologies for having to close the class last Friday but I was too poorly to leave the house, the good news is that Im feeling a little better today and class will be on as normal next Friday 4th December.

Friday 11th December - NO CLASS - so sorry (I feel like Im always apologising!) but I have a prior booking for that day and unfortunately the times clash, so I have no option but to close the class that day.

Friday 18th December - CHRISTMAS PARTY TIME!!!!! There will be a list by the door on Friday 4th, for you to all make a note of what you would like to bring to the party food wise....please bring your own drinks and dress up in your glad rags! You will be taught a couple of fun dances during the class - and there will be a Christmas Raffle too!!

December 25th, January 2nd - NO CLASSES

January 8th - CLASS RE-OPENS FOR THE NEW YEAR!!!

---------------

UPDATE ON THE DURRANT HOUSE HOTEL - 19 - 22 FEB 2010

The coach is filling up fast - and we now have only a dozen seats left to fill - if you would like to come on the trip please do contact me as soon as possible to put your name down - you can either call me on 07799741288 or email me on julieandthekatz@msn.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KIM!!!!!

I must just say a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KIM!!!! who was 50 this week!!! I hope you had a fab surprise party on Thursday, Andy and I were so upset not to have been able to make it after all........I have a prezzie for you which I will bring on Wednesday so Ill see you then!!!

Thats all our news for now peeps - take care of yourselves, wrap up warm and dont fall in any big puddles!!

See you all soon

Julie xxx

Thursday 26 November 2009

Sorry......but some classes are cancelled....Thurs Nov 26th..

Dear Dancers,

First of all can I just apologise to all my Westergate dancers for not being able to be there last night? I hear that Andy did a great job playing all your requests, and I hope you all had a nice time.

I have been quite poorly for over a week now with a nasty viral infection - basically - a cold - but a really vicious one that has completely floored me!

I am therefore going to have to cancel tomorrow afternoons class in Aldingbourne too - doctors orders! All Im allowed to do, is rest, rest and rest some more.....and its very frustrating! Each time I try to defy doctors orders and go out I get worse, and so, for the next few days at least, Im giving in to it and sitting it out.

Mondays class may have to be cancelled too - but I will post on here by Sunday lunchtime to let you know how things stand.

I hear that several of my dancers are poorly with this nasty bug too, and Im sending you all my love and hugs and best wishes to get well soon - at least we are all suffering together eh!!!!? (hmmmm! thats not much consolation is it!!!?)

Thank you for my get well card Westergate dancers - your funny little comments made me laugh - especially Kate-Jane's and Jane-Kate's one about coming to see you at the hospital!! hahahaha!!! Oh and I loved Robins upside down message too! But thank you everyone for your lovely comments - I hope to be fit and well by next Wednesday - well I had better be, because I shall be sooooooooooooooooooooo cross if Im not, I can tell you!!!!

Other news.....

THE KATZ NEXT WEEKEND BREAK!!! UPDATE!!!

We have managed to book two of the top UK linedance acts for our weekend break to Bideford in February (19th - 22nd)!!!

PLAIN LOCO AND ALAN GREGORY!!!!!

If you have yet to put your name down for this trip then please do so asap as the coach is filling up fast......

The cost is £165.00 per person - which includes RETURN COACH TRAVEL to either Beckenham, or Chichester/Bognor area....Three nights dinner bed and breakfast, friday night disco with DJ Andy!, Saturday night with Plain Loco, and Sunday night with the nicest, funniest enertainer we have on the circuit ALAN GREGORY!! (who is only available because it is a Sunday!!!)

The hotel is the Durrant House Hotel and they have a fab website which I suggest you visit http://www.durranthousehotel.com/dancing.php so you can see what luxurious surroundings we are taking you to....yes, Folkestone was tons of fun, no doubt about that, BUT!!! I like a bit of luxury when I go away, and Im sure you do too!!!??! The hotel is very reasonably priced, and Im sure you will agree that to have the worry of travel taken out of your hands is a huge bonus on a trip to Devon in February.....on board the coach you can expect fun and games in the form of our famous quizes!!! Plus an onboard TV gives us the choice of lying back and watching a movie en route!! Suggestions for suitable movies on a postcard please!!

If you would like more info please do email me on julieandthekatz@msn.com - if you are reading this and arent a member of any of my classes, you are still welcome to join us on our weekend breaks providing we have the space - our only requirements are that you like to relax, enjoy your linedancing without feeling any pressure to KNOW THEM ALL, enjoy good company and have a bit of fun.......!

Look forward to hear from you soon.

Thats it for now - take care folks - so sorry about the class cancellations *cough, cough, cough......and hope to see you next week.

Julie xxx

Tuesday 17 November 2009

The Next Weekender is already in the planning!

Dear Dancers,

Please do read the post below this one too!

I just wanted to let you all know that there is a weekend that has become free at THE DURRANT HOUSE HOTEL in Bideford, Devon... click here to view the hotel before you read on... www.durranthousehotel.com

It looks beautiful, Im sure you will agree - and we have the opportunity to run a weekender there from Friday February 19th - til Monday 22nd...... at the moment we think we can bring the trip in for around £150.00 per person but have to do a little more research before we can confirm that price!

We are planning to have live music on Saturday and Sunday night....with a disco on Friday........

If you are interested in coming along - please do contact me on julieandthekatz@msn.com or 07799741288

See you all in class soon..

take care

Julie x

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

A big big Thank you to all our lovely dancers for joining us on our FIFTH Annual Club weekend break this year!

We had a lovely time down in Folkestone in The Southcliff Hotel on The Leas...despite the horrendous weather conditions!

My weekend started on Friday morning when I awoke to the sound of heavy rain outside my window.......I put the radio on to hear 'there are terrible driving conditions today in West Sussex with trouble on the A27, the M23 and around the Chichester area'

So I turned it off.

Then went upstairs and put the tv on - just in time to see a map of the UK with HUGE arrows pointing right at FOLKESTONE and heard the weather girl say 'there are gales of up to 70 mph heading for the South East coast tonight..'

So I turned that off too!!!

Well I thought, what's the worse that can happen? The coach could be stuck somewhere in a flood - people may not reach the hotel due to fallen trees - mum could be stuck on a train somewhere....and so my thoughts raged right up until I saw the very welcome sight of the Diamond coach pulling into Aldingbourne Social Club bang on time being driven by its very capable driver, Bob!

I boarded the coach with the 'Aldingbourne Crew' which consisted of Linda, Jane, Charley, Jim, Anne and Chris - who promptly all ran to the very back of the coach leaving me all on my own at the front!! (well, until Chris felt sorry for me and came up front to keep me company that is!).

We set off for Beckenham, and I played a 'beat the intro' music quiz much to the upset of Bob who was quite happy to listen to Radio Two instead!

The winners of the intro quiz were Jane's team on the back seat - and the prize of a huge box of Maltesers was claimed instantly by Jane who refused to share! (what an example to set your daughter!! tut tut!)

After a brief stop at Pease Pottage we set off for Beckenham, despite the horrendous travel conditions we felt safe in Bob's hands and we pulled up in Manor Way just five minutes after our expected time - which was a miracle considering what we were up against with the roads!

Lots of happy (slightly wet) faces greeted us in Beckenham and we welcomed aboard the West Wickham dancers.........there was a slight moment of panic when we realised there was no sign of Brenda - but five minutes later she came running along with her suitcase soaked to the skin but smiling anyway!

So leg two of our journey began, the anagram quiz caused a bit of a stir - with someone (no names mentioned) thinking that the anagram for Bob Marley was someone unknown called 'Barley Nob!!!' hehe....I wouldnt mind but the letters arent even the same! For ever more now, Bob Marley will be known as Barley Nob to me.....!

Kellie took several minutes to recover from her fit of giggles and even had to get the tissues out to wipe her eyes.....and usually its Theresa we get these little gems from - but this time - it wasn't her! sorry Theresa for mentioning your name - you know I love you to bits!

We reached Maidstone services in good time - and the heavens had begun to open up good and proper again by now - but the lovely Bob pulled up literally right by the doors and we all ran in and kept nice and dry.....

As we boarded the coach for our final run of motorway the heavens really did open and we drove through torrential rain and high winds - we witnessed a huge lorry swerving all across three lanes in front of us as he narrowly missed a little van in front of him changing lanes without looking! But again, Bob kept us safe and we cracked on with our Big 70's quiz!! Now I have to say the moaning about the football questions was a little unecessary wasn't it? Ive never heard so much whinging just because someone doesnt know anything about football!! and anyway, they werent ALL about football were they!!!? (just some of them!)

The winners of this quiz were Debbie and Isabel! Who we think guessed half their answers - but who cares!

We pulled up outside the Southcliff at five to three which was pretty good going considering the amount of rain and potential problems we faced when we woke up that morning!

Sherrie the assistant manager boarded the coach before anyone could get off and laid down the law!! haha!!! Ive never seen so many scared faces in my life! she was a little scray tho I must admit! but I can only think that she must have some pretty unruly groups in her hotel on occasion and just wanted to make sure you all knew the procedure (well, thats my excuse and Im sticking to it!)

Once inside the hotel we were greeted by lots more smiling faces of our other dancers from all over.......it seems everyone managed to get through the traffic with little trouble after all!!

The weekend was relatively trouble free - well, apart from my sister Sues friend almost bringing the lounge ceiling down with her shower in the room above that is!!

The Texas Tornadoes arrived and joined us for dinner - Pete made friends with my mum and giggled away with her throughout the meal - he offered to take her up in the lift to the ballroom - but mum wasnt aware of this, and thought she was going to her room (wrong lift mum!!!) and so her and Pete had a tour of all of the floors of the other side of the hotel until finally he put her in the ballroom! (only my mum eh?)

The Tornados were in great form and really got the party started for us on Friday night - ably assisted by the lovely Andy playing everyones requests - we also had our raffle and Sensational Seventies Picture Quiz which was won by my siser Sue and her friends - with the runners up being Debbie and Isabel (they were really on a winning streak this weekend!)

We partied on til 1.30 a.m. when the final dancers started flagging Sally and Sue were amongst the last to get off to bed (but there were no surpises there!!!)

Saturday morning saw the first of our dance lessons - and I taught the following dances:

NOTHING'S GONNA BRING ME DOWN - By Ria Vos - this is a 32 count dance, no tags or restarts- to a great song by Paolo Nutini called Pencil Full of Lead......

next up I decided to teach a dance from a few years back called

DO WOP BE DO BE DOO - written to Shang a Lang by the Bay City Rollers - to keep us in with the 70's theme of the weekend - most of the dancers had never learned this dance before and even those that knew it already were very happy to re learn such a great dance!

Next was a new dance by Rob Fowler called...

CASANOVA COWBOY - written to Cowboy Casanova by Carrie Underwood....a really cool 32 counter that fits the music very well - a big hit with eveyone!

An inpromptu request from some quarters resulted in me teaching..

HOT TOMALAS!!!!! A huge number of dancers had never done this dance before and loved it!

Finally I taught

TIME TO PLAY - By Peter and Alison - 32 counts - ultra funky - one for the higher intermediates because of its speed and tricky timing......this one was loved by our younger dancers in particular!!

Saturday afternoon was free to do as you wished.....I chose to do nothing and have a rest before decorating the hall for tonights 70's themed party....but some people decided to go shopping.......which was fine up until about 3 oclock when the biggest storm hit Folkestone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We watched from our bedroom window as several people dressed as drowned rats came running back up the street to the hotel for refuge!!! Yvonne and Ann were completely soaked to the sking and as Yvonne said 'I was wet right up to the top of my tousers!!!' - and there was me thinking it was a Tena lady moment....!!! haha

The storm raged on for a good couple of hours, during which Jenny, Tom and Amy arrived! It was so windy Amy actually couldnt walk through the alley way and they had to take the long route round to the front entrance!!

Kellie, Andy and I decorated the hall for the evenings party - and got it looking as tacky as we possibly could - old fashioned balloons, crepe paper, plastic bowls with sweets and quality street in, were all I could remember from parties in the 70's!!! so that was what we gave you!

Saturday nights meal was a traditional Christmas dinner - and we had beautifully decorated tables and presents given to us by the hotel - I had a lovely little Christmas mug with a Snowman in it! Thank you Southcliff for such a lovely suprise!

The party on Saturday night started with people arriving dressed in their 70's gear - The Selsey Girls looked amazing in their wigs and Sue and Sally were Anafird and Agnetha from ABBA - you looked pretty amazing girls! I loved Ann's pink wig too - and Yvonne - I didnt even recognise you when you walked in! you must do long black hair more often, it really suited you!

Liz looked lovely in her little white and blue number - Mick was the only male Bay City Roller Fan I have ever seen, Lisa went for the other end of the 70's and came as a rebel!! (what else would you expect!!?) Kellie looked fab in her Afro (I thought Jamie Afro had arrived when she walked in!) - but I have to say was out afro-ed a tad by Emmas HUGE red one when she arrived later in the evening with little Caity in her lovely 70's clothes!

The winners of our Fancy dress parade were Christine and Suzannah - who had come dressed as The Carpenters......Christine looked so funny as Richard Carpenter...and even adopted the American accent......you should be on the stage Christine!! Our second prize went to Amy for her ABBA outfit - the long blonde curls looked amazing! Little Caity won third prize for being so cute, and Mick won a special prize for his Bay City Rollers outfit......in the form of a Simon Cowell Calendar - I hope you keep that safe young Mick!!

The Aldingbourne crew looked fab in their outfits - with Charley adding extra sparkle to the proceedings in her lovely outfit.

Sarah and her mum Carolyn were fellow Bay City Roller fans!! HURRAY!!! in all there were four of us!! Ahh I knew the band would still have a following somewhere!!!

A huge thank you to all of you that dressed up for the occasion !! it is lovely when so many people make the effort to join in the fun by making costumes and really adds to the atmosphere of the evening!

Our entertainer for Saturday night was the gorgeous Tim McKay - who wowed the girls with his voice and good looks, and his sense of humour too - we particularly loved the partner dance - with Andy calling out how many partners ahead we needed to change to, it was an hysterical challenge and something I wont forget in a long while!!

Thank you Tim for being so good natured and joining in the fun with us!

We partied on until 2 a.m. on Saturday night with the last ones out of the ballroom being Emma and Caity who had only arrived at 8 p.m. as we waved goodbye to Emma in the lift to her room she was still saying 'BUT I'VE ONLY JUST ARRIVED!' haha

Sunday morning saw the last of our dance sessions - I reviewed all of the previous days dances, and added in two new ones...

THINK I'M FALLING - By Justine Brown - to Think Im falling in Love by Harrison County - this is a lovely little 32 count easy dance that has the potential to stick around for a long while....fingers crossed for you Justine!

and the final teach was..

TOPSY TURVY - By Sandra Speck - a 64 count improver level dance written to Upside Down by Paloma Faith - a good fun dance - with nothing complicated in it...which makes it an instant floor filler!

Before we knew it it was time to say our thank you's and goodbyes - these weekends are always over far too quickly!!

We must once again thank Kellie and Linda for all their hard work throughout the year, and I want to thank Viv for taking so many photos - (I havent seen them yet but cant wait!).

I also want to thank everyone that came up and said nice things about us, we were very touched by your comments, and hope to see you all again on our next trip, which could be much sooner than you expected!!

We have the opportunity to go to Bideford in February....this is still in its early stages of planning - but if you would like to join us - please do contact me by email on julieandthekatz@msn.com or by phone on 07799741288

the hotel is called The Derwent House Hotel and its beautiful!!! I think its time we went for a little luxury and stayed for an extra night too!!

We should be able to offer three nights including travel to Devon and back for around £150.00 each....watch this space for more details....!!

Thank you all once again for coming to Folkestone - and Ill see you in class very soon..

Take care everyone!

Julie xxx
p.s. thank you so so much for your lovely gifts - Andy is particularly thrilled with his £9!!! haha!!

Thursday 12 November 2009

FOLKESTONE UPDATE! plus......

Dear Dancers,

Well its almost upon us! Our annual weekend club break that is!

For those of you coming to Folkestone this weekend you should have all received a letter giving details about travel to and from the hotel plus what to expect on arrival etc. However if you haven't, then the basic details are as follows:-

COACH TRAVEL - Friday......

Aldingbourne - Please be in Aldingbourne Social Club’s Car park at 9.15 a.m. on Friday 13th November – the coach will leave promptly at 9.30 a.m.

We will be stopping for a comfort break at Pease Pottage - although the coach is fitted with an on board toilet should you need it!

Backenham - Manor Way - Please be in Manor Way, Beckenham (see map) by 11.45 – the coach will leave promptly at 12.00 noon

We will be stopping at Maidstone Services for a 25 minute 'lunch' break.

E.t.a is approx 2.45 p.m.

Self Drivers - the full address of the hotel is:

The full address of the hotel is:-

The Southcliff
22 – 26 The Leas,
Folkestone,
Kent. CT20 2DY
Tel: 01303 850075

You will have been reserved a car parking space, but please call ahead to the hotel to give them your details - Car parking is £5 per night payable directly to the hotel.

If you have any difficulties getting to the hotel, or the coach, please call me on 07799741288.

See you all very soon! Dont foget those 70's costumes for Saturday Nights Big Party!

Other news!!!

CLASS CLOSURES

Due to the trip to Folkestone Im very sorry but there will no class tomorrow (Friday 13th) but we will see you next week as usual!

Monday 16th November - CLASS CLOSED!! This is to give us time to recover from the weekend!! I look forward to seeing you all back in class on the 23rd.

Well I think thats it for now - take care everyone and see you soon!!

Julie x

Monday 26 October 2009

HALF TERM in The Katz LDC.....Week beginning Oct 26th..

Dear Dancers,

Just a little note to reassure that all classes are running as normal this week despite it being half term.

If you are coming dancing tonight I'm afraid I have some sad news to tell you.

One of our lovely intermediate dancers has sadly passed away after a short illness.

Stephanie Hartley died last week from Cancer. She wasn’t diagnosed with the illness until two weeks before she passed away. She hadn’t known she was ill until suffering a stroke whilst out with her husband one day. It was a terrible shock to hear that she had terminal cancer, but an even bigger shock to hear that she had succumb to this terrible illness so quickly.

Last week we knew she was nearing the end and sent a card from all of us to her, and her family. Sadly Steph passed away the next day.

We will miss her in our classes, she was a lovely girl, always smiling and happy. She was only 53 years old and had so much more to live for.

Her funeral is to take place next Monday in Beckenham at 12.45. If you knew Steph well and would like more information about this please come and ask me for details.

We are doing a collection today for charity in Steph’s name – and all contributions would be gratefully received. We will send
the money to St. Christopher’s Hospice, who are one of the chosen charities her family have suggested we send our donations to.

If you were a close friend of Steph's and are only hearing this news for the first time, my apologies for delivering it to you in this way, we are hopeful that those that were close to her will already have been told and do not want to shock anyone, but want to make sure that those that did know her get the chance to pay their last respects by donating to charity or attending the funeral itself.

Sorry once again for being the bearer of such sad news.

SATURDAY 31ST OCTOBER.....SELSEY....

This Saturday is the last one of the current season at the Viking - and we are going out in style with a HALLOWEEN PARTY!

If you would like to dress up on Saturday night please feel free!! we have Darren Busby and Fools Gold to entertain us on the final night of the season and I have a feeling its going to be a good one!

FOLKESTONE WEEKEND BREAK

Thank you to everyone for paying your balance in full - you will receive a letter giving you details on coach/arrival next week.

Thats all for now folks - take care and see you all soon.

Julie x

Monday 12 October 2009

This week at the club.....12th October 2009

Dear Dancers,

Just a quickie to let you all know that all classes are running as normal this week! Well, apart from the Selsey class of course!

Monday - class as normal in Oak Lodge Primary school - tonight we are going to be on week two of BAD INFLUENCE, Week one of TIME TO SWING...and for our beginners ...THE LEMON TREE... plus lots of reviews of all your fave dances....

I am thinking of changing to a different way of teaching - in essence it would mean teaching new dances for three weeks, and on week four, we have a party night instead! Please do let me know your thoughts on this tonight..... :D I think it could work very well for our 7.30 - 9.45 dancers...!

Wednesday - Westergate school

Class is on as normal - and again, the same system of three weeks of learning new dances, followed by a party night is being considered......all we need to do is to work out which week to start on.!!! should be fun! a show of hands late in last Wednesdays class showed a unanimous YES for this idea......I think it could have been the mention of 'bring your own drinks' that did it? :D This week we will sort out which Wednesday will be our first PARTY NIGHT.......! watch this space...

Friday - Aldingbourne social club.

My apologies for last weeks class being cancelled a the last minute! I woke up with raging toothache and the only time the dentist could see me was 1p.m!!! Again - my apologies - i only had time to call one or two people before i had to make my way to the surgery...so I hope not too many of you had a wasted journey?

This week we are almalgamating the new dancers into the 1.30 class as the turn out has been very poor for our new AB class unfortunately - any new dancers reading this - please do come along at 1.15 for 15 minutes of separate tuition before the main class begins...dont worry - you will catch up in no time as the 1.30 class is still very much at beginner level....my apologies for this also - our class in Aldingbourne is our newest venture and these things often take a little time to establish - so stick with us, Im sure we will get there in the end!

Saturday and Sunday at the Viking

This week we have the OCTOBER VIKING PARTY WEEKEND so my lessons are at 10.45 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday morning and are £10 each which would include staying on for live music from 1 p.m. til 4! Tickets are available for the whole weekend at a cost of £40 which will get you in for all FIVE sessions of entertainment - please go to Andys website for all details about the party www.vikingcwdc.co.uk

If you usually come along to my lessons at 1 p.m. and cant make this weeks special event, I will see you again the following week as usual.

Other news:-

Thank you for your money for the Folkestone trip - you will shortly receive letters with information on about coach travel and a basic itinerary - in the meantime please dont forget to start on those fancy dress costumes - the theme for Saturday night is of course THE SENSATIONAL SEVENTIES!!! The 70's was the era of Glam Rock, The Osmonds, The Bay City Rollers, Punk Rock, Soul, Saturday Night Fever and so much more - there will be prizes for the most inventive outfits - but a word of warning here - it is NOT possible to dance in 6 inch platforms - i know - ive tried it!!! haha!

Charity Night Update.

Thank you to everyone for their support of Sylvia's charity night for the West Sussex Learning Links - we raised a grand total of around £650.00 and we had a great time doing so! Thank you to the school for allowing us to use their facilities for free, to Michaela for offering to caretake for free too! to Steve for his fabby singing, and Andy for his DJing skills, Sylvia and her friends for the delicious Ploughmans they provided, John for the Wishing Well (that i got my head stuck in) and to everyone else who helped with this event - it went so smoothly it was almost too easy!

Im looking forward to the next one!

Thats all for now folks - (and quite enough for you to have had to read IM sure!!) see you all in class sometime very soon...

Take Care

Julie xxx

Saturday 26 September 2009

Dear Dancers,

Firstly I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people that have supported our efforts to keep the class running at the Viking for the final few weeks of the season (see post below for full story). It has been lovely to see lots of familiar faces coming along to lessons as usual - and even more lovely, that no one has complained about paying for lessons.

Thank you all so very much. Next year the classes are due to return to being offered for free - and so from now until the end of the season there are only four more Saturdays to pay for - the two dance workshops included in the Viking party weekend are included in the Ticket price and there will be no extra charge.

Other news...

New class in Aldingbourne - if you would like to learn how to linedance then please take a look at our website www.linedancingevents.com and click on 'classes' for details of all our classes, including the newest one which is still looking for new members....dont be shy - just come along and give it a go! you may surprise yourself and you will most definately have fun!

CHARITY NIGHT - OCTOBER 2nd WESTERGATE COMMUNITY SCHOOL

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE AND GOING FAST!

We are running a social on Friday October 2nd in association with Sylvia Whittle to raise funds for the West Sussex Learning Links organisation...

The party will start at 7 and continue until 11 p.m.

Tickets are £7.50 for adults and £3.00 for under 16's...

Performing for FREE this evening will be the fabulous STEVE RILEY of WESTCOASTERS fame!

All your line dance requests will be played by our very own top line dance DJ 'EASY A' - aka Andy Davies.......who is best known for being the resident DJ at The Viking Music and Dance Club in Selsey......Andy and Steve will keep you dancing for the whole evening - and I will join in the fun by teaching one or two special fun linedances for our guest from The West Sussex Learning Links.........

A buffet is included in the price, and there will be a Raffle also - if you have any prizes you would like to donate to the raffle - please do bring them along on the night!

I have a feeling it's going to be a great evening - miss it and miss out!

FOLKESTONE WEEKENDER NOVEMBER 13 - 15 2009

The remainder of your holiday balance is due by the beginning of October, please either pay in cash or make cheques payable to J. Murray. Thank you. And now may be a good time to start planning those fancy dress costumes for the Saturday night - dont forget that this years theme is THE SENSATIONAL SEVENTIES!!!! (where did I put those flares?)

THINKING AHEAD TO 2010 - IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COMING ALONG ON OUR PLANNED TRIP TO TORQUAY NEXT DECEMBER (10 - 12 Dec 2010) THEN PLEASE DO PUT YOUR NAMES DOWN ON THE LIST BEING BROUGHT ALONG TO CLASSES OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS!

The Victoria Hotel in Torquay is fabulous - we have reserved the gorgeous upstairs ballroom already - and just need to know we can meet the numbers before this break can be set in stone.....the approximate cost of the trip will be £130 (self drive) coach travel should cost around £25 each) all prices to be confirmed......



thats all for now folks - take care, and hope to see you in a class sometime very soon..

Julie x

Friday 18 September 2009

A message to all Viking Line Dancers......

Dear Dancers,
Due to a Bunn Leisure review on all entertainment
facilities on offer to holidaymakers and owners, the
entire entertainment programme across all 3 parks
has been radically altered. It has been decided to
temporarily suspend the offer of free line dance
lessons at the Viking, This decision was not taken
by the Viking Club’s manager.
In order to avoid disappointment to you,
our valued dancers, by having to close the class
completely, it has been agreed that Julie will continue to
teach at the Viking, but in the capacity of a freelance
instructor, running a private class. Therefore
a small weekly entry fee will be charged as follows:-

Adults - £3.00 each – Under 16’s £2.00
(Please see Andy or Linda to pay....)
We are very sorry that this class can no
longer be offered for free, but do hope that
you will continue to come to classes, and
support Julie in her efforts to keep your
club open for business! 

Please note that this decision will not affect Saturday
nights in any way – the entertainment will continue as
advertised – including the October Party (complete
with free lessons from Julie on Saturday and Sunday
mornings). There is every possibility that free lessons
will resume in 2010.

Wednesday 16 September 2009

Autumn In The Katz Line Dance Club

Dear Dancers,

Well, first of all my apologies for not updating my blog for a whole month!! This was partly due to my extended DIY-ing, and partly due to keep forgetting to do it!

I hope you have all had a good holiday season and are now ready for the PARTY SEASON!!??!! Well, that's what I prefer to call the next 6 months anyway!

Ok let's get started......

DIARY DATES

Friday 18th September.......NEW ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS CLASS STARTS IN ALDINGBOURNE!

12.45 p.m. - 1.45 p.m. Absolute Beginners - £3.00 which is followed by...
1.30 p.m. - 2.45 Experienced Beginners - £3.00 (Or do both classes for £4.00)

Aldingbourne Sports and Social Club, Olivers Meadow, Westergate, Chichester. PO20 3YA If you need directions call Julie on 07799741288

If you are reading this because you have received a leaflet through your door and are thinking of coming along to join our newest class, then all you need to do is to wear a supportive pair of low (wide) heeled shoes/boots/trainers and bring along a bottle of water and leave the rest to us.

Linedancing is a great hobby to get involved in and is a good way of getting back into exercising in a gentle fashion. It is also a lovely way to make new friends and have a bit of fun for the afternoon.

Our new class will concentrate on teaching the basics of linedancing with plenty of opportunity to practice each routine/step combination over the coming weeks and months, we have members of all ages from 8 - 80 in our classes and as linedancing doesn't need a partner you can do as much or as little as you feel able to do, there is never any pressure to dance the whole session - we encourage you to listen to your own bodies and to dance at your own pace. The early routines are very simple and even if you believe you have two left feet - I will show you that will not hinder your progress! If I had been given a pound for every new dancer that joined my classes over the years saying 'I have two left feet!!' I would be a very rich woman!

CHARITY NIGHT - OCTOBER 2nd WESTERGATE COMMUNITY SCHOOL

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE AND GOING FAST!

We are running a social on Friday October 2nd in association with Sylvia Whittle to raise funds for the West Sussex Learning Links organisation...

The party will start at 7 and continue until 11 p.m.

Tickets are £7.50 for adults and £3.00 for under 16's...

Performing for FREE this evening will be the fabulous STEVE RILEY of WESTCOASTERS fame!

All your line dance requests will be played by our very own top line dance DJ 'EASY A' - aka Andy Davies.......who is best known for being the resident DJ at The Viking Music and Dance Club in Selsey......Andy and Steve will keep you dancing for the whole evening - and I will join in the fun by teaching one or two special fun linedances for our guest from The West Sussex Learning Links.........

A buffet is included in the price, and there will be a Raffle also - if you have any prizes you would like to donate to the raffle - please do bring them along on the night!

I have a feeling it's going to be a great evening - miss it and miss out!

FOLKESTONE WEEKENDER NOVEMBER 13 - 15 2009

The remainder of your holiday balance is due by the beginning of October, please either pay in cash or make cheques payable to J. Murray. Thank you. And now may be a good time to start planning those fancy dress costumes for the Saturday night - dont forget that this years theme is THE SENSATIONAL SEVENTIES!!!! (where did I put those flares?)

THINKING AHEAD TO 2010 - IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COMING ALONG ON OUR PLANNED TRIP TO TORQUAY NEXT DECEMBER (10 - 12 Dec 2010) THEN PLEASE DO PUT YOUR NAMES DOWN ON THE LIST BEING BROUGHT ALONG TO CLASSES OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS!

The Victoria Hotel in Torquay is fabulous - we have reserved the gorgeous upstairs ballroom already - and just need to know we can meet the numbers before this break can be set in stone.....the approximate cost of the trip will be £130 (self drive) coach travel should cost around £25 each) all prices to be confirmed......

AND FINALLY THANK YOU!!!

Thank you all so much for coming along to our hippy parties this summer - I personally had a great time and loved your costumes so much - it was a blast! Photos from Westergates party will be posted on here soon!

Ok thats it for now - I look forward to seeing you all in class sometime soon.

Take care everyone,

Julie x

Sunday 16 August 2009

THE KATZ SUMMER BREAK.....is about to begin...

Dear Dancers,

This is just a quickie to remind you all that after tomorrow nights class in Coney Hall, there will be NO CLASSES FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS!!!

Because its my DIY fortnight!

I am taking time out from linedancing in order to catch up a little on jobs around the house, and apart from Saturdays Classes at the viking all other classes are closed until the following dates:

Wednesday 2nd September - Westergate returns
Friday 4th September - Aldingbourne returns
Monday 7th September - Oak Lodge returns

Have a good break everyone - and keep an eye on this blog for photos of Westergates and Aldingbournes Summer parties!

Thank you all so much for all the effort you put in to making our summer parties so much fun!

See you all soon - maybe at the Viking........1 p.m. sharp!

Julie x
p.s. dont forget Monday dances there IS a class tomorrow night in The Assembly Halls - 6.30 - 7.45 beginners only - 8 - 19 improvers and intermediates......see you there!

Monday 3 August 2009

This week in The Katz LDC - 3rd August 2009


Dear Dancers,


Firstly can I remind all of my Oak Lodge Dancers that tonight and for the following two Mondays the class will be held in The Assembly Halls, Gates Green Road, West Wickham (Coney Hall)


As we are using a smaller hall than we are used to using - we have decided to split the class into two separate sessions:


6.30 - 7.45 Beginners only!


8 - 10 p.m. Improvers and Intermediates


Please allow the beginners time to finish their class before arriving, and this will also free up some car parking space also...thank you :)


All other classes this week are on as normal in the usual venues...


Wednesday - Westergate school - 6.30 - 9.45 p.m.

Friday - Aldingbourne Sports and social club - 1.30 - 2.45 p.m. (beginners only)

Saturday - The viking music and dance club - Selsey - 1 - 4 p.m. (1 - 2 beginners only please)


SUMMER PARTIES!


Last week we had the first of our Summer Parties in Oak Lodge school with the Texas Tornadoes - a good time was had by all! Thank you everyone for coming and helping us create a lovely relaxed atmosphere..:) (see photo at top of post!)
AUGUST 12th - WESTERGATE SCHOOL
This is the date of our Second Summer Party - please see my previous post (two below) for all deatils of this party - in short - it starts at 7 and ends at 10 - and we have PEDRO performing for us this evening.....the Hippy theme continues - so start planning those costumes!!
AUGUST 14th - ALDINGBOURNE SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB
This is the date of our third and final Summer Party - details to follow......:)
Ok folks - that's it for now - there is further info on class closures two posts below this one - so please do scroll down to keep your diaries up to date!
I look forward to seeing you all in class sometime very soon...
Julie x

Tuesday 21 July 2009

TEXAS TORNADOS - MONDAY 27TH JULY - WEST WICKHAM!

Eleanor, Doreen, Rene and Vera - my lovely ladies!
The left hand side......


The middle section!!!


and finally - the right hand side!!




All of us!!!


Thursday 2 July 2009

Summer Time At The Katz Line Dance Club

Dear Dancers,


MONDAY - OAK LODGE - WEST WICKHAM

QUOSHING RUMOURS: At the risk of repeating myself, there is and NEVER has been any chance of me giving up teaching in West Wickham - I love teaching you all - I have managed to get my journey down to 90 minutes each way (No, not by speeding!! lol) and its no trouble at all.....it's my pleasure in fact. End of. Sorry - you are stuck with me! haha

Dates for your Diary:

For the first three Mondays in August we will be using our alternative venue in Coney Hall instead.

Arrangements for Coney Hall - August 3rd, 10th and 17th.

We have had to book a smaller hall than we usually have due to the belly dancers being in the other one!!!!! (NO, you cant go and join them! lol!!) and because of the smaller dance floor we will be operating the classes in TWO SEPARATE CLASSES.

Beginners 6.30 - 7.45

Improvers/Intermediate 8 - 10

Please allow the beginners time to end their class and free up some car park space before arriving for the 8 p.m. session.......Thank you....:)

WEDNESDAY CLASS - WESTERGATE COMMUNITY SCHOOL...

Diary Dates:

August 5th - classes run as normal...

August 12th - ITS TIME TO PPAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!

Yes folks! It's the Wednesday class' time to join the Summer of Love and come dressed as hippies...........as we are holding our Annual Summer Party - please bring along your own drinks and a plate of food for the buffet. A list will appear a couple of weeks before the party, for you to write down what you would like to bring, one small dinner plateful will be plenty, so no need to bring loads!

I will be making up some jugs of pimms as usual (hic) and you will get a complimentary glass on arrival....

The theme for tonights party is HIPPY!!!! so get out those beads, flowers, and floral prints and lets relax dudes!

As an extra treat we will be having LIVE MUSIC from a LINE DANCE ACT!! For those of you who have yet to experience linedancing to live music, you are in for a real treat!! We have singing for his supper tonight the lovely PEDRO!! ...and from what I hear - he's a natural Hippy!!

Tickets for the party night are priced as £6.50 pay on the door - places are strictly first come first served! (children pay £3.50)

The party night will be our last night in Westergate Community School until September 2nd - when we go 'BACK TO SCHOOL!.....


HOWEVER!! MY CLASS IN SELSEY IS OPEN EVERY SATURDAY
IN THE VIKING CLUB – GREEN LAWNS CARAVAN PARK
1 – 4 P.M. – FREE CLASS – EVERYONE WELCOME – EVERY WEEK!
SO IF YOU CANT BEAR THE THOUGHT OF TWO WEEKS WITHOUT
LINEDANCING – THEN COME ALONG TO THE SELSEY CLASS INSTEAD!

FRIDAY CLASS - ALDINGBOURNE

Diary Dates:

All other Fridays will run as normal until August 14th - which will be our Summer Party...please come dressed in your most flowery outfits -with flowers in your hair and we will have a chilled out time with a glass of Pimms!

As this is our smallest newest class - we would like to ask you all to join us in Westergate on August 12th for our Annual Summer Party.........

August 14th will be our last class before a two week break....the class will re-open on September 4th!!

SATURDAY CLASS - SELSEY - THE VIKING MUSIC AND DANCE CLUB...

All free Saturday classes will continue to run throughout the summer from 1 - 4 p.m.

All of my dancers from all classes are welcome to attend the Saturday class at any time, you do not have to be a member of the club, and it is totally FREE! We just ask you to remember that as the club is licensed you are not allowed to bring in your own drinks - not even bottled water - and ask that as a matter of courtesy you buy at least one drink from across the bar. Im sure you will agree this is a small price to pay for FREE dance classes, in such fabulous surroundings...!!


CHARITY SOCIAL FRIDAY OCTOBER 2ND!! WESTERGATE COMMUNITY SCHOOL
Tickets will be on sale in class very soon....£7.50 each
includes - Buffet – Live music from Steve Riley (from The Westcoasters)
Dj-ing from Andy D – and a fun dance session from Julie (aka – me!)
We are raising money for the
West Sussex Learning Links in association with Sylvia Whittle


Ok - thats it for now - more from me later - enjoy the sunshine!!

Julie xxx

Monday 29 June 2009

Week beginning 29th June 2009 - This Week in the club....

Dear Dancers,

Just a quickie to let you know that all classes are running as normal this week!

I will be bringing along a nice big fan and will be teaching some nice cool dances to keep our temperatures under control in this hot weather!

Also, I will have some exciting news to announce in tonights class (Monday) fingers crossed!

See you later then!

Have a good day everyone, and take care...

Julie x

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Dance trainers and a new dance.....

Dear Dancers,

Captains log: Stardate 09.06.09 (here I go again!!)

Just a quickie to say thank you to my dancers that purchased trainers at our party last night - fabulous!

I still have plenty left so I will be taking the rest of my 'stock' along to tomorrow nights class (Wednesday 10th June) to see if I can tempt those dancers into buying some new groovy trainers too.....prices range from £24 to £43 a pair - payment by cash or cheque (with a bank card) is acceptable....

NEW DANCE FROM ME!!!!!!!!

About a month or so ago I was asked to write a dance to a track called FOOLING MYSELF written by a lovely guy called HENRY SMITH when he was appearing at the Viking....

His wish was my command....and the dance was written and then promptly video'd at Westergate the following week...

Click below to see the video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZDnhKhFY9o

The script is available from me directly, just email julieandthekatz@msn.com for a copy.

The song FOOLING MYSELF is now available as a single download from itunes and other sites. I wish Henry lots of luck with this song and hope the dance helps him to sell lots more copies of his album LAID BACK too...

Thats it for me for now!

TTFN!!

Julie xxx

Monday 8 June 2009

DANCE TRAINERS - REQUEST NIGHTS AND A VIKING PARTY - AND A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT...

Dear Dancers,

Stardate 08/06/09 ...Captains log....oh no sorry, got carried away there.....

Back in the real world now.....

I hope you are all fit and well and looking forward to dancing this week! :)

Tonight (8th June) at Oak Lodge we are having a Request-A-Dance night - this is your chance to dance all your favourite dances and have a chance to practice any we may not have danced for a while....I will be bringing along 'Dance Menu's' to help you choose your faves, so dont worry if you can never remember the names of the dances! :)

Please do bring along some nibbles to share with your table of friends if you wish, and any drinks you need.

Also this evening I will be selling DANCE TRAINERS in a special 'Dance Shoe Sale!!' on behalf of a friend (Jayne Riley) who owns a dancewear shop......I have over 30 pairs of trainers, all sizes and lots of different styles to choose from - prices range from £26 to £43 - payment preferred by cash but a cheque supported by a cheque card is acceptable. Personally, I have already purchased three pairs, so you had better come and buy some off me before I break the bank!!

THE VIKING RED HOT COUNTRY WEEKEND - FRIDAY 12 - SUNDAY 14th JUNE!

This weekend sees the second of this years THREE special weekend long events at the Viking Club in Selsey - tickets for this event are available from The Viking direct on 01243 608427 and cost £40 each. This will gain you entry to the club for all FIVE sessions of live music PLUS my two dance workshops on Saturday and Sunday morning from 10.45 a.m. If you need further info please go to www.vikingcwdc.co.uk and click on 'weekenders'.

Please note that because of the Viking party there will be NO free linedance lessons on Saturday at 1 p.m we look forward to seeing you the following Saturday as usual if you cant make the party!

Last Wednesday we had the first of our two Request-A-Dance nights, this time at Westergate school and had a fab time (well I did and I hope you did too!!)........It was very interesting to see that the majority of dances requested weren't the so called 'must-do-the-harder-the-better!!' dances but simpler routines such as Cabo San Lucas and Mojo Rhythm......it will be interesting to see if the same thing happens in Oak Lodge this evening...watch this space!

Those of you who were there last week will have noted that Nicki and Paul are expecting a baby at the end of the month, they told me at the end of the session that Nicki was now going to 'put her feet up' and have a rest from linedancing until after baby arrived, they left by saying they would call me to let me know when their bundle of joy had arrived...

What I didnt expect (and I know they didnt either!!!) was that baby decided to put in her appearance THE VERY NEXT DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so here we go with a very big WELCOME TO THE WORLD BABY ABIGAIL!!!! She weighed in at 5 lbs 10 oz and Steven (big brother) is of course thrilled to have her.....

Paul sounded a little bewildered when he called me on Thursday evening to tell me the happy news - and Im not suprised! She was three weeks early!

Many congratulations to Nicki, Paul and of course Steven...I shall be round shortly with baby pressies!! Oh and, if big brother is lucky - a little something for him too...xxx

Thats all our news for now, take care everyone, and see you all soon.

Julie xxx

Wednesday 20 May 2009

This week at the club.....

Dear Dancers,

I hope you are all well!

Today is Wednesday 20th May, 2009 and I just have time to update you on a couple of things before setting off to run this evenings class in Westergate! Which, of course, is normal time, normal place, Westergate Community School!

ALDINGBOURNE VENUE - IMPROVERS CLASS SUSPENDED...From Friday 22nd May.

I have taken the decision to temporarily suspend the improvers hour (2.30 - 3.30) until the Autumn as the majority of the class have now migrated over to Wednesday evenings instead!

THE BEGINNERS CLASS WILL CONTINUE AS NORMAL!!!!!! so please do still come along for your 1.30 p.m. class as usual :)

In the Autumn we will review the situation and may reinstate the improvers hour. My apologies to anyone who hasnt crossed over to Wednesday evenings class, please do join us in Westergate School on Wednesday evenings from 7.30 (Improvers hour) or keep an eye on this blog (and your post) for further announcements about the Aldingbourne class. Thank you to everyone for being understanding of this situation - to continue to run the second hour for a small amount of people isn't cost effective and common sense has to prevail!

SATURDAY 23RD MAY - THE VIKING - SELSEY

This Saturday is a bank holiday weekend and sees the return of LIVE MUSIC from 1 p.m til 4 in the club in place of the usual free line dance lesson. But have no fear!! I will still be teaching on Saturday, but at the earlier time of 10.45 til 1 p.m. instead....please do come along for your FREE class as usual and then you can take up the option of staying on for the afternoon to dance along to Bob Keeley singing his little heart out!

On Saturday evening The Viking has another band on - please check the vikings website for full details on www.vikingcwdc.co.uk

MONDAY 25TH MAY - BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY

I am very sorry but as usual when Bank Holiday are around we are not allowed to run classes in Oak Lodge School in West Wickham - so we will see you the following week, which may well be a 'request and review' session.........!!

Take care everyone, and hope to see you in class very soon....

Julie x

Friday 8 May 2009

ALL CLASSES BACK TO NORMAL!

Dear Dancers,

Tomorrow see the Viking class back to normal times - 1 - 2 p.m. for beginners, and 2 - 4 for improvers and intermediates! Hurray! This class is completely FREE of course, but please do remember that the class takes place on licensed premises and you are not allowed to bring in your own drinks! Please support the club, and thank them for allowing us to use their venue free of charge by buying at least one drink over the bar - thank you :)

Monday we are back at Oak Lodge after our second Bank Holiday Monday closure this year (ho hum) thats what you get for running a class on a Monday I guess! We have two weeks of classes before we get to our next Bank Holiday closure...and then we run right through at Oak Lodge until the end of July! Hurray!!

The first two Mondays in August are going to be held in The Assembly Halls, Coney Hall, West Wickham and will operate in two separate sessions:

from 6.30 - 7.45 - Beginners only! £4.00

8 - 10 p.m. Improvers and Intermediates Only! £5.00

The reason for this is that the hall is slightly smaller than the one we usually use in Coney Hall and its only fair to make room in the car park for the second class by having a 15 minute gap between sessions to allow for the change over.....so those of you coming for the 8 p.m. class, please do give time for the beginners to leave before you arrive. Many thanks!

These arrangements are for the FIRST TWO WEEKS IN AUGUST ONLY! AND ONLY IN THE ASSEMBLY HALLS IN CONEY HALL - we go back to normal times in Oak Lodge when we return in September...

Boy Im getting ahead of myself!!! :)

Update on Folkestone.....we are pleased to say the trip is almost sold out! we have only Five remaining places....so if you want to come please do bring along your forms to class this week along with your deposits!

WESTERGATE

We have nothing to report at the moment - except to say that we will be having a Summer Party sometime in July (date to be announced!) where we may have some surprises!

ALDINGBOURNE

Thank you so much for joining this class - this is our newest class and we already have some new line dance addicts! Im extra pleased to say that a group of our newest KATZ dancers are coming along to our weekend away in November - I cant wait to introduce you to our other dancers - you will fit right in! haha (Im not saying a word about Maureen or Michaela or Jane at this point....haha!)

Ok thats it for now - except to say that recent new dances in your classes could include the following:

POKER FACE - J HO - WHITER THAN WHITE - MOONLIGHT KISS - MOJO RHYTHM - BAD BOY - HOLDING ON TO YESTERDAY - WANNA BE ELVIS - COUNTRY WALKIN' - RODEO BLUES - and the list goes on and on and on.....

See you all in class very very soon.

Take Care!

Julie x

Sunday 26 April 2009

Week beginning April 27th.......NEWS UPDATE!

Dear Dancers,

Mondays class is on as normal this week - usual times in Oak Lodge School - but the following Monday is a Bank Holiday ( 4th May ) and therefore there will be no class that week. Classes resume the week after as normal.

This Wednesday (29th April ) Westergate School are using their hall for the evening which means that we are going to run the class in our alternative venue FOR THIS WEEK ONLY!

Please come along at your usual class time to:-

The Banrham Inn (pub)
28 Barnham Rd
Barnham, Bognor Regis, PO22 0ES

There is a car park to the side of the pub, and also parking along the road too. As we are being allowed to use a licensed venue please do remember that drinks should be purchased over the bar.

Thank you to Chris for allowing us to use the Barnham Inn for this weeks class! We are back in Westergate school the following week as usual.

Fridays class is on as normal.

Saturday at the Viking - Important information!!

As next weekend is a Bank Holiday weekend for Bunn Leisure there are slight changes to the routine at the club as follows:-

10.30 a.m. Doors open for my FREE line dance class - the class will run from 10.45 til 1 p.m.

1 - 4.30 p.m. We have LIVE linedance music for you from the fantastic TEXAS TORNADOES - if you would like to see the band it costs £5.50 for the afternoon, and the good news is that you can re use your ticket to enter the club in the evening to see the second live act of the day....a Rock N Roll band going by the name of 'Roll the Dice'........Andy will be there in the evening to run the disco and we will party on til 1 a.m. the following morning!

Saturday classes return to their normal time of 1 - 4 p.m. the following week. Please remember that there are only a few Bank Holiday weekends during the year - and every Saturday evening at the Viking apart from these few special occasions we have linedancing and specialist linedance acts or country music acts to dance to.

Other news.....


Well the trip is finally sorted out! Booking forms for the holiday to Folkestone have been handed out in classes and have started to come back in already - please bring along your completed forms and deposits this week, as places are filling up incredibly fast! We are very very pleased to announce that our live acts for the weekend away are:--

Friday 13th November - TEXAS TORNADOES!!! and
Saturday 14th November - TIM MCKAY!!!

Both acts are very good linedance acts who know what the linedancers like and are brilliant to dance to, cant wait!

Take care everyone and see you in class soon......

Julie x

Friday 17 April 2009

Back to Normal.....

Dear Dancers,

Just to let you know that classes are back to normal now....Aldingbourne is on today....the Viking is on at 1 p.m. as usual tomorrow....and Monday we are re open in Oak Lodge in West Wickham....

Other news...

Calling all Aldingbourne dancers!

Sunday 19th (this Sunday!) April....

Aldingbourne are having an open day and we have been asked to take part in the event - if you are free and would like to come and have a little dance with us and any new people that may be wanting to have a go - please come along at 12.15 to the main hall....where you will find me set up on the stage.....if possible, could you please wear something black (sparkly would be nice too!) so that we look a bit more 'uniform' when we are dancing!

Many thanks and hope to see you all soon....

Update on weekend event coming soon - watch this space!

Julie x

Thursday 2 April 2009

EASTER IN THE KATZ LINE DANCE CLUB

Dear Dancers,

Just a little note to let you all know that the only class closures over Easter will be on Good Friday and Easter Monday.....all other classes will run as normal!

Unusually Oak Lodge (Mondays venue) have agreed to allow us to open the class during the school holidays.....so from 6.30 til 10 p.m. next Monday (the 6th April) classes will run as normal - and you never know, there may even be some choccies around!!

Other news....

Well we finally found it! Our new hotel for the next Katz Weekend Break!

Its the lovely Lyndhurst Park Hotel in the village of Lyndhurst, right in the middle of the New Forest......the shops are just around the corner and the area is beautiful!

If you would like to join us on this trip please do let us know a.s.a.p. as places are filling up fast...

The dates are November 13th - 15th 2009! Put this date in your diary now, and details will be handed out in your classes during the next couple of weeks.

Deposits are due in by the first week of May! I really think this will be a case of miss it and miss out! The hotel is lovely!

THE VIKING

As you may know already I run free linedance lessons every Saturday between 1 and 4 p.m. in the club. There are a few dates that the time of the lesson will change to 10.45 a.m. usually over school holidays........

The first one is on Saturday April 11th......the morning class will be followed by Live music from a linedance act called LIVEWIRE, and will cost £5.50 on the door.

The next one will not be until May 23rd...

All other Saturdays will run as normal - if you have any queries please contact either myself of the Viking direct on 01243608427

Well thats it for now!

See you all in class sometime very soon! Enjoy the spring sunshine!

Take care

Julie x

Monday 30 March 2009

WEST WICKHAM CLASS ON TONIGHT!!!

Dear Dancers,

Just a quickie to let you know that the class is on as normal tonight - so hope to see you there!!!

love

Julie x

Monday 23 March 2009

NO CLASS OAK LODGE TONIGHT! 23rd March.....

Dear Dancers,

I am so very sorry to have to cancel the class tonight....there are multiple reasons for taking this decision!!

Firstly I have just returned home after a hectic but enjoyable weekend at the Viking Club in Selsey.......tired, but prepared to drive to see you all....

On arrival at my house I found the garden fence had blown down!!! I have a dog and so this has to be dealt with - which means phone calls started taking up my time.....and then I thought - Jacqui!

But sadly Jacqui has had a loss in her family this weekend and cannot stand in for me tonight...which means only one option...to close the class..:(

I will make it up to you all next week - by bringing you all in some chocolates!!!! Take it easy tonight everyone, have a good week and Ill see you next Monday....fence willing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs

Julie xxx

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Reminder: There are NO free lessons this Saturday at the Viking...

Dear Dancers,

Just a little note to remind you that the Viking is being used for a 'Party weekend' this coming weekend (March 20th) and so therefore there are NO free lessons on Saturday afternoon......if you have tickets for the Viking Party then lessons will be at 10.45 on Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings......if you arent coming then I shall see you the following week at 1 p.m as usual!

Take care,

Julie x
p.s. the full itinerary for the weekend is now on Andys Viking site www.vikingcwdc.co.uk

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Comic Relief Final Report!

































Dear Dancers,

Well last night was our final night of raising money for the 2009 Comic Relief effort.

We raised a total of £103 at Oak Lodge, which when added to £104 from Westergates Class, £35 from Aldingbourne, and £80 from the afternoon class in Selsey is a grand total of....wait for it!!! (whilst I get my calculator out!)

£322.00!!!!!!!!!!!

FANTASTIC!!!!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to all my lovely dancers for joining in with the fund raising effort - by dressing in red, wearing Red Noses, in some cases Silly wigs and special T shirts, buying cakes and donating raffle prizes and buying lots of tickets!!!

you are all superstars!
I will bring the receipt from the Bank for you all to see in your classes!
In addition to the £322 made by us, the Viking Crew also took it upon themselves to get donations for the raffle from all the local businesses and shops in Selsey and raised a huge £220 from holding an evening raffle at the club - well done gang!
More photos can be found on the 'photos' page of http://www.linedancingevents.com/

Julie x
















Sunday 15 March 2009

THE KATZ DO SOMETHING FUNNY FOR MONEY...The story so far...

Dear Dancers,

Well so far we have raised a grand total of £220.00 for comic relief in three Katz dance clubs! Thats three down and one to go! Tomorrow night in West Wickham in Kent we will be doing our final push for Comic Relief - so dont forget to bring along your cash and donations for the charity raffle!! Please try to wear something red, and dont forget those Red Noses!!!

Last Wednesday we kicked off our charity week in Westergate and had a huge turnout for the event - Raising £104.79 during the course of the evening!! Money was made from selling Red Nose Cakes (made by my own fair hands with a little help from Tescos!!!), dancers paid £1 to dance an A-Z of dances throughout the night - this was great fun - but BOY!!! did our legs ache at the end of it! Many thanks to everyone for joining in the spirit of this event by wearing something red and donning those red noses!

Photos from this event are on our photos page on http://www.linedancingevents.com/

On Friday afternoon - we had what I can only describe as an 'unusual' class.....on arrival at the hall I found I was locked out......Linda and I scratched our heads, and decided to run the beginners class from the car park! Luckily I had a cd on me with most of the music we needed and so with the occasional bemused passerby (erm, passing by) we linedanced in our red clothes (and thongs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) wearing red noses in the middle of the car park to my car radio!!

Thanks to Jane for allowing us to 'set up' the raffle in the back of her 4X4 which had a lovely big empty boot! haha We raised a total of £35 during the course of the afternoon - luckily the caretaker came along and let us in so that we had the improvers class actually in the building!! (although I must admit - I was a little sad to leave the car park!)

Photos from Friday are also on our main site http://www.linedancingevents.com/ just click on photos!!

Saturdays afternoon class took place at the Viking Club in Selsey - the dancers were in good spirits and four of them took control of the raffle and cake selling wearing red wigs and specially made Red Nose Day T shirts - photos from Saturday should be on the linedancingevents website shortly!

We raised a further £80 for Comic Relief during the afternoon......and thanks to the contributions from local stores and buisnesses in Selsey - the Viking made a further £220 for Comic Relief with a HUGE raffle during the evening session....many thanks to Sally, Sue, Lorna and Matt for doing such a great job!

Tomorrow night sees Oak Lodge School doing their bit for this great cause, and I will report back with a final figure on Tuesday....many thanks to everyone for all their efforts so far - and a big special thank to Linda for all her hard work on Wednesday and Friday....xxx

Other news!

Just a quick reminder that there are NO FREE LESSONS this coming Saturday (21st March) at the Viking due to the Mad March Weekender taking place...see Andys viking website for details of that event if you are interested in coming along....otherwise I will see you following Saturday at 1 p.m as usual!!

Take care everyone,

Julie x

Wednesday 4 March 2009

APOLOGIES!! AND COMIC RELIEF WEEK!!

Dear Dancers,

Firstly, I need to apologise to all my Monday dancers for not being able to run the class for you this week - I had a problem with my eye and needed to see an optician, everything is fine, but the advice was not to drive that day....but the class still went ahead without me, with the lovely Jacqui stepping in for me for the evening! Thank you very much Jacqui - I'm sure everyone had a lovely evening!

Moving on to happier things now....

Next week as you know is COMIC RELIEF day....which takes place on Friday 13th March.....

Well, I thought we could have a little bit of fun ourselves for Comic Relief.......(I can hear you all cheering now!!)

On Wednesday Evening (11th March) and also on Monday (16th March) I would like you to all wear something red, bring your red noses too if you have them! (they are available in Oxfam shops and Sainsburys for £1 each).....I will be baking cakes again! (oh no I hear you cry! Oh yes I shout back!! haha) But I have expert help in my cake making this time, so the cakes should actually be edible this time!

We will also have something lovely to raffle - possibly a cuddly Red Bear!

And....heres the most interesting bit.....we are going to dance the A-Z of dances......between the hours of 7.30 and 9 p.m.........

If you come to the 6.30 class - this will run as normal - with cakes for sale and a nice raffle.....so please bring some extra pennies along! If you would like to stay for the rest of the evening then you will have to pay an extra £1 - which I will donate to the charity!

If you dance from 7.30 - 8.30 we will be operating a split floor system for the whole session - should be lots of fun! Taking us from A to Z! which we hope to reach by 9 p.m.! We will stop at 8.30 for the second raffle as usual! Again if you usually only stay for an hour, but want to stay on to get to Z then please just pay an extra pound which will be donated to the charity....

From 9 p.m. to 9.45 I will be reviewing current intermediate teaches (thats if you have any energy left....)

For our Friday Class - please do bring your red noses along as it will actually be Red Nose Day - and we will have cakes and a special raffle, so please bring your pennies(pounds?) along and join in the fun!

Cameras at the ready! click click!

Other news........

Well week one back at the Viking was great fun! Thank you to everyone who came along to the afternoon class - I was astounded at the number! Brilliant! I taught six dances that day....(yep - six!) something for everyone......

We started off with:

Long Shot, and Rodeo Blues for the beginners hour

Dreamboat, and No more cloudy days for the improvers hour

and

Make my day, and Respect yourself for the intermediates hour......

With lots of requests inbetween!

The evening was fabulous too - Texas Tornados got us all back in the mood to dance and blasted the winter blues out of the door!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Saturday we have UK Country band of the year 2008 LITTLE ROCK! Please do check Andys website for more details about the Viking on www.vikingcwdc.co.uk

Take care everyone, and see you all soon!

Julie x

Thursday 26 February 2009

The Viking is Back!

Dear Dancers,

Well, this Saturday - 28th February 2009 - sees the reopening of the Viking club in Selsey!

Lessons start at 1 p.m for beginners and 2 p.m for improvers and intermediates and beyond!

Andy and I are both very much looking forward to another season at the club and are looking forward very much to seeing friendly faces old and new - or should I say - past and present? (stop digging the hole Julie and move on.....)

If you can't make the afternoons FREE lesson - you can still come along to the evenings live entertainment instead! It costs only £5.50 to get in and you then have from 6.30 til 1 a.m. to party the night away! This weeks opening act are the TEXAS TORNADOS! they are a fabulous group who are bang up to date with the current line dance scene and play a mix of country and pop, old and new....we luv em!

Look forward to seeing you there - if you need directions etc then please click here to go to Andys Viking website www.vikingcwdc.co.uk

Other news....

Well fast approaching is COMIC RELIEF day.....and we have been trying to think of ways of raising money for this worthy cause...and have come up with this!!

On Monday and Wednesday of COMIC RELIEF week (which ends Friday 13th March) we will be asking our dancers to wear something red to class, and bring along their red noses (available in Sainsburys...) and £1 for the charity.....we will do the rest...

We aim to have a non stop party for the whole class - playing one track after another - back to back in a seamless fashion!! (Ok!! so thats the AIM ok? haha)

We are going to ask you to form yourself into little teams of 4 or more and then all you have to do is to make sure at least one member of your team is on the floor for each dance played....it may be a nice idea to mix the beginners in with the intermediates so that you can take turns?

This will be an informal event - should be great fun - and will raise lots of money for a good cause!

And you never know - I may well get my baking tins out again and tackle some more fairy cakes!!!

Who said OH NO!!!

Oh yes!! I promise this time I will make them edible! haha

And finally (yes, its nearly over!)

The dances I have been teaching this week are:

Coastin, Catfish, Simply Mambo, Dreamboat, Cabo San Lucas, No more Cloudy Days, Heavenly (aka The Daffodil Dance) and recaps of Human Dancer, Madiba Mambo and Turn me Loose!

Phew!

take care folks and see you all soon

Julie x