John “Grrowler” Rowell – Personal Profile
Hi, I’ve been line dancing since 1995 or thereabouts; the exact date escapes me, as it was something I never thought I would continue doing for very long.
I’ve always been a country music fan – the really raunchy kind, I don’t go much for those songs where the dog’s died, the crops have failed and your wife’s ran away with your best friend. I like something with a lot of punch.
So it was though country music that I got into line dancing. My wife, Maureen, saw an advert in the local paper advertising line dancing classes. We went along – and were totally hooked after the very first lesson.

I hadn’t really expected to teach either, I wrote a couple of dances just using my pseudonym “Grrowler” nobody in the line dance world knew me as that, it was a nickname I’d picked up at work – more of that later. I gave my sheets to our instructor and to other teachers in the area that I knew and to my surprise they taught them. However I felt that I could make a better job of teaching them myself, and I expressed this opinion to Maureen. The next thing I know, she’s got me booked on a course with the BWDA as a surprise. Actually I had just missed one of the level 1 courses they ran, so I went one on one with John Sandham, the then president of the organisation. After returning to take their level 2 & 3 courses I emerged as a fully-fledged Western Dance Instructor.

Although I was qualified as a Western Dance Instructor I never attempted to start any classes as I work away from home. I just kept writing dances and going round various associates doing a “guest spot” occasionally. During the course of my travels I came across members of the D&G School of Western Dance. One in particular, Steve Mason, gave me some sound advice. “If you’re serious about being a dance instructor, join the D&G, they’ll give you the best training going” The rest, they say, is history.
I’ve a certificate hanging in pride of place that says “Fully Qualified D&G Instructor”

The “Grrowler” nickname, it comes from where I work. I’m an instrument technician on an oil production platform in the North Sea. I maintain production equipment – automatic control systems, safety shutdown systems – stuff like that.I’ve worked in the Ninian Oilfield, which is roughly halfway between the Shetland Islands and Norway, since 1978. “Grrowler” came about because of my surname – which obviously rhymes with growl, and the fact that I usually speak my mind rather than hold my tongue. So they said I was always growling – hence “Grrowler” But I only growl, I don’t usually bite.

The overlarge moustache comes from my days spent offshore. I was always clean shaven during the summer and grew a “full set” during the winter months.
When the weather improved and it was time to shave it off I always used to have a bit of a laugh by shaving parts of it off over a week or so. Sometimes a beard on one side of the face, other times just cutting pieces out here and there. One year I decided to leave the biggest moustache I could muster, but left it on when I came home. Maureen took one look at it and said, “You can leave that on, people will remember something as stupid as that!” So I’ve sported it ever since, but sometimes I’m still not recognised without my hat. Both the hat and the moustache have been incorporated into my “Grrowler” logo.

My “Big Break” came along in 2001 when Lizzie Clarke taught “Love’s Around” at a line dance weekend at Pontins in Blackpool, it was an instant success – that year it was actually nominated for the “Linedancer Magazine’s” annual awards, a great honour in itself.
In the autumn of 2001 we actually started classes, Maureen’s decision because she had to keep them going while I was away. The classes have slowly built up and Maureen has finished up teaching more than me – I’ve become a guest instructor at my own classes!
Now we regularly work as dance leaders for Kingshill Hollidays, and instruct at festivals for other organisers. We also run our own weekend holiday breaks.

LUV & XXX’s