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Tina Castle has been dancing since 1987 (club dancing). She used to go to the teen club called "OFF LIMITS". Soon after attending a few nights there she began doing "battle dancing", same as competition dancing but for teens (teens always have to have their own slang for things). She had a son in 1990. She then got older and visited the 21 and over clubs in the area. Soon she realized that there was other types of clubs to dance at. So she went to a Country night club called "STAMPEDE" in 1996, yes her friends made fun of for a while until they saw the enjoyment she got out of Line Dancing with a little Two Step, East Coast Swing and West Coast Swing. Nancy Morgan (Thank You, for being who you are always giving all you have so that some one else may enjoy your passion for music and dance) was her Line & Couples Dance Instructor at that time. Nancy introduced her to Danielle Blouin (Thank You for helping me with my sugar push foot work at American Cowboy.) and Bobby Caudill (Thank You, for being my fumbling partner during our beginner stages of taking other peoples classes). She did at least 5 commercials for different country clubs in the area and ended up on the T.V. program called Club Dance (Thank You, Beverly Cartwright, for inviting me on such a wonderful trip) located in Tennessee. She has done many Line Dance exhibitions for many clubs and for the State Fair. She has also done some Line Dance competition. All of this was done before 2000. She has been married once, for 7 years. In 2006, she met up with Mitch (Thank You, for seeing an instructor in me, I would never have thought of, much less done it.) at Watering Trough. Mitch told her was going to be teaching Line Dance at Gunslingers Saloon, Mitch asked her to be his assistant. Tina agreed and began her Line Dance Assisting. Soon, Mitch had to leave and handed the teaching to Tina. She had taught almost 2 years at Gunslingers Saloon doing Line Dance Instruction, but recently it became too much for her. Now, Mitch is back at Gunslingers Saloon! During the time of having a full time business (Cute Cuts Pet Grooming in Largo) and teaching at Gunslingers Saloon she still managed to find time to take West Coast Swing Classes from John. She met John at JR's in 2006, followed him to First Dance, then to Magic Dance Club. Since meeting John in 2006, she has become a better dancer and owes it all to the patience and kindness of an overlooked teacher that deserves more credit than given. Recently in 2009, John asked Tina to be his assistant. She was beside herself. She is very appreciative of the opportunity that John has given her. That is why Tina designed and maintains this site for John. In a way, West Coast swing dancing is almost like Line dancing; If you make a mistake while dancing - keep dancing, it is called a variation. There is no right or wrong way to dance, as long as you are having fun. The only time a dance move is wrong is when you are taking a class to learn a move/pattern or being judged for a competition that has rules. In West Coast Swing there are no rules while dancing. Look up WEST COAST SWING, SULTRY SWING, BLUES SWING, and SWANGO on www.youtube.com to see for yourself! (Thank you, Mark, for telling me about the different types of swing! Hope your dance studio dream comes true!) Remember to smile, dance like no one is watching and have fun! By the way, Tina is still learning and hopes to continue to learn till she can not dance! We all learn a lesson every time we dance with a new partner! Go learn something! For those asking: John and Tina are only dance partners. Please visit our site for more information on West Coast Swing. www.pinellaswcswing.com
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