Pismo Beach Western Days
Event Directors: Vern & Lois Black

A Rockin' Pneumonia Good Time ...nevermind the weather forecast ...the seaside town of Pismo Beach was overcast & breezy for most of our dance weekend ...but it didn't matter.

The San Francisco Bay Area was well represented at this 3 day event, the Friday afternoon classes I attended were full ...Michael Barr and Michele Burton were teachin' couples a pattern cha cha dance along with their "secrets of dance" ...

Evelyn Khinoo taught the intermediate/advanced Sunset Stampede (Ian StLeon) and then her newest intermediate dance Saturday Matinee to a full dance floor.

Charlotte Skeeters was here to teach a line dance judging clinic in the morning then her newest dance Fill My Life in the afternoon.

The Friday afternoon new line choregraphy on the patio at Whaler's had 'no show' instructors ...some dance teaches were 10 minutes ahead of schedule ...I thought that mattered & said so ...but obviously it didn't, cause it happened again on Saturday. I was on the patio for some of Listen (Michael Barr) and That's All She Wrote (Michele Burton).

Some of the World's standard line dances were introduced here on the patio at Pismo. Sal Gonzalez first taught his OOO! AAH! here in competition in 1996. It won 3rd place that year. In the 1998 competition Evelyn Khinoo's That's My Hat won 4th place. The 1999 winners are listed by rank at the top of this page.

I was on the patio for Saturday's choreography competition for the following teaches: Boogie Woogie Blues (Trish Boesel) and Bar Bright (The Boesels), Saturday Matinee (Evelyn Khinoo),The Darlene (Ernie Hutchinson), C'est La Vie (Carmel Hutchinson), Havana (Gonzalez/Wasnicks), Bartender Pour The Wine (Gene Morill), and Phone-A-Phobia (Simon Ward). I know that all the choreographers greatly appreciated that Mike Sliter stepped up to the audio equipment during the competition and helped them out with their music while they were concentrating on giving us a great teach.

Charlotte Skeeters was asked to compete her new dance Fill My Life in a 'no show instructor' slot and she did. And then she wanted to know if we all wanted to do her dance to some Turbo music ...and many of us enjoyed the workout ...dancin' to the Groovegrass Boyz singin' about the Wabash Cannonball!

The Friday & Saturday evening request dances were DJ'd by Chris Kumre and John Burton. ...among the standards played were Peace Train (Julie Molkner), Hot Tamales (Neil Hale), OOO! AAH! (Sal Gonzalez), Silk & Satin (Evelyn Khinoo), Hey Bruce (Michael Barr), Fat Sally Lee (Arthur Smith), and Zydeco Lady (Chris Hookie).

The newer waltzes to fill the floor were: Open Arms (Gonzalez, Ward, & Snyder), I See It Now (Michele Burton) and Husbands & Wives (The Hutchinsons). It was really cool to see Simon and Sal side by side doin' their waltzing and of course seeing Carmel and Hutch in their sweetheart position doin' their waltzing ...AND ...I'm positive Michele Burton was very happy doin' her waltzin' next to MB ...he knows the steps to I See It Now perfectly ...grins!

...a waltz that we did see and didn't know it till the end of the dance music ...Sweet Temptation (Terry Hogan). M & MB were dancin' it together ...Simon left the Fat Sally Lee dance and joined in ...who would have known that the Rednex singin' Fat Sally Lee would have inspired such a duo that quickly turned into such a trio!

The newer dances on the request lists throughout the weekend were: Cajun Girls & Gumbo and Heartbreat Radio (Mike Sliter) ...Whole Lotta Peppas (Neil Hale), Gimme Back My Bullets (Neil Hale), Dizzy (Jo Thompson), Cuban Heels (Terry Hogan), 747 Chicago Shuffle (John Robinson), Voilà (Charlotte Skeeters), If My Friends Could See Me Know and That's My Hat (Evelyn Khinoo), What's Your Name (Michael Barr), I See It Now (Michele Burton), Husbands and Wives (The Hutchinsons), Remember When (Sydney Dancers), Sometimes When (Jackie Snyder), Backstreet Attitude (Jamie Davis) Titantic (Simon Ward) and Count Me In (Chris Kumre).

The Bay Area's Rob Ingenthron brought the World Hit Mambo #5 to Pismo. This intermediate/advanced dance choreographed by Pedro Machado and Anthony Lee has been seen in dance halls throughout the US this Summer. The music is 'Mambo No.5' by Lou Bega (192 bpm) and the dance sequence is XXXY, XXz1, XXz2. The sheet looks scary, even frightening! ...but Evelyn Khinoo picked it up off the patio floor on Sunday and swears that it will be easy for us to learn. She will be teaching it in Redwood City to us on Thursday night ....Charlotte Skeeters will have this dance on the schedule to be taught in a workshop at the Golden Gate Classic, come October.