ACA 23rd National Convention

23rd ACA National Convention - Burnie TAS

21 - 23 September 2018

The ACA National Convention is the premier clogging event of the year in Australia. Each year it is held in different regions on behalf of the ACA. It attracts leaders and dancers from around Australia and New Zealand. It is a weekend event, with social dancing in the evenings and workshops during the day.

Convention Archive

Want to check out past conventions before you head off to Tasmania? There's a brand new Convention Archive page where you can relive those old times, and remember the winning Showcase Dances. Click on the link and browse back through 22 great years, all the way back to 1996.

Trail-in Dance

Burnie Arts and Function Centre – Town Hall

Thursday 20 September 2018 – 7.00pm to 10.30pm

It’s going to be a devil-themed dance so feel free to dress up, or just wear black and white. Supper is included.

Funds raised on the night will be donated to the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program.

It doesn’t matter if you didn’t pre-pay with your registration. You can pay $10 at the door.

And don’t forget, the trail-in dance is an opportunity for newer cuers to have a go. If you’ve registered for Cuer Accreditation or are thinking about it, this is the perfect opportunity to satisfy the requirement of cueing outside your own club.

Contact the programming committee at burnie2018aca.program@gmail.com if you would like to cue on the night .

Weekend Program At A Glance

In case you've been wondering, download the outline for the convention weekend.

If you are attending the Trail-in Dance, you'll be able to collect your convention registration pack on Thursday night. The Registration desk will be open from 6.00pm.

Convention Videos

Workshop teach videos will be made available on the ACA website in a timely manner after the conclusion of the convention.

A souvenir package that contains videos of all the Showcases, Demos, Opening Ceremony and various snippets of general dancing at the convention, IN ADDITION to the workshop teach videos will be available for $30. Videos will be in MP4 format and packaged on a souvenir USB drive. Packages will be mailed approximately 6 weeks after the convention.

If the USB version is unsuitable for your needs, a DVD version can also be made available. Please specify on the order form if this is the case.

Download order form here or complete one at the convention.

Parking near the Burnie Arts and Function Centre

WARNING: Pay parking operates throughout the Burnie CBD on weekdays and Saturday mornings. If you are staying within walking distance of the venue, you should think about leaving your car at your accommodation. The parking rates are relatively reasonable but carparks and parking meters are monitored regularly and nobody likes to be fined – so don’t get caught out!

The carpark immediately outside the Burnie Arts and Function Centre is a Pay & Display type with a 4 hour limit and charges apply from 8.30am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday, and 8.30am to 2.00pm on Saturday. Tariff is $1.50 per hour, maximum fee of $6.00.

There is another carpark a little further away (King Street Carpark) with an 8 hour limit and an earlybird (before 10.00am) rate of $5.80 for the day. You can use the EasyPark app at the Burnie City Council carparks.

Shoes and Taps

You will be required to tape your taps and present your shoes for checking each day before entering the dance venues. Tape will be available for your use and assistance provided if you are unsure about how to tape the taps. However, your club leaders are all experts in this, so it would be a good idea to talk with them before the convention.

You can help to make the process relatively seamless by pre-taping your taps each day, as this will then just require a quick check and placement of coloured dots on the heels.

use a good quality gaffer or cloth tape, preferably silver
cover every part of your tap, including edges and buck bar on toe
ensure no screws, nails, or other metal parts are exposed

Convention ID

You will be required to wear your ID badge at all times while in the convention venue to identify your bona fide status. The ID will come with a safety pin for attachment. It is the style of badge holder that will take a lanyard, so if you have one – or like most people, about a dozen! – bring one along. There will be some pre-loved supplies available for anyone who doesn’t have a lanyard of their own and would like to use one at the convention. Please leave the plastic badge holders and any borrowed lanyards in the collection receptacles in the Town Hall foyer before you leave the convention.

War on Waste

Hot drink stations will run continuously at the convention. No disposable cups will be provided. We will have real china cups that will be washed up by real people (aka our marvellous convention volunteers)! You can take the load off our volunteers by bringing your own Keep Cup or Travel Mug for your coffee and tea.

Free Tap Water

There will be water stations located in the venue. No disposable cups will be provided. Please bring your own refillable water bottle to the convention. There are vending machines that sell bottled water - but we’d rather not generate the plastic waste and, besides, Burnie’s tap water is just fine and dandy to drink!

Whisky Waffle at the National Convention

Saturday 22 September 3.30pm - 5.00pm

Has your other half's clogging obsession driven you to drink? Need a break from the endless country tunes? Don't know a cowboy from a rocking chair? Then come and join Whisky Waffle, Tasmania's #1 whisky blogging team, for a relaxing afternoon of banter and drams.

The dynamic duo of Nick Turner and Alex Matthews (husband of Cradle Coast clogger Kathleen) will guide guests through a selection of local and international drops while providing educational and entertaining commentary about the fascinating world of whisky.

Cost will be around $30 (may vary slightly depending on demand).

Don't miss out, email burnie2018aca.info@gmail.com to register your interest now! You can read more about the wafflers at https://whiskywaffle.com/.

http://www.willyweather.com.au/tas/north-western/burnie.html

Eat Drink Clog

This is the theme for the 2018 convention. We invite you to not only attend the annual national clogging convention but to spend some time in the beautiful north-west of Tasmania and enjoy some of the region's superlative produce.

-0
days
to go

Driving is easy. There are no traffic jams and there are lots of things to see - and eat and drink - in close proximity to each other. Check out the Cradle to Coast Tasting Trail for guidance! And there is an abundance of glorious scenery along the way. We encourage you to bring a vehicle or hire one here. Tassie isn't the most populous place, so public transport is limited. Besides, you'll need a car to take advantage of your visit and do some exploring!

Enquiries?

See below for Convention Documentation with downloads of brochures and forms containing many useful links. If you have a general enquiry, click on this link to send us an email.

Guest Instructor

Darolyn Pchajek (Dar) was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and has been clogging since the mid '90's. She started off with "Cut 'n Loose", and in 2000, Gerry Valois passed the group on to her, and she made it her own with the name "Dare to Clog". She loves teaching as it gives her such a thrill to watch her students catch on to new steps, and enjoy dancing a song, especially to one she's choreographed. Married to Stephen and the proud mom of Joshua, Grace and Andrew (15, 12 and 10 years old respectively), Dar taught clogging throughout all three pregnancies. Now all three children love music, and are heavily involved in dance themselves.

Dar loves to clog to all kinds of music and is excited to have her dances passed around other parts of Canada, USA, and more recently Germany, France, and Australia! She has her own YouTube Channel (daretoclog) where she showcases her choreography, and loves it when people around the world have watched one of her videos, and emailed her about it. For her extensive list of convention/workshop teaching credentials in Canada and USA, and much more information, check out her website www.daretoclog.com.

Spirit of Tasmania is pleased to offer participants of the 23rd ACA National Clogging Convention 2018 a discount of up to 5% off best available fares at the time of booking. Arriving and departing from Devonport, a short 30 minute drive from Burnie, Spirit of Tasmania is the ideal option for travel to Tasmania and offers you the flexibility of bringing your own car.

The booking inventory is now open and the booking page is live. It is anticipated that there will be high demand for travel in September 2018 and it is recommended that you book as early as possible. Go to Spirit of Tasmania to access our Exclusive Members Page.

When booking/amending via this page, you will have access to the best available fares on your chosen sailing dates between 1 September 2018 and 30 October 2018. No vehicle or cabin space has been protected for our event.

All passenger, accommodation and vehicle space is subject to availability at time of booking/amending. Please keep in mind that fares do fluctuate and are subject to change until payment has been made and a booking number and e-ticket provided.

When booking via the Exclusive Members Page, the fare types offered will include our event name '23rd ACA National Clogging Convention, either (Spirit) or (Flexi). If the name of our event is not included in the fare type name, you may have left the Exclusive Members Page booking platform and should re-check before proceeding.

Alternatively, availability and bookings can be requested via the Customer Contact Centre on 132010. Please note that booking and amendment fees do apply to non-internet bookings