Events

TIM GILLIS SPRING DANCE WEEKEND – APRIL 24-26, 2009
HONOR’S HAVEN, ELLENVILLE, NEW YORK

Another dance weekend has come and gone and the memories will last forever.
This was by far the best weekend we’ve had. The weather was spectacular, the hotel is getting better and better and the meals were so delicious.
We started off on Thursday night with a great buffet meal. Seventy-five attendees choose to come early and kick off the weekend with 7 bonus lessons, plus open dancing with DJ Bronco Jim in the nightclub. The bonus instructors and dances taught were:
Lynne Martino – Here’s Looking At You Kid by Steve Lescarbeau
Rosie Multari – Single Ladies by Barry Durand
Vivienne Scott – Play the Song
Forty Arroyo – Dance Sista
Rachael McEnancy – Mueve La Colita
Arline Winerman – Cheatin Love
Johanna Barnes – Oh, Babe
We had a star studded cast for the weekend and the grid was packed with the newest and some classic dances. Our staff included: Scott Blevins, Rachael McEnaney, John Robinson, Rosie Multari, Lynne Martino, Arline Winerman, Rona Kaye, Forty Arroyo, Johanna Barnes, Robert DeLong, Lynne Flanders, Dancin Dean, Vivienne Scott, Mike and Dodie Serben, Mal and Linda Zerden.
You can check out the grid on Tim’s website:www.timgillisdanceweekends.com
There were also three special seminar classes. Rosie gave a talk on How to Dance Longer & Stronger-Technique; John Robinson gave a seminar on Why Is that Dance Choreographed Like That? And Johanna Barnes gave a FAQ seminar on Competing.
The Tim Gillis Band was terrific on both Friday and Saturday night with Judy, Lucy and Joanne singing with Tim. Our DJ’s Bronco Jim, Mike Serben, Donna Shea and Ellen Kiernan kept everyone out on the dancefloor til the wee hours of the morning. And if you weren’t dancing then you were in the karaoke lounge with Dominic Tromboli having a good old time cranking out the tunes.
The theme of our show this year was Anniversaries – The British Invasion, Motown, Ken & Barbie, Catwoman & Footloose. We opened the show with a routine created by Arline Winerman. The song was “We Heard It’s Your Birthday” sung by the Beatles. We had 12 members who represented each month with a hat.We danced to Happy Radio and each month got a turn to strut their stuff. It really got the audience to participate when their months came up.
Forty Arroyo put together a routine for “Downtown”. Rosie added a little flair with twirling umbrellas and Scott and Rachael did a beautiful nc2 dance.
Then the Beatles came out and did their rendition of “We’re Going To Be On Ed Sullivan” from the movie “Bye Bye Birdie”. Chris Scott (Vivienne’s husband, Robert DeLong, Dean and Dodie were the Beatles.
Donna Shea and Mike did a beautiful dance to a Motown hit and the crowed loved it.
Next up was John Robinson and Myself as 70 yr. old Ken and Barbie. What can I say but that it was such a treat to work with John to get this routine together. I think we had more fun creating it
Rachael McEnancy did her fabulous Cat Woman routine. Unfortunately, I only saw it at rehearsal, but it look fantastic and I could hear the audience’s applause to verify that!
Our closing number was a tribute to the movie “Footloose”. Wow, what a number Rosie created. But, as usual, the miracle of the rehearsal paid off and everyone cooperated and we got it done. All in black with colorful scarfs and belts, we brought back the gymnasium scene at the end of the movie the best we could. It was a blast!

Now back to the food….. on Friday night we had a midnight continental breakfast and on Saturday night, the most fun, make your own ice cream sundae. Yeah.
Sunday continued with breakfast, workshops and a fairwell lunch.

A little bit about the hotel. Honor’s Haven has been going through renovations now for the past 2 years. The pool and spa is now finished and it is beautiful. The rooms are lovely and the staff is accommodating to your needs. The golf course is pristine and from the patio outside of the nightclub you have a pastoral view of the lake and the golf course. You can also take a hike to the falls, which is only a 10 minute walk. The hotel has a fully equipped workout room right next to the dancefloor. Our dancefloors are only 2 years old made of solid oak and great on the feet and the legs.

We’re off to Reading, Pa on July 16th and then the Fall weekend Veteran’s Day weekend in November.

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