UCWDC® Series – Spotlight on Operations
August 31, 2020 Spotlight on Ron ‘Moose’ Muse
Q: Tell us a little about what you do in your operations role at UCWDC events?
A: Depending upon which event will depend upon what responsibilities I have for each. At World’s I perform facilities assistant duties with Jonathan Baumeister, Brian Franks, Dean Garrish, and Daniel Nevils. We assist the Facilities Coordinator-Billy Hammock. This crew usually arrives EARLY and leaves right before the World’s director departs days later. (First in, Last out) We coordinate with Mark Vilensky (production director), Alan Rodriguez (lightning/sound), hotel staff, event registration, staff office, store, hospitality, scoring, judges, workshops, and vendors (floor, video, costume, jewelry, massage, etc) We are usually the ones working behind the scenes that are making things “pretty” and appealing. (Backdrops/Scenery/etc)
At other events you might find me in the DJ booth playing for social dancing after competitions are completed and going into the evening hours. I find it a challenge to see how many dancers can be on the floor at one time and how long the die hard dancer will stay up LATE/EARLY.
Some events I have done a combination of the 2 duties listed above. Those are rough on the body.
Q: What are some events we will see you at (in a normal dance year!)?
A: Peach 🍑 State
Indy Dance Explosion 💥
Chicagoland Dance Festival 🐶
Nashville Dance Classic 🎸
Philly Fall Fest 👻
Christmas in Dixie 🎄
World’s 🌍
Non-UCWDC events I attend; SOS Spring Safari and Fall Migration (Two 10 day events in N. Myrtle Beach, SC), Grand Nationals Dance Championship (Memorial Day weekend in Atlanta GA)
Q: Share a favorite event story! (Keep it clean lol)
A: At World’s one year, Steve Stevens was the facilities coordinator before Billy Hammock. Anyway, Steve (Husband – Mike Haley (a previous World’s director)) out of nowhere decided to sweep the dance floor right before the Masters division. It wasn’t supposed to happen at that time. Someone got upset because it took a little bit of time to perform the task. So now, out of respect and paying homage to Steve, we still do that task to this day.
Q: Why are manholes round?
A: Manholes are round because they will lay more flat on the opening that it is covering. They are also round so that they do not fall into the opening. If they were square shaped, one of the corners could potentially rise up and when a vehicle goes across it, it may “pop” up to damage the vehicle behind them.
Q: What have you been up to this dance(less) year?
A: Mostly missing friends. Since no events are happening this year, I got a hammer-toe fixed on each foot. Also working on music just in case an event “breaks the mold” and happens this year.
Bio – Ron “Moose” Muse
Working/Building Freightliner trucks since 1988 – Yes, the 18 wheelers.
Moose started dancing in line around late ’93. You could find him six out of seven days at his local bar – Coyote Joe’s in Charlotte NC. He still ventures out there to this day. He started dancing on a team around late ’95 – Pure Country, and danced with them until early ’97. Moose had started to compete in couples with Pam (Willis) Taylor (’96). They danced at World’s (97) Div4 and placed 17 out of 45+ couples. In later years she danced with Kevin Sanders (wife-Wendy (Hunt) Sanders) and made it to Div1. Pam wanted to stay with the team activities, so in that same year Moose also danced with Wendy (McCall) Bailey. They danced at Easterns (97) – placed (Div4) 2nd or 3rd out of 14/15 couples. They competed against David Muzii and his partner – Dara Patrusky. (True story) Wendy met her boyfriend (husband now) Robert and they live in Austin TX. Moose then danced with a lady by the name of Ellen Thompson out of Atlanta GA. They lasted about 3/4 of a year until the 4 hour commute basically wore him out. Moose attended Christmas in Dixie in December ’98 and decided to dance a 2Step with Lisa King (Masters dancer later with Steve Edwards) to qualify for World’s. His instructors, Jeff and Mary Hill, instructed them to go for an overall. They had about 9.5 hours of practicing and placed 2nd out of 12 couples – again Div4. Danced at World’s San Antonio ’99 and place 2nd in CHA with a total of 14-15 hours practice. Moose danced pro-am with Mary Hill until 2001 and made it to intermediate division. Moose started working at the World’s events in 2001. Later years is when the DJ gigs came around. 🙂
Pictured L-R: Wendy (McCall) Bailey, Ron “Moose” Muse, Dara Patrusky, David Muzii