What makes CWF so amazing? Our emphasis on social dancing, learning, and the ability to explore other dance styles in addition to West Coast Swing. At our core, we value the inclusion of all levels, both within West Coast Swing, as well across complementary dance styles.

To this end, we are excited to announce that once again in 2020, in addition to our Main Room which will remain primarily focused on West Coast Swing ……. we will be offering additional social dancing opportunities – featuring our “Carolina Mix Room” for social dancing on both Friday (starting at 8:30 pm) and Saturday (immediately following the Ballroom Night activities)!

In addition, we are pleased that Charlotte Latin Dance, Dancing in Charlotte w/ Queen City Moves, Carolina Ballroom Dance Club,  and Queen City Blues/Fusion will once again be hosting dances in our secondary rooms throughout the event weekend.

The specifics are:

On Friday Night –

• Our Secondary (Lakeshore) Ballroom will become a “Carolina Mix Room” – we will be playing a mix of WCS, Shag, Hustle, Country-Western Two-Step (CW2) and Night Club Two-step (NC2) for social dancing beginning at 8:30 pm.   This will provide a great option for those not interested in competing in the Strictly Swing contests to social dance to all the styles of dance that we will be teaching over the weekend, to warm up prior to competing, and then complement the Main Room social dancing after the completion of the Strictly Swing competitions.
• The 3rd ballroom (Glenwaters) will kick off at 7:00 pm with the start of the Charlotte Latin Dance weekend activities.  See below for details on their plans for 2020!
• In our 4th ballroom (Lakeview) Dancing in Charlotte w/ Queen City Moves will kick off at 8:30 pm with an alternative lesson focusing on level and core changes for fusion dancing and traditional structures for interplay.  Following the lesson, there will be an Alternative Milonga starting at 9:30 – transitioning to late night Blues around 1:00 am!  For complete details, please visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/599151994216988/

On Saturday Night –

• Carolina Ballroom Dance Club will again be moving their monthly dance to our secondary room, starting off at 7 pm with a Intro to WCS lesson, a Rumba lesson at 8 pm, and dancing from 9 pm until midnight.  For details, please visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/503691370223851/
• Queen City Blues will once again host a Blues Room Dance in our 4th room – featuring 3 lessons at 7, 8, & 9 pm followed by dancing all night long.  Information for the Blues Night can be found at:  https://www.facebook.com/events/462322441157435/
• And ……… As on Friday night, at midnight we will again transition to a “Carolina Mix Room” in our Secondary Ballroom upon the completion of the Ballroom Dance Night activities!

New for 2020 – Charlotte Latin Dance will be conducting activities at CWF on both Friday and Saturday nights!

• Joining us again for the 5th year, Charlotte Latin Dance will once again be hosting workshops, a special Latin Styling Intensive and social dancing.   They will be offering opportunities to learn and dance various forms of Latin-style dances (Mambo, Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Cha Cha & others) as well as Kizomba/Semba/Konpa/Cloadeira/Afrobeats/Zouk.
• For complete details, please go to their Facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/events/403068740367308/

And, don’t forget …… we also have social dances on both Thursday night (starting with a pre-dance lesson at 8 pm and then dancing until the sun comes up) as well as Sunday night into early Monday morning (including a lesson at 8 pm for those who aren’t interested in watching the Super Bowl).

What are you waiting for?

With our amazing staff we are able to offer workshops not only for West Coast Swing but also provide the opportunity to “dip your toes” into: Shag, Country Two-Step, Nightclub 2 Step, Hustle, Latin, Ballroom, and Blues!

If you have been looking for a chance to check out other dance styles – or, re-visit some dance styles other than WCS ……. CharlotteWestieFest is the place for you to do so!

In addition to the many workshops, we will be offering a few “Add-On Sessions” that can help you “raise your game” as you look to grow your dance abilities.

These are the Special Sessions we will be offering for 2020!

We will have four 2-hour Intensives to choose from – they are:

• Floor Craft Essentials – taught by Champion Patty Vo (Friday from 5 – 7 pm).  Details at: https://www.facebook.com/events/543459326507566/
• Smooth Movement & Musical Spontaneity – taught by Terry Roseborough  (Saturday at 10 am – Noon). Information at: https://www.facebook.com/events/2563689937250833/
• A Hustle Intensive by Hustle Champion and Pro Stephanie Risser-Loveira (Saturday from 5 – 7 pm).  Complete details available at: https://www.facebook.com/events/2439241236394454/
• Layering Your Styling from Your Toes to Your Nose – by Champion Jessica (Cox) McCurdy (Sunday from Noon – 2 pm).  Complete details available at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1560401177433268/
• A Latin Styling & Technique Intensive   For details, please check out the Charlotte Latin Dance activities happening this year at CWF’20 by going to:  https://www.facebook.com/events/403068740367308/

In addition, for those interested in, or already teaching, Micheal Kiehm will again be offering his newly updated and reworked Level 1 Session of the Global Professional Dance Instructors Association (GPDIA) Teacher’s Training & Certification program.  For more information, details, and to register for this session (and to take advantage of the special pricing that we offer during our event weekend), please visit the GPDIA website at:

Home

Other Special Sessions include:

• Two Sessions of “10-for-$10’s” – sign-up for a “quick tune-up” with many of our staff.  For only $10, you get 10 minutes of one-on-one time with a staff member to work on 1 or 2 things that can help better your dancing, address something you have been struggling with, or just fine-tune an aspect of your dancing.  These 2-hour sessions will be scheduled throughout the weekend – see the schedule for specific times.
• Our unique “Grow Your Dance Session” – this free two-hour session is where we invite the Newcomer and Novice level dancers to come and interact in small group settings with some of our staff and select All-Star dancers in an effort to help answer questions, provide insights, learn new things, and foster the development of everyone’s level of dance.
• The “Project Swing Workshop” – this 2-hour Session is open to everyone! If you have a friend who has not yet “dipped their toes” into dancing, this Session is the perfect way to introduce them to West Coast Swing. On Saturday from 5 – 7 pm, we teach a “Free to Everyone” group lesson in our 4th ballroom to anyone who would like to see what our dance is all about.
• Resilient Westies with Katie Bigelow, M,Ed.  Join Katie Saturday morning at 10:00 for a 1-hour Session where she will cover topics on injury prevention, sport performance, and more as they relate to dance concepts. For complete details, please visit her page at: https://www.facebook.com/ResilientWesties/