Who is Mark Traynor?

Mark has been involved with the Dance Industry in every capacity for over 35 years. Since concentrating primarily upon West Coast Swing (WCS) for the past 21 years he has helped establish many techniques now being taught and used throughout the WCS circuit nationwide. Because he has never been a competitor on the circuit it took some time for his Floorplay concepts to spread and take hold across the nationwide West Coast community but now can be seen and are used everywhere by dancers and instructors alike, possibly without ever knowing where they originated.

Mark has suggested for years that because of the ever expanding possibilities, as well as techniques already utilized and accepted by the WSDC, NASDE and the dance community in general, WCS should be re-classified as another dance form completely. Aficionados of the dance will tell you that what we’re doing today, and have been doing for quite some time is not classic WC anymore but a much more advanced, all inclusive form of Swing that has evolved far beyond its original intent and syllabus.

Today, Mark continues to be an innovative force thru his Floorplay Dance Clubs and teaching concepts. Here are several that have helped make today’s WCS a much easier dance to learn, execute and understand as it continues to evolve.

Read Mark’s Articles

Various Steps, Patterns and Movements
The Extended Count
The ‘Play’ Set-Up

The 2010-’11 edition of our FloorPlay New Years Swing Vacation was, according to all of the positive feedback and comments a great success! This was our 12^th Event overall and 6^th New Years Party where we plan to remain. What better place to be than Orlando at New Years and the Rosen Plaza as the host Hotel. With sunny mid 70’s weather, our Sat. night Pizza Party was poolside and the WCS Flash Mob performance at Pointe Orlando was comfortable, well received by the locals and other tourists and well done by all the dancers who participated.

A HUGE THANKS to everyone who attended as we once again topped 500 including staff. Almost 400 of whom have learned that it’s worth it to take advantage of the fantastic Dinner Buffet included at Café’ Matisse in the Rosen on New Years Eve.

This year we added a series of Pro / Am Competitions to our regular WSDC Jack ‘n Jills and Florida State Swing Dance Championship. There was very good participation in all and Congratulations go to Justin Wolcott & Krista Martin of S. Fl. for winning the 8^th edition of the FSSDC following last years 2-time winners Christopher Lo & Dawn Sgarlatta. Being our first foray into the Pro / Am divisions, as well as some of the Judges, there was (as explained below ) a mix-up in scoring one division that has been corrected. A sorry to those affected either way and Congratulations to all who competed on any and every level adding to the weekends excitement and entertainment.

Speaking of which, Thanks to all of the great Pro Instructors who joined us this year for a terrific New Years Eve show and the many workshops conducted and well received. Robert & Nicola Royston doing a usual masterful job emceeing, Mary Ann Nunez, Orlando’s Jen Deluca, Michael Kielbasa, Marcus Smith & Trendlyon Veal, Danielle Blouin, Trish Berlanga and Steven White. And be sure to get a video of all the weekends festivities, workshops and competitions from Jack ‘n Jill Productions. Tagg Leduc does a masterful job putting it all together.

But no event can be successful without two all important things, a good dance floor and a GREAT sound system with fabulous music! The dance floors were smoothly provided by Cherry Taylor and Master Dance Floors of Tampa. The sound systems by Orlando’s Kevin McDeed who also provided some cool lighting and video for the Midnight Champagne toast. Kevin ‘KMac’, also set the tone as always with a terrific variety of music to keep everyone moving. He continues to be the ‘soul’ of the FloorPlay Dance Club events and dances. April Prince was back with us again proving her position as ‘one of the best’ and setting up all of the competition music as well as playing for the crowd. Ken Dillard, also of Chicago was terrific every time up! And, we were pleased to have Nathalie Scott with us all the way from France as she carves her own niche here in the states. I suspect judging from the compliments you’ll be seeing her around the circuit. I heard nothing but compliments about all of our music ALL weekend long with lots of new tunes being heard. Great Thanks to the DJ’s!

As always, there are MANY on any event staff who make it all work. Without them it simply doesn’t happen. I like to think we have the best staff anywhere. These are the folks who initially greet you, sign you in, answer your questions, handle security, keep things organized in all aspects of presentation and make everyone feel welcome…all with a smile! Ed Sullivan & Nora Batts lead Security and recruit ample ‘friendly’ help including Janie Morningstar, Ginger Rosacia and Jacqueline Jauz. Registration is very involved and Amy Palmer was the key to making it all happen and running smoothly. She did so much behind the scenes it would be too hard to describe. Helping out tremendously were Meggan and Marilyn Thomas, Cindy Winternitz, Linda Murphy, Jutta Baerman and Sandy Sanborn. And, last but not least there are those who are those who contribute in a WIDE variety of ways without who’s help there would be noticeable deficiencies in organization. Diane Scott, Bill Bray and Maria Hardy are these people along with Danielle Blouin and Mike Oates who provided the Pro /Am Awards. And, like many mentioned here help with FloorPlay cruises and dances throughout the year. I Sincerely Thank you all for your tremendous efforts and to those who helped I may have omitted here.

A final HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who attended this year. Always a great crowd who make it such a terrific atmosphere and contribute to making Swing Vacation the place to party on New Years Eve! You ALL ROCK!

We will continue to do our best to bring you the Best New Years Party possible and hope you will plan to join us again for Swing vacation 2011 – ’12.

Sincerely,

Mark Traynor

FloorPlay Club Founder

The 2010 Competition results are located in our competition results section.

We will be starting a New Format for Classes Nov. 2nd, 2010

It’s a very affordable, fun night out. You get 45 min’s. of learning each Tuesday over 6 weeks for only $25. You can dance another couple hours to a variety of great music after class. You get 2 drinks included with the $6. club door charge. You’re having fun and making new friends while getting some terrific mind & body exercise in a friendly atmosphere, with a great group of people all learning and enjoying arguably the best social activity you could ever be a part of. Don’t just watch any longer!

Mark’s 34 years of Dance Instruction experience, approach and constant upgrading of new teaching techniques to WCS makes understanding and executing the dance easier than ever. All instruction is explained in simple terms and all of the steps are socially leadable. Marks approach is for everybody to enjoy this great Dance form without being limited to Competition rules. For the Social dancer, especially for WCS, everything should be leadable, self interpretive and FUN! This is the class for you!

WCS being the most versatile of all, as well as most fun once ‘under control’, takes a little longer to get there. We spend more time learning it because we the better you know it, the more fun it becomes.

For those who have already taken a Basics class, it’s always good as you know to repeat the class to be sure your fundamentals are strong. And you’ll always pick up some info you may have missed the first time that will continue to improve your basics. Without them everything else will end up being, and maybe has been, a struggle. Make sure you’re complimenting your partners and making your dance experience fun for you both.

Continuing classes keeps you up to date, active, the mind sharp, involved and more apt to quickly become proficient and in demand on the dance floor instead of watching everyone else having the fun. Once your Basic techniques, especially lead & follow are under control, everything else comes easy. Are all your leads precise so your partner isn’t ‘guessing’? Can you ‘read & react’ to everything without having to fake your way through it all? Floor time, attending dances and events, practice thru classes make it happen. NOBODY gets it all right away or even the first time thru the session.

We have a good and growing ‘base’ of dancers now with the local WC dance community here and the best way for it to grow as it has everywhere is thru those involved ‘spreading the word’.

The more partners we all have the better! Dancing is, and always will be a fun, healthy, social exercise for everybody to enjoy!

West Coast Swing is without question the most versatile social partner dance form there is whatever your music preference may be…

Join Marks WCS Basics 1 and add WCS to your dancing capabilities. You’ll be very glad you did! It’s smooth, it’s stylish, sexy, fun, and easier than you think….it’s whatever you want it to be…and it’s what everybody is learning and doing! No partner is necessary. Come be a part of the next dance craze!

(Private lessons and coaching are available for those who wish to compete, or just want to be very good!)

At: The Rockin Ranch – 801 S. Nova Rd. Ormond Bch., FL

Tuesdays are Swing Night at the Ranch!

Begins: Tuesday July 20th at 7:30pm till 9pm. Lots of Open dancing & practice after class.
6 weeks – only $35. per person…(save $7. over the weekly rate)
** Please come in close to 7pm the first night for sign-up before class.

Thanks for your supprt.

For the next 2 weeks we will work on Nightclub 2-Step. A nice, smooth slow dance everyone can enjoy.

We will start at 7:30 covering the Basics and Lead / Follow and after the break get into a few Intermediate moves.

Cost is $7. for both or $5. for either level.

Beginning in two weeks on Tues.11/ 2 we will start a new West Coast Swing Format for Basics and Intermediate classes.

So instead of having to wait till January for a Basics Class you can tell friends and family who’ve been waiting that they can begin then.

AND, we will finish the Basics Session 3 with a new approach to cover Play, Breaks and new moves.

More details as we get closer to 11/2.

ALSO, we will be doing the WCS Flash Mob routine at our weekly dance to keep those who know it sharp, and help those learning to get more familiar. Plans are now being made for it’s use next month as well as at the New Years Swing Vacation in Orlando. Get involved! Be part of the FUN! Help the WCS community grow!

Hope to see you Tuesday at the Ranch for NC2!

Hope you will join us for our November FloorPlay Dance at the Whirl ‘n Twirl. We will be out performing the WCS Flash Mob routine before the dance and so there will be no workshop this month. Hope you’re with us!

Dance is scheduled to begin at 8pm.

At the Whirl ‘n Twirl – 6949 Venture Circle, Orlando, Florida 32807
Sat. Nov. 20^th

[intlink id="orlando" type="page"]Check of the Orlando Monthly Dance page for more information[/intlink]

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Feliz Navidad, Mele Kalikimaka, Buone Natale, Happy Kwanza, Joyeux Noel, Froehliche Weihnachten, God Jul, Srozhdestoom Kristovym”…( I’m sure I missed several, sorry )

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, MONTHLY DANCES WILL BE ADJUSTED EACH MONTH

Lots of prize drawings and chances for a yearly pass.  The Moose Lodge in Ormond Bch. is a great place to get together, have some fun, socialize and dance every month in a safe, smoke free atmosphere. And yes, they have a bar with reasonably priced drinks.

We have been approved to bring in ‘snack’ type foods to share. This means desserts generally – cakes, cookies, brownies etc. No wings, sandwiches, Swedish meatballs or pizza etc. So thank you in advance for anyone who wishes to participate.

Hope you will join us!

There will be a Free workshop at 7:30pm. Dance immediately following till 11:00…ish…good mix of music for many dances

$10. admission includes workshop at the Moose Family Center – 601 W. Granada Blvd. in Ormond Beach

***From Orlando take I4 to I95 North…proceed about 4-5 miles to Ormond Beach, Granada Blvd., Rt. 40 exit. Turn right on 40 heading east and proceed about 4 miles to the Moose lodge on the left.

*** From Palm Coast, Jax direction…same exit from I95

Hope you will join us!

Start telling your friends who’ve been waiting that WCS Basics will be starting soon!
In 2 weeks on  July 20^th – 6 weeks, $35.
Tues. July 6^th
$7. per person
7: 30 till 9 pm with lots of open dancing & practice time following
At: the Rockin Ranch, 801 S. Nova Rd., Ormond Bch., FL 32174

Tuesdays are Swing Night at the Ranch! Yet we play a wide variety of great dance music.

Mark and Trish had a good time this year seeing all their friends and performing for them. This year, Mark had Jack-N-Jill Productions as a vendor to do all the videography. This is a clip from the Exhibition & Forum DVD. In addition to Mark and Trish’s dance, all of the other professionals at the event showed their stuff and can be seen on the DVD as well. Enjoy the video.

The FloorPlay Events work because of the overall dance community’s support, our very capable staff, and most importantly because they are geared toward maximum Open Dance time and not Competitions. Yes we conduct a few and this year had about 160 total participants which helps add to the ‘show’, but this is, and always will be a ‘Party’ event with a premium on everybody dancing and having fun. Total time dedicated to competition and awards amounted once again to only about 6 hours. That’s it. And a good portion (3.5 hrs.) of that was in the afternoon and not ‘prime time’ evening dancing.

Our DJ’s play a nice variety of WCS music as well as other dances that make for a great mix and the Pro dance staff all conducted a very good variety of workshops as well and were very well attended.

Thanks to our teaching and Performing Staff Michael Kielbasa, Jen Deluca, always a delight to have, in putting on a great show along with our other Professionals from around Florida, Danielle Blouin, Trish Berlanga and John & Mary Jane Harris and for their very well attended and received workshops along with judging some very closely contested competitions. Thank you also to Rodney Moore & Joanna Matsis from New Zealand for adding to our show on New Years Eve with some East Coast/Lindy and conducting a workshop in the same.

A Special Thanks to Nicola Royston whose professionalism, talent and beauty added class to the event, and for bringing along that ‘other guy’, her husband Robert Royston…Robert was, as he is everywhere, the consummate Professional. Always entertaining, he kept the contests running smooth and pretty close to always on time. I have great respect for his multiple abilities and he deserves the title of ‘Best in the Business”….of course he owes all of his success to Nicola. ( I think I’m off the hook now) And I’m very pleased to report that they both will be returning next year!

Kevin McDeed, April Prince and Earl Yeomans for their terrific DJ work, great mix of music and April’s choices of competition music that made it fair for all competitors. Without the DJ’s great music we would all just be ‘dancing mimes’.

And, Cherry Taylor’s Master Dancefloor was, as always, a delight to dance on.

The problems? Very few again this year. Although the first night was a little warm in the ballroom we were able to get it taken care of the rest of the way. The Rosen Plaza, though not ‘perfect’, is always accommodating to our needs and we’ll happily be returning again next year. A few leaks in the ballroom were a surprise but fortunately they were not extensive nor interfered with any of the festivities. Other than that we ran pretty smooth.

The New Years Eve dinner was tremendous as always and they again allowed us to have the pizza party inside due to some very cool weather. And, as always we provided a bottle of Champagne on every table for the midnight celebration. Every year we try and will continue to fix any problems we can to make your event experience as pleasant as possible.

I would advise those who wish to secure a table for next year to do so early this year. Several already have. With our planned expanded advertising coverage, enhanced program ( Pro-Ams to be included along with another ballroom) and upgraded online websites we expect a continued growth in attendance. Almost all events had experienced a drop in attendance this past year due primarily to the economic problems but most hope, and expect things to get much better as 2010 unfolds.

Thank you one and all for your support and helping maintain our reputation as the ‘Friendliest Club and WCS Event’ on the circuit.

And a final HUGE Thank you to our staff below whose tireless, all important contributions to the Event make it all possible:

Kevin McDeed – simply cant say enough…he’s irreplaceable…The ‘right-hand Man’ of FloorPlay…I (especially), the Club and the dance community in general owe him a great deal of gratitude…the great, constantly updated music, sound system, video screen, the Laser light system, always terrific DJ work, coordination and numerous other contributions along the way…our yearlong FloorPlay club DJ both weekly and at our big monthly dance.

Amy Palmer running the front desk (probably the most difficult job of any event) with the help of experienced Staff members Bill & Julie Galbraith ‘covering’ for any mix-ups, and coordinating the efforts of our other terrific volunteers who worked so hard…, Linda Murphy, Meagan Thomas and her mom Marilyn, Denise Kirsop, Cindy Winternitz, Janie Morningstar, Ginger Rosacia, Irene Gomulka. All of whom helped with many other things also.

Ed Sullivan & Nora Batts – taking care of Security, workshops, tickets, handling all of the informative signs posted and seeing to it everyone who entered the Ballroom felt welcomed and comfortable.

Diane Scott – who has been on staff since the beginning in many capacities and fills in anywhere needed to keep things running smooth…and me out of as much trouble as possible.

Bill Bray & Maria Hardy, staff members from the Daytona & Tampa areas who have helped greatly on our cruises as well as the event.

Tagg Leduc – FloorPlay’s newest staff member as website coordinator and Videographer whose Jack-N-Jill Productions w/ Darla Martinelli did a terrific job shooting this years event. Check their website to get a copy.

I’m sure there are several others who volunteered some of their time to help each ‘station’ and to each I say “Thank you” and sorry for not having all of your names to mention.

Next year as mentioned we return to the beautiful Rosen Plaza and will begin the Event again on New Years Eve (friday) and continue thru Sunday night Jan. 2nd. (Although there may be an ‘Early Bird’ Dance Thursday evening). We have lots of ideas on how to continue to add to the event experience to keep it fresh and ‘unpredictable’. Beginning with the addition of Pro/Am Competitions.

HOPE YOU’LL JOIN US!

Thank You All.
Sincerely,
Mark Traynor
FloorPlay Club Director