The standards of this event were so high that it was hard to believe it was a fi rst!I was one of the invited guest instructors, along with Michael Barr and Michele Burton. Because Line dancing is still relatively new to South Korea, we had visions of lots of beginner dancers eager to learn some basic dances. Well, they were certainlyeager, but beginners they were not!

The event was put on by the KoLDA (Korean Line Dance Association), which

is ably led by its president Wansoon Yook (a well-known name in the modern dance world) and executive secretary Jung-Soon Ma. These two make a formidable team, as they have considerable connections and experience to share. They are working to see that Line dancing is fi rst spread to other dance instructors and PE teachers, and there are plans to have it included in the P.E. curriculum for students of various ages. They already have a staff of well-trained instructors who are all working to spread the joy of

A very important event for Korea took A very important event for Korea took place recently and place recently and Martha OgasawaraMartha Ogasawara sent this report for Linedancer sent this report for Linedancer magazine readers.magazine readers.

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Line DanceLine DanceFestivalFestival

In Seoul, Korea In Seoul, Korea

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“There were 180 people attending the event, including 20 dancers from Japan, three from Hong Kong and one from Shanghai.”

Line dancing, and I can’t wait to see how it will develop there in the next few years.

There were 180 people attending the event, including 20 dancers from Japan, three from Hong Kong and one from Shanghai. Most of the Korean attendees were either instructors of some other form of dance or P.E. teachers, so although most of them had not been Line dancing for very long, they had some kindof dance/sports background. Jung-Soon is a college professor who teaches various kinds of dance, and many of her students were there, so there were a lot of younger dancers. Needless to say, they picked things up like sponges!

It was exciting to teach such enthusiastic dancers. And they were a joy to watch, as they added a lot of styling to the dances.

Some already well-known dances we taught were Midnight Rendezvouz, American Pop, Feed The Fetish, Crazy Foot Mambo, Be Boy Baby, Amor De Hielo, Peaches & Cream, Go Greased Lightning and CountryGirl.A special dance that was choreographed for this event by Michael and Michele was

Solo No More. It was choreographed to a samba-esque piece of music by a well-known (in Korea) singer Moon Sae Lee, who also happens to be the son-in-law of Wansoon Yook. He very graciously made an appearance at the event and even danced a little. You should have seen all the fans trying to get a picture with him!

On Saturday night, there were demos before the open dancing. One of them was by a group of junior high school students from a special performing arts school who performed some traditional Korean dances for us. Their costumes were gorgeous and it was a real treat!

Line dancing in South Korea is a real experience and I feel sure we are about to expect great things. For me, I feel simply honoured to have played a small role in helping it along.

Love

Martha xxx

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