JamBCHeader-TotalGroupShot
JamBC BC Flag 2002

Event Director's Report
Twisted Blue Line

Jambi the Frog
Photo Memories
of Jamboree BC 2002


For the ninth year in a row, Jamboree BC brought the West Coast line dance community together. This year we were joined by new and old friends from abroad: two from New Zealand, one from Australia, and two from The Netherlands. We also welcomed friends from Vancouver Island, Washington, and California. There were 30 instructors present, many from out of town. It was so nice to see so many new instructors on the scene.

The hall was 90% sold out, with 196 dancers, so it was nice to have that many but not have to turn anyone away. Jamboree BC continues to be the largest linedance-only event in the Northwest.

This year the date was Nov. 2, 2002 and we gathered again at the Kinsmen Recreation Centre in Tsawwassen, Delta, BC
(British Columbia), a suburb of Vancouver, Canada.
The K.R.C. has been our home for this event since day one.
Vancouver

Saturday morning began early with people starting to arrive at 8:00 to help decorate and set up chairs and tables. The volunteers were incredibly efficient and the hall was ready in 20 minutes. Grant and Bill had decorated the night before, so everything was all set for the doors to open at 8:30. It was a beautiful day, sunny and mild. Thanks to 90% of the dancers pre-registering, there was never a line-up at registration. Grant Gadbois, Annette Cyra, Bridget and Jennifer MacCallum, and Susan Clark kept everyone flowing in nicely.

I hosted the first part of the day, and introduced our opening instructor Jo Miller who drove all the way from Richland, Washington to teach us her really fun dance "Cartoons" to the song "Witch Doctor". Jo did a great job of patterning her dance to the sections of the song which many people remembered from their youth. We also squeezed in a lesson from Carmel ("@ The Hop") Hutchinson who taught her dance "This Way".

Then it was time to start the choreography competition. In our unique competition, new dances are taught and then judged by any of the dancers who wish to participate (this year well over 90% contributed their votes). Afterward the scores were tallied and an average score determined. Averaging the scores makes it unnecessary for everyone to take every single workshop. Three choreography competition workshops took place in the morning and four in the afternoon, leaving the evening for general dancing, performances, and awards. Of course there were lots of dance breaks and entertainment which broke up the day.

The choreographers, in order of their workshops were: Jenifer Reaume (Vancouver area), Betty Clarke (Vancouver Island), Christy Fox (Vancouver area), Charlotte Skeeters (California), Ember Schira and Lisa Strong --taught by Ember (Vancouver area), Ernie "Hutch" Hutchinson (California), Bev Sutherland (Saltspring Island)

Lunch was "in", catered by the centre’s staff. Due to popular demand in previous years, our deejay, Ember Schira provided dance music even during the lunch hour. Some people just won't sit down!

At 2:00 we were entertained by 3 Mini Teams (Duos and Trios). The Urban Chipmunks drew first spot. Betty Clarke and Claire Gent were very cute as Alvin-type chipmunks. Next came the Bavarian Buckaroos, husband and wife team Len and Kirsten Person. In the German folk costumes, they swigged beer, slapped their shoes and put smiles on everyone's faces. Susan Clark and Bridget MacCallum added a teammate this year, Bridget's young daughter Jennifer who has become in just one year a very stylish dancer. These entertaining routines were then considered by the attendees who voted for their favourite team. (Results below.)

The choreography competition continued until 3:45, after which there was entertainment and one more dance workshop. Lyndsay Ryan (from the northern beaches of Sydney, Australia) taught us an Aussie dance, Terry Hogan's "West Texas Waltz".

By late afternoon everyone was ready for something relaxing but fun, so that's when we had our annual "Crazy Time". This portion of the event has developed out of such craziness as last year's Bag Dancing, which was a little hard to top. But this year I think we got even more laughs with the contest I called "The Produce Pass". You had to be there, but it involved passing items of produce up one leg, across the front, and down the other leg. Jeans were required apparel for the men as this presented a little bit of a challenge for the women doing the passing of the produce: a lemon, a banana (some with big honkin' knobs on them too), and a hard-boiled egg except for one we were not sure about. (At least that was the story.) We had 5 couples, 2 representing the US, 2 representing Canada, and one couple of Kiwis from New Zealand. And wouldn't you know it would be Graham Harris of Auckland to have the most fun with his banana.
Len and Kirsten Person managed to best the rest by passing the items the fastest, but, surprisingly,
they turned down their award... all the produce used in the contest! Go figure. :-)

During the dinner break, dancers had two options: 1) take a two-hour dinner break for a nice leisurely dinner at the myriad of restaurants within walking distance, or 2) they could order in food (or they could have brought it) for dinner and then be treated to some quick line dance lessons by Ember Schira who breezed everybody through some of our favorite recent line dances.

The "Late Part Day" began at 7:00 with general dancing for the majority and, for the instructors, an informal get-together where they could meet each other and where we had some photos taken. There was one dance workshop as part of the evening festivities. I taught the beautiful "Bellissimma" by Craig Smith, the dance that won the recent choreography competition at "Battle of the Boots" in South Africa (from 24 entries!)

Hours of dancing followed featuring many of the most popular recent dances. A break was offered by Western Spirit dressed as the California Raisins. Many thanks to Western Spirit for all the hard work they put into this routine.

General dancing went on until 11pm at which time only a few hearty souls were left standing.

* * * AWARDS * * *

Team Awards

Mini Teams winners were Kirsten and Len Person, the "Bavarian Buckaroos".

Choreography Awards

1st place certificate and $100 cash award: Chirsty Fox for "Hip To Your Jive"

2nd place certificate and $50 cash award: Bev Sutherland for"G.I. Rhythm & Blues"

3rd place certificate and $30 cash award: Betty Clarke for "High & Low"

Congratulations and thanks to ALL our choreographers. The general feedback was that this was one of the strongest years for new dances and many instructors were interested in more than the top 3 dances! That's terrific!

STEP SHEETS of the DANCES TAUGHT
Contact the choreographers:

Betty Clarke: bettysdancefun@telus.net

Christy Fox: ihopeyoudance@telus.ne

Carmel Hutchinson: CARMELH@aol.com

Ernie "Hutch" Hutchinson: WARDHUTCH@cs.com

Jo Miller: Josdancin@aol.com

Jenifer Reaume: "Fine Brown Frame" Step sheet can be found at http://www.geocities.com/vibration_2000/finebrownframe.htm
or e Jenifer at jenifer_reaume@telus.net

Ember Schira: stepnscuff@shaw.ca or Lisa Strong: lstrong@uniserve.com

Charlotte Skeeters: cskeeters@sbcglobal.net

Bev Sutherland: bevanjoe@canada.com

Thank you very much, everyone, especially the many volunteers, for helping make this another memorable event. Thanks to all the instructors who supported this event so well. Thanks to Lynda Taylor for helping
with the emcee duties. Thanks to Joe Archer for being available. And most special thanks to the special assistant without whom this event could not happen, Grant Gadbois.

Jamboree BC 2002 was the last of 8 successful annual events.
A huge thank you
to anyone who contributed and everyone who attended these events!!!
The photo pages will, hopefully, be a reminder of those good times.



 

  Event reports and photos from past years
are linked in the table below.

This photo, from Jamboree BC 1999,
shows Michael Barr, Julie Molkner, and Bill Bader.
 Photo: Michael Barr, Julie Molkner, Bill Bader at JamBC 99

Jamboree BC memories...
 
Event Reports

2000 Event Report
2001 Event Report
2002 Event Report
Photos

2000 Photos
2001 Photos
2002 Photos

Home Page

This page was updated October, 2005.
Webpage designed by Bill Bader. Special thanks to Lisa Strong for her help.
© Bill Bader 2002 - 2005.    Photos are not public domain.

bill, bader, baders, jamboree, bc, choreography, linedancing, line, dance, dances, choreographer, linedances, bootscootin, bootscootin', bootscooting, event director