The Final Chapter of this story shifts back to Joanne Wilson, my friend who has been in exile for 4 months.  The Risky Business Time Line will give a brief review of Joanne's story

THE MEYERLAND GAMBLE PAYS OFF At the very start of the story I made this bold statement: This is the story about how a volatile mix of Four Women - a Beauty, a Tragic Lover, a Social Outcast, and a Mystery Woman - plus two huge Gambles - one professional and one personal - set Rick Archer on a wild Rollercoaster Ride...  a Ride that culminated with Rick becoming Houston's best-known Western Dance Teacher even though he began teaching Western classes before he even knew how to Western Dance! A review of the time line above shows that Joanne Wilson developed two powerful enemies - Cindy and Susie - for having the nerve to show interest in me.  For this crime, the two women combined forces to make sure Joanne would be eliminated as a threat.  Finding herself ostracized from the Disco community, Joanne was forced to leave the studio.  Cut off from the only friends she had, Joanne found her refuge in Country Dancing a full six months before the rest of Houston began to show interest.  The irony was clear:  If Susie and Cindy hadn't chased Joanne off in the first place, she would have never learned how to Country dance.  I took a huge gamble when I accepted the Meyerland Club offer.  Without Joanne's help,  I would have been forced to call the Meyerland Club and back out. The Outcast saved the day.  Now how strange a turn of events is that?

FAKING IT - I TAKE ALL KINDS OF RISKS I soon discovered my gamble at the Meyerland Club paid enormous dividends.  Practically from the moment I began my eight-week Meyerland Club program that ended in October, my phone started ringing off the wall. For starters, I had a veritable army of Disco students over at Stevens of Hollywood pestering me about Western lessons. I been brushing them off for the entire summer because I didn't know how to dance Western much less teach it, but now that I solved the mystery of Western Dance, I had a fighting chance to appear to know what I doing.

Although the Meyerland experience had been an ordeal of the greatest magnitude, I had learned enough to consider faking my way through another series with my own dance students.  So I got up my nerve and scheduled Country-Western classes at Stevens of Hollywood starting in November.

My fears were justified. The first Stevens class would prove to be quite an adventure because the Disco students learned much faster than the non-dancers I had dealt with at the Meyerland Club.  For quite a while that class was another ridiculous touch-and-go fiasco where I barely stayed one step ahead of the posse. 

Déjà vu - my newest tightrope walk was a rather pathetic replay of the early days of Disco when I had done the exact same thing. 'Fake it till you Make it' revisited.

However this time I did have one ace up my sleeve - I remembered from my early Disco Days that all I had to do was know more than my students.  Sometimes I cut it kind of close. I remember meeting with Joanne to learn that night's material one hour before class. As you can see, I lived on the edge of disaster. One slip in dance class and my near-complete lack of knowledge about Western dancing would be exposed.

Due to my ignorance, once I almost got caught.  One night in November, two of my Stevens of Hollywood students stayed after class to ask me how to Western Waltz.  They said they were going dancing right after class at the notorious Winchester Club, Houston's answer to Gilley's.  This request caught me flat-footed. I had no choice but to show them a Ballroom Box Step which was the only Waltz step I knew. They thanked me and headed out.

The following week this couple came back and said people had run them down while they Waltzed. They told me no one danced the Waltz like I had showed them.  There was an edge of disappointment in their voice, but thankfully they didn't press the issue.  I honestly did not know what they were talking about, but in hindsight it was a good thing no one was around to overhear them. 

Stretching the limits of incredulity, I continued to avoid going Western dancing in the clubs this entire time.  I could have avoided incidents like the Waltz mishap if I had just gone out to a club and practiced a little, but I was worried one of my students would see me making a fool of myself.  Another reason was that I was fighting a serious depression after my personal life had suffered a nuclear meltdown in October. Some nights it was hard enough just to get the studio, much less finding the courage to take a big risk like visiting a western club for the first time.
 
As a result, I literally taught Western classes for over three months before I had ever been to a Western Club. I finally was cornered by my Stevens class into going dancing with them one night in December 1979. (Fright Night)

Afterwards, I was secretly grateful to them for shaming me into crossing this important hurdles. They did me a real favor.

Going to the clubs paid immediate dividends.  Two months later I went to the Winchester Club for the first time in my life. When a Waltz came on, I got out there and did my Box Step... surprise, surprise, my partner and I were nearly trampled to death by a herd of Waltzing buffaloes. My partner and I were bumped hard four different times before the song ended.

I will never forget the frown she gave me as we walked back to the table.  I think she suspected I didn't have a clue what I was doing.  I felt terribly insecure. This woman's frown had triggered my phobia - the fear that someone would see how bad I was.  This was why I was afraid of hitting the clubs in the first place.  However I eventually came to my senses.  Fortunately I realized that I was making mountains out of molehills and that the practice was exactly what I needed.

As a result of taking some chances, that was the night I learned the difference between a Ballroom Waltz and a Western Waltz. One style travels and the other style is danced in one spot.  It dawned on me maybe things would have been gone better from the start if I had enough sense to go Western dancing before I decided to start teaching it.

Fortunately I admit I hid my incompetence well.  I was getting pretty good at this deception stuff. Since I knew more than they did, every time a discrepancy came up, they deferred to my authority.  I would smile and raise an eyebrow. Then I would say, "Hmm. That's curious. I would rather not hold up the class. So let me think about it and get back to you next week."  And then I would quickly put on music or switch to teaching something else.

They were so trusting, bless their hearts, this explanation always worked. And since I was good for my word - I never failed to find an answer and get back to the class the following week - I kept their suspicions largely at bay.

One more thing - before you judge me too harshly, remember this was not brain surgery we are talking about. Nor did I cripple anyone or damage their self-esteem.  There was simply no way I could learn this stuff in advance - after all, I was the only teacher I knew!  That's right - everything I taught that year I either learned trail and error by dancing with Joanne or figuring it out on my own when no one was looking.

It took me over a year to completely decipher all the ins and outs of Western dancing (Sept 79 - Dec 80). There were near misses all the time, but once I actually did get caught red-handed.  One night in December 1980, a pattern I had cooked up simply wasn't working. Frustrated, a man confronted me right in front of the entire class, "You know what, Rick, there's something wrong here. I don't think that's how they do it in the clubs!" 

I blanched at his words - my gut told me he was right. And now all eyes were on me with suspicion.  That is when I confessed on the spot that he was right!  However, thanks to a miracle escape that would make Houdini proud, I got out of that fix with my reputation intact and lived to teach another day.  (Western Swing, Chapter Five).

Was I ever worried I would be caught?  Are you kidding?  I worried about it all the time!  I was terrified of being caught. I hated living life on the edge. I spent an entire year tap dancing from one trap to another - Risky Business indeed. But as you will see, it was worth it.  My gamble was rewarded many times over.
 

THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME Through the Fall of 1979, the telephone rang non-stop.  One request to teach western after another floated in. I was the Man in Demand. In October, I was asked to teach Country Dance classes for an adult-education program called the Class Factory. The Class Factory was the 1979 predecessor to today's Leisure Learning Unlimited. The owner, Donna Gordon, said she had been looking for someone to teach this class but so far no one seemed to know how or show any interest. Donna told me no one in the city was teaching Western dancing at all.  The excuse was always the same - No one knew how.

Donna's words sounded familiar. Hadn't Sandy at the Meyerland Club told me no one else even knew any Western instructors?

I was beginning to wonder if anyone else in Houston was even teaching this stuff besides me. I could not believe my good luck.  

I knew practically nothing about Western dancing, but what I did know was apparently more than anyone else did.   

Please understand that there were plenty of people in Houston who knew how to Western dance (in particular, Texas A&M graduates plus people who had moved from the country to the Big City).  But the people who knew how to Western Dance were more or less excluded from the circles I traveled in. There seemed to be a social barrier in place at the time.

I recalled my June trip with Joanne to her "Country Club". I remembered the rough blue collar crowd.  Based on that experience, I concluded that the ranks of pre-Urban Cowboy country dancers included only a smattering of college-educated "Professionals".  When it came to Disco, it was just the opposite - practically every one of my dance students was a college graduate. 

These two worlds clearly did not intersect.  Due to the stigma of "Country", until this movie came along, no one in my group had ever been exposed to Western dancing in their lives. And this reality was true for the entire city. 

It took me consorting with a girl like Joanne from the wrong side of the tracks to bring the "Fire" back to the blue bloods. My odd relationship with Joanne explains how I got there first and why I stood alone.

As I talked to people on the phone, according to them, I was the only Western teacher they had been able to locate. Obviously my crazy gamble at the Meyerland Club had put me way out ahead of the pack.   

Yes, strange as it sounds, it seemed likely that no one else in the Ballroom or Disco community had bothered to prepare for the Western Wave. And here I thought I had been the only one stuck in the mud!

However, I did not have any illusions as to my greatness. Far from it!  As Donna peppered me with questions over the phone, I decided not to mention I had never actually gone dancing at a Western Club in my life. Maybe I should keep that little secret to myself.

Many people have pointed out the similarities between the Saturday Night Fever phenomenon and the Urban Cowboy phenomenon. I would to point one total departure. The huge surge of interest in Disco Dancing here in Houston followed the movie.  But the interest in Western Dancing predated the debut of Urban Cowboy by nearly a year! 

The only explanation must be that the movie was filmed right here in Houston in early 1979. Now add in the fact that all the clubs had gone country in the spring of 1979.  Everyone got the hint.  The Meyerland Club decision to take western classes in September 1979 may have come first, but it was right on schedule. Soon everyone began to phone me trying to join the bandwagon. 

In October, every night I went to Stevens of Hollywood to teach a Disco class, I would be peppered with requests to add a Western class.  My class at the Meyerland Club wasn't easy, but it gave me enough confidence to schedule a western class at Stevens of Hollywood for November 1979.  Mind you, this date preceded the July 1980 debut of Urban Cowboy by NINE MONTHS.

The fact that the city had made such a drastic change nine months to a year before the movie was even released is a testimony to just how bizarre the Urban Cowboy phenomenon was here in Houston. Quite frankly, this strange turn of events had a tinge of 'mass hysteria'.  25 years later, I still don't completely understand it. I just accept it.

In January 1980 Western dance students began rolling in from the Class Factory listing.  Enrollment in the Class Factory Disco classes dried up simultaneously, marking my official transition from a Disco teacher to a Western teacher. 

Therefore I peg January 1980 as the official moment that Disco died in Houston. 

MY TGIS ACHIEVEMENT In November 1979 I began to teach Western classes at Stevens.  As we all know by now, I was no expert. However I did manage to impress at least one person. In January 1980, one of my students from that first Stevens class mentioned a Church Singles Group he belonged to known as TGIS  ("Thank God Its Sunday").  I had never heard of this organization, so I asked a couple questions. He said this group met each week at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. Then he added that each week he like to join his TGIS friends for lunch after the Sunday Service ended.  The previous week, all they could talk about was Urban Cowboy and learning how to Western dance. My friend suggested I go over there and approach someone about teaching western lessons (I apologize; I do not remember his name).

I thought things were crazy last fall, but if anything the interest in Western Dancing was growing even stronger the closer Urban Cowboy came to being released.  I decided the man's suggestion seemed like a pretty good idea. I made a mental note to drop by the following Sunday and check it out.  Unfortunately I lost interest due another unfortunate development in my always perilous love life. 

By the time I escaped my depression, it was February. One day my friend saw me out dancing. He asked if I had visited TGIS yet. I slapped my forehead.  I had forgotten all about it.  I promised him I would go this coming weekend.  It was late February 1980 when I visited their service for the first time. I gasped as I saw a room of 400, 500, 600 people in attendance. The number was staggering!  In Cowboy and Indian terms, the Buffalo were plentiful!!

Nor was this an ordinary 500 people. These people were all single, the life blood of all my dance classes. Indeed some jokester told me that TGIS really stood for "Thank Goodness I'm Single!"

I picked up a brochure. It said Linda Shuler was the current leader of the group. I asked someone to point her out. After the service was over, I went up to Ms. Shuler. I introduced myself and told her about my idea to offer Western dance classes. Then I hushed up to see what she would say.

Ms. Shuler stood there looking at me for about ten seconds without any expression. Then she smiled and said, "Hmm, sounds like fun. Bring me a flyer next week for me to approve."  That was it.

Then Ms. Shuler turned and walked off.  I was frozen.  I just stood there with my mouth wide-open doing my best Greek statue impersonation.

A woman I had never met before in my life had just given me the break of a lifetime. The entire transaction had taken perhaps two minutes - a minute and 50 seconds of presentation on my part and ten seconds on her part.

It turned out that even though Ms. Shuler had been brief, she meant what she said.  The following week as promised Ms. Shuler initialed my flyer. She told me to print it out and distribute it each week at their meetings. This second transaction also took two minutes. She worked fast.

These four minutes of negotiations gave me one of the biggest breaks of my career.

I was definitely in the Right place at the Right time.

At Ms. Shuler's suggestion, the class would not start for two more months.  She said her organization did not have the resources to push my class, so I would have to promote it myself.  She felt by delaying the start of the class, this would give me time to spread the word.  I nodded. This woman was sharp.

So for the next several weeks I brought my flyers to every TGIS Sunday Service. I would come early and sit at a table before the Service.  Armed with plenty of flyers to hand out, I was there to answer questions. After the Service, I went back to the table to answer more questions and hand out more flyers.  I was busy. And happy too. Lots of people asked lots of questions. 

Usually about half an hour after Service ended, all the chatting stopped and the group headed off somewhere for lunch.  Whichever restaurant got the TGIS crowd was one busy place. 

Pretty soon I started joining them. At first I was intimidated. I was 30 and they were 40, 50, and 60. I got over my nervousness once I discovered how eager they were for information about Urban Cowboy. Soon I learned graceful ways to bring up the subject of my class at whichever table I sat at.

Every Sunday for two months, I worked at promoting my upcoming class as hard as I possibly could. I left not a single stone unturned.

One day at lunch I noticed a table with a group of people aged 25-35. Hmm. Same age as me (I was 30). I didn't know any of them, so I asked permission to join them.  I was immediately welcomed. 

I was curious to find out if they were a part of TGIS. Sure enough, they were.  I discovered they were members of the "Young Singles" Group which was a separate part of TGIS.  I wondered why I did not know this group existed. I discovered this group had a separate identity from the older group and met at a distant location from the main group. This explained why I had never seen them before.

Meeting this group also cleared up another mystery.  Up to now, everyone I met was older than me and seemed to be recently divorced.  Do most divorces occur after 40?  Now I understood why there weren't any 30 year old people in the TGIS membership - the younger people eventually gravitated over to this group.

Now it was their turn. Since I was the only stranger in what seemed to be a close bunch, they asked me who I was.  The moment I mentioned the dance classes, I became a minor celebrity. I was encouraged when many people from this enthusiastic group said they planned to be there the first night.

However, even good omens like the Young Singles Group didn't keep me from worrying.  Since there was no Pre-registration in those days, I had no real idea how many people would show up.

My instincts told me I had done a good job promoting the class and that I had been well-received, but that didn't keep me from biting my fingernails. I had a lot riding on the outcome of this adventure.  Disco was Dead. This was my best chance to establish an entire new group of students in my fledgling Western program.

Not surprisingly, I was a nervous wreck the night of the first class.  I had hired two ladies to take the money because it didn't seem professional for the instructor to take the money. With nothing to do but wait, idle hands became the devil's workshop. I was growing more and more nervous as the seconds ticked off.

Something happened that caused me to lose my confidence. I looked up at the clock. It said 6:45.  Then I looked around the room. It was almost deserted.  Here it was just 15 minutes before class was scheduled to start and there were at most 10 PEOPLE waiting for class. TEN PEOPLE!!  I couldn't take it anymore. I walked out of Stevens and headed up the block.  I timed the length of my walk to bring me back to Stevens just before 7 pm.

As I drew near, I was so nervous I had to put my hands in my pocket to keep them from shaking.  Now I turned the corner. What I saw was a line of people so long it snaked out the door!  Apparently everyone decided to show up at 1 minute till 7.  It was longest line I had seen since the opening of the Exorcist.

I was overjoyed! This was a thrill of a lifetime.

One by one, we signed them all up. We didn't get class started till 7:30, but no one seemed to mind. Everyone just chatted up a storm; this class had become the Singles Event of the season. The place was mobbed, but no one complained about the lack of room. They were just happy to be here.  Amazingly, I did a good job teaching the class despite my case of nerves. The first class was a huge success. People came up to me later and said how impressed they were that even though this class was so large, everyone was able to get the hang of it.

When I got home that night, I reviewed the list of names.  They were not numbered so I added numbers beside each name.  A class of 120 TGIS people had come for Western lessons at Stevens of Hollywood!! 

I was stunned out of my mind! These people each paid $25 for a 10-week, one hour per week class. Linda Shuler's kindness had dropped a cool $3,000 in my pocket.

Better yet, this was only the beginning!  I had learned that Dance classes work on a pyramid structure.  Beginning classes have a natural attrition rate. Typically the class size dwindles down towards the end.  Therefore an Intermediate class is usually only half the size of the original. The drop-off isn't so great from Intermediate to Advanced, so a TGIS Super-Advanced class was all but guaranteed from the very first night on. A class this large all but guaranteed three follow-up classes. 

Sure enough, the initial class of 120 led to an Intermediate class of 60, then 40 for Advanced, and 30 for Super-Advanced. 

And that was not the end of it!!  TGIS I, the original class, had been so crowded we had to cut off all further registration. This angered a lot of people who didn't make it the first week. So I asked Linda Shuler for permission to schedule another class for the following month. She had been there for my first class to evaluate it.  Ms. Shuler smiled and complimented me on a good job.  She thought a follow-up class was a good idea.

For TGIS II, same story. A month or so later, the people just kept coming and coming. The second class was just as large as the first.

With Urban Cowboy ready to open in just a couple months, the anticipation was creating a Buffalo Stampede of demand for Western dance lessons here in Houston.

And I was the only game in town. 

Since there were no other Western instructors of note in all of Houston, I began to receive an unbelievable "word of mouth" bounce from my TGIS group. 

TGIS was the largest "Singles Group" in all of Houston with a membership rumored at 1,000 people.  Practically every person in my first TGIS class referred someone else in TGIS to my follow-up class.  The follow-up TGIS II class referred more people. My phone rang non-stop. It felt like I spent all day long just answering the phone. But I wasn't complaining, believe me.

As expected, the "multiplier effect" from my first TGIS class was absolutely phenomenal. Did I say "phenomenal"?  Change that to "UNBELIEVABLE"!  In the coming months, one class led to another. Soon I had simultaneous Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Super-Advanced levels.  I had different Western classes every night of the week. Whenever someone finished a level, I made sure a follow-up level was scheduled just in case they wanted to continue. Even when they didn't continue, they often referred someone else. I was a very busy boy.

In addition to the phenomenal number of students, there was another equally positive development. As promised, the "Young Singles" group of TGIS turned out in force for my classes. I really clicked with this group.  Over the next few years, many members of this group would become card-carrying members of the Winchester Era.  Let me add that my closest friends for many years to come were people I met from this group. I even got to be the best man in a couple weddings that developed through the dance classes. I found a new niche. Now I was not only the dance teacher, but a social director as well. Using visits to the Winchester Club to get the ball rolling, I soon became the de facto leader of a huge social organization with dancing as the magnet that kept them together. I had always wanted to be a social worker. Now my heart swelled with pride as I saw all the good that could come from organizing activities and dance parties.  Not surprisingly, as friendships developed into romances, I was thrilled to see several marriages blossom out of these activities.  This was the first time I realized I was a born Matchmaker - someone who helps romances flourish. It was about this time that I began to believe I was destined to do more than just teach classes. I was going to create an entire community.  My involvement with TGIS was a triumphant moment indeed. TGIS was so important that it put me just one step from starting my own dance studio.  April 1980 was my first TGIS class. By October 1980 I would be in my own dance studio with students largely drawn from the first TGIS classes.

In September 1979, I made a huge Gamble when I agreed to teach Western at the Meyerland Club even though I had not the slightest clue where to begin.  As you know, thanks to Joanne Wilson, the Meyerland Club gamble paid off like a Vegas Jackpot.

TGIS remains today as one of the turning points of my life.  But if it weren't for the Meyerland Club Gamble, the door would have never for this lucky break at TGIS. 

Like they said in the movie, "There is a time for playing it safe and a time for Risky Business".

HOUSTON'S BEST KNOWN WESTERN DANCE TEACHER When Urban Cowboy debuted in July 1980, I stood gracefully atop my pedestal as perhaps the best known Western teacher in Houston. You know and I know that much of my initial glory had been built on a total sham. In fact, by the time the movie finally arrived, I still had never gone dancing at a Western Club. When I finally broke the ice in December 1979 and went to "Cowboy", I had been teaching for over three months without visiting a club. Hard to be an expert that way.  As expected, the huge interest in dancing meant that other instructors would try to enter the game. However, since there were no Western instructors to help them learn, the new instructors struggled to find the simplest ways to explain things.  Most of them just said, "Watch my feet", but that wasn't good enough. Most students need more explanation than that. My experience with Joanne taught me it was a lot harder to learn to Western than to simply watch someone's feet.  My hard work with Joanne had taught me how to explain the footwork and the leads. If anything, I was a better teacher for my own struggles. Since my own frustration was recent in my mind, I knew exactly where the tricky places had been.

It helped not to have any real competition at the start.  Without any real competition, in the beginning, word of mouth was delivering the vast majority of the students to me.

To be honest, I knew the Ballroom instructors were turning their noses at Western dancing just like my own teacher did.  And the Disco teachers hated it too.  I guess my real advantage was that I was the first teacher desperate enough to overcome my biases. 

Another problem was the cultural barrier. At this point in time the few people in Houston who could actually dance 'Country' didn't like the "Urbans", i.e. the city slickers like me. 

There were "Urbans" and there were "Cowboys", but despite the movie's premise there were very few 'Urban Cowboys'. Although the movie encouraged us to jump into the melting pot, neither group seemed to be able to understand each other or even like each other.  There was a huge Redneck backlash that would soon begin to surface. 

People who were "Country before Country was Cool" could dance Western, but there was so much animosity towards the Johnny-come-lately "Urban Cowboys" that the two cultures refused to intersect for at least six months, maybe even a year.

While I was getting started, there were plenty of guys who knew a lot more Western dancing than I did. However they were no threat to me because they couldn't teach! They had learned because their mother or father had taught them. However that didn't help much when it came to teaching large group classes.

The "Urbans" longed for a teacher who could do better than "watch my feet".  That would be me. I was one of the first to find an authentic "Country Girl" and decipher her footwork. Due to my Disco background, I had two years of teaching experience under my belt when Western came along. I quickly put that background to good use.

Once I figured out what Joanne was doing, I found I could actually explain the footwork, the timing, the leads, and the different patterns. I was appreciated because I could explain Western dancing using language the 'Urbans' could comprehend.  I couldn't exactly Walk the Talk, but I could at least Talk the Walk.

There are a lot of ways to become a failure, but never taking a chance is the most successful.  Thanks to Joanne Wilson and the Meyerland Club Gamble, I had gotten to this spot before anyone else and used my position to develop a good reputation. Although I openly admit I literally stumbled into this amazing position, I definitely had the sense to capitalize on it.  Using my "got there first" position, I quickly formed my own classes at Stevens, got listed with the Class Factory, then pursued TGIS.  By the time places like Exclusive Dance Studio and Marilyn's Dance Club sprouted up to compete with me, I was so established it didn't matter any more. From now on I would be guaranteed a slice of the pie no matter how much competition was out there. I am not saying I was the best teacher (hardly) or even the first teacher (don't know). I merely claim by the time Urban Cowboy came on the scene, I was the "Best Known Western Teacher" in Houston.

I GET MY OWN STUDIO

In October 1980, I experienced the final triumph of my wild "Risky Business" joyride - I moved out of Stevens of Hollywood to form my own dance studio.

In the summer of 1978, Mr. Stevens and I had made an odd agreement - I worked for him, but I had permission to conduct classes of my own (i.e., my students would pay me directly and I would pay rent on the room to Mr. Stevens.) 

I believe Mr. Stevens made this agreement for the simple reason that he saw how mediocre my dance skills were and doubted I would ever amount to much (a reasonable assumption at that time).  He certainly didn't see me as any threat and he knew I needed to make money to survive. I believe made this agreement as a favor to me. 

At the time, this was an incredible stroke of fortune for me because it gave me the opportunity to develop my own program. I hustled to make the best of this chance. 

However, where Mr. Stevens was concerned, no good deed is ever left unpunished. By giving me the incentive to pursue my own students, he guaranteed that I would make hustle plays like the pursuit of TGIS and the Class Factory. 

After my extraordinary run of luck due to Urban Cowboy in 1980, I now had more dance students than he did.

This strange turn of events did not hurt Mr. Stevens financially in any way. In fact I paid him so much rent I am sure he was doing well in this area.

However Mr. Stevens was a very proud man and now he was indignant.  He knew he was a far better teacher than I was, but yet I was more successful. If there were going to be two studios under his roof, the larger studio should have belonged to him. But it didn't.

Fed up with this preposterous development, the friction between us grew with every new TGIS class that swamped the place.  Finally Mr. Stevens had enough.  In September 1980, he told me it was time to hit the road.

I didn't want to go, but history shows that Mr. Stevens did me a real favor by giving me no choice.  Once I was out from under his thumb, I really began to roll.

One of the key developments came in December 1980 when I began to teach Western Swing, an interesting new development in Western Dancing where the man double turned the girl as they traveled around the floor.  I imagine once again I was one of the first people in Houston to teach the Western Swing. 

Students flocked to learn the secrets of these Double Turns.  1981 was a year that saw spectacular growth as SSQQ Dance Studio came into being.  The size of my studio doubled in less than a year.

The success of my new studio was completely guaranteed. (The Winchester Era of 1981)

This powerful development - a move to a studio of my own -marked the improbable end to the business side of my extraordinary 1979 roller-coaster ride with four women. As I have detailed, the volcanic eruptions between these women had the bizarre result of catapulting me to the top of my profession. By the end of 1980, I was Houston's leading Western teacher... even though I had begun teaching Western before I even knew how to dance it. But there was one significant difference between the movie Risky Business and my own story. The movie was pure fiction; my story really happened. And now for the conclusion of our story, we answer this question: Whatever happened to Cindy and the Blackmail?