We are very fortunate here in Japan as we do have fabulous events

Shall We Dance?
Hi
We are very fortunate here in Japan as
we do have fabulous events to attend
with great guests. My first summer event
report is about the ever impressive
KoLDA (Korean Line Dance Association)
International Line Dance Festival. This
was my third year and the event was held
in Seoul, Korea the first weekend in July.
This year’s guest instructors were Miquel
Menendez from Spain and Jo Thompson
Szymanski from the U.S. Miquel, who is
only 22 years old, was full of enthusiasm
and very excited to be in Asia for the
first time. Jo was her usual gracious and
charming self.
I was there with a group of dancers from
Japan. As we often meet with Korean
dancers in various events, it was lovely to
see many familiar faces greeting us.
We really enjoyed the workshops.
Jo
and
Miquel
taught
us
a
variety of dances,
choreographed
both by themselves
and others. Our
groups
favourite
dances
were:
Fortune Foxtrot by
Jo - Jo taught us
all about foxtrot
styling, which made
the
workshop
most worthwhile
BBs Gone by
Miquel - a cool
west coast swing
dance to a bluesy
song by BB King
Zenyatta’s Waltz
by Michele Burton
a
beautiful
flowing
waltz
to a beautiful
song and again the waltz
technique from Jo was the icing on
the cake.
Jo also taught us Hello Dolly,
choreographed by Michele’s mom
Lorraine Kurtela. It’s just a simple dance,
but when taught by Jo, it became
something special. It felt like we were
all dancing in a musical together and
I got goose bumps as we performed it.
We all had a fantastic time. Miquel told
me: “This was a great experience. There
I was for the first time in Japan having a
go at teaching a large group. Wow! Then
I met Jo. She is everything I had heard
she was and more. What a lady! What a
dancer! Asian dancers really impressed
me with the quality of their dancing and
as people too. I am so grateful to the
KoLDA staff, especially to Jung-soon
Ma who gave me this opportunity. I
have to thank Martha as well as she
worked hard on the translations.”
As for Jo, she was also very touched
and she told me: “To be asked here for
the third time as a teacher was such an
honour for me. The organisers Jungsoon Ma and Wansoon Yook were such
gracious and kind hosts and really made
my husband Tim and I feel very special.
We were really well treated with wonderful
food, gifts and fun
times a plenty. As
far as the dancing...
wow! The standard
of dancing in Korea
is very, very high.
Most of the dancers
have had training
in other forms of
dance such as
ballet,
modern
and Korean folk
dancing. They
are so graceful
to watch and
a joy to teach.
It was also a
special treat to
have our good
friend Martha
Ogasawara and a group
of Line dancers join us from Japan.
It really felt like an International
event.”
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shall we dance.indd 1
26/08/2010 14:34
Martha Ogasawara has attended
two superb events in Japan and
she has sent us her reports…
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27
shall we dance.indd 2
26/08/2010 14:34