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Not Just Another Line Dance
Conversations around the dance community designed to get to know dancers and why we love dancing so much.
Not Just Another Line Dance
Not Just Another Line Dance Episode #1
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Not Just Another Line Dance Episode 01 Features Sunset Coast Country Dancers Founders Jason Sutton (HOST) and Sharon Haynes. This episode follows the back story of how Sharon got into dancing and what she loves about it.
Join us for the backstory and all the good details that's not just another line dance.
Welcome to Not Just Another Wine Dance. I'm your host, Jason Sutton. And today I'm here with my business partner, my dance partner, Sharon Haynes. Hi Sharon, how are you? How are you there? How are you? I'm great. It's a beautiful day in Southwest Michigan, so. And I'm here with you, which is awesome. That's always awesome. Yeah, it's good to be great. You look wonderful today. I like the shirt.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_01Very fancy.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00There's many prints of these available, so especially for you. Yeah, we have to.
SPEAKER_01Um, well, I wanted to get into a little bit about dancing in your background specifically. Because I thought to myself, you know, someone asked me, how did you get into it? And I thought to myself, I know how I got into it, but I want to know how you got into how did you get into dancing?
SPEAKER_00Um when people people assume that, oh, you must have grown up dancing, or oh, you took dance lessons as a kid, or whatever. No, I didn't. Um I didn't take any formal dance lessons, much to my uh chagrin. I I wanted to. Um but not until college when I was at Michigan State. There was um this informal the dance company of Michigan State had an off-year. They had some informal, you could join their rehearsals, so I did and discovered that I loved the actual discipline of dancing and learning how to do it correctly. And that year turned out to be modern dance. And then since then, my entire adulthood, I just went to the Y and did their, it was called Dance It Out and Groove Your Moves class. Did you IMC it? Uh no. It was it was a little fancier than that. But it was my introduction to jazz and contemporary dance to just normal pop music. Um, we learned a lot because because Nancy Gitlin and and Amy McQuer uh Boland are excellent teachers and they taught those classes for years and years. I actually learned a lot from them, and then that translated into the dance repertoire class at the Y that I've been part of for 20 years. Uh so all my um all of that was very informal education in my adulthood. And then when I was around 40, I started ballroom lessons. I discovered the world of ballroom and then took actual formal years of private lessons. Which is why you're so good. Well, which is which is gives me a lot of room to improvise and add to line dancing. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So lots of ballroom in your in your 40s, like you said, but dancing throughout periodically uh in your life as an adult, never as a kid. Right. Which is which is pretty cool to see.
SPEAKER_00Those are middle school dances, you know. Oh yeah. Then people thought I was just weird. Like, boy, she's a little crazy out there.
SPEAKER_01I've got those dance stories too, so I understand. But um, so in your adult years, you took ballroom, which is great.
SPEAKER_00Uh yeah, and then so what people should know is that you can start. I thought I was old at 40. I'm like, I can't believe I'm taking my first private dance lesson. And turned out I was one of the youngest people there.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Yeah. That is fascinating. Because it is something that you you think, oh, I'm too old to start dancing. I thought that as well, because I didn't start till I was in my 40s as well, either. So, um, which is kind of unique. So line dancing comes up in your life, which is kind of odd. Oh because it wasn't ballroom, it's it was totally different. Yeah, yeah. And how did line dancing go up?
SPEAKER_00You know full well.
SPEAKER_01I know, I think it's kind of funny.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. It's a funny story. Yeah, we didn't know. Um, you wanted to learn dancing to country music, and the only thing I had ever heard of was two step in the ballroom world, which I didn't even know how to teach that. Um, so we're like, well, why don't we line dance?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, which is interesting because I I think, you know, years back when I hired you to teach me how to dance, um, I thought I just wanted to do some swing in two step. And then when we were learning the partner stuff and seeing so many people line dance out there, it just kind of was this what is this? Why is there hundreds of people on the dance floor, you know? And what world am I missing? Yeah, and they're and they're all ages. There were teenagers, there were people in the 30s and 40s and 50s and 80s and 90s out dancing on the floor, and you're just like, wait a second, this is pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I realized that the group at the dank had broken up 15 years ago or a long time ago, and we thought, why not us?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And uh, I mean, it was a perfect opportunity to start uh Sunset Coast Country Dancers and start dancing as a group. Uh do you remember the first Tuesday?
SPEAKER_00I sure do. We knew all of 10 dances.
SPEAKER_01Maybe 10. I think maybe eight. I don't know. Like it's it's one of those things you only know a few, and you're like, well, let's just see if we can teach people these absolute beginners. And uh then next thing you know, we're teaching intermediates three years later, you know, advanced three years later in a dance studio, which is uh which is fascinating to me. It's it's really a cool thing that has happened, and um, I I I just think it's great. So back to that. I mean, I I would I would never guess we had 50 people show up that first day. Oh, I thought we'd had maybe it blew me away. It blew me away too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was so exciting.
SPEAKER_01But oh no, I have to learn a lot more dances really fast. That is the that is the the thought. Like I just don't know enough, and I still today don't know enough. We'll never know it all. Yeah, you we won't we'll never know at all. Uh I was just thinking last uh weekend I met this guy, Steve Kavanaugh, who's just a wonderful line dancer, and he was listing off all the dances he danced over the weekend and what he knew, and you're just blown away by that list. I mean, it was hundreds. That was mind-boggling. You're just like, wait a second, you remembered all that? He's yeah, he remembered all that, and he wrote it down apparently. So uh pretty crazy. So I think um I think what we got going on is amazing. Sunset Coast is great. Uh, did you ever think you would have a dance studio like we have?
SPEAKER_00I kind of had a dance studio at the time. So no, I didn't imagine that Sunset Coast would have its own studio, but I love our little studio, and yeah, uh we we couldn't do any of all this without all our dancers being so excited to dance with us. It's pretty exciting.
SPEAKER_01So people people ask me like uh uh Sharon been dancing forever, and I think that we we talked about with your background. And how do you think ballroom has helped you in the line dancing world specifically?
SPEAKER_00Oh a lot, a lot. Uh musicality, I can tell what type of dance it is by as soon as I hear the music. Therefore, I know what types of moves should go to it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh therefore, however the line dance is written makes sense to me. Um I can add, I can upgrade it uh fairly easily with arm motions. I think adding arms is really important. I know that's it's tough for a lot of line dancers. Um but incorporating your whole body, you know. It's you shouldn't ignore half of your body. That's true. And just move your feet. You should try to move move it all like we do when we walk or run. We incorporate it all. Um but but I know that that comes a little bit easier for me. Um but yeah, I'd like to encourage people to you get more of a workout when you incorporate your whole body. But no, it's really taught me a lot of body awareness, musicality. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um I think when people mention like Sharon is so good, they're seeing all your movements, the way you position your body, the way you move your hips, and even how you whip your hair around. I mean, it's beautiful, it's a wonderful thing to watch, and you're a very good dancer. So uh I always compliment you know you in the sense that she's the one, she's the beautiful one to watch her, you know what I mean. But uh it it's it's it's pretty cool to watch you dance like that. How do you feel when you're dancing?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I there's nothing I'd rather be doing. I love it. I I love it. It's it's you absolutely get transported. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I feel like sometimes when I watch you dance, you're completely lost in the song. I am and you're not there. Yeah, you know, every now and then I get a little glimpse and a smile or a wink out of you, but mainly you are in that song, you are in that dance, which is very therapeutic, so to say. You know, it's like uh 100%. Like you're just in this happy space, which I think is super cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's I was thinking about what makes a line dance good, and it's you know it's a good dance when after you get the hang of it, you can be lost in it. Yeah, you can solely focus on the music because the moves flow so well that you don't have to think about them at all. And yeah, you might mess up here and there because I get so lost. And I'm not thinking about the thing is I'm not thinking about life or my you know, bills or any issues. I'm so lost in the actual music. Yeah. And if the sign of a good line dance is when the moves flow so well that you can you do have the luxury of getting lost in the music and and you're on autopilot, yeah, and your body can just carry on.
SPEAKER_01Great. So yeah. Uh those are those are actually uh some very good points. And you know, I've asked you, you know, what got you into it. Why are you in line dancing, so to say? Why do you do it? Why?
SPEAKER_00Oh, because it's a new form of dance I didn't know before, and I and so far there hasn't been a form of dance I don't like. Um because I've met my best friends and the most amazing people through it. And it brings, and actually I I think even more rewarding than that is seeing other people connect to new friends and best friends and and get to know people. Um I know our second, our second anniversary, um, I think I started crying because it was it was amazing to see what had been able to come together.
SPEAKER_01In such a short period of time.
SPEAKER_00In such a short period of time. And you realize that a year or two ago, none of these people who are hugging and going out together and and are best friends, none of these people knew each other a year or two ago. They didn't.
SPEAKER_01And it's so hard to believe now. Yeah, and especially it's just such a small town. You think you'd cross paths all you may have seen somebody before, but now you're like waiting to see them on Tuesday night or Thursday night or Friday night or whatever.
SPEAKER_00I don't know how many times I've told myself, oh, this is too small a town, this area is too small.
SPEAKER_01But then it keeps proving me wrong. Yeah, because you feel like it's huge because now you're like, I didn't know these people. There's more people coming out of the woodwork. Join us, which is what we want. It's more people dancing. So uh one of my questions for you is what is your favorite line dance attire?
SPEAKER_00Attire, yeah. Like, what do you like to wear? Ooh. These jeans? Jeans. Yeah. Yeah, jeans, uh boots, and I don't know, just just a uh well-fitting t-shirt. Comfy T. V-neck, and V-neck. You know what I mean? Or a tank top or something. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh do you have a favorite spot that you like to line dance? A place? Yeah, favorite place. Like what's your favorite night line dancing? Your ideal night, where's it where would you like to dance? On a hardwood floor. On a hardwood floor.
SPEAKER_00On a good beat-up hardwood floor. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um yeah. All right. Uh my last question is what is your favorite line dance? Ah. That's a tough one. Well, it is a tough one because boy, have we we've got some great. Oh, would have known you go from 10 to 300, no one 300, you're like, what?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um I think I like the vibe a lot. Because when it comes to being able to get lost in a song that flows really well and it hits the hits the the hits. You know, um, that's really fun. I like I have to get out there whenever that one's on. The the new ones, the sixes to nines. Yeah, sixes and nines.
SPEAKER_01I like to say any Joe Schwanske dance is like.
SPEAKER_00Or Madison Glover.
SPEAKER_01So good. You're like, they really thought and there's hundreds of great choreographers out there. I just think they're so good. You just want to dance those dances.
SPEAKER_00So 100%.
SPEAKER_01I love it. Well, this has been great. I actually love dancing and talking with you, and I just I can't wait to dance and talk more with you about line dancing. I was just thinking the other day we choreographed a new dance, and it was so fun choreographing that. It sure is creating together and then dancing together. Um that's my second favorite thing.
SPEAKER_00If I'm not dancing, I want to be doing choreography.
SPEAKER_01I love it. Well, thank you for joining me today on our little podcast.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm excited for it. Thanks for the opportunity.
SPEAKER_01Welcome. Thank you. We'll see you next time. If you are looking to line dance with us, come to sunsetccd.com or visit us on any of the socials, Sunset Coast Country Dancers, on our Instagram and TikTok.