CopperKnob Stepsheets

Cute, easy beginner dance. When I saw 2 stars for your score I couldn't believe it. Someone must not have looked at it - it's a gem for beginners. I gave you a 5 star score. Cheers!

Thank you for that! Maybe it was personal though I don't know who would be so devious... Thank you again - Keep on dancing! ~Bobbey

Hi Bobbey, If I may comment on the 2 stars, and it wasn't me. It is probably not about the dance, which looks quite good, but about how it is presented. The demo doesn't use the music the dance is choreographed to and both the youTube music videos are muted. It just seem that you created a dance which apparently requires a lot of work and for which excuses have to be made.
Remember there are a massive number of dances out there, I find around 25 every month which in one way or another arouse my interest.
I have said this before "sometimes I wonder whether choreographers want their dance to be danced", and by this I mean outside of a class, people dancing it in their homes alone or with friends. To be able to do that the "package" needs to available and that consists of step sheet, music/music video, and at least one demo to the music the dance is choreographed to.

Your dance competes with many others for attendance and acceptance. The more comprehensive the support for it is, right from the beginning, the greater the chance of success.

Despite the short-comings highlighted in this post I wish you success. Line dancing need new choreographers with new ideas.

Go well, Peter

Hello Peter! Hello Peter - how kind of you to care enough to write such a thoughtful and insightful comment to me. I appreciate all that you said and can't agree more.
I also want to thank you for your well wishes - I appreciate that as well!

That being said, I'm pretty sure there were no demos or music on the stepsheet when the comments were written. George Straits music cannot be used due to copyright and my demo using his music was blocked by UMG everywhere - not just certain countries. I was shocked that they blocked mine as I only used about a minute of the music - but alas it happened anyway. I got the disturbing email about the block and went home between appointments to deal with it. I was left with two alternatives- cancel my appointments to take the time to video tape again both videos with alternate "free music" or add the free music track to the demo and the teach videos, matching the tempo as best I could. I chose the latter. In hindsight, I should have done the former so the tempo would be spot on-but I did not have
the time available to set up and re-tape the videos. I took the expedient route. As we all know, it is best to get as much info out while the dance is "new". Perhaps I should have waited... I can still add now at my leisure. It is a crap-shoot if the music will be allowed or not. You can write for permission to use copyright material but you have to have permission from every entity involved not just the artist. I found that out the hard way with a beautiful song and dance by the Olsen Brothers. I wrote them and their manager responded yes. I was so excited. The record producers did not respond (common practice) and the videos were blocked in the US. You just never know!

Thank you again Peter for taking the time to write the comment. Your good advice is appreciated.

~Bobbey

Hi Bobbey, long ago I discovered the Asian dancers and choreographers, and I haven't looked back. I love the music they dance to, including Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, etc. and I love their choreography and the way they dance. They are my role models and idols. Quite a few of them are FB friends and I am always amazed how much they support each other and each others dances. Almost without exception, everything anybody would need to dance the dance is in place either immediately or within a day. Most of their dances are written to music videos which are not restricted. They clearly check that before they start thinking about creating a dance.
BTW, the George Strait music is not insurmountable obstacle. It took me less than 2 minutes to have an mp3 copy on my computer, for free.
What I would suggest is to get all your ducks in a row, then publish the copperknob entry and video on Facebook in one or more of the many line dance groups. Many times when youTube is blocked a direct video upload to FB works but you must watch the privacy settings there, make sure it is "public".
As far as copyright is concerned many have successfully argued with YT that the use of music for line dancing falls under the 'fair use' clause of the copyright laws.

I wish you the best, Peter

Full album, not muted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K_e4NLYdSk

And if is makes you feel better about the 2 stars. There is a well-known choreographer who has posted a dance to this music (header only). What the hell? Are these people so ego driven that they feel they have to reserve the song name for their dance?
I gave it 1 star and that only because this site does not allow voting for 0 stars.

Thank you again for your comments and information. It would be amazing to be #39 on the list with over 600 views and having not posted the dance! That says a lot for his reputation. It has probably indirectly helped my dance - though there is no competition as mine is at beginner level, his is higher. Maybe floor splits? And the elephant on the page - the "2" it very well could have been their opinion/vote. We are all allowed our own opinions - in the end what matters is- the pleasure one person gets dancing one of my dances 😎
Peter if you are interested in the YouTube communication regarding copyrights et al please email me I would be happy to forward it to you. Also, the few that " win" using the fair use clause are generally part of a consortium that have a large combined subscriber base and high volume of views.

I don't go by reputation. I couldn't care who choreographed the dance, if it is good it is good, if it is crap it is crap, no matter who choreographed it. Don't tell me that famous names by necessity produce good dances. On Facebook I once called the top 10 up to even 30 positions on this website "a depressing list of always the same names." IMO, many of the hi intermediate/advanced dances don't even look nice, the one recent exception is "Witness" (Fred Whitehouse).

I am bored to just learn another set of steps rearranged to another music track. While it may be an easy filler to take up class time I tolerate only so much of it. I want to "dance the dance", not just do steps. The steps only form a small, although basic part of what I want from a dance.
In order to find that, the last 20 positions on the CK list are more interesting than the ones higher up. The list of incoming new dances and the videos in the side bar, even more so but that requires to be on the ball and checking every day.

Hello again I'm glad that you like this dance - I appreciate that very much. If you are an instructor of course I hope you will teach it. I do write the steps to the words wherever I can so perhaps my dances may fit your criteria even if the style of music isn't yours... Though I see that you are on a very country song/dance page :-) I know that people can pull up music in MP3 but I always purchase -especially when using for a dance. It's the right thing for me to do. I do not monetize - never have, never will. I don't own the property used that is the whole reason for the dance. I was hoping you would write me and we could take this discussion off of my dance page, but... There may be ways to get the dance "out there" without getting into copyright infringement trouble, but as you see above, there isn't a music video linked here, either. I am sure that if it was available, it would be on the page...and when it is available, it surely will be added to the page. Some production companies like Warner -Chappell will allow most use of their properties, but they also can block, mute or strike if they choose. It's still a crapshoot. Enjoy the dance - enjoy all of the dancing we can while we are here!

Peter706 - would love to know your comment on the dance with proper music - I used Vimeo to dub it in :-) You can email me if you'd like

Hi Bobbey, I will have a closer look and let you know.
On some of the other points mentioned, I have also developed a way to at least check on copyright issues before I start working on a dance (with my collaborator Christie Lim). I am not confident that it is absolutely reliable, it seems to show any big pending problems but it probably would not have avoided the MOJITO issue.
I will respond to you via email. Peter