Line Dance Connection:	What's your name? Do you have any dance nicknames that you're known by?
Richard Phillips:	My name is Richard Phillips but most people call me Ziggie.
Line Dance Connection:	Where are you from and what city do you call home?
Richard Phillips:	I am from Youngstown, OH. Home is Indianapolis and now Charlotte.
Line Dance Connection:	What do you do in your professional life? Any hobbies outside of dance?
Richard Phillips:	I am a Team Lead for SunTrust Mortgage Loan Processing. My hobbies outside of dance are singing, traveling and skating....although I haven’t done it in a while.
Line Dance Connection:	So what do they call this dance craze in your home town? Line Dancing, Hustling, Sliding, Other?
Richard Phillips:	We call it Line Dancing.
Line Dance Connection:	Are you affiliated with any group or groups?
Richard Phillips:	Yes, I am the founder and President of Common Ground and the Common Ground South Chapter as well.
Line Dance Connection:	How long have you been dancing?
Richard Phillips:	I have been dancing since 1996.  I started off dancing with Infinity Line Dancers of Akron, OH. I later moved to Indiana and started Common Ground.
Line Dance Connection:	How did you get involved in dancing?
Richard Phillips:	One day after having a bad day at work I went to a bar (I can’t remember the name) because I needed a drink and I saw a group dancing and teaching line dance.  I realized that I worked with Leslie King, who was the head instructor of Infinity.
Line Dance Connection:	After you attended your very first class, how did you feel?
Richard Phillips:	I was HOOKED.
Line Dance Connection:	How did you get into choreography?
Richard Phillips:	Once I learned the concept of a line dance and I learned the different moves….I was kinda thrown into it.
Line Dance Connection:	How many dances have you created and what was the very first dance you created?
Richard Phillips:	I would say I have created 10 solo dances but I have collaborated with many people on several line dances.  Probably about 20 to 25 over the years. JJPop was the first solo dance I created to the song “So Contagious” by Truth Hurts.
Line Dance Connection:	Of all your dances which one would you say is your favorite?
Richard Phillips:	I’d have to say my last collaboration with Quan called ”Special Ed”.
Line Dance Connection:	In your own words, what makes dancing special?
Richard Phillips:	The peace that it brings to your mind when you are on the dance floor with your dance face on……just getting it in.   I love enjoying the art of it all.
Line Dance Connection:	If you could change one thing about dancing, what would it be?
Richard Phillips:	Putting a limit on how fast dances come out.   Now-a-day’s dances drop so fast and it is so hard to keep up.
Line Dance Connection:	Tell me one thing about yourself that the dance community would find surprising.
Richard Phillips:	Dancing is not my first love.   I LOOVVVVEEE To SING.  Even though I can’t…..I love to.