Well, another Edge Dance Convention is in the books! This was my third time attending in the 4 years since the event started and, The Edge just gets bigger and better each year! Following is my recap and experience of my weekend and while I will give a fairly exhaustive run down like I did last year, I'll also highlight my highlights! The Edge is a dance convention that is so packed with activity that it is hard to convey everything that happened since it's impossible for any one person to take in everything–many things happen simultaneously! So, this is my weekend, which was probably different than a lot of people's that were at the same event! In a nutshell, The Edge has something for everyone. Young or old, new to dancing or seasoned. Focused on line dancing or partner dancing! It is ALL there at the Edge! Adia Nuno (founder, and proprietor of the Edge) continues to hone her command of organizing and putting on an amazing dance event for so many to enjoy. The CRC Horse Ranch is a beautiful real ranch and adds a unique vibe to Adia's event. When there, I feel like a kid back at summer camp except it's a dance camp, and we're grown-ups! And it's more fun! Last year's late winter/pre-spring rain was a challenge, and this year it seemed we were on the same exact weather but Adia and the event organizers were even more prepared this time around. A surprising and cool change this year was making use of the two giant covered arenas. And two more large tents. This helped shelter us from the rain and kept us dancing no matter what mother nature was bringing our way! I also liked all the AstroTurf that helped us clean our boots super quickly before walking out onto the floors–so smart! Another change and a great addition to the workshops this year was the "Beginner Barn" dance floor where Marie Kelly and several other instructors taught several beginner line dances. In total, there were six dance floors (and seven if you count the YESSS! Deck that was also used on Sunday). Below is a map of the CRC Ranch with the approximate positions of the different dance floors. ADIA DANCEWith The EDGE Dance Event, Adia has created an extraordinary dance convention experience now held annually in Temecula. The EDGE exists for any and all to enjoy and grow in their own passion for all things dancing–to dance "ALL OUT, AS IS!"Check out Adia's site for all the other things she offers and has going on!www.adiadance.com The Edge Dance Event NEWS!EARLY REGISTRATION for The Edge Dance Event, 2024 is NOW OPENMarch 8-10, 2024 Friday-Sunday In Temecula California!3 DAYS, 2 NIGHTS OF WORKSHOPS, AND OPEN DANCING!Held at the beautiful California Ranch CompanySee more information including registration online at www.theedegedancevent.com Table of Contents The 2023 Edge Dance EventMy Edge ExperienceThe Edge Dance Event by the NumbersThe Instructors & DJsLine Dancing at the Edge - Lessons & Levels Partner Dancing at the Edge - Lessons & StylesSocial Dancing at the EdgeThe Edge Dance CompetitionsFinal Thoughts The 2023 Edge Dance Event This year's Edge Dance Event went three days, two nights and featured line dance & partner dance workshops, live music, open social dance floors, dance competitions with prizes, a great Saturday night show, and much much more! This year it was held March 10-12, 2023, once again in beautiful Temecula at the very cool California Ranch Company. The dancing spread over a total of 6 dedicated dance floors. Throughout the weekend there were four meetups where we were shown demos of the different workshops and dances available to learn. These always took place in the CRC (California Ranch Company) Barn–the main place of gathering during the event. Each instructor or instructor duo did a brief demo of the dance or dance patterns they were going to teach. This is helpful to us who may be having difficulty deciding what classes to choose! As mentioned above each day began with a welcome and demos of what that day held for us. Below is a video compilation from Friday afternoon as the whole event began. Philip Victor enthusiastically kicked off the weekend and introduced 25+ instructor demos for us. https://youtu.be/zRgPsb0zc_I Friday's kick-off with Philip Victor and the demos for the first workshops of the weekend. https://youtu.be/YNKYRyuyBro Snippets of in-progress lessons on Saturday & Sunday at The Edge Dance Convention, Temecula, California. March 10-12, 2023. The above compilation of a few moments of lessons is about all I took videos of–I was enjoying the event too much! But it was great taking classes from Candy Sherwin, Cindi Massengale, Leslie Perez, Adia & also (a new instructor to the Edge) Jen Workman, and many more! But read on for more about the classes I took etc. back to top My Edge Experience Over the course of the three days, I attended 16 workshops. Even though I attended something almost every hour, I was still disappointed at what I missed. There was so much to do – you just had to choose something! A lot of the weekend was very spontaneous, things are happening so fast, and as you see friends and connect and talk about what everyone is doing or not doing you just go with the flow. Before you know it, you are learning something you had no plan to learn! Classes I attended: Line Dancing – 5Country Two Step – 4Country Swing – 3Cowboy Cha Cha Partner Dance (Jennifer W.)Horseshoe Shuffle Partner Dance (Jennifer W.)Bollywood with Neha (from India)WTF Dance Is This? from Russ BradchullisTo see recaps of classes I took see below. The most interesting of these moments was finding myself at Neha's Bollywood class on Sunday! (See the video above and Sunday's recap below). In general, for me, this year was even more fun than last year. I knew more people from the local dance community that came, and we had a blast. My favorite moments were probably the classes I was in with people I knew and then all the open social dancing Saturday night. Also, many of us honored local Long Beach line dance instructor Cindi Massengale, all wearing T-shirts with her logo on them! I got into a couple of the many group shots we did over the weekend. Check out the one that Bodie, the CRC Ranch dog poked his head into! Group photo with Cindi's gang at the Hall of Fame dance floor (covered arena). Hanging out with Cindi at the Kitchen. Group shot with Cindi! Group shot with Cindi (but where's Cindi?) One of many of our group shots with Cindi – Bodie the CRC Ranch Dog gets in on the action! Kelly + Mariana squared! Recaps of most of the classes I took are here below. Three videos–each a compilation of the classes for that day. https://youtu.be/a5S9JidXoes The four recaps of the classes I took on the first day, Friday, March 10, 2023. https://youtu.be/vH_R2oAbyMY The four recaps of the classes I took on the second day, Saturday, March 11, 2023. https://youtu.be/SIE8JtU2HW0 Recaps for four of five classes I took on the last day, Sunday, March 12, 2023. back to top The Edge Dance Event by the Numbers! Here are some quick numbers, just to give an idea of what the weekend was like. 3 Days of Workshops, 2 Nights of Open Dancing, and/or Special Events, Show & Competitions6 Dance Floors27 Instructors4 DJs88 Workshops29 Line Dance Workshops in which about 30 line dances were taught30 Different Line Dances (click to see the list)49 Partner Dance Workshops10 Misc. Workshops (Such as Burlesque, Bollywood, Technique & Tune Up classes)1 Great Special Show Saturday Night back to top Instructors & DJs The Edge Dance Event featured 27 great instructors and/or DJs. See the list below and click on the instructor's name or team to pop down to the summary of what workshops they each taught this year at the event. To read more about the 2023 instructors check out some of their bios over at The Edge Website. Adia Dance (California)Russ Bradchulis (California)Joel Bartlett (Arizona)Philip Victor Ongert (California)Mackensie Kiester (California)Sarah Stokes (California)Candy Sherwin (California)Cindi Massengale (California)Marie Kelly (California)Aleigha Easton (California)Travis Swartzlander (Arizona)Jen Workman (Seattle)Gabriel Sebastian (Arizona)Robert Royston (New York)Robert Campos Jr. (Arizona)Brigette Campos (Arizona)Brunno Cezar Theororo (California)Yana Trubin (California) Souraya Lorenz (Louisiana)Stefanie Vasturo (Florida)Juan Aguirre (California)Jason Peterson (Massachusetts)Aaron & Pam Miller (Texas)Sarah & Chris Ivy of Red Dirt Dancing (Texas)Leslie Perez (California)Neha (India)Herman Charles IIIDarius Zi (Canada)DJsChristian "DJ Keahi" Summerfruit (California)Rick Dominguez (California)Ron Major (California)Dustin "DJ Dvious" Valcalda (California)Marie Kelly (California)Jason Peterson (Massachusetts) Adia Nuno Russ Bradchulis Joel Bartlett Philip Victor Ongert (Instructor & emcee) Mackensie Kiester Sarah Stokes Candy Sherwin Cindi Massengale Marie Kelly (Inst. & DJ) Aleigha Easton Travis Swartzlander Jen Workman Gabriel Sebastian Robert Royston Robert Campos Jr. Brigitte Campos Brunno Cezar Theororo Yana Trubin Souraya Lorenz Stefanie Vasturo Juan Aguirre Jason Peterson (Inst. & DJ) Aaron & Pam Miller Sarah & Chris Ivy Leslie Perez Christian "DJ Keahi" Summerfruit DJ Rick Dominguez DJ Ron Major Dustin "DJ Dvious" Valcalda back to top Adia Dance Dance or Style Level Choreographer Sounds Like Something I'd Do ADV Adia Nuno & Satu Ketellapper Adia Dance & Joel Bartlett Dance or Style Level Dips & Leans–Spice Up Your Dancing...Safely BEG Country Swing BEG Country Swing INT Adia Dance & Gabriel Sebastian Dance or Style Level Country Swing–"Baseball Throws" ADV Adia Dance & Russ Bradchulis Dance or Style Level Two Step–"Float on Hardwood with 2-Step Techniques" BEG Technique–"Partner Connection: How to Make Each Dance AMAZING" ALL Dips & Leans INT back to top Russ Bradchulis Dance or Style Level Technique–WTF Dance Is This? ALL Russ Bradchulis & Souraya Lorenz Dance or Style Level Waltz BEG Souraya Lorenz Dance or Style Level Technique–Simplifying Turns ALL back to top Joel Bartlett & Sarah Stokes Dance or Style Level Country Swing–"The Basics of Country Swing" BEG Joel Bartlett & Burgundy Weathersbee Dance or Style Level Country Swing – “What Is Country Swing" BEG Country Swing BEG Country Swing–"Counter Balance" ADV Joel Bartlett & Mackenzie Keister Dance or Style Level Country Swing–The Ins and Outs of Lead/Follow Rotations ADV back to top Sarah Stokes & Stefanie Vasturo Dance or Style Level Two Step BEG Philip Victor Ongert Dance or Style Level Choreographer Country Boys HB Adia Nuno & Aleigha Elston Jumanji INT José Miguel Belloque Vane & Guillaume Richard Party in the Hills ADV Fred Whitehouse, Shane McKeever & Joey Warren back to top Mackenzie Keister Dance or Style Level Choreographer Honky Tonk Floors INT/ADV Mackenzie Keister & Tara Bianco Candy Sherwin Dance or Style Level Choreographer Southern Soul Bounce BEG The King & I, Roy Verdonk & Ira Weisburd Spicy Margarita INT Fred Whitehouse & Jean-Pierre Madge Sounds Like Something I'd Do ADV Adia Nuno & Satu Ketellapper Two Step–"Making Two Step Easy" BEG back to top Cindi Massengale Dance or Style Level Choreographer Tick Tick Boom INT Brandon Zahorsky I'm Begging You ADV José Miguel Belloque Vane & Roy Verdonk Fake ID ADV Jamal Sims & Dondraico Johnson Cindi Massengale & Jason Peterson Dance or Style Level Denver Cha Cha (Pattern Partner) BEG/INT Marie Kelly, Cindi Massengale, Jen Workman, & Candy Sherwin (Beginner Barn) Dance or Style Level Choreographer What Makes You Country BEG Rob Holly The CowBoi Boogie BEG Big Mucci Purple Chicks BEG Cowboy Up BEG Barbara Hile Make The Rooster Crow BEG Mark Paulino Call Me Señorita BEG Rick Dominguez Bang Bang (EZ) BEG Annemaree Sleeth Walker AA BEG Deanna Nemes Aleigha Elston Dance or Style Level Choreographer Drop Your Tailgate INT Aleigha Elston & Brianna Faith Ring On Your Wranglers INT Aleigha Elston & Brianna Faith I'm Fabulous INT Rebecca Lee, Debbie Rushton, Jean-Pierre M Honky Tonk Way INT Landon James Purvis & Mark Paulino Come On And Jump INT Mark Paulino back to top Travis Swartzlander Dance or Style Level West Coast Swing–"Stretch & Return" ALL Technique–MST 100: Intro to Music Theory ALL Travis Swarlzlander with Kenzie Keister Dance or Style Level NJM100: "Threading 100" BEG/INT Travis Swartzlander with Adia Dance & Aleigha Elston Dance or Style Level NJM200: "Threading 200" INT/ADV Travis Swarzlander & Souraya Lorenz Dance or Style Level Technique–Dance Lab "Feetwerk" ALL Travis Swartzlander with Burgundy Weathersbee Dance or Style Level West Coast Swing–GRV101: "Walks, Stops, Cutoffs" INT/ADV Jen Workman Dance or Style Level Choreographer Honky Tonk Sway ADV Jennifer Workman Gives Me Shivers BEG Brandon Zahorsky Slappin' Leather BEG Gayle Brandon Cowboy Cha Cha (Pattern Partner) ALL Unknown Horseshoe Shuffle (Pattern Partner) INT Unknown Gabriel Sebastian & Sarah Stokes Dance or Style Level Country Swing–"Learn to Utilize the Floor" INT Country Swing–"Making Your Basic Movements Look Advanced" INT back to top Robert Royston Dance or Style Level Two Step BEG Dance Techniques to improve all dances ALL Robert Royston, Juan Aguirre & Kenzie Keister Dance or Style Level Thieves Only–Steals Class ALL Robert & Brigette Campos Dance or Style Level Two Step INT West Coast Swing BEG West Coast Swing ALL Waltz BEG Technique ALL Brigette Campos Dance or Style Level Technique–"Burlesque for Everyone" ALL Brunno Theodoro & Yana Trubin Dance or Style Level Zouk BEG Zouk BEG/INT Brunno Theodoro & Kenzie Keister Dance or Style Level West Coast Swing BEG Brunno Theodoro & Sarah Stokes Dance or Style Level West Coast Swing INT back to top Juan Aguirre Dance or Style Level Technique: Fancy Feet–Footwork Drills for Line and Partner Dancing ALL Juan Aguirre & Mackenzie Keister Dance or Style Level Country Swing–"I'm Gon' Ride, I'm Gon' Ride" INT Country Swing–"Swing Like Pros" ADV Jason Peterson Dance or Style Level Choreographer Countdown INT Abby Cahill Banjo Remix: Traditional & Contra INT Don't Overthink It INT Chris Jacques Aaron & Pam Miller (Hardwood Hearts) Dance or Style Level Dips & Tricks INT/ADV HH Signature Moves INT Technique ALL Two Step–"Texas Style" BEG/INT Steals ALL Steals–"Technique & Etiquette to Smooth Out Your Steals" ALL Sarah & Chris Ivy (Red Dirt Dancing) Dance or Style Level Lifts 101–"Building Blocks for Lifts" Lifts 201–"Intro to Overhead Lifts" Dips & Tricks–"Combos for All Styles" INT back to top Leslie Perez Dance or Style Level Choreographer She's A Natural BEG Jonno Liberman Neha Dance or Style Level Bollywood ALL Herman Charles III Dance or Style Level Hip Hop Line Dance ALL Darius Zi Dance or Style Level Zouk FUNDAMENTALS back to top Line Dancing at the Edge - Lessons & Levels It was hard not to see and be amazed at all the great partner dancing at the Edge, but the line dancers were not forgotten! There were a total of 29 line dance classes to attend, in which about 30 different line dances were taught. In all 10 instructors helped teach. The line dance lessons were given by Adia Dance, Candy Sherwin, Cindi Massengale, Philip Victor Ongert, Aleigha Elston, Marie Kelly, Jason Peterson, Jennifer Workman, Mackenzie Keister, and Leslie Perez. Below is the full list of 30 Line Dances Taught at the Edge, listed alphabetically.Click on the dance name to go to the Copperknob web page for the dance. Line Dance Teacher Level Choreographer Bang Bang (EZ) Marie Kelly, Cindi Massengale, Jen Workman, or Candy Sherwin (Beginner Barn) BEG Annemaree Sleeth Banjo Remix: Traditional & Contra Jason Peterson INT Call Me Señorita Marie Kelly, Cindi Massengale, Jen Workman, or Candy Sherwin (Beginner Barn) BEG Rick Dominguez Come On & Jump Aleigha Elston INT Mark Paulino Countdown Jason Peterson INT Abby Cahill Country Boys Philip Ongert HB Adia Nuno & Aleigha Elston Cowboy Up Marie Kelly, Cindi Massengale, Jen Workman, or Candy Sherwin (Beginner Barn) BEG Barbara Hile Don't Overthink It Jason Peterson INT Chris Jacques Drop Your Tailgate Aleigha Elston INT Aleigha Elston & Brianna Faith Fake ID Cindi Massengale ADV Jamal Sims & Dondraico Johnson Gives Me Shivers Jen Workman BEG Brandon Zahorsky Honky Tonk Floors Mackenzie Keister INT/ADV Mackenzie Keister & Tara Bianco Honky Tonk Sway Jen Workman ADV Jennifer Workman Honky Tonk Way Aleigha Elston INT Landon James Purvis & Mark Paulino I'm Begging You Cindi Massengale ADV José Miguel Belloque Vane & Roy Verdonk I'm Fabulous Aleigha Elston INT Rebecca Lee, Debbie Rushton, Jean-Pierre M Jumanji Philip Ongert INT José Miguel Belloque Vane & Guillaume Richard Make The Rooster Crow Marie Kelly, Cindi Massengale, Jen Workman, or Candy Sherwin (Beginner Barn) BEG Mark Paulino Party in the Hills Philip Ongert ADV Fred Whitehouse, Shane McKeever & Joey Warren Purple Chicks Marie Kelly, Cindi Massengale, Jen Workman, or Candy Sherwin (Beginner Barn) BEG Ring On Your Wranglers Aleigha Elston INT Aleigha Elston & Brianna Faith She's A Natural Leslie Perez BEG Jonno Liberman Slappin' Leather Jen Workman BEG Gayle Brandon Sounds Like Something I'd Do Adia Dance and Candy Sherwin ADV Adia Nuno & Satu Ketellapper Southern Soul Bounce Candy Sherwin BEG The King & I, Roy Verdonk & Ira Weisburd Spicy Margarita Candy Sherwin INT Fred Whitehouse & Jean-Pierre Madge The CowBoi Boogie Marie Kelly, Cindi Massengale, Jen Workman, or Candy Sherwin (Beginner Barn) BEG Big Mucci Tick Tick Boom Cindi Massengale INT Brandon Zahorsky Walker AA Marie Kelly, Cindi Massengale, Jen Workman, or Candy Sherwin (Beginner Barn) BEG Deanna Nemes What Makes You Country Marie Kelly, Cindi Massengale, Jen Workman, or Candy Sherwin (Beginner Barn) BEG Rob Holly back to top Partner Dancing at the Edge – Lessons & Styles For those interested in leveling up their country partner dancing game, the Edge Dance Event always has a wide range of styles and levels to choose from. First of all, there were Two Step workshops of course. The Two Step, as the country dance staple in bars and dance halls across the country, is a great place to begin if you're wanting to get into country dancing. So, appropriately the Edge workshops had Two Steppers covered. There were classes from beginner to advanced and that covered many different patterns and techniques. Teachers for Two Step were Robert & Brigette Campos, Robert Royston, Adia & Russ, Sarah & Stefanie, Aaron & Pam Miller, and Candy Sherwin. Next, there were Country Swing workshops. This dance style, also, a great favorite in the country bar scene was very well covered and also taught and covered by many of the instructors. West Coast Swing, was the third main partner dance covered. There were several WCS classes primarily given by Travis Swartzlander with some from Robert & Brigette Campos as well as Brunno Theodoro. Then, for those ready and/or daring enough there were also some workshops covering lifts, dips and tricks! I love that for those that are at that level there are opportunities like this to be challenged and grow. Lastly, the interesting and beautiful Brazilian partner Zouk dance was offered again, as well as (a new one to me) a "Steals" class. So, I guess this is a thing! How to have fun stealing a partner from another lead, but of course with craft and style–all in fun of course. One last class to mention that was of particular interest to me was Russ Bradchulis' class on songs and what songs work with what dances. There weren't too many people there for that on Sunday afternoon, but I'm really glad I dropped in. Russ's experience and understanding of what makes a good song for Two Step or a Cha Cha etc. was very interesting. Social Dancing at the Edge – Many Dance Floors! The social dance opportunities really round out The Edge dance convention weekend well. I believe there was social dancing available on at least four of the dance floors: Hall of Fame, ECLAP, The Bring the Fun (Beginner Barn), and the CRC Barn, which was the main floor. Saturday night the James Kelly band played for a while in the Hall of Fame dance floor-covered arena, and later he was over in the beginner barn joining us for the Outlaw line dance (see below!). https://youtu.be/ui0XTNLPWwQ Social dancing in the evenings at The Edge was found on several of the dance floors! back to top The Edge Dance Competitions Like the title of this article, The Edge is a non-stop weekend of dancing and fun for everyone! On Friday and Saturday nights, the more advanced and competitive dancers are served well with tons of opportunities to compete and show their dancing chops off! On both Friday and Saturday, the competition activity began in the afternoon and continued late into the night! See below for the competition categories. And a quick video showing the line dancers 50 and over competing for the "Rhinestone" belt buckle! Friday Competition Categories Two StepSlotted SwingFreestyle Progressive StrictlyFreestyle Progressive Novice/BeginnerFreestyle Progressive Intermediate/AdvancedLine Dance All LevelChoreography Sat. Competition Categories Country Swing StrictlyCountry Swing Novice/BeginnerCountry Swing Intermediate/AdvancedLine Dance (50+) Click here for detailed information about all The Edge dance competitions as well as this year's final results! https://youtu.be/Z3Jld8_hCeE back to top Final Thoughts on the Edge! The Edge 2023 was the best one yet as far as I'm concerned. Despite the rain that greeted us again, a large group of attendees seemed to get through and have a great time. It was fun to connect with friends meet new people and be in all the classes and enjoy social dancing in the unique venue of the CRC Ranch. Speaking of meeting new people, it was fun to meet Jen Workman from Seattle, and Todd the Data Cowboy - creator of the new app for line dancers called Bring The Fun. Download it and check it out! And also, it was so great to see Candy Sherwin again and finally take her Two Step class! And everyone was happy to meet the CRC Ranch dog, Bodie! He was a very happy dog, greatly enjoying all the dancers lovin' on him all week! And he never left the ranch vehicle! The Edge Dance Convention is truly an innovative approach to a country dance workshop event. Held in beautiful Temecula, you get the best of dancing, and being with friends as well as a beautiful weekend getaway. If you can do it and haven't been before, for sure put this on your 2024 calendar! You won't regret it! But wait! Say, you can't wait that long, and wish you could partake in such an event sooner. Check out the up-and-coming YESSS convention! this year in Scottsdale, Arizona. Say Yesss! to the Yearly Epic Summer Step & Swing National Dance Convention and Competition. SEE YOU SOON!
