Meet Mary Hoedeman

Mary Hoedeman's 28 year dance career began in 1981 in Houston, Texas when she answered an ad saying "Dance Instructors Wanted, Will Train". Within months she was winning professional competitions. Mary won her first Country & Western Grand Championship in 1989 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Trained by a former World Champion Ballroom dancer, Mary, together with several colleagues, was instrumental in developing and introducing a style of country dance that blended traditional forms with ballroom technique. This style remains the dominant competitive style. Mary's competitive career continued. She and her partner repeatedly placed in the top 5 competitors in the world.

Mary also enjoyed a 12 year, 340 day per year, teaching and performing touring schedule throughout the US and Canada. In 1993 the Pepsi Cola Company made her a national spokesperson.

In 1990 Mary became her own film producer when she, and her company, Country and Western Dancing U.S.A., filmed the instructional video "No One Has Two Left Feet". There are now 9 videos in this series. Mary's video library eventually grew to number 23 instructional videos with combined worldwide sales totaling well over 300,000 copies. Her latest video, *The Beauty of Dance is Only a Step Away*, done to celebrate Mary's 25th year as an "ambassador of dance" is #24.

Personally responsible for instructing and coaching over 10,000 students and instructors, many of whom have won titles of their own, Mary also competes with her amateur students. In 2005 Mary's pro-am student won his own World Championship in Nashville, Tennessee with Mary as his partner.

Mary also does choreography, She is responsible for creating the line dance for Ricky Van Shelton's music video, Wild Man.

For over 12 years Mary hosted a week long dance retreat week in Music City; Nashville, Tennessee. For many of those years Mary and her students capped off the week by performing live for television at the world famous Wild Horse Saloon. But Dance Camp lives on.

Today Mary has a husband and two young children so her touring schedule is somewhat less than 340 days per year. But Mary's passion for sharing her love of dance with others continues. Now, Mary teaches locally in her hometown of Fairmont, MN; tours one weekend a month, continues to host a yearly Dance Camp, and has produced a new DVD, The Beauty of Dance is Only a Step Away.