| About Me |
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First of all, for those of you who want to know how to pronounce my surname, it's "H-rit-san". After years of "surname abuse", I felt the need to provide a pronunciation. My surname is Ukrainian and my grandfather (my dad's father) was from the Ukraine. Well, as most of you will know by now, my name is Liam Hrycan and I was born in 1982 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. I lived the first 12 years of my life in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, and this is where I usually say I am from originally as I certainly don't have a broad Manchester accent. However, since moving to Stockport, near Manchester, back in 1994, I've only visited Letchworth once, so now I call Stockport home. I went to Marple Hall High School and finished there in 1998, but before that in 1997 I discovered something that would change me as a person and also put me on track for something amazing. That was Line Dancing (don't laugh!) line dancing, the early days... Now, when I tell people that I'm a Line Dancer, people usually smirk (which is expected and I smile about it myself), but then when I go on to tell people my story and where it's lead me, that usually changes and people become quite impressed. Line Dancing in England has changed a LOT over the past 10 years, from its early days where it was all 100% country music and pretty much EVERYONE wore the good old countrywear, like Stetsons, frilly shirts and big belt buckles… Yes, even I used to look like a cowboy! However, nowadays most people are wearing caps, t-shirts and dance sneakers and dancing to 90% pop, latin, jazz, swing, funk, soul, rap, R&B and say 10% of the music is country. Line Dancing has strayed a lot from its country roots, which some people dislike, but I feel that the influence from other dance and music styles is a good thing as it attracts the younger crowd with which this dance form can truly flourish. Line Dancing caught my eye at a friend's parent's party. There, some mutual friends of both our families (albeit adult friends considering I was 15 at the time), were dancing Tush Push to Swamp Thang (which was a mix of country/banjo and a heavy pop/dance beat). Now I loved the music anyway, but the dancing looked fun, so I decided to go along to the classes with them and my mate Chris and try it out! We were great mates Chris, it's a shame we lost touch. I wish you all the best in life buddy. I was immediately hooked to Line Dancing and went religiously every week from then on. It didn't really take me long to get into choreography after learning most of the basic steps in Line Dancing, and about 6 weeks into starting, I'd written my first dance. It was a 32 Step 4 Wall Beginner dance called Goin' Country. Nothing happened with the dance, but I enjoyed writing dances that much that I continued to do it regularly experimenting with new steps and combinations as I continued to learn them at the class. line dancing, further afield and a flair for choreography... I moved on from the original class and started attending other local classes. One class I started going to was run by a man called Michael, and this was where I started to realise that it wasn't all country music. By this time though, I'd grown to love country music and I still do to this day, but I would have to say that I prefer to LISTEN to most Country rather than dancing to it. Country music is so expressive and I think anyone in this world can relate to at least one country song, as it covers so many issues and everyday subjects that life throws at you. My first choreography success at the time was with a dance called Shufflin To Victory. I wrote this dance to a track from the Lord of the Dance soundtrack. The reason it was a mini-success at the time was because Michael taught it at all 3 of his classes in Greater Manchester. Seeing my dance being danced by about 30-40 people on a dance floor was a great feeling, and it spurred me on to writing more dances. the birth of pot of gold... That was back in April 1998. I didn't take long before my choreography brought me to one of the biggest dances of the last decade... written by myself! This dance has become a classic on a worldwide scale and has been taught and danced in line dance classes and workshops from the Far East of Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, right through Australia and over to the far reaches of California, Oregon, Colorado and up and down the eastern seaboard of America and Canada. This dance is of course Pot of Gold. Pot of Gold's success came purely by chance. I wrote the dance by recording the piece of music "Dance Above The Rainbow" off of the actual soundtrack of the videotape for Michael Flatley's Feet Of Flames. The dance was written… it was just a case of waiting to see if the music would be released on the soundtrack music album. To my joy it was, and Pot of Gold was born! That was in November 1998. Now a little before Pot of Gold was written I had gained internet access at home. I was finding the internet and e-mail very useful in promoting myself and my dances. I quickly taught myself how to build my own website and it was on my first website that I placed all the dances I'd written. The success of Pot of Gold relied directly on the internet, as news and reports of the dance spread quickly by e-mail and on the LineDance UK Mailing List. It seemed people were e-mailing the step sheet to each other and spreading the word. It was around early 1999 when I started to receive word back that people were teaching my dance and it didn't take long before it entered the Linedancer Magazine monthly top ten charts. It hit the #1 spot in May 1999. Linedancer Magazine is a professionally run and published magazine, which covers everything to do with Line Dancing all over the world. It has a sister publication in America, called 5678. By this time, pretty much everyone in the UK was either dancing or teaching Pot of Gold. It was also gaining speed travelling the world, with people teaching it over in the United States, Canada and down in Australia. Word eventually came through that it had been taught in Japan, Singapore and Malaysia too, where Line Dancing was thriving and on the increase. I have Jo Thompson to thank for a lot of that as she originally took it over there from how I remember it. Thanks Jo, hope you keep going from strength to strength with your recovery! "PoG" getting ever popular, the start of teaching dance and the trip to USA... While the popularity of the dance increase further, I started doing something else I love… and that is teaching people to line dance. I was pretty much "forced" into teaching because people at the various classes I attended wanted to learn Pot of Gold! I discovered that I had a certain presence on the stage and this was one of the most important things that changed me as a person. As a teenager, I was pretty quiet and introvert… but teaching dance and learning to dance better both technically and expressively gave me an air of confidence I'd never experienced before. I owe everything I am as a person today to line dance choreography and instruction. Anyway, over the summer of 1999, something happened which was a really brilliant experience. I was invited to go to a dance weekend in North Carolina USA to teach various workshops over the weekend (in September 1999). I quickly accepted the offer to go over there, and went with my great friend, June (The Lady in Black) who co-wrote Black Ice. We had a blast, the Americans loved having us Brits over there, and my workshops were full. We've not been in touch for a LONG time June, I really hope you're doing well. Maybe one day we'll get the opportunity to go back to America and ROCK THE PLACE like we did at the Tarheel! I taught Pot of Gold, amongst other dances I'd written. The weekend was a huge boost for me, and being my first time in America, it made me fall in love with the place. I'll never forget the feeling of driving on the right hand side of the road (it was my first major trip outside of the UK), and everything around me being so HUGE! nominations for linedancer's dance of the year 1999 and the eventual glory... The popularity of Pot of Gold increased further and by Christmas 1999, I'd been nominated for Dance of the Year and UK Choreographer of the Year in the Linedancer Magazine Annual Dance and Music Awards. This is an amazing award ceremony and dance weekend run by the number 1 magazine for Line Dancing in the world. The awards are nominated by the national and international readers and eventually voted for, with the ceremony taking place at the prestigious Norbreck Castle Hotel and Convention Centre in Blackpool. Christmas and New Year came and went… the votes for Pot of Gold
being taken over this time. I was invited back to America again, which
was fantastic!! I attended two dance weekends in Jan/Feb 2000, and spent
the week in between with my good American friend, Pepper. Hope you're
well Pepper and Jim, I'm sure we'll meet up again some day. We visited
New York City, which I'll NEVER forget! Respect to the Americans and New
York City… what an amazing place! Pot of Gold immediately threw me into the public eye, and after the success of a dance which everyone loved, people wanted to meet me. I was busy with workshops, with at least 1 or 2 a month, travelling the length and breadth of the UK teaching on stage and loving every minute of it. back to america, more popularity and recognition... I went back to America in the summer of 2000 and arranged a 6 week tour of the Eastern states teaching at about 4 big dance weekends, and teaching locally arranged workshops in classes along the way. I thank Pepper, Joanne Brady (my American Mom!), Linda Vine, Mike and Betty, Jean and James, John Robinson, Brian B, Staci and Jen, Bill and Linda all for their parts in that tour, from housing me; to driving me around and ensuring I had workshops arranged. I had a fantastic time! Maybe one day, I'll meet up with you all again! Then the autumn of 2000 it was back to the Tarheel Dance Classic in North Carolina. Thanks to Scott Hucks for inviting me back to that one, it was great! Hope you're doing okay Scott and fully recovered after the hurricane all those years ago! running the weekly class with aiden... I then ran a class with Aiden for about a year… which was great fun while it lasted, but then we decided to close the class. It wasn't long after that that Aiden moved down South to work after graduating from University. I still keep in touch, but it's not the same when you haven't got your best mate to go places with whenever we felt like it. I sometimes wish he still lived in Manchester because we had fun going to Rob's classes and going to dance weekends, etc. I'll never forget some of the long journeys we took together, some in the middle of the night. Gotta love KFC, Pasties and Dr Pepper! You'll always be one of them mates that even though you don't speak for a long time, it's like you've not been apart a single day. the fun four, jolena and the journey to wyoming... The year 2000 saw the end of my time at Ridge Danyers College in Marple. I didn't get what I wanted, mainly down to the fact I concentrated more on dance than studying, so I decided not to go to University. In retrospect, I wished I had because the experience would have been good. However, I continued to teach at the class with Aiden and give workshops as and when they came. During this time, I met a girl on the internet called Jolena from Casper, Wyoming, USA. We realised there was something between us, so after a year of talking practically everyday, we decided to meet up in the summer of 2001. Before that though, was the Linedancer Awards ceremony in 2001. I attended again, but this time as part of The Fun Four. This consisted of me, Dynamite Dot, Stephen Sunter and Daniel Whittaker. We'd taken part in several workshops together before and realised we worked very well as a group, so we formed The Fun Four. We taught 4 workshops in the April of 2001, but kicked it off at the Awards by teaching a workshop in full costume (check out the Photos section). I'm still good friends with all four of them, though aren't in touch as often. Maybe one day The Fun Four will get back together again to do a workshop or a demo! Oh, some of those crazy cabaret demos we did! Great times! I flew to Denver, Colorado and then took a night bus trip to Casper in summer of 2001. I'll never forget the journey, as it was quite scary being somewhere completely on your own going to stay with a family I'd never met before. I stayed with Jolena and her family; her older sister Angie, her mum Reva and the family pets. We had a great time and did lots of fun things. I got along well with all of them and was made to feel part of the family. As part of my visit, I planned to teach at the Rocky Mountain Dance Festival, also in Casper. This used to be an annual event where line dancing was the main part of the event. Machelle, the event director, gathered line dance and couples instructors to teach for a long weekend. Considering the location, this was a popular event. It gave me a great chance to work with my very good friends John Robinson and Jo Thompson, and I was received very well at the event by everyone there. Pot of Gold was the main dance I taught, but I taught a few more too. After the event, I took a journey with John back across to Kentucky to his apartment, and then we headed to New Orleans for the Country Dance Mardi Gras I'd attended the year before. It was as fantastic as before, but this time I was there to just dance. the end of the class, christmas in america and subway... After coming home, me and Aiden wound the class up and stopped it. This was a shame as everyone really enjoyed it, but the number of people dwindled and it wasn't cost effective anymore as it started to cost money to run. Plus Aiden had graduated from University and had to start looking for work, and I needed to get some kind of job. Over Christmas 2001 and New Year, I visited Jolena and her family again.
This was a really special time and it was so welcoming spending it in
America with people I had grown to care about from my last visit. back to wyoming, moving out of home and working at the bank... In summer of 2002, I came back to Casper, Wyoming to see Jolena and the family. This time I was there for 10 weeks! This was actually double my original duration of stay because I lost my passport and had to apply for another one, etc! What a horrible mess! I taught at the Dance Festival, and this time Jodie Binsteed and Rachael McEnaney were there too! We performed a couple of demonstrations as a group with Jo and John and had a blast of an event. John, hope you're okay. Not talked for ages, would be great to see you come back to the UK again in the future. Rachael, thanks for being a great mate… pass my love on to the family, who for a long time were like my own family. Jodie, well done with all your success! Thanks to Machelle of course for inviting me to her event and giving me the chance to come to Casper on a dance level. By the end of the year in 2002, Andy, Louise (his girlfriend at the time) and I had moved in together in a flat in Edgeley, Stockport. This was a fun time, and the first time I'd moved away from home. In the meantime, Jolena and I went our separate ways. This was sad, because we'd known each other for about 4 years, but we both changed as people and was probably best. I seldom speak to Jolena but I wish her all the best with her new life. Your son is a cutie Jolena, I hope one day to meet him and see you again. In March 2003, Andy and I were ready to move on from Subway and we applied to the Cooperative Bank to work as Customer Service Advisors. We were successful and trained together. We eventually ended up working at the Pyramid in Stockport. Louise stayed on at Subway, but by the spring time, I'd moved back home with my parents. Andy, I know we're not really in touch anymore, but for the times we spent doing mate stuff and working together, you'll always be a mate deep down. back into the west coast swing of things, hustle, and lots of fun dancing... Also by this time, I wasn't dancing as much, however in the winter of 2003; I went to the Masters In Line British event. I had taken over the website for Masters In Line in 2001 and had been running it up to that time. Attending this event made me realise I was missing out so much by not dancing regularly, so I decided to start attending Rob Fowler's classes again as I had done for years. Mum had got ill for the first time in September and this coupled with seeing all my friends meant I was quite upset, and lead me into getting back to dancing again. Also, I started travelling to Preston to Steve Sunter's class. I'd made new friends in Natalie and Dianne from Liverpool, and went to other workshops/classes/socials a lot with them. Me and Natalie quickly took to learning West Coast Swing and Hustle together and practiced pretty much all the time. It got to the point where we'd be couples dancing more than line dancing, but that was okay as it was something we both really enjoyed. I'll never forget some of the drunken times dancing and having a great laugh together. Yes Matthew, we both have heads! I'll always love ya Natty! And Dianne, you've always been like me Mum, love you too. the move to smile, continuing rob and steve's classes and casino... Work at the bank got boring so I decided to apply as a Technical Customer Service Advisor with smile, the internet bank and The Coop Bank's online internet bank. I felt I would fit this role well as I am good with computers and enjoy using them! I stayed at smile for 6 months until September 2004 when I took another step in life, and that was to become a Casino Dealer. In the run up to the Casino training school though, I continued dancing every week at Rob Fowler's class and Steve Sunter's class and couples dancing socially of course whenever and wherever with Dianne and Nat. I also attended many socials and workshops with dance friends which were really fun! Rob you're a great mate too… I enjoyed working the MIL website for you for all that time, I hope you continue to enjoy the major success you have done so far. Steve, you're like me older brother or something like that. Such great times we've all had in the past, with Carol, Pauline and Margaret too don't forget. Never forget Margaret's dropped gob in Scunthorpe and that policeman who asked if you were Steve Sunter. Or spelling "SHIT" with the chips at that crappy restaurant where the toilets stank of poo, and you spitting Coke all down the wall from laughing! The training school for the Casino was tough going, but well worth it in the end! I made lots of new friends and really enjoyed the job, which proved to be a really big challenge! The job of a Casino dealer didn't, and still doesn't really feel like a real job, I still love the work! I spent a good 18 months at Grosvenor Casino Whitworth Street in Manchester and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I progressed in the position and became an experienced dealer. I also took the time to learn Reception and the role of Receptionist (which is quite an important role in a UK casino, with lots of different responsibilities). During my time in the Casino though, dancing dwindled a large amount due to the hours I had to work. Most work days were night shifts and my days off varied from week to week. Also, a little while after joining the Casino, Fraser (a cashier at the time) invited me to lodge in his apartment, which was an offer I couldn't refuse. Fraser had a nice apartment/flat in a nice complex in Langworthy, Salford. I lived there for almost a year. Eventually I had to move out because Fraser's girlfriend Lizzy was due to give birth to twins! So they obviously needed the space. Thanks to Fraser and Lizzy of course for their hospitality and I wish them all the best in the future. After living with Fraser for nearly a year, I moved into a shared terrace house also in Langworthy. I shared the place with Rachel for a while (inspector) and then Kris (also inspector) moved in. It was a nice enough house, basic but comfortable in my room, etc, and an affordable all-inclusive price. You were great housemates. There's nothing better than having people you can get along with to live with. deciding to go on the cruise ships, up to the present day... So that brings us pretty much up to date. In October 2005, I'd decided to go on the cruise ships and work in the casinos there. After living in Langworthy for a while, I went back to live with my parents to save some money to pay for preparing for the cruise ships. I applied to Carnival Corporation with Michelle, Mark and Steve. We went to London in January for the interview. We both all got accepted with flying colours; however Steve decided he didn't want to do it. So it was me, Shell and Mark on our way. All we had to do was get a US Crew visa and do a full medical. It took a while to get all this together, but eventually it was time to go. It took a good 6 months though. Mark and Shell were off on a P&O Ship to the South Pacific/New Zealand/Australia, and I was off on the Holland America Line ms Amsterdam. It was kinda sad to be split up like that, but nevermind. The time got nearer, and 21st August 2006 came around so quickly! I left Whitworth Street about 2 weeks before leaving for the ship. I miss everyone at Whitworth Street, it was a good place to work down to the fact the staff were excellent. I really hope I have the opportunity to work with you all again in the future! Anyway, it was off to Copenhagen, Denmark to join the ship! I felt lots of mixed emotions… leaving the family, friends, everything I was used to. That pretty much brings us up to the present day. I've been on the ship 4 months now (December 2006 as I write this) and I've seen and done some amazing things so far. I'll never forget swimming in the hot springs in Iceland, icebergs and northern lights of Greenland, and the great times had onboard the ship. The ship life is a good one, especially for the casino crew. I've met lots of great people, some of whom have left, and there is much more to come on the World Cruise in January for 3 months! Thanks to EVERYONE that I've come across in my life, from early days of line dancing, right through the years I was doing that. Through working at Subway and the Bank, and then of course my great friends in America who I had the pleasure of meeting through dance or otherwise in the case of Jolena, family and friends in Casper Wyoming. Then of course the Casinos, some absolutely brilliant people who I hope will keep in touch. And now, of course, the ships. Also, I have such a great sense of pride in Pot Of Gold that to this
day, 8 years after I wrote the dance in the small space of my bedroom
floor, people still flock to the floor and fill it to dance and enjoy
something that I created. I owe the success and my award of Linedancer
Magazine's Dance Of The Year 1999 to all of you out there who promoted
and taught the dance, and brought it to dancefloors around the world.
I also thank all the dancers out there who nominated Pot of Gold for the
Linedancer Magazine Dance of the Decade at the 2007 Linedancer Magazine
Awards. Pot of Gold was shortlisted alongside 20 other "classic"
line dances from the past ten years! A true honour! May Pot Of Gold continue
to prosper on line dancefloors worldwide for decades to come! "my dance career, right from the early days, is and always
will be dedicated to my mum |