|
|
CHRISTINE BASS has enjoyed dancing and singing in local performances all of her life. As a teen, she sang in chorus and performed in gymnastics and cheerleading. She started line dancing in 1992. By 1999, she had competed at United Country and Western Dance Council events and become a Classic Line Dance Champion. She is the dance director and coach of the Sweet and Sassy Line Dance Team in The Villages and is the choreographer of many popular line dances, including Beer For My Horses and Company C. She has coached several successful competitors in Pro Am Line Dance and taught at workshops and seminars in the Southeast and Midwest. She teaches on Thursday nights at Paradise and La Hacienda Recreation Centers and assists with a class on Saturday morning at Lake Miona Recreation Center. From May to November, she teaches on Monday nights at Hibiscus Recreation Center and on Wednesday nights at Pimlico Recreation Center. When she's not line dancing, she plays pickleball, golfs and spends time with her husband, four children and seven grandchildren. Two of her granddaughters are her students. JEAN BREWER was a stay-at-home Mom for 27 years before going to college and earning degrees in elementary education and history in 1989. She taught school for 10 years before joining her husband Richard in retirement. They moved to The Villages full time in 2003. Jean discovered line dancing in The Villages. She is thankful for those who directed her to beginner classes and showed her dance routines at Spanish Springs Town Square. Jean started teaching three years later, when one of her instructors retired and asked Jean to take over the class. Today, she is a busy teacher once again, with three Tuesday classes, two Thursday classes and a Sunday class, all through the Recreation Department. She also teaches Thursday afternoon Ultra-Beginner (for those who are starting from scratch) and Ultra-Beginner Plus classes through The Villages Lifelong Learning College. Jean says line dance is the total package for mind and body. She tells her dancers, "Take no offense, but I taught first grade and I just love repetition!" Jean and Richard have three sons and four grandchildren, and enjoy traveling, golfing, playing hand & foot cards and spending time with family and friends. Jean also has been a genealogist for 45 years and still enjoys tracking illusive ancestors in her spare time. TONI JOHNSON started line dancing when she moved to The Villages in 2004. She couldn't wait to join the line dancers on the squares in the evening. She took lessons from several instructors, and eventually started leading a Giggles & Shakes class. Currently, she teaches a Beginner Plus class on Thursday at Mulberry Grove Recreation Center and leads a Beginner Plus practice session on Friday at Allamanda Recreation Center. Toni also assists in Debbie Lenzi's summer classes at La Hacienda Recreation Center. Toni and her husband Hank worked together in the printing industry before they retired. They have six children and seven grandchildren, and enjoy golfing together, going to movies and spending time with their friends in The Villages. ROSE KNOSP grew up in Iowa and spent most of her adult life there. She worked as a nursing supervisor in a small hospital, where she was a "jack of all trades." When she and her late husband Al moved to Surfside Beach, S.C., she switched to part-time work at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center in Myrtle Beach. That gave her time for some fun activities. She began line dancing in 1993. She enjoys assisting her twin sister Margaret with three line dance classes in The Villages, and is a member of the Sweet and Sassy Line Dance Team and the Orlando Magic Silver Stars dance team. Rose has a son living in Oklahoma and a daughter in Iowa, as well as two grandchildren, five stepchildren and 12 step-grandchildren. MARGARET KOLL started dancing when she was old enough to dance with her father by standing on his toes. Margaret and her twin sister Rose took turns dancing with their Dad, and took dance lessons together while they were growing up in Iowa. Margaret started teaching line dancing in 1998 while living in Surfside Beach, South Carolina. She continued teaching when she moved to The Villages in 2004. Currently, she teaches at Colony Cottage Recreation Center on Monday and on Monday and Tuesday through The Villages Lifelong Learning College. Margaret has taught at the Altamonte Springs Workshop, the Myrtle Beach Shag Weekend and at Midnight Rodeo in Ocala. She and Rose have performed in several Magical Moments shows, and both are members of the Orlando Magic Silver Stars. They love to dance and they love life in The Villages. LYDIA LEDUC has been surrounded by music all her life as the daughter of a classical guitarist. She started line dancing in a friend's garage in 2004 and took classes through The Villages Lifelong Learning College. Lydia began teaching Basic Beginner classes at Lake Miona in 2006. She teaches Beginner Plus and Low Intermediate classes at Churchill Recreation Center on Fridays for the Bridgeport Pink Ladies, and even teaches a class in a friend's garage. She also is involved in Magical Moments as a singer and line dance choreographer, and in the Betty Ganz Make Someone Happy Troupe, where she sings and dances. Lydia served in the USMC and is a member of The Villages Marine Corps League. She also volunteers for Relay for Life, and although not a member, participates in the Sunset Rotary Club's Salutes to Veterans. Lydia works with visually impaired Villagers to teach fundamental line dance steps through Lighthouse Central Florida of Leesburg. Her love of music and dance has led her to the philosophy, "If you can walk, you can dance." Lydia and her husband Serge have four children and five grandchildren, and they are having the time of their lives enjoying an active retirement in The Villages. DEBORAH LENZI has more than 18 years of line dance experience. She started teaching line dancing at Katie Belle’s in 1998 and taught at the club through 2003. In 2004, she became a summer line dance instructor at La Hacienda Recreation Center through The Villages Lifelong Learning College, where she continues to teach both Beginner and Intermediate classes. Debbie has enjoyed tennis, golf and horseback riding as well as line dance choreography. She has one daughter and two grandchildren. She says she finds line dancing to be a great form of exercise for her mind and her body, in addition to being a lot of fun. MARLYN MARSZALEK and her husband Milt moved to The Villages in 2002 from Maryland, where Marlyn was employed at a community college for 27 years. Marlyn started line dancing in The Villages. After a year of taking classes, she was flattered to be asked to be one of the demonstrators in the Friday morning class at La Hacienda Recreation Center. She also began assisting another instructor, and found the experience to be so rewarding that she was motivated to become a line dance teacher. Eventually, she was able to acquire a teaching time at Lake Miona Recreation Center, and says she has loved every minute of it. Marlyn says, "I try to make learning line dancing a fun event, not a classroom chore. I find that a little humor is helpful and relaxing. I'm a very patient person and don't mind doing dance steps over and over -- just ask my students!" When she's not dancing, she enjoys golfing with Milt. They have one son who lives in Pennsylvania, and a grandson and great-granddaughter in Maryland. DARLENE MILLER started line dancing when she moved to The Villages from the Rochester, New York area in 1999. She took many classes and eventually began assisting in one of them. Currently, she teaches Saturday morning Beginner Plus/Low Intermediate and Intermediate classes at Lake Miona Recreation Center, teaches classes at Oak Run in Ocala and substitutes for several instructors both within and outside The Villages. Prior to moving to The Villages, Darlene was the postmaster of Marion, New York and an active community volunteer. When she’s not line dancing, she enjoys reading, playing the piano, cards and games, movies, shopping and spending time with her husband Jeff. LOLA MILLER was born and raised in Northwest Indiana and has been involved in music all her life. Lola was a professional drummer and singer for 30 years. She has always loved to dance and even met her husband Bob at a dance. He has been her biggest supporter. Bob carried her drums for many years and now carries her dancing equipment. Lola started teaching line dancing at their neighborhood social center when she and Bob retired to Venice, Florida in 2001. She organized a dance group that performed at community functions and private parties. The dancers had so much fun that Lola started a pattern partner class. Lola hadn't planned to teach when she and Bob moved to The Villages, but when she hears music she says she feels like the Energizer Bunny. She teaches Beginner Plus classes on Monday evening and Thursday morning and has a pattern partner class on Tuesday evening. Lola views music as the food of her life. When she's not dancing, she's on the golf course. She says the best thing about both dancing and golf is the wonderful people she meets. DENISE MUESSIG started line dancing when she moved to The Villages from Missouri in 2005. After two years, her group of friends outgrew the homes where they practiced. They moved to Saddlebrook Recreation Center and Denise began teaching a Beginner class on Friday afternoon. The class has moved to the Beginner Plus level, but retains an informal atmosphere and continues to focus on dances that are done at The Villages squares. JAN RAMSEY has been teaching country line dance for more than 16 years, including 12 years in The Villages. Jan taught at Katie Belle's for several years and also for The Villages Recreation Department. Currently, she teaches Line Dancing for Dummies and an Intermediate-Advanced class for The Villages Lifelong Learning College on Wednesday at La Hacienda Center. She frequently attends classes and workshops to learn the latest dances. Two of her dances currently popular in The Villages are Back Porch Paradise and Simple Matter of Love (choreographed for Norman Lee). Jan has teamed with Scooter the DJ to teach on several line dance cruises. VIOLET and BILL RAY have taught dance professionally for more than 25 years, including line dance, couples dance and swing dance. They are certified as dance instructors and judges by both Country Western Dance International and the American Traditional Dance Association. They have taught at many venues in Las Vegas and in Hilo, Hawaii, on cruises and at more than 100 dance workshops and seminars in the United States, Canada and England. They have served as event directors of the Desert Sands Dance Festival (Bill) and the Neon Country Dance Festival (Violet and Bill) in Las Vegas. Violet has served as director and choreographer of dance teams in Las Vegas and Hawaii. Together and individually, they have choreographed more than 110 line dances, including Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Huli Huli Chicken and Blue Bayou Dreams. They moved to The Villages in 2008. CAROL SIMMONS hails from England and divides her year between The Villages and the UK. From November to May, Carol teaches at Hibiscus Recreation Center on Monday and Pimlico Recreation Center on Wednesday. She also teaches at Dancing Shadows in Belleview on Friday. Carol hosts monthly line dance socials at Dancing Shadows that are popular with Villagers and dancers from Belleview, Ocala and the surrounding area. From May to November, Carol holds line dance classes in England, where she is a certified member of the United Kingdom Alliance of Professional Teachers of Dancing and Kindred Arts (UKA) and of the Best Western Dance Academy (BWDA). Carol and Sandra Speck have choreographed Hanging Out In Florida and Gotta Love To Boogie. Carol says she started dancing almost as soon as she learned to walk, enjoying tap, jazz, jive, salsa and ballroom classes through the years. Her American mother (also a Villager) taught line dancing in Orlando, and Carol started teaching as a substitute for her Mom and got hooked. Carol also has taught at Midnight Rodeo in Ocala and at the Tampa Bay Classic. When she’s not line dancing, Carol enjoys clogging, playing the electric organ, golfing, bowling and dining out. CLAIRE TUCCI is a native of the Pittsburgh area and is a graduate of Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Pittsburgh. She took up line dancing in 1987 after moving to Muncie, Indiana. Claire took lessons from a professional choreographer and instructor in Muncie until she moved to The Villages in 1998. In The Villages, Claire teaches a Beginner Plus-Low Intermediate class on Tuesday at Mulberry Recreation Center through The Villages Lifelong Learning College. Claire enjoys taking line dance classes in The Villages and in Ocala, dancing on the squares and doing aerobics. She and her husband John have been married 50 years and have three sons and six grandchildren.
|
