New Line Dance Choreography Desert Sands '98 are:

1st place Noel Castel with "Backseat Boogie"
2nd place Buffalo Girls with "Brown Derby"
3rd place Hutch (Ernie) Hutchinson with "Tequila Time"
4th place Mike Sliter with "Roll of the Dice"
5th place Charlotte Skeeters with "Reaching Out"

Line Dancers were in Heaven this weekend...dozens of Californians were at the 5th annual Desert Sands Dance Festival in Las Vegas, NV. Event Director, Billy Ray greeted all 1500 of us with "We are glad you are here!!"

This event welcomed both couple and line dancers from coast to coast, and 150+ from the UK and Canada. The DJ's for this event, Neil Hale from the San Francisco Bay Area, and Ambrose Donohue from London, England were splitting the floor with the hottest, newest dances from both sides of the "pond".

There were many dancers who came dressed in "alike" t-shirts to identify their "dance group."

...The Chicago dancers were doin' Got To Be Funky (Dawn Beecham) when I first entered the main ballroom dance floor Friday morning....but not to the real song....I just recognized the curly cue 'c's" their hips were making...and I couldn't resist joinin' in on this fun dance!

...the coolest new dance for me to watch...Michael Barr doin' Back Seat Boogie (Noel Castle, CA)...done to "Back Seat Boogie" by Dave Sheriff.

...The Florida ladies were doin' Rockin' Renegade (Jennifer Howe Toolan) a 2 wall, 48 count hip hop style dance ...a first place winner at last year's Orlando Orange Blossom Special...I couldn't pick it up, Evelyn Khinoo did...I asked Jennifer to send me the step sheet!

...The UK dancers were having too much fun dancin' Red Hot Salsa...Jill Thompson (London) taught this easy beginner dance as an "add on" workshop Saturday afternoon ...and Jill also taught her dance, Soldier's Joy.

...the Max Perry workshops included Alane (Helen O'Malley) and Switchblade USA (John Robinson and his own East & West.

...the newest dances that filled the floor in common with all the countries were: 13MWZ (Uno, Dos, Tres) (Sherry McClure), Coastin' (Ray & Tina Yeoman), Crazy (Cindy Truelove), Dizzy & Hardwood Stomp (Jo Thompson), OeeOeeo & Swamp Thang (Max Perry), Black Coffee (Helen O'Malley), Cannibal Stomp (Lisa Firth), Jambalaya (Ian St.Leon), Peace Train (Julie Molkner), Ribbon Of Highway, Running Bear & Hot Tamales (Neil Hale, Ooh! Aah! & Chevy (Sal Gonzalez), Razor Sharp (Stephen Sunter), Pencil Thin Mustache & Looking Glass (Charlotte Skeeters), Silk & Satin & That's My Hat (Evelyn Khinoo), Fly Like A Bird, Shipwrecked & Brown-eyed Girl (Hedy McAdams), Dangerous (John Robinson), Hey Bruce & All-Right-A (Michael Barr), Senoria Sway & Madly Off In All Directions (Michele Perron), Alligator Shoes (Terry Hogan) T-Bone Shuffle (Peter Metelnick), and of course, Titanic (Simon Ward) and Southern Streamline (Mack Apaapas) and Cuban Heels (Terry Hogan)....