United Country Western Dance Council^®

^{An International DanceSport Federation Associate Member Organization}

In the true sportive spirit of our shared Olympic dream

the UCWDC^® proudly offers

The Inaugural Event of our Annual

Country Western and Line Dance Olympiad

January 4-10, 2011

Opryland Resort

Nashville, TN, USA

While images from the Opryland Hotel in papers and on the internet are certainly shocking, representatives from the hotel have said that the property will host the 2011 World Championships of Country Dance, January 3 – 9, 2011 as planned. Until the waters recede they cannot evaluate the full extent of the damage, yet the ballroom space and most of the guest rooms are safe from the flooding. Hotel representatives have told Tony Lee, Director of Worlds, that they expect the hotel to be fully operational after August, long before our World Championships.

Our thoughts continue to be with the many members of our dance community who live within the flooded region.

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 ksj111@verizon.net.

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!!!