An Abbotsford line dancing teacher finished in third place in an international dance competition in Las Vegas earlier this month.
Susy O’Shea of Abbotsford has been teaching line dancing for over 10 years and regularly attends international line dance workshops, including this month’s DJD Production Line Dance Explosion in Las Vegas.
Dancers from 29 countries attend the event which is hosted by international dance stars Doug and Jackie Miranda. This year was a change of pace for O’Shea, who entered two of her own choreographed dances into the Dance Explosion choreography competition.
Many of her students went along with her to learn new dances from top dance instructors and to support their teacher in the competition.
The panel of judges were made up of dance instructors from Europe, the United States, Singapore and the Netherlands.
Competition results were announced Saturday in the Riviera Hotel Majestic Ballroom, with O’Shea placing third in her category, for the dance “If I Could Be Her.”
The results were met with applause from her students.
As O’Shea is a newcomer to choreography, competing against veteran entrants and being placed in the top three was a huge achievement, and honor.
Apart from the event being great fun, she said one of the greatest benefits of the competition was dancing with talented and gifted instructors who offered amazing supportive feedback.
Celebrations will continue with all of O’Shea students this weekend at their annual Christmas Charity fundraiser. O’Shea teaches line dancing in Abbotsford and can be contacted at www.atimetodance.ca.