Introducing... me!

Hello!

We have lots of new dancers joining us, and I thought it was time I introduced myself (this feels weird! But I remind myself, you don't know me, so here goes!)

My name is Sarah and I live in Coalpit Heath, on the edge of the North Bristol green belt. I'm married to Richard and we have two adult sons.

I started line dancing in the noughties; I used to hand over the baby to his dad and skedaddle out of the door for my hour's "me time" once a week. I'd pick up Mum on the way. The club was called Leather and Lace, run by Lyn Dyer, to whom I am still grateful. Oh, how I loved Lyn's classes. I loved the music, I loved learning the steps, and I couldn't get enough. I made mistakes and the other dancers helped me (thank you, Myra, for quietly pointing to show me the way to go!) I laughed a lot! I got hot! I bought boots! and like many of you, I quickly got "hooked".

I'd been going quite a few weeks when I reached a milestone - I remembered a routine all the way through. I proudly went home to show Richard!

Fast forward 18 months or so and I was devastated when Lyn said she'd decided to close the club. She'd been teaching for 10 years, and, she said, it's a lot of work. (She's right. It is!) I really missed my weekly line dance fix. Richard bought me a country music CD but it wasn't the same (although I did discover an artist I loved, a young fellow called Keith Urban.)

The following year I had a birthday party and Lyn kindly agreed to teach some line dances for my friends. We had a blast and so many of my friends spoke to me about how much fun it was, that I thought: I'll hire the hall and just start from there. If I can cover the hall hire, that'll do me! Lyn once again helped me on a phone call; she told me about line dancer magazine (this was before You Tube, Copperknob or many of the other helpful things we have today!) and she told me about what I call the "alphabet soup" you need to know if you're going to teach (PPL, PFI, PRS and a few others!)

And so, in June 2007, I started my little club. I ran a competition to name the club and chose Laughter in Line from the entries. I thought it captured the fun of line dancing!

I learned a lot along the way (including... if you're going to start a new class, don't do it in June!) I found an instructor's class (it was in Guildford) and did my exams. I made a lot of mistakes (I wasn't perfect then... and I'm still not perfect now!)

But, my love of line dancing, the music, and the lovely line dancers you meet, hasn't changed one bit in the nearly 20 years since I started Laughter in Line. I loved it then, and I love it now. It's a joy. Isn't it?

I would love to hear your comments - do you love it, too? And if so, why?

PS the image is a fake pic of me! I do love a bit of bling... but real me is not as glamourous as fake me!