A hoedown is a weekend-long country-western dance event. More than just a single evening dance, a hoedown features dance workshops, chances to socialize, and just a whole lot of fun!
We are expecting about 80 registered attendees for the 2008 hoedown, with more attending individual events like the afternoon workshops and the Saturday night dance. And we’re already looking ahead to 2009!
Is the “Emerald City Hoedown” going to be Wizard of Oz themed?
Yes and no. In addition to being Dorothy’s original destination in the books and movie, the “Emerald City” is also the official nickname of the city of Seattle, because everything is so green around here.
But a little bit of The Wizard of Oz is bound to show up. With the themes of outsiders, friendship, and teamwork — and the fabulous musical numbers — how could we avoid using Oz references? So pull on your ruby cowboy boots and dance!
Do I have to be a member of Rain Country to attend?
Not at all. Anyone who dances — or wants to dance! — is welcome.
Rain Country members get $5 off their registration fee for the hoedown, as well as other perks during the year. For information on joining Rain Country, click here. If you would like to join Rain Country at the same time as you register, and get the discount right then, you can do so.
Part of Rain Country’s mission is to raise money for charity, to support other organizations within the GLBTQ community.
Rain Country will keep a portion of the proceeds from the weekend to provide seed money for the 2009 hoedown. Rain Country plans to announce the fundraising results within a month after the hoedown.
We can always use volunteers to help us put the event together and to run it during the actual weekend.
We need people to do setup and clean up for each event during the weekend (especially Saturday before and after the eveing dance), to run registration, to do security (checking badges and the like) at various events, and so on. If you are interested in helping with these tasks, please contact us.
The Emerald City Hoedown committee meets in person about once a week leading up to the Hoedown, and conducts regular business via e-mail. For details on joining the committee and attending the next meeting, contact us.
Most of all, though, you can register for the Emerald City Hoedown, and get your fellow dancers to register as well! The more who attend, the more exciting the weekend will be for all of us.
Can I register online and pay by credit card?
The best answer is to download the registration form (Word) (PDF), print it, and send it in with your check. The event pricing is included on the form, or you can find it here. (Click here for help with Adobe Acrobat and PDF files.)
You can also register online via PayPal, using your PayPal account balance or by credit card. (We charge a small service fee for those who pay by credit card, to cover the fees that PayPal charges to us.)
As soon as we process your registration, we will send a confirmation letter or e-mail. We will also have a special e-mail list for those attending or interested in attending the hoedown, to send you all the details as they come available. (You are welcome to join this list even if you are not registered but just thinking about attending.) As the weekend nears, additional contacts will be sent to ensure that you have all the info you need to make for a fantastic weekend.
If you register online, we will still need to have a signed waiver from you before you can attend the Emerald City Hoedown. We will have a copy of the waiver with your name on it at Registration for you to sign when you check in. Or if you prefer, you can download the Emerald City Hoedown registration form (Word) (PDF), fill it out and sign it, and mail it to the Rain Country address on the form; just indicate that you have already registered online.
Can I attend just some of the events?
Definitely. Every event can be attended individually. Full details on the per-event pricing will soon be available on this page.
The best value for your dollar, of course, is to register for the entire weekend. The further in advance that you regsiter, the better the price! (Plus, Rain Country members get a discount on the weekend price.) You can register and join Rain Country on this page.
Where are the events being held?
For all the details about our schedule visit this page.
Emerald City Hoedown events will be held at several locations in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood:
Our home bar and the location for the start of Friday night is the Cuff Complex at 1533 13th Ave. (@ Pine). The Cuff Complex started as a leather bar and has expanded over time by adding a dance floor and large patio. Rain Country dances at the Cuff every Friday and on alternate Wednesdays.
Three blocks downhill from the Cuff, at 915 Pine (@ 10th Ave.), is the Century Ballroom. A fantastic turn-of-the-century dance hall, the Century is the host for our late Friday night dancing.
Our Saturday and Sunday morning Country Coffee Socials will be held at a coffee shop on Capitol Hill, in the same negihborhood as th Cuff and the Century Ballroom.
Our Saturday and Sunday workshops will be held at the Century Ballroom and the Cuff Complex. In general, couples dance workshops will be held at one location, and line dance workshops at the other. We will schedule a long enough break between workshops to enable you to travel between the two locations if you need to.
Our Saturday workshops (two tracks!) will be held at the Century Ballroom and the Cuff Complex. In general, couples dance workshops will be held at the Century Ballroom, and line dance workshops at the Cuff Complex. We have scheduled a 15-minute break between workshops to enable you to travel between the two locations if you need to.
After the workshops but before the evening dance, there will be a Women’s Social held at the Wild Rose (1021 E Pike St.). And late night, after the dance, we invite the men to a “boots and briefs” social at the Seattle Eagle (314 E. Pike St.), as part of their regular Saturday underwear party.
The big Saturday night dance will be held at the Polish Home Association (1714 18th Ave., off Madison), with its 3500 square foot dance hall at the crest of Capitol Hill. The building has a dedicated parking lot.
The Sunday spotlight workshop will be held at HaLo (500 E Pike St., 2nd Floor; a second site run by the Century Ballroom).
The Sunday afternoon dance and BBQ will be held at the Cuff Complex.
Monday evening, join us for an “Afterburn Part” at our regular Monday lessons and dance venue, Swank in Kent.
Rain Country has not contracted with a specific hotel for the Emerald City Hoedown.
Since all events will be held at various dance venues on Capitol Hill, we will be able to recommend a number of hotels and bed & breakfasts in the area.
What will be taught in the workshops? Who are the instructors?
Scheduled couples workshops include Beginning Two-Step on Friday night; Beginning-Plus and Intermediate Two-Step on Saturday morning; Waltz, Shadow, and West Coast Swing on Saturday afternoon; and a 3-hour spotlight workshop of West Coast Swing on Sunday morning.
Line dance workshops include the Barn Dance on Friday night; Simplemente, Cute Cute Cute, and Mandolin Dreams on Saturday afternoon; and quickie reteaches of 5 or 6 local standards early on Saturday night; plus short reteaches of the Saturday afternoon dances at the start of Sunday’s dance. There will also be a line dance lesson at Swank on Monday.
Our featured spotlight instructor is Steve Rockwell from San Francisco. Also joining us from San Francisco is guest line dance instructor Hagan Ko. Regular local instructors Michael Kelson, Jim Drew, and Chirsta Erwin will also teach workshops, and Terry Felts, Nick Literski, and Ruby Luke will join in for the standards reteaches.
DJs for the weekend will be Jim Drew (Cuff Complex, late night at Century Ballroom, an Line Dance Explosion! at Polish House), Keith Gehrig (Polish House), Hallie (early evening at Century Ballroom), and Mike Tolleson (Swank).
What other activities and entertainment will there be?
In addition to our dancing and dance workshops, we will have a welcome social with a pizza buffet on Friday, coffee socials on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and a BBQ (or other catered afternoon meal) on Sunday afternoon. The Sunday BBQ will be included in your registration fee.
During the Saturday dance, we will have performances from our local performing troupe, the Rain City Rhythm Riders, plus special guests from San Francisco, the Golden Gate Clogging Co., and from Seattle, the VisQueens (“The Seattle leather community’s biggest embarrassment”).
If you are visiting from out of town, you may want to go sightseeing while you’re here. You may want to go up the Space Needle, visit the Science Fiction Museum and the Experience Music Project, ride the 1960s vintage monorail, shop at Pike Place Market, tour Underground Seattle, ride the ferry to Bainbridge Island, or visit the University of Washington Arboretum, among other local sights. We’ll be glad to direct you to locations that interest you.
If you’re looking for a delicious casual brunch on either day, we can direct you to some of our favorite local restaurants.
What will the weather be like? I’ve heard it rains a lot in Seattle.
Heh. That’s what we tell people to keep them all from moving here!
The Seattle area is a notoriously damp climate, and late April is the heart of spring, so there’s no telling what the weather will be like. We will hope for “the bluest skies you’ve every seen,” but we’ll prepare for rain. Most likely will be our version of the classic “April showers”: mist and drizzle (especially overnight) and wet streets, with generally dry but overcast days including some sun breaks.
We recommend not wearing your dance boots and dance shoes on the streets if they are wet, because the damp will make your soles sticky. Plan to bring your dance footwear and change at the dance sites.
I’m coming by plane or train. Will there be a shuttle to the hoedown?
Taxi, bus, shuttle, and limo services are all available from SeaTac airport, and taxi and bus service are available from the train depot. (Seattle’s burgeoning light rail system is not scheduled to be operational until sometime in 2009. Maybe in time for our next hoedown?)
If you need a ride to and from some events, please let us know at registration. We cannot promise anything up front, but we’ll see what we can provide.
I plan to visit Seattle for a few days before or after the run. Can Rain Country members host me?
Rain Country expects that some members will be able to host out of town guests for a couple days. Such hosting will be on an as-available basis, so if you wish to plan for such, please let us know when you register, and we will put you in contact with Rain Country members who would be willing to host you during your stay.
We can also recommend hotels and bed-and-breakfasts which are convenient for longer stays.
The weekend before the Emerald City Hoedown is the Northwest Bears’ annual event, Spring Thaw, so dancing bears (and lions and tigers) may want to attend both events!
What other vacation options are there for me in the Pacific Northwest?
The Pacific Northwest offers many options for travel and sightseeing. We encourage you to turn your trip to the Emerald City Hoedown into a full vacation, either starting or ending a week’s vacation with the leather weekend.
The major cities are Seattle, Portland (2.5 hours drive south of Seattle), Vancouver, BC (3 hours north), and Spokane (5 hours east). All the cities have spectacular views, assorted tourist attractions, shopping, and vibrant gay communities. And of course there are many smaller cities and towns throughout the area, each with its own attractions.
Outside the urban areas, there are vast expanses of nature to explore. The Cascades are littered with dramatic volcanic mountains, including Mt. Rainier National Park, Mt. Hood, and the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. West of Seattle is the Olympic Peninsula, with craggy mountains and a temperate rain forest. Further north, you can explore the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound, or venture to Vancouver Island and the city of Victoria, BC. Eastern Washington has broad expanses of mostly high desert, but also areas full of wheat fields, apple orchards, and other agricultural products.
More Info: hoedown@raincountrydance.org
Problems: info@raincountrydance.org
Last Update: 03/31/08