Some of you may remember that one year ago I took a leave of absence from teaching line dance for two reasons: to spend more time with my grandson and I needed a break from my classes. Here I am, one year later, and I decided to give you an update on what I did and where I went!
All the memories that I continue to make with my precious grandson really cannot be explained or quantified. He remains the light of my life; the mind and enthusiasm of a toddler never ceases to amaze me! I cherish these times with him and I don’t regret stepping away from teaching my line dance classes.
Luckily, the SCOPE Centers where I taught in Howland and Cortland have continued offering line dance classes with three different instructors; they even added another location in Hubbard! Occasionally I hear from a few of my former students who say they miss seeing me; however, most of them have adjusted to dancing without me. I’m grateful they’re happy with my replacements because I know how important it is for them to continue line dancing.
During one of the last classes I taught for SCOPE, one of the ladies was convinced that I would miss teaching and the students so much that I would go back. In fact, she was so sure she bet me $100 that I would be teaching again within the year. Needless to say, she lost the wager and unfortunately for me, she hasn’t reached out to settle what she owes!
In the past year I danced at the three favorite honky tonks in my vicinity: the Dusty Armadillo, Jewels Dance Hall, and the Thirsty Cowboy. Each of them has their own vibe and I can’t stress this enough…if you have never been to any of these places, you should make the trip! I’ve written about their instructors in past articles, just go introduce yourself and tell them I sent you! If you live more than a 90-minute drive from those dance bars, remember you can always look on social media for a class closer to you. My favorite is the Ohio Line Dancing Facebook page. While I was writing this, I looked and scrolled through 9 different posts about lessons in various locations all over the state of Ohio. I know there are more, but I couldn’t go too far down that rabbit hole; I needed to finish this article!
In the past, I have also mentioned websites for searching line dances, step sheets, and places to dance; my favorite is Copper Knob, where you can find an endless amount of information. In the past year, I have used their “recently added” list to see what new dances have been choreographed. If you’re unable to attend a class in person, you can always learn from the videos that are posted by either the choreographer or demos by line dance groups.
