Post by Susanelizabeth28 on Apr 23, 2004 11:41:35 GMT -5
Story originally printed in the Onalaska Community Life or online at www.onalaskalife.com
DanceFest organizer hopes to see people lining up at the door
By RANDY ERICKSON/Editor
The Onalaska OmniCenter will host its 10th annual country dance festival May 1, but this year it's got a new name: Onalaska DanceFest.
Before this year it was known as Nashville on the River, but event director Pollie Evans, who took over the event last year, changed the name this year, in part out of recognition that the dancers are cutting a rug to more than just country music these days. They might be doing line dances, which started in the 1990s as a country music phenomenon, but now they might do it to a pop or rock song or maybe an Irish or Latin tune, Evans said.
"It's like, 'Yeah, we like that song. We don't care what chart it's on,' " Evans said.
This year's event is expected to attract several hundred participants from a four-state area. That's down significantly from the peak of the line dancing craze, Evans said, when close to 800 people would show up for Nashville on the River.
The beauty of line dancing, Evans said, is you don't need a partner. Just get in line and follow the steps and, hey, you're dancing.
But a lot more couples are getting into country dancing these days, doing partner pattern dancing, which is kind of like line dancing in its repetition of a series of dance steps and moves.
Evans got into dancing in the early 1990s when she moved from northern Minnesota to the Eau Claire area. She figured line dancing would be a good way to meet people. "I became infected," she said.
She also has helped spread the dance fever virus as an instructor after she discovered she could dance and talk at the same time. "That's my great claim to fame."
Evans is convinced dance is vital to people's well-being, physically, mentally and socially. Dancing, for example, improves a person's stamina and balance, she said.
"Many people enjoy wearing their pedometer and are surprised to find that an evening of dance is equal to walking several miles," Evans said.
In addition, she said, studies indicate that the way pattern dancing exercises different parts of the brain can help stave off Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
Professional dance DJs Trent and Mary Cummings of Hartland, Wis., will be in charge of playing the music this year, and they also will serve as instructors. About eight other instructors also will be giving lessons
The DanceFest festivities get going at noon with a series of line dancing and partner pattern dancing workshops, interspersed with demonstrations from a number of dance groups.
Lessons and demonstrations will keep people busy all afternoon and into the evening until the social dance begins at 8 p.m.
One new feature of this year's event is a Friday evening gathering at Seven Bridges Restaurant in Onalaska. DanceFest participants - or anybody else interested in dancing - are invited to the pre-fest event, which will run from 6 p.m. to midnight.
The event also will feature a variety of vendors, including craft and gift items, jewelry, attire and even chair massages by Time Out Massage.
Although the DanceFest crowd will be heavy with dance veterans, Evans emphasized the event is open to even the most inexperienced dancers. In fact, she said, she gets the biggest kick out of seeing the transformation of non-dancers into dancers. "It's always fun to take a group that doesn't dance and spend a little time with them, and after, say, 20 minutes, you've got them moving to the music," she said.
**
Evans has taught dance to all ages, from schoolchildren to senior citizens. The oldest member of her senior dance group, Evans noted, is 90 and loves dancing to Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes On."
**
If Evans had her way, everybody would be dancing, no matter how unskilled or ungraceful they might be. "My motto is: 'Two left feet on the dancefloor is better than one butt left on the chair.'"
DanceFest organizer hopes to see people lining up at the door
By RANDY ERICKSON/Editor
The Onalaska OmniCenter will host its 10th annual country dance festival May 1, but this year it's got a new name: Onalaska DanceFest.
Before this year it was known as Nashville on the River, but event director Pollie Evans, who took over the event last year, changed the name this year, in part out of recognition that the dancers are cutting a rug to more than just country music these days. They might be doing line dances, which started in the 1990s as a country music phenomenon, but now they might do it to a pop or rock song or maybe an Irish or Latin tune, Evans said.
"It's like, 'Yeah, we like that song. We don't care what chart it's on,' " Evans said.
This year's event is expected to attract several hundred participants from a four-state area. That's down significantly from the peak of the line dancing craze, Evans said, when close to 800 people would show up for Nashville on the River.
The beauty of line dancing, Evans said, is you don't need a partner. Just get in line and follow the steps and, hey, you're dancing.
But a lot more couples are getting into country dancing these days, doing partner pattern dancing, which is kind of like line dancing in its repetition of a series of dance steps and moves.
Evans got into dancing in the early 1990s when she moved from northern Minnesota to the Eau Claire area. She figured line dancing would be a good way to meet people. "I became infected," she said.
She also has helped spread the dance fever virus as an instructor after she discovered she could dance and talk at the same time. "That's my great claim to fame."
Evans is convinced dance is vital to people's well-being, physically, mentally and socially. Dancing, for example, improves a person's stamina and balance, she said.
"Many people enjoy wearing their pedometer and are surprised to find that an evening of dance is equal to walking several miles," Evans said.
In addition, she said, studies indicate that the way pattern dancing exercises different parts of the brain can help stave off Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
Professional dance DJs Trent and Mary Cummings of Hartland, Wis., will be in charge of playing the music this year, and they also will serve as instructors. About eight other instructors also will be giving lessons
The DanceFest festivities get going at noon with a series of line dancing and partner pattern dancing workshops, interspersed with demonstrations from a number of dance groups.
Lessons and demonstrations will keep people busy all afternoon and into the evening until the social dance begins at 8 p.m.
One new feature of this year's event is a Friday evening gathering at Seven Bridges Restaurant in Onalaska. DanceFest participants - or anybody else interested in dancing - are invited to the pre-fest event, which will run from 6 p.m. to midnight.
The event also will feature a variety of vendors, including craft and gift items, jewelry, attire and even chair massages by Time Out Massage.
Although the DanceFest crowd will be heavy with dance veterans, Evans emphasized the event is open to even the most inexperienced dancers. In fact, she said, she gets the biggest kick out of seeing the transformation of non-dancers into dancers. "It's always fun to take a group that doesn't dance and spend a little time with them, and after, say, 20 minutes, you've got them moving to the music," she said.
**
Evans has taught dance to all ages, from schoolchildren to senior citizens. The oldest member of her senior dance group, Evans noted, is 90 and loves dancing to Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes On."
**
If Evans had her way, everybody would be dancing, no matter how unskilled or ungraceful they might be. "My motto is: 'Two left feet on the dancefloor is better than one butt left on the chair.'"
