Hoedown Staff
Schedule (as a table) | Schedule (as a list) | Dance Rooms
Social Events | Competition | Dance Teams | Volunteer

Barb Buys 

Barb fell in love with dancing at the age of 9 and teaching at the age of 16.  She began teaching folk dance at a local university and hasn’t stopped since.  She has been dancing and teaching country-western since 1991 and West Coast Swing for the past 3 years.  She was a performing member with Cascade Cloggers and was a founding member of Women Who Clog Too Much, where she performed in both Washingtons for over 8 years.  She teaches skiing, tennis, mountaineering, and works as a life coach.  She is passionate about facilitating fun and success in any medium but especially on the dance floor.

Barb will be teaching West Coast Swing (Friday) and Two-Step (Saturday).

Jim Drew 

Jim Drew has been dancing and teaching country-western for over 20 years.  He has performed with and chroegraphed for several dance teams, including the Rain City Rhythm Riders.  He has taught regular lesson series in San Francisco and Seattle, plus workshops each year at the Emerald City Hoedown, Sundance Stompede, and the IAGLCWDC annual convention hoedown.  He competed in line dance at the World OutGames in Montreal and Copenhagen (where he won two gold medals).

Jim will be teaching Two-Step (Friday), Two-Step (Saturday) and Two-Step (Sunday).

Terry Felts 

Terry Felts has been dancing for going on ten years now, having started at Timberline Spirits.  Once she started dancing, she was hooked!  Terry loves both line and couples dancing.  She has branched into teaching and DJing to share this fun and camaraderie with others.  She has also performed with the Rain City Rhythm Riders.  Mostly, she is proud to be a member and supporting cast of the Rain Country Dance Association.

Terry will be teaching Night Club (Friday), TBD (TBD), and Waltz (Sunday).

Phoenix Grey

Growing up watching music videos in the 90’s, Phoenix found an early interest and in the world of dance which eventually culminated in teaching himself the choreography to Michael Jackson’s Thriller then training his friends to dance alongside him in a high school talent show.  In 2010, Phoenix discovered West Coast Swing, and a new life passion in partner dancing.  From there, he began his professional dance training by exploring every style he could get his hands on: Ballroom, Salsa, Blues, Argentine Tan… but Swing remains his first and greatest love.  Phoenix knew early on that he enjoys following even more than leading, which has spurred him to train and excel in both roles.  His passion for following lead him to create the Facebook group “Degendering West Coast Swing”, a community of dancers interested in promoting the acceptance and encouragement of gender-neutral dancing (e.g. anyone can lead or follow, regardless of gender).  The community’s efforts have collectively gotten the rules changed to allow non-traditional dancers both dance and be recognized in West Coast Swing’s primary competitive format.  Since the rule change, Phoenix is among the first in the world to achieve a dual “All-Star” competitive ranking both as a lead and as a follow.  His advocacy for gender neutral dancing is still going strong, and he is proud to see how much progress has come from the last few years.  He now spends 1-2 weekends a month travelling, teaching, competing, DJing, and judging.  Dancing is his light in life, and he’s eager to share that light with the world.

Phoenix will be teaching West Coast Swing (Saturday).

Bob Hackney

Bob Hackney got his BFA in Art with a dance (and equine science) minor from the University of Wisconsin.  The latter two related to his study of kinesiology and comparative movement between the rider and the dancer.  He got his start teaching dance right out of college, working at a “Major Dance Franchise” in Minneapolis that shall go nameless, and later private dance studios in Louisville, KY, and Portland, OR.  Although started in ballroom, his loves are country western and west coast swing.  He currently is a ceramic artist living in Portland, OR, and spends his time teaching ceramics/pottery full time at an arts non-profit, and being the minion of a precocious American Saddlebred Stallion dressage horse named Rubbish.

Bob will be teaching West Coast Swing (Sunday).

Jeffrey Howard

Jeffrey was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and still lives there.  He’s been dancing since he was 8.  For most of the 90’s he was caught up in the swing revival but switched to country in the early aughts because he wanted to dance with men.  He has led Stomptown, Portland’s LGBTQ Country Dance club, since 2012.

Jeffrey will be teaching Progressive Two-Step (Friday).

Klint Kendrick 

Klint Kendrick started country-western dancing over a decade ago ago when a man mistook his cowboy hat for dance ability and dragged him onto the floor for a spin.  After taking several months to recover from that trauma, he found that others mistook the cowboy hat for dance ability and asked him to explain certain moves.  The ever-present cowboy hat has lulled enough Cuff Country regulars into a false sense of security, and Klint now gets the chance to teach others that a cowboy hat and a smile can get them mistaken for experts, too.

Klint will be teaching Two-Step (Friday), East Coast Swing (Saturday), and TBD (TBD).

Ari Levitt 

Ari has been teaching and performing social dance nationally and internationally for over 25 years, including numerous workshops throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, as special guest instructor to Stanford University, as director of “Waltz Week in Vienna”, and as the innovator and director of “New Zealand Dance Adventure”.  As an instructor, he is well known for his clear, energetic, fun teaching style, for his detailed attention to connection and partnership, and for his ability to translate even the most complex dance moves into simple, understandable instructions.  In addition, he is highly regarded for his innovation and pioneering in the world of “fusion” dance — a form which borrows elements from one style and blends them fluidly into another, as well as for his work as a physician in the field of “experiential” wellness and dance therapy — using dance movement, balance, body awareness, and connection as a modality for diagnosing and treating individuals and couples.  You can learn more about Ari and see examples of night club two-step, waltz, swing, blues, fusion, and other dances on his website at www.rolluptherug.com.  Ari is very excited to be returning to Emerald City Hoedown for his third year where he looks forward to sharing his joy and love of dance with you.

Ari will be teaching West Coast Swing (Saturday) and Night Club Two-Step (Saturday).

Michael Metzger 

Michael Metzger began dancing in 2005 and immediately felt like he had finally come home.  Within a couple years he began teaching, and not long after he began choreographing his own line dances.  He loves bringing the joy of line dancing to as many people as possible, and enjoys creating dances of various styles and difficulty levels.  Something for everyone.  He looks forward to seeing you in class, dancing, playing, and laughing.

Michael will be teaching the line dances Play That Sax (Friday), London (Saturday), and TBD (TBD).

Rob Ollander-Krane 

Rob grew up hating country music until one day a few years ago, he walked into a gay bar and saw a group of men doing the two-step.  Country music and two-stepping have been his obsession ever since… and he has the cowboy drag to prove it.  Rob joins us from San Francisco where he teaches at Sundance Saloon.  He also teaches at Trunks in Palm Springs.

Rob will be teaching Waltz (Saturday) and TBD (TBD).

Scott Schrank

Scott has been line dancing since 1998.  What started off as something to fill time turned into a true passion.  After being hit by the “Dance Bug”, Scott set out to learn any and all line dances he could find.  He entered numerous competitions in both IAGLCWDC and in the “Mainstream” dance world, winning top awards along with Over-All championships.  Scott’s teaching experience comes from previously being both a member and choreographer of Southern Line Atlanta.  He has written over 90 line dances to date, several of which have been used for IAGLCWDC competitions, with popular ones including “Georgia Winder”, “Global Warming”, “Someday-Someway”, “More Than Life”, “Hello Stranger”, and “Somewhere With You”.  One of Scott’s most recent achievements has been to enter and win several Original Choreography Competitions.  Scott’s biggest joy is in teaching and seeing fellow dancers getting excited about a dance they just conquered.  If you ever find yourself in need of someone who cares and has a true passion for teaching, Scott is the person.

Scott will be teaching the line dances Make You Stay (Saturday), Selfish Love (Saturday), and Feel My Love (Sunday).

Dave & Jimmi Serfling 

Dave is a well known Country Dance Instructor.  His students are amazed at how patient he is and devoted to teaching “anyone’”how to dance.  He has been teaching dance classes all over the Puget Sound since 1988.  He enjoys teaching many types of dance besides Country, including Swing, Latin, Ballroom, Night Club, and Line Dancing.  He owns and operates The Rockin’ Horse Dance Barn, where he teaches and is the regular DJ on Fridays .  Dave will be assisted by his wife, Jimmi Serfling.

Dave & Jimmi will be teaching Cowboy Cha Cha & Variations (Saturday) and Waltz (Saturday).

Sheba Thone

Sheba Thone is a 30-something who loves her husband, her dog, her (make-believe) hometown of Seattle, line dancing and a host of other things she won’t bore you with here.  (But if you ask, she will share!)  Sheba began line dancing 2011 when she was invited by a friend from church to check out a local lesson.  She was hooked from the first 8-count and hasn’t looked back since.  Presently, she participates in line dancing twice weekly, attends a line dance social monthly, and goes to around five line dance events annually.  When she’s not line dancing, she’s consistently wishing was line dancing.  She is thrilled to have the opportunity to teach at this year’s hoedown.

Sheba will be teaching the line dances Run Me Like A River (Friday) andLegends and Heroes (Sunday).

Ingu Yun

Ingu DJs and occasionally teaches at the Sundance Saloon in San Francisco, one of the largest LGBT county-western clubs in the country.  He has also been a DJ and instructor at various community events around the country and internationally, including IAGLCWDC conventions and RSVP cruises.  He is the president of the Sundance Association for Country-Western Dancing, the non-profit organization that produces Sundance Saloon and the famous Sundance Stompede.

Kate Bovitch 

Kate Bovitch has been two-stepping for a a couple years.  Her interest in partner dancing started with East Coast Swing in a western-themed Irish pub on the island of Okinawa when she was in high school.  She DJs line dances for Rain Country a couple times a month.

Kate will be DJing Country Couples (Friday) and Line Dance (Sunday).

Jim Drew 

Jim DJs for Rain Country at the Cuff Complex in Seattle, and has DJ’ed country at the Seattle Eagle, Swank (Kent), and Neighbours Nightclub as well.  Outside of Seattle, Jim has DJ’ed for Club Bolo and at the 1st World OutGames in Montréal, and at hoedowns in Virginia Beach, Tampa, Philadelphia, and New Orleans.

Jim will be DJing Line Dance (Friday) and Country Couples (Sunday).

Terry Felts 

Terry Felts has been dancing for going on ten years now, having started at Timberline Spirits.  Once she started dancing, she was hooked!  Terry loves both line and couples dancing.  She has branched into teaching and DJing to share this fun and camaraderie with others.  She has also performed with the Rain City Rhythm Riders.  Mostly, she is proud to be a member and supporting cast of the Rain Country Dance Association.

Terry will be DJing TBD (TBD) and TBD (TBD).

Keith Gehrig 

Keith Gehrig began two-stepping and line dancing in Long Beach at Floyd’s in 1985.  He moved to the Northwest in 1987 and began dancing with DJ Jim Detwiler and teacher Maxcy Moon.  He helped open the original Timberline and started square dancing that same year.  During the ’90s, he got distracted by other things but returned when Timberline Spirits opened.  He started attending Cuff Country regularly to pick up the line dances he’d missed, he hasn’t left, and now he’s in the DJ booth, too.

Keith will be DJing TBD (TBD).

Shana Glennon 

TBD

Shana will be DJing TBD (TBD).

Jen Lamkins 

TBD

Jen will be DJing TBD (TBD).

Ray Nutter 

Ray Nutter started country dancing in San Diego (at the straight bars), but quickly landed at the Timberline when coming up (and coming out) to Seattle in the mid-90s.  He’s also a regular at Cuff Country on Friday nights.  Ray is the newest member of our DJ team, taking to it like a cowboy to his saddle!

Ray will be DJing TBD (TBD).

Bootblack TBD 

TBD

Jim Drew 
(Co-Chair)

Barb Buys 

Jen Lamkins 

Ray Nutter 

Ken Sledge 

Bethany Block 

Russell