Spring Meeting 2010

The Spring General Meeting of the United Country Western Dance Council^® was held at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, February 25-27, 2010.

The following recap contains items of interest to our associate members.

Rules

• Couples Crystal divisions are reinstated effective immediately.
• Competitors will be allowed to dance in more than 2 divisions at the World Championships.
• Newcomer costume requirements have been clarified. There are not to be adornments on costumes or on belts. This restriction does not include jewelry, hatbands or belt buckles.
• The Rules Committee resolves that there will be no changes in published rules for the next three years except for updating the syllabus and addressing emergency situations.

Complete rules are available at http://ucwdc.org/wordpress and additional questions can be directed to Vice President of Rules, Beth Emerson at 405-535-3073 or OkcBeth@aol.com.

Judge Certification

• Dave Getty resigned as Vice President of Judge Certification for personal reasons. He will continue to serve the Council as a member of the Judge Certification committee.
• The Board of Directors appointed Kathy St. Jean as Interim Vice President of Judge Certification until the election of a new VP of Judge Certification at the fall meeting.
• Judge certification program procedures have been reviewed, revised and revamped. To avoid conflict of interest, the Examiners of the Judge Certification Committee may not administer an exam if they have privately trained the examinee for that particular line item of the test, not to include any of the standard Judge Certification Fundamentals courses the examinee may have taken from the Examiner.

To learn about the updated judge certification program, please contact Kathy St. Jean at 401-474-3434 or ksjucwdc@gmail.com.

The World Championships of Country Dance

• 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA - Opryland Hotel and Convention Center
• 2012 in Orlando, Florida, USA - Disney World
  • Worlds Director 2011 and 2012: Tony Lee on behalf of the Directors of the UCWDC^®

Efforts are underway to host the first UCWDC^® Olympiad for Country Western and Line Dance at the 2011 World Championship of Country Dance

The European Championships

• 2010 in the Netherlands - De Rijp Eilanden, Sportcomplex de Ooterven
  • EC Director: Michel Platje on behalf of the Directors of the UCWDC^®

Officer Elections

This fall we will be electing our President and Vice President of Judge Certification. Nominees received for President are: Kathi Bittner, Mona Brandt, and Randy Jeffries. Nominee for Judge Certification is Kathy St. Jean.

New Sanctioned Event

Seoul International Line Dance Festival
Seoul, Korea
July 9 - 11, 2010

The United Country Western Dance Council^® now has 42 sanctioned events in 21 countries!

We are delighted to report that Week Four of the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars will include two step! Two step will be one of the dances performed by the celebrities and their professional partners on October 12.

A producer from the show has been in conversation with the UCWDC to compile background information about two step including the history and character of the dance. That information will be included on the DWTS website and used to educate the judges and competitors about the dance.

“We are thrilled that producers of the show are including two step in their competition.” says UCWDC President, Kathi Bittner. “This is an incredible opportunity for people all over the world to see the signature dance of our dance community.”

Learn more about the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars at http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/index.

1. Starting on or after July 19, 2009, you will need to click the new, Red & Yellow Associate Member Center button located in the left hand column at http://ucwdc.org
2. Enter your TEMPORARY Username and Password in the appropriate boxes.
3. Click the Login button.
4. Click on Change Password/Edit Profile
5. Type in your private, preferred Username.  We recommend your eMail address as long as it is unique to you alone, and not shared with anyone else. Otherwise, your new Username may be any combination of letters and numbers that is unique to you ( 4-32 letters, digits or _ [underscore] ).
6. Scroll down eleven (11) lines and type in your preferred, secret Password.    It may also be any combination of letters and numbers that is unique to you ( 4-32 letters, digits or _ [underscore] ).
7. Record your new Username and Password somewhere safe.
8. Review all the remaining personal contact information boxes in your profile. Make whatever corrections are necessary.  Be sure you update all of the required fields.  Please make sure that your record includes
   1. Your correct date of birth as some divisions are defined by age ranges
   2. Your phone number(s)
   3. Your personal eMail address
   4. Your parcel/package mailing (street) address
   5. The approximate number of Active Years your Associate Membeship dues have been paid since the first time you danced at a UCWDC Event
9. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save Profile button.

Tyler Dan Goolsby, 1982-2009

It is with deep sadness that we share news of the loss of a member of our dance family, Tyler Goolsby of Houston, Texas. Tyler was the 2009 UCWDC World Champion in Proam Male Open Intermediate with his instructor, Carmen Goodman, with whom he danced in Proam Male Open Advanced this season. Additionally, he was competing in Couples Open III with partner Catherine Pisano. As we grieve our loss, we want to celebrate Tyler’s life and the joy that he brought to our dance family.

THE ANTI-DOPING DIRECTOR

Issue: May 2009

When an athlete needs medicines …….

Besides the spirit of sport (no fraud, no cheating) one of the principles of anti-doping policies is to keep sport healthy. However anti-doping policies are not meant to abstain sick people from sport.

Music Survey for Dancers

Barry and Dari Anne Amato are doing market research for some major record labels in Nashville to gather statistics from the line dance community. The label executives were surprised to find out that there is still a thriving line dance community. In their minds, country dance and line dance were something from the past.

Hi All,

I am so happy to announce that the Film I produced with Tom Malloy will be released in theaters May 8th in seven cities, San Antonio, Atlanta, San Diego, LA, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and Nashville. Our plan is to expand to more cites in weeks following the opening. This film focuses on West Coast Swing, but there are many, many UCWDC dancers in it, and there is even some Two Step!!!

Outstanding planning, organization, and execution! Fantastic event! Perfect venue! Everything ran on time! Lots of social dancing and parties on big dance floors! Exciting Parade of Contestants with eachmPoints Champion recognized by name! A great dance vacation! Family oriented fun for all at the Disney Parks and our resort swimming pools in the balmy, Orlando weather! Fireworks every night! Over 5,600 dance entries, the largest, modern Country Dance Worlds on Earth!

That was clearly the message we all heard, over and over again while we were all attending Worlds XVII© at the beautiful, Walt Disney World, Coronado Springs Resort®! Our deepest thanks to all of you who participated and contributed to the excitement and comradery that was 2009 Worlds XVII©, my last Worlds as President.

The competitors from six continents were each fantastic. It is each and every one of you, who spend your time, energy and money pursuing ever higher achievement, more elaborate choreography, and work toward more and more personal physical mobility and fluid movement on the dance floor who make all of this possible and worthwhile. Unlike any other art form, in the sport of dance, it is you who are the art! Each judge’s dedication to obtaining more and more knowledge and education in this art form and sport continues to be no less than awesome.

There are so many people to thank for this magnificent Worlds, I’d never get them all written down. So, rather than risk offending even one of you, I’ll defer to all. It takes an army of dedicated, seldom recognized and often overlooked volunteers, staffers and organizers to run an event of this magnitude. “Thank you,” to all of our leaders, planners, workers, staff members and volunteers each of whom worked endless hours cheerfully. If you helped, a lot, or even just a little, please accept my personal “Thank you” from the bottom of my heart for all your kind-hearted effort, thoughtful support and helping hands.

I heartily welcome Kathi Bittner, as President and Dave Getty, as VP Judge Certification and wish them each a great term in office. I also deeply thank Susan Boyd for twenty-continuous years of service as a UCWDC Officer, a record that will stand for many, many years. Job well done, Suzie!

Thank you all for your support and belief in the art forms and sports of Line Dance and Country Western Dance and the entire UCWDC program. I am genuinely looking forward to continuing my service to the dance community I love so much in my new role as UCWDC Olympic Competition Organizing Committee Chair. Thanks to the unflagging efforts of many, many people for nearly forty years, the World Games and the Summer Olympics are finally on our horizon.

Jeff Bartholomew

Time flies and the UCWDC® is already starting our twenty-first year. People from all over the world are planning for this dance season and also for Worlds XVIII©, January 4-10, 2010 in Nashville. One thing everyone needs to plan ahead for is renewing your Associate Membership Number before you compete at any event you wish to count toward your Worlds XVIII© requirement. (n.b., This includes all Pros as well. Am’s, is your Pro up to date?)

Except for Country Club Challenge, Showtime, Newcomers, Couples Divisions VI, V and IV (who are still all required to be paid up members before competing at their last, Worlds Qualifying Event,) . . . any event you compete in before you pay your dues will not count as a Worlds pre-requisite, e.g., If you dance at a UCWDC event in April 2009, but do not pay your Associate Membership dues until May, the April event will not count toward Worlds XVIII©.

As you may already know, this has been a published rule in the UCWDC Rules Book for many, many years. But, now that we have a permanent member tracking system in place, this year the rule will be monitored very closely. If you find any discrepancy in your Points, Worlds Eligibility or Graduation records, please notify JP Oster, UCWDC Points Eligibility and Graduation Chair via eMail jposter@videotron.ca so he can review and update your records.

Fair is fair!

P.S. Each member, and Team or Troupe, is responsible for keeping their own membership record active and accurate. If your eMail address changes, you must immediately update your own profile or notify the Associate Membership Office; we will gladly do it for you. JLBartholomew@comcast.net
Tip - You can save money by joining or renewing for multiple years.