The Edge Dance Event, 2023 – Nonstop Dancing, & Fun for Everyone!

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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.

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ADIA DANCE
With 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

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The Edge Dance Event NEWS!
EARLY REGISTRATION for The Edge Dance Event, 2024 is NOW OPEN
March 8-10, 2024 Friday-Sunday
In Temecula California!
3 DAYS, 2 NIGHTS OF WORKSHOPS, AND OPEN DANCING!
Held at the beautiful California Ranch Company


See more information including registration online at www.theedegedancevent.com

2024Edge

Table of Contents


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.

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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.

Friday’s kick-off with Philip Victor and the demos for the first workshops of the weekend.
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.


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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 – 5
Country Two Step – 4
Country Swing – 3
Cowboy Cha Cha Partner Dance (Jennifer W.)
Horseshoe Shuffle Partner Dance (Jennifer W.)
Bollywood with Neha (from India)
WTF Dance Is This? from Russ Bradchullis
To 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!

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Group photo with Cindi’s gang at the Hall of Fame dance floor (covered arena).
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Hanging out with Cindi at the Kitchen.
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Group shot with Cindi!
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Group shot with Cindi (but where’s Cindi?)
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One of many of our group shots with Cindi – Bodie the CRC Ranch Dog gets in on the action!
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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.

The four recaps of the classes I took on the first day, Friday, March 10, 2023.
The four recaps of the classes I took on the second day, Saturday, March 11, 2023.
Recaps for four of five classes I took on the last day, Sunday, March 12, 2023.

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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 & Competitions
6 Dance Floors
27 Instructors
4 DJs
88 Workshops
29 Line Dance Workshops in which about 30 line dances were taught
30 Different Line Dances (click to see the list)
49 Partner Dance Workshops
10 Misc. Workshops (Such as Burlesque, Bollywood, Technique & Tune Up classes)
1 Great Special Show Saturday Night


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Instructors & DJs

instructors

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.

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Adia Nuno
russ head shot 1
Russ Bradchulis
JOel
Joel Bartlett
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Philip Victor Ongert (Instructor & emcee)
Kenzie 2
Mackensie Kiester
Sarah Stokes
Sarah Stokes
Candy 2 1
Candy Sherwin
Cindy 1
Cindi Massengale
marie kelly 2
Marie Kelly (Inst. & DJ)
Aleigha dance shot
Aleigha Easton
Travis 2 JPG
Travis Swartzlander
Dancin DJ Jen
Jen Workman
Gabe S 1
Gabriel Sebastian
rr 2
Robert Royston
WCS Tribe
Robert Campos Jr.
brigette
Brigitte Campos
brunno 4
Brunno Cezar Theororo
Yana 1 4
Yana Trubin
IMG 0165 HEIC
Souraya Lorenz
Stefanie Vasturo
Stefanie Vasturo
Juanna Dance Promo JPG
Juan Aguirre
jason JPG
Jason Peterson (Inst. & DJ)
Aaron and Pam 2
Aaron & Pam Miller
Red Dirt Dancing 1
Sarah & Chris Ivy
Leslie
Leslie Perez
christian
Christian “DJ Keahi” Summerfruit
DJRicknewpromo
DJ Rick Dominguez
1 187
DJ Ron Major
Choreo Award 2
Dustin “DJ Dvious” Valcalda

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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!).

shawnie
Social dancing in the evenings at The Edge was found on several of the dance floors!

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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 Step
Slotted Swing
Freestyle Progressive Strictly
Freestyle Progressive Novice/Beginner
Freestyle Progressive Intermediate/Advanced
Line Dance All Level
Choreography

Sat. Competition Categories

Country Swing Strictly
Country Swing Novice/Beginner
Country Swing Intermediate/Advanced
Line Dance (50+)

Click here for detailed information about all The Edge dance competitions as well as this year’s final results!


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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!

jen
candyshawnie
toddDAtacowboy
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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!

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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.


adiiaGoodbye

SEE YOU SOON!


Brian Sheridan

I'm the owner of CDT. I live in Fullerton, California, and enjoy country dancing with my friends at least once a week.

2 thoughts on “The Edge Dance Event, 2023 – Nonstop Dancing, & Fun for Everyone!

  1. Nice job covering the Edge event, Brian. You work hard bringing all the latest and greatest c/w news to the masses. Will you be covering Stagecoach this year?

    1. Thank you so much Jo Anna! Sadly, I don’t plan on going this year to Stagecoach, even though the line-up looks very enticing. Especially Sunday with Chris Stapleton, Brooks & Dunn, and Parker McCollum finishing up the weekend! We’ll see! Maybe I’ll change my mind. But I’m also open to a guest post from someone who wants to write it up this time!

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