CWF'23 - Event Info
Charlotte WestieFest 2023 is on the weekend of February 2nd – 5th, 2023!
Charlotte WestieFest has worked hard to create an event that has always welcomed people from diverse and varied backgrounds … with respect to demographics as well as types of dance.
CWF welcomes every community member regardless of their race, age, sexual orientation, gender/gender identity, disability, physical appearance, and/or religion.
We continue to be committed to creating an event environment based on treating people equitably with dignity, respect and courtesy. As such, we strive to ensure the safety and well-being of every attendee through a shared responsibility with every member of our dance community.
To this end, we employ a Code of Conduct that every attendee is required to follow.
For 2023, CWF will not require Covid vaccinations or testing.
We simply ask that every attendee monitor and manage their health and to avoid contact with others if they experience signs of illness.
Please use the following link to access our detailed Code of Conduct.
North Carolina's Dance Party
Our focus is Learning and Social Dancing for all levels!
WSDC Points
We are a WSDC registry event!
We offer Jack & Jill Competitions in the following Divisions:
- Newcomer
- Novice
- Intermediate
- Advanced
- All-Star
- Masters
All WSDC Jack & Jill Competitions (Prelims and Finals) are conducted on Saturday. No WSDC J&J Comps on Sunday!!!!!
Strictly Swings
All “Leveled” Strictly Swing Competitions will take place on Friday Evening in the following Divisions:
- Newcomer
- Novice
- Intermediate
- Advanced
- All-Star
- Masters
Once again in 2023, we will be having a:
- Generation Gap Strictly Swing
This competition will require a minimum 20 year age gap – and, only 1 partner of a couple can be Advanced or above (per WSDC Point Registry status as of the start of the event weekend).
Tournament-Style "All-American" Contest
Based on the participation we had for this competition in 2022, we will again run a tournament-style contest on Sunday afternoon in 2023!
Prelims for this competition will be at 1:00 pm on Sunday.
Finals will be at 2:00 pm on Sunday.
Couples will be paired randomly for Prelims, with the top 16 couples advancing to the Finals. Prior to the Finals, partners will be redrawn, and then seeded into a Tournament-Style bracket with the Finals being conducted in a “Head-to-Head” format two couples at a time.
Complete details are available in the Competition Rules link.
Charlotte WestieFest is a member of the AANCE Tour
Once again in 2023, CWF will be a member event of the AANCE Tour.
Complete details about the AANCE Tour and the yearly finals held at the Meet Me in St. Louis event are available by clicking Here.
Lots of Social Dancing
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, as in previous years, in addition to our Main Room which will remain primarily focused on West Coast Swing ……. we will be featuring our “Carolina Mix Room” for social dancing on both Friday and Saturday nights!
The specifics are:
On Friday and Saturday Nights 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. This will provide a great option for those not interested in competing 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 throughout each evening.
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.
For 2023, we are actively working to bring back our secondary dance rooms and will announce those plans and details ASAP!
Learn West Coast Swing - along with a taste of Shag, Country Two-Step, Nightclub 2 Step, & Hustle!!!
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, and Hustle!
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!
Complete details will be available on the event schedule.
Newcomer Track and Competitor Prep & Review Sessions
Consistent with our commitment to “growing everyone’s dance”, we will once again offer a Newcomer Track of workshops designed to cover and teach the foundational aspects and building blocks of WCS. In this Track, we also include sessions focused on creating socialization and interaction between Newcomers with both experienced dancers and Staff members.
In addition, we will also again offer “Leveled Competitor Prep and Review Sessions“.
The Prep Sessions will be on Friday and are focused on helping people fine tune things in getting ready to compete over the weekend … and, are also a great way to find a Strictly Swing partner if you might be interested in doing so.
The Review Sessions are on Sunday, and offer an opportunity for informal interaction with some of the Staff who judged the various contests over the weekend.
Details for all these special workshops will be made available soon.
Special Sessions & Mini-Intensives
In addition to the many workshops that are included in your event pass, we plan to once again offer a limited number of “Add-On Sessions”. These “Mini-Intensives” provide opportunities for focused coaching on a specific topic/technique/skill set from some phenomenal instructors for nominal add-on costs.
Add-On Mini-Intesives:
For 2023, we are currently finalizing the “Mini-Intensives” that we will be offering, and will update this information ASAP.
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. Sign-Up for these Sessions will be done On-Site in conjunction with announcing which Staff will be participating in each Session.
- Our unique “Grow Your Dance Session“ – this two-hour session is included as part of your weekend pass, and is where we invite the Newcomer and Novice level dancers to come and interact in small group settings with some of our staff, select All-Star dancers, and recognized community instructors in an effort to help answer questions, provide insights, learn new things, and foster the development of everyone’s level of dance.
Workshops
DAYS
Sq Ft of Ballroom
Professional Staff
Instructional, Competition, Emcee & Judging Staff
We are actively working on finalizing our Staff for CWF’23
We will continue to update this Section as we confirm our CWF’23 Staff.
We hope to welcome many of those who were here in 2022 back, as well as others …. both familiar and new to CWF!
Confirmed for 2023!
Our “Carolina-based” Team of:
Michael Kiehm * Patty Vo * Robin Smith * Debbie Ramsey-Boz * Jason Barnes
Malia Jameson * Jason & Annmarie Marker * Ryan Boz * Stephanie Risser-Loveira * Nicole Zwerlein
Sharole Lashe-Negrete * Debbie Tuttle-Steffanina * Nikki Kontoulas & Scott Cambell (Shag)
Our “Regional Core Team” of:
Jerome Subey * PJ Turner * Bonnie Cannon * Robert Cordoba * Gary Jobst
Hailey Toro * Erica Smith * Kay Newhouse * Lara Deni & Steve Wilder * Alyssa Lundgren
Jeff Mumford * Derek Leyva & Jennifer Norris * Margie Tuttle * Alan Annicella * Sheven Kekoolani
Our Competition, Scoring & Contest Management Team of:
Doug Rousar * Demery Leyva * Alex Brand * Vivian Glucksman-Weiss * Susan Brown
Our Registration, Front Desk & Support Team of:
Tammy Davis * Allison Bennett * Tracy Wang
Our Media Team of:
Carl Lind * Dan Sweet * Jeannette Senn * Ivana Woodcock
We are also working to bring back others who were here in 2022 and prior years …… including:
Stephen White * Tara Trafzer * Austin Kois * Bryan Jordan
Alexander Stavola * Karla Anita Catana * Rob Glover
Ariel Peck * Jesse Lopez * Abi & Stephane Schneider
and …. Stay Tuned, We Hope to Have More Yet to Come!!!!!!!
DJ Staff
We are actively working on finalizing our DJ Team for CWF’23
We will continue to update this Section as we confirm our CWF’23 DJs.
Confirmed for 2023!
Ruby Lair (Texas) * Josh Angel (Florida) * Katie Fallon (Ohio)
Kristen Shaw (Northeast) * Margie Tuttle (Chattanooga via DC) * Beth Bellamy (Chicago-area)
Jasson Phillips (Durham) * Ann Reynolds (Charlotte) * Virgil Breeden (Atlanta) * Ron Glickman (Charlotte/Atlanta)
Stay tuned – we might still have a couple more recognizable names that may be coming and will join us in the DJ booth over the weekend ….
including some from CWF’22 (and Trilogy Swing 2022) such as:
Ian O’Gorman (Raleigh/Florida) * Joe Mahoney (Boston) * Kaiano Levine (Massachusetts)
Khayree Jones (California) * Aidan Keith-Hynes (California) * Brad Blashko (Canada)
We are excited to be bringing in some familiar names from both near and far again this year!!
Event Directors
We look forward to welcoming you to Charlotte WestieFest 2023
Rick Dauss (Executive Event Director)
Cindy Dauss (Co-Event Director & “Rick’s Boss”)
Charlotte WestieFest is a production of Carolina Westie Productions (CWP), LLC
Schedule
***** The “Final” 2022 Schedule and Workshop Details are provided via the above Buttons for reference *****
For travel and planning purposes, the 2023 Schedule will follow this same basic plan:
- Thursday Night
- Kick-Off workshop at 8:00 pm
- Social Dancing to begin at 9:00 pm
- Friday
- Workshops will begin at Noon
- Strictly Swing Competitions scheduled for 9:00 – 11:00 pm
- Social Dancing in Secondary Ballroom during Strictlies
- Saturday
- Workshops will begin at 10:00 am
- Jack & Jill Prelims & Semi’s will start at Noon
- Generation Gap Strictly – Prelims following J&J heats
- Jack & Jill Finals scheduled to begin at 8:00 pm
- Generation Gap Strictly – Finals prior to All-Star J&J Finals
- Sunday
- Workshops will begin at 10:00 am
- “Tournament-Style All-American” contest
- Prelims at 1:00
- Bracketed “Head-to-Head” Finals at 2:00
- Evening Workshop at 7:00 pm
- “After-Party” Dance 8:00 pm – 3:00 am
Note: We will announce details on any “Specialty Sessions” & Intensives as soon as possible.
Please keep these time frames in mind when making your travel plans!
Event tickets
Weekend Passes are available via the World Dance Registry Registration System link Here or via the Registration Buttton below!
As a reminder ….
For 2023, CWF will not require Covid vaccinations or testing.
We simply ask that every attendee monitor and manage their health and to avoid contact with others if they experience signs of illness.
Affiliations
These awesome companies support us
Sponsors
Special Thanks to the following current and past Sponsors who have helped make CWF successful!
Bill Waltz & Anne Brade * Adela Su & Eddie Karoliussen * Steve & Teresa Sagraves
Sharole Lashe Negrete * Debi & Buz McCreary * Debbie & Dean Maheras
David & Jiffy Sarver * Dori Eden * Patrick Moise
Others who wish to remain anonymous
(If you are interested in becoming a Sponsor – please contact Rick Dauss via Facebook or by email at “[email protected]”)
Location
- 8629 JM Keynes Dr. Charlotte, NC
- [email protected]
- (704) 547-7444
- Feb 2 - 5, 2023
- Book Hotel