JULY 2026 NEWSLETTER

    Here is our sixth newsletter for 2026. We are now settled into our new apartment, though the car stacker is still giving us headaches as the bugs get worked out of it. We have ordered new supplies of the Shoe Socks which will arrive in a few weeks. These allow people wearing grippy shoes to still dance without wrenching their ankles. If you have this issue, we recommend looking at getting some, or bringing a second pair of less grippy shoes.
Information below on:

    Class Changes
    AI (Artificial Intelligence) Music
    2026 Regular Socials - How they work
    Line Dance Quality - Reprint from Sydney
    LDSA Travel  - Future Holiday Destinations

See you on the dance floor,
Liz & Peter Heath and the Instructor Team

      Class Changes

    Most classes are running as usual. However Barbara is on holidays for a month, so we have relief instructors looking after her classes while she is away. On Thursday 13th August, we have a slight clash, so the relevant changes will be for 1 week only to allow all classes to continue.

    South Plympton Crossover Class will run from 10am till Noon.
    South Plympton Transition Class will run from 2:30-4:30pm
    Murray Bridge (Both Classes) will not be running Tues 28th July as Debbie has had a Fall.                                  

    The Plympton change is for 1 week only to enable Peter to run the Unley class in between the two Pympton classes.

PLEASE NOTE At 1:30 today Monday 27th July there will be a national test of the emergency warning system, so all phones will go off. It is just a test, not a real warning

      AI (Artificial Intelligence) Music

    The last few months have seen the emergence of multiple producers of AI music. The Line Dance community of choreographers seem to have embraced this source of new material, and there are a wave of new dances being produced in response.
    AI music requires no musicians, or singers, to be used to create this new sound. Sometimes an existing song is taken and overlaid with AI generated percussion or effects, such as is used by us for the dance "Glass Of Wine", which uses "Cry To Me" by Solomon Burke from the soundtrack of Dirty Dancing as its source. Sometimes an existing song created by a real artist is sampled and modified, often so that the original is no longer recognisable, such as for the dance "Boot Scratchin'" which was apparently created using Boot Scootiin' Boogie by Brooks & Dunn as the source.       Othertimes, the source may be completely created from generic musical algorithms.
    Since starting teaching dancing in the 1980's, I have always paid royalties to the artists and composers who create the music we enjoy dancing to. I have always paid for the original recordings of the music, where it was possible to buy it. In the early days, we employed live bands to play at our socials to support the live music scene (this stopped when we started using specific songs to specific dances, and the bands could not keep up with our appetite for variety).
    When a live band puts out a new song to the world, there is a recording done, and everyone gets the same version (or set of versions/mixes etc). This new music is often sold on the standard distribution channels such as Amazon and iTunes, but sometimes is only available through video clips and TicTok feeds. The producers of the songs may tinker with the song (because they can easily do so) and put out adjusted versions creating ambiguity to the users of the song regarding the version required for a dance.
    To me, this creates an ethical dilemma. Are we looking at Live music being replaced with AI productions, putting musicians, composers and artists out of work. I'm sure in the 20th century, the same sort of conflict arose when popular music challenged the classical music dominance that my parents grew up with. Then Punk music challenged the standard Pop music scene, and so on.
    Hopefully we will see a harmonic blending of AI into the existing music scene, rather than a dominance of one over the other. I cannot see any reason to avoid using AI music on principal. We tried that in the 1990's when we exclusively used Country Music over any other, till the Country Music artists switched to ballads over Country Rock, and we were forced to change the exclusivity due to popular demand.
    Some of the AI music is great for dancing, some seems too "manufactured". I guess we will use our "tastebuds" to filter out the rubbish and keep the gems, like we always have.

      2026 Regular Socials - How they work

    Socials are an integral part of our line dance organisation. They provide an opportunity for our dancers to test out their knowledge and skills, check out their options to stretch themselves in a higher level, and meet other members of our community from different regional areas.
    The bulk of the programme for the social is chosen from request sheets that are submitted by those attending when they arrive at the door. For this reason it changes every time, so you don't know what you will dance till the day. Each primary dance will be walked through a minimum of two walls to refresh the memory. We attempt to give each requester at least one dance from the 5 that they can nominate, but if you decide to ask for 5 "esoteric" dances, there is no guarantee. There may be some secondary dances (split floors) danced down the back, but those may not be walked through if there is not the resources to do so.
    NOTE: A new policy will be in place for higher level dances from August 2026 onwards. This is to make the selection of the dance fairer for those that dance with us, to reduce the walk through time, and to improve the success rate for the dancers attempting the choreography. No dances level 6 and above (intermediate and advanced) will be selected from request sheets. Instead they will be selected in the Crossover and Challenge classes the weeks before, to enable them to prepare and practice the dances. Only those planning to attend will have input into the selection.

The social dates for the rest of this year are:

    Sunday 16th August 1:30pm to 5:00pm

    Sunday 20th September 1:30pm to 5:00pm

    Sunday 25th October 1:30pm to 5:00pm

    Sunday 29th November 1:30pm to 5:00pm

The Address is: West Croydon and Kilkenny RSL, 19 Rosetta St, West Croydon.
Dancing starts at 1.30pm and concludes at 5pm at a cost of $18 (cash only).
    The program is run by request, and everyone gets a request form when they enter, to nominate 5 dances they would like to do. We try to ensure that you get at least one of those, but we only do about 5 level 6+ dances during the session, so don't just ask for really hard ones (or lots of unusual ones), or you could miss out altogether.
    We have a break about half way through, where we share a combined afternoon tea for 20 minutes. Please bring a small plate of food to share with your fellow dancers.     Also bring a coffee cup if you wish to take advantage of the free tea and coffee provided. We will have minimal fridge space, and a pie warmer, but no oven, so please don’t bring food that needs cooking or defrosting. We feel this is good way to assist people to mix and chat. Doors will open 30 minutes before the starting time.

      Line Dance Quality - Reprint from Sydney   Click this link to view

    One thing that's been a hot topic lately is the rise of people jumping straight into teaching line dancing without taking the time to really learn how to teach.
    This isn't about keeping people out or saying new instructors aren't welcome. We need new teachers. We need fresh ideas and passionate people. But teaching is a responsibility, not just the next step after learning a few dances.
    It feels like some people see line dancing as the latest trend, a chance to build a social media following, or a quick way to make a few dollars. The problem is that when teaching becomes more about attention than education, the dancers are the ones who miss out.
    A great instructor does so much more than stand at the front of the room. They teach technique, timing, musicality, floorcraft, and confidence. They know how to break things down, correct bad habits, and create a safe, welcoming environment. Those skills don't appear overnight—they come from years of learning, dancing, making mistakes, and continuing to improve.
    When inexperienced instructors start teaching too soon, poor habits get passed on, incorrect information spreads, and new dancers often become frustrated because they aren't getting the foundations they need. Eventually, those dancers either have to relearn everything or they leave the scene altogether.
    Having a big social media following doesn't automatically make someone a good teacher. Being able to dance well doesn't automatically make someone a good teacher either. Teaching is its own skill, and it's one that deserves respect.
If you genuinely want to teach, that's fantastic. Find a mentor. Keep learning. Take instructor training. Spend time developing your craft. The best teachers never stop being students.
    At the end of the day, this isn't about gatekeeping. It's about protecting the quality of our community. Every instructor has an impact on the future of line dancing, and I think our dancers deserve the very best we can offer.

      LDSA Travel - Future Holiday Destinations

    So, our recent travel experience is complete, and we are starting to firm up our 2027 adventure.
    It is based around a cruise from Athens to Rome via the Adriatic Sea, including visits to: Kotor (Montenegro), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Split (Croatia), Venice (Chioggia Italy), Šibenik (Croatia), Bari (Italy), Crotone (Italy), Messina (Sicily Italy), Naples (Italy Including Pompeii visit). We will be doing a 4 day land tour of Greece prior to the cruise, and 2 days touring in Rome after the cruise, before we spend 7 days on the islands of Malta (maybe with a Balloon flight) then return home. We will be cruising with Viking again, as it is a smaller ship that can get closer to the destinations (especially Venice where we will be for 3 days), without kids or casinos. We have used them twice, and their quality and attention to detail is impeccable.
    After that trip, we have a number of options for subsequent years, and none are locked down. I would like to gather suggestions or expressions of interest from anyone that may like to join us, if the offering interests them. We don't revisit destinations that we have covered over our 20+ years of travel, so here are some places we haven't been and would like to visit (actual itineraries are not available or even scoped out yet, these are just concepts at the moment):
    Scandinavian Sea Cruise with Finland (Northern Lights) before and Switzerland after (or Iceland instead?)
    Indian Brahmaputra River Cruise (including some land to Taj Mahal, Delhi, etc) with Sri Lanka before and possibly Myanmar (Burma) or Nepal after
    Alaska Cruise with Rocky Mountaineer Train Trip in Canada before and maybe Northern USA (Yellowstone, Craters of the Moon etc) after
    African Safari to Kenya and Uganda with Madagascar before and Reunion after
    Western Mediterranean Cruise (Rome to Lisbon) with Doha (Qatar) before and Marrakesh (Morocco) after
    Land/Sea tour of Indonesia and the Philippines including Resort stays
    Relocation Cruise from Hawaii to Sydney via Tahiti and New Zealand with Hawaii before

    Please respond if any of these suggestions interest you. We plan to be doing them all at some stage, but can only do groups if there is sufficient interest.
    The advantages of our group tours are:
    Peter does all the work making arrangements, converting currency, organising catch ups, modifying itineraries, etc
    We use a reputable Travel Agent who we have had a very long and wonderful relationship with.
    We have a reputation over 20 years in providing exiting and customised group tours to many varied destinations
    We maximise the experiences in the limited time we have in the destinations. You will never see "a day off to relax in your room" in one of our itineraries. We assume you are there to absorb the destination and maximise your value for your travel money.
    By having our own itinerary, (own guide and driver when applicable for land tours), we can modify the itinerary "on the fly" if the majority of travellers are "templed out", "castled out" or "beached out", and find an alternative attraction  to replace "just another.temple/castle/beach etc"..
    We share the cost of the driver, guide etc, to make it more affordable for all and safer than not having one.