ALD VIP & Awards:
Saturday night May 2nd was the Australian Line Dance Awards and Ball.
Blazes auditorium at the Tamworth West Leagues club was expertly decorated to perfection and set the scene for what was to be a night to remember.
With a black and white masquerade theme, it was no surprise that the ladies were looking gorgeous and the men looked dapper. Our VIP members took the opportunity to enter early and enjoy a glass of bubbly. Dressed to perfection, they took turns taking photos on the red carpet as they mingled with our international guests and award nominees.
The night took shape with a demonstration from three of the youngest competitors Mayworth has ever seen, and boy did they entertain. Their cuteness was only outweighed by their ability to remember and perform their routine.
The awards were then ready to get underway with MC's Rhys Pearce and Jamie Robinson. Kicking off with their usual witty banter and ability to grab the audience's attention, they quickly introduced the first presenter, Winter Wipeout Director - Roxanne Motes.
Roxanne presented the award for Australian Line Dance Website of The Year. The winner was Aussie Dance Sheets
Next presenters were SSLDC directors Jessica Lamb and Adrian Lefebour presenting the award for Easy/ Improver Dance Of The Year. The winner was Trouble With The Treble - Maddison Glover.
Your third Presenter was VLDA President Pauline Greenwood presenting Open Dance Of The Year Geronimo by Brett Jenkins & Josh Talbot
Next was ALD vice president Stacey Robinson presenting International Choreographer of the Year to Ria Vos.
The MC's were back on stage presenting Australian Choreographer of The Year to Anne Herd
Simon Ward presented the award for International Dance Of The Year going to Rachel McEnaney for Tick Tock Two.
NSW Open Director Mark Simpkin presented Chris Watson with his award for Australian Line Dance Instructor Of The Year.
Chris quickly took stage again under capacity of Director of the Australian Country Dance Festival to present the award for Australian Line Dancer of The Year. This year taken out by Maddison Glover.
Next to take the stage were 6 competitors into the Australian Cup Freestyle Challenge.
Each routine was put together with painstaking precision, song choice, training and the hardest decision of all - what to wear. The crowd got behind each team as they were entertained by Australian talent. In the end there can only be one winner. The results for 2015 were:
3rd Place: Dare 2 Dance Melbourne
2nd Place: Lennox Beach
1st Place: Cowboys & Angels
The entertainment was not over yet folks. So You Think You Can Dance came back with a vengeance. Each team was voted on by the public, and were asked to put together a routine from their favourite movie. Raising money for Ronald McDonald House Tamworth, the movies ranged from Dirty Dancing, to Moulin Rouge, we will let the photo speak for itself:
Saturday Night ball was truly a magical night. All who came along looked stunning, they enjoyed world class entertainment and danced the night away.
ALD Workshop:
On Sunday afternoon, the ALD put on a workshop where members were able to take advantage of a special discount making this the cheapest workshop (and the best) at Mayworth.
Anne Herd was first up, teaching her People's Choice awarded choreography Fifty Shades of Grey to the song Earned it by The Weekend. The feedback from the workshop attendees was proof why this won the People's Choice. I am sure this will be a hit all around Australia.
Next our special guest Maddison Glover taught her new waltz Better Than Ever to the song Better Than You Left Me by Mickey Guyton. Maddison's natural teaching style ensured that everyone was able to pick up the steps and add in the dramatics to match the song.
Our last special guest was Adrian "Patrick Swayze" Lefebour who added some funk to the workshop teaching his new dance choreographed with Jessica Lamb Time to Dance to the song Time of our Lives by Pitbull, Ne-Yo. This one had everyone singing and dancing to the very end of the workshop.
The ALD would like to thank all our Guest Instructors who gave up their time to teach a dance, and we look forward to running this annual workshop at the 2016 Mayworth event.
ALD Wind Down Party:
By Sunday night the 2015 Mayworth event was slowly winding down, and with that came the realisation that another fantastic weekend of dancing and friendship was coming to an end. In order to kick away those blues the ALD once again hosted the Mayworth Wind Down Party. A chance for everyone to have one last hurrah before we all hit the road come morning.
This year's venue, Legends Bar at West Leagues Club, was pure genius. People were able to just walk out of the Social and into the after party. DJ Luke spun a variety of pop and country hits, the dance floor was full and the energy was electric.
This event brought young and old together for one last night of dancing and finished in true Mayworth fashion with a Karaoke rendition of (I've Had) The Time of My Life. No truer words have been (badly) sung!