Scott Schrank 

I started line dancing back in 1999. I remember the first dance I ever tried to learn was Jo Thompson's "Midnight Waltz". I was so intrigued by the movement. Believe it or not, it took me 4 sessions to learn that dance. Things have changed dramatically in the short time I have been dancing. I find that the dances are much more demanding in precision and complexity. No more of just "Slap Dem Boots!" and "Kick up your heels". I like the more complex workings in the new line dances. I also like the fact that line dances are done to such a vast variety of music genres. They are a good way for students to learn Cha-Cha, Waltz, Swing or Two-Step...all without a dance partner. And most dances can be mastered in the privacy of your own living room.

I have written some dances that I think are good...others may be just "A Work in Progress". People say my dances are "Challenging." I am not sure if that is a good thing, but I will take it as a compliment. I have entered a few choreography competitions. Recently, my dance, "Soul Violins," took first place in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Another dance, "Just Imagine," took second place in the Phrased Country Category.

This year has been a very good one for me. I just came back from Las Vegas from the Vegas Dance Explosion. My two newest dances, "Global Warming" and "Working It," both took 1st place. The exciting part about it is I get to teach next year in Vegas. I want you all there! Start saving those pennies up. I promise to have at least one new dance ready by then.

For more information about Scott and his dances visit http://scottschrank.com/.

Lee Fox 

Lee Fox is originally from Georgia and moved to Florida in 1986.

He is the Competition Director and former Director of Dance for the International Association of Gay/Lesbian Country Western Dance Clubs (IAGLCWDC). He has been teaching Ballroom, Latin, and Disco since 1978, and Country/Western since 1991. A former ballroom competitor, he has judged several competitions in the United States. He and his ballroom partner, Scott, competed in ballroom at the Gay Games in Amsterdam in 1998 and the Gay Games in Australia in 2002 making the finals both times.

He is a member of Southern Country South Florida and has served as the choreographer/instructor for the Dream Team for six years and the SunDancers for seven years. He and his country partner, Chris, were the first Championship winners in the IAGLCWDC Couples Competition in 1998 and have performed at many hoedowns and fundraisers. He is also one of the original members of Crossfire, overall champions of the 2005 IAGLCWDC Dance Teams Championships.

Patrick Fleming (Line, Swing and Couples) 

Patrick Fleming was born and raised in Melbourne, Florida. Growing up on Florida's central east coast he was put into ballroom lessons at 6 years old by his mother. He fell in love with line dancing in 1997 when he realized the many styles he had learned in couples he was able to mix in with line dance. After competing across the country in UCWDC's Classic Line, Teams, Choreography and Couples Pro-Am it is no wonder that he is very comfortable on a dance floor.

He was bit by the instructing bug after a guest teach at the Wild Horse Saloon on Disney's Pleasure Island in 2000 and has been teaching ever since. He is known for his down to earth personality in his classes and his love of fun on the social floor. Since releasing his most recognized dance "Booty Shakin", Patrick has proceeded to write numerous dances. Most recently he took third place with "Swing N Cha" (Choreographed with friend Zac Detweiller) as well as 1st place with "Hot N Hazy" (Choreographed with JP and Bracken Ellis-Potter) at the Fort Wayne Showdown 2009. He currently is now teaching numerous classes a week through out Brevard County, Florida as well as events and workshops across the U.S.A.

He is excited to be getting more involved the IAGLCWDC and wants to help it grow in all aspects. He loves making new friends so make sure you take a moment to introduce yourselves and say to him when you see him around!

Interested in private lessons/coaching with Patrick? Contact him directly at floridance@yahoo.com.

Don Curran (Line, Couples, Pattern and IAGLCWDC Director of Dance) 

Currently I am living in Houston, Texas and work as an administrator for secondary programs for Deaf students in a local school district. I am an educator/teacher by profession. I am fluent in American Sign Language. I am the Director of Dance for the IAGLCWDC (International Association of Gay Lesbian Country Western Dance Clubs). I am a member of the Rainbow Ranglers, Houston and am a dance instructor. I have been working with the board of the IAGLCWDC planning workshops for many of our annual and semi-annual dance conventions for the past several years. I am a member of the South West Whip Club in Houston and take lessons in West Coast Swing. I have been taking West Coast Swing lessons since 2005 from Debbie and Angel Figueroa to get ready to compete in pro-am on the swing circuit. I am also gearing up to compete on the UCWDC circuit in line dance. I am a level 3 accredited instructor by the NTA, National Teaching Association for Country Western Dance.

I have been teaching line, swing and country western dance for over 10 years. I've taught line dance workshops at the 2004 Texas Hoedown, an ACDA event as well as at the Big D Bash a UCWDC sanctioned event. I taught line dance for large corporate events in Austin for companies such as Dell and Motorolla. I have been choreographing line dances for the past couple of years and also coached performance and competition teams. I have been involved in planning and putting on a variety of dance events both GLBT and mainstream. I worked with the LoneStar Invitational, an American Country Dance Association event and worked with groups to plan workshops for many IAGLCWDC events.

In 2003 I got a long distance dance partner, Anthony Bures, in Houston while I was still in Austin and we met weekends to get ready to compete. We won our division in the Texas Gay Rodeo, got our big ole belt buckles and were proud as we could be. We also danced against 5 other couples, mostly good friends of ours and placed overall at the annual IAGLCWDC open couples competition in Montreal.

I am a founding member and was president of the Heart of Texas Hoedowners , Austin Texas, and was president of the group as well as the instructor at the local bar for several years.

I took about 2 years off from dancing to complete a graduate degree and am looking forward to getting back to dancing, taking classes and teaching in full force this year.

Jim Drew (Line and Couples) 

Jim Drew has been dancing country-western line and couples for nineteen years (starting in Eugene, OR), and teaching for eleven, plus stints of square dancing and clogging. During the 1990s, he lived in the Bay Area where he performed with the San Jose Spurs and the San Francisco Saddletramps, and taught at the Rawhide II. After moving to Seattle, he co-founded the Rain City Rhythm Riders dance team and taught at the Timberline and Timberline Spirits. He is a founder and president of the Rain Country Dance Association and teaches and DJs at their home bar, the Cuff Complex, as well as leading and dancing with the Rhythm Riders. He has also taught annual "San Francisco Style" Two-Step workshops at Sundance Stompede in San Francisco for several years.

Jim has competed in line dance several times on the IAGLCWDC circuit. He took Bronze in Intermediate Line Dance at the 2006 World OutGames in Montréal, placed first at the 2008 IAGLCWDC convention in Tampa, and won two golds and a silver to earn First Place Overall in Division II Intermediate Line Dance at the 2009 OutGames in Copenhagen.

Helen Foshee (Couples and IAGLCWDC's "Dangle Diva") 

Helen is best known as "the Dangle Diva" selling the event dangles for each of the IAGLCWDC events raising profit for the organization. Helen has taught for years in the clubs in Austin, Texas, both mainstream and gay clubs. She has been a member of many clubs over the years. She was a member of Southern Country Austin and then later a founding member of The Heart of Texas Hoedowners. You may not know it but Helen has been a backup dancer in several CMT videos!

Cherie Johnson (Line, Couples and core committee member for Dance Committee) 

Official Bio Coming Soon

Cherie has been involved with the IAGLCWDC circuit for years. I met her when she was working with the Othersiders from Norfolk, V.A. Cherie now resides in central Florida. Cherie has choregraphed many line dances, coached teams, served as a judge and mistress of ceremonies and has been a member of the core committee for the IAGLCWDC dance committee. Cherie is well versed in many different styles of dance and is an incredible couples instructor. She is also NTA, National Teaching Association for country dance accredited.

~ Don Curran

JP Potter (Line Dance and DJ Extraordinaire) 

JP Potter was born and raised in Ventura County, located 60 miles north of L.A., in beautiful Southern California! He started Line Dancing just before his 10th birthday and 18 years later, he is still on the dance floor!

Shortly after JP started dancing, he started teaching. First by showing just a couple of people some steps, but by the age of 12, JP was teaching Line Dance on a regular basis in his own weekly class. About that time JP also started choreographing his own Line Dances. It wasn't long before he started teaching his choreography at various Dance Festivals on the West Coast and across the Country! Today, JP has many dances that are popular all over the world including "Déjà vu," "Ease On Down," "Crush" & "Hot 'n' Hazy."

Aside from dancing, JP also has a passion for DJing. He was always hanging around the DJ booth at the local dance halls and by the time he was 14, JP was DJing on a regular basis as well as doing radio work for the local station. Today, JP DJs at Dance Events all over the country for the UCWDC as well as independently owned events. He is very happy to now be bringing his talent as a DJ to the IAGLCWDC!

When JP is not at a Dance Festival, you will still find him DJing! As Owner and Head DJ of Elegant Sounds in Ventura, CA, JP is kept pretty busy performing at Weddings & Corporate Events all over Southern California and beyond.

If you would like to contact JP about DJing, Teaching, or Mixing Music for a performance routine, he would love to hear from you!

Email: JP@ElegantSoundsDJ.com
Website: www.ElegantSoundsDJ.com

Leslie Thompson (Atlanta- Line and Beginning Couples) 

My name is Leslie Thompson. I am very excited not only to have this opportunity to provide the knowledge and techniques of line dance, but also to provide a fun atmosphere while teaching you the art of dance. Line dancing requires no experience : ). That is where I come in.

I am 51 years old and have been line dancing for over 14 years. I have been married for 26 years to my best friend, Mike and we have raised two children. My oldest son, Michael, is a 6th grade science and social studies teacher at Hampton Middle School in Henry County. My youngest son, Ryan, is a senior attending University of Georgia. I am currently a member of a dance team here in Georgia. "Local Motion", is an exhibition team which performs at a lot of fairs, festivals, and senior citizen centers in the state of Georgia. Local Motion is managed and directed by Debra Cleckler. Local Motion specializes in fun and has members of all ages. For 6 years, from 1999 through 2005, I danced on a competition team called, "Step In Time", which was directed by Rose Haven and Tandy Barrett was the choreographer. Step In Time won two consecutive (2004 & 2005) World championships in the United Country Western Dance Council Organization. We had over 42 members and specialized in cabaret dancing - dancing on a large production scale with styles ranging from country line, to partner, to tap, to clogging and to jazz dancing.

I started line dancing when I was 37 years old thanks to my mom, dad and older son, Michael. I have had the pleasure for over 14 years to dance and compete with Michael. What an honor and a thrill : ) When I lived in Maryland, I was on two dance teams, one exhibition and one competition. The exhibition team was, "Cancun Cantina" directed by Herb and Mary Ellen Saffield and the competition team was, "The Stampede Outlaws" directed by Pedro Machado. In 1997, our family moved to Louisiana where Michael and I had the pleasure to meet a group called the "Honky Tonk Stompers" which comprised of about 100 members. We had the pleasure of becoming part of their group/family and Michael became one of their favorites. What a wonderful bunch of people and the Stompers are still in existence today. While in Louisiana, I taught line dancing at Franco's fitness club until our family moved to Georgia in 1999.

Line dance is an extremely fun way to stay fit and is making your brain work at the same time without you even realizing. Line dance provides an opportunity to meet new people and you do not need a partner.

I am NTA accredited to teach Dance Fundamentals I & II. I received my accreditation in March, 2005. I teach line dance at three senior communities: The Brookdale Chambrel at Roswell in Roswell, GA, Somerby of Alpharetta in Alpharetta, GA and The Lodge at Bridge Mill in Canton, GA. I teach line dance lessons at *WOW* Fitness formerly named, The Club at Towne Lake two days a week which is located in Woodstock, GA. I lead a group of dancers, *Friends in Motion* from *WOW* Fitness and we perform at church functions, nursing homes, fairs/festivals and wherever we have the opportunity. I have taught line dance lessons at the Wild Bill's night club inGwinnett County on Sunday afternoons and currently teach at Cowboys in Kennesaw, GA. I teach line dance classes at Cherokee Recreation & Parks in Woodstock, GA on Tuesday mornings from 10-11am when the classes make and have taught at Shorty Howell Park in the activities building in Duluth, GA. I taught at The Wild Mustang in Atlanta, GA from November, 2007 - November, 2008. I teach at Chuck's II in Chattanooga, TN on every other Friday night from 8:30-10 pm. I enjoy giving private lessons, working with people who have special needs and entertaining at company events, fairs, parties and weddings.

Line dancing is popular with all age groups and all you need to get started is a smile and your own two feet. I provide an energetic approach to dancing and I am confident that you will enjoy my class and yourselves.

If you would like to get a hold of me, my email address is: dancintweety@comcast.net

Pepper Sharpe (Atlanta- Line Dance) 

Official Bio Coming Soon

Pepper has been performing, competing and teaching with Southern Line Atlanta for many years. She teaches at regional events also. She is also NTA accredited. Pepper's classes are always fun and upbeat and she makes sure everyone gets the opportunity to learn something from her classes.

~ Don Curran