The Sundance Association is hosting a full-fledged country-western dance weekend in conjunction with the World Gay Rodeo Finals in Reno, Nevada, October 9–12, 2025. We'll have four nights of dancing in up to two rooms, three days of dance workshops in up to three rooms, dance exhibition performances, and more! This event will also host the 30th annual convention of the International Association of Gay/Lesbian Country-Western Dancing.
Registration
--- COMING SOON ---
We hope to have registration open by January, 2025. We are pretty sure the all-inclusive fee will be significantly less than the fee at the last Sundance Stompede!
Hotel
The host hotel is actually two interconnected hotels, Circus Circus and Silver Legacy, part of a trio of hotels collectively known as "The Row." The Row offers offers 25 restaurants, 23 bars and lounges, entertainment venues, 11 nightspots, immense casino spaces, and a luxury spa, all right in the heart of the Biggest Little City in the World.
Circus Circus offers rates of $39 We-Th-Su and $119 Fr-Sa.
Silver Legacy offers rates of $49 We-Th-Su and $149 Fr-Sa for a deluxe room and $169 Fr-Sa for a premium room (higher floor).
Rates listed do not include a discounted $25 "resort" fee (normally $35), $3 city tourism fee, and 13.5% tax.
A refundable deposit for the first night will be charged immediately.
Cancel without penalty up to 48 hours prior to arrival.
All of the dancing will take place in the ballrooms of the Silver Legacy. Circus Circus is only a few minutes' walk away via an internal walkway.
Hotel reservations are open now! We are asking for your name and email address so that we know which hotel reservations correspond to folks connected to our dance community and/or have a primary interest in the dance aspect of this weekend. Fill out the form, and you will receive the hotel reservation link in an email.
Update 10.31.24 - We're apparently already sold out of some room categories on Wednesday night. We're working on increasing our room block allocation. Thursday through Sunday is still available.
Schedule
We're working on it! For now, here is what we're planning:
Four nights of dancing, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We will have a second room open for line dancing and west coast swing on Friday and Saturday nights, or possibly all four nights, depending on attendance.
Late-night west coast swing Friday and Saturday nights.
Dance workshops in three rooms running simultaneously during the day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Premium (small-group) workshops in a fourth room.
IAGLCWDC dance contest Friday evening at 7:00 pm.
IAGLCWDC delegates and general membership meetings, times TBD.
Possible women's/trans/nonbinary social and Stompede reunion social TBD.
Screening of the documentary: Last Dance at the Sundance Stompede.
World Gay Rodeo Finals all day Saturday and Sunday
We will have three rooms of workshops running simultaneously during the day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We're planning instruction for all levels, from beginning to advanced, and all kinds of dance styles, including two-step, waltz, east coast swing, west coast swing, line dancing, and more.
Instructors
We already have the following instructors confirmed. You'll recognize many from past Sundance Stompedes.
Click on the photo for a short biography.
Jeremy Box
Jeremy Box
Jeremy Box (North Hollywood, CA) has taught for over 25 years American Smooth & Rhythm, International Standard & Latin, Argentine Tango, West Coast Swing, and Country Two-Step, competing in all styles and receiving numerous awards. He has instructed at the Wrangler Weekend Los Angeles, and taught for thirteen years at the Sundance Stompede.
Kevin Cornett
Kevin Cornett
Kevin Cornett (Dallas) has been dancing since he took dance as his PE credit in college. Within two years he joined a competition dance team and competed in the Fun Country and UCWDC dance circuits. With his regular dance partner he placed 4th at the UCWDC World Dance Competition and 4th in Regional Dance with Night Club Two-step. Kevin has worked with some of the top names in country and swing. Kevin is currently the Director of Dance of the IAGLCWDC.
Rick Dominguez
Rick Dominguez
Rick Dominguez (Los Angeles) has been a DJ for 40 years. Following the closure of Oil Can Harry's, Rick started a new club night "Follow Your Arrow" in North Hollywood, with co-founder Jonno Liberman, and is resident DJ at several local clubs. Rick is also a line dance instructor and well-known choreographer. He is the founder of the award-winning CW dance troupe, The LA Wranglers, now in its 22nd year, and the creator of Wrangler Weekend Los Angeles.
John Festa
John Festa
ohn Festa (New York) learned Lindy Hop at an young age, trained in ballet, and introduced to West Coast Swing in the late 1980s. Since then, John has become a pivotal figure in the national West Coast Swing community, wearing many hats as a teacher, judge, and DJ. He has received numerous awards and honors, including DJ of the Year, induction into the Kenny Wetzel DJ Hall of Fame, and the World Swing Dance Council Hall of Fame. He is also recognized as a Living Legend of Dance.
Lee Fox
Lee Fox
Lee Fox (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), IAGLCWDC Dance Competition Director, has been teaching ballroom, latin, and swing dancing for over 45 years and CW dancing for over 30 years. He was a ballroom finalist at the 1998 and 2002 Gay Games and IAGLCWDC champion in 1998. He has judged numerous competitions nationally and internationally. He was choreographer for numerous dance troupes including the Southern Country South Florida Dream Team, the SunDancers, Heels On Fire, and more.
Phoenix Grey
Phoenix Grey
Phoenix Grey (Portland, OR) discovered West Coast Swing in 2010. He then began exploring every style he could get his hands on, but Swing remains his first and greatest love. Phoenix’s advocacy for role-based dancing helped change competition rules in mainstream West Coast Swing to allow nontraditional dancers. Phoenix was among the first in the world to achieve a dual “All-Star” competitive ranking both as a lead and as a follow. website
Ron Jenkins
Ron Jenkins
Ron Jenkins (San Francisco) Ron first started dancing in Chicago in 1993. He has enjoyed teaching at Sundance Saloon for many years. He performed with the Barbary Coast Cloggers from 2001 to 2007 and then began same-sex ballroom dancing in 2007. He and his dance partner, Photis Pishiaras, won many titles in California, the US and North America, and medaled at the 2010, 2014 2018, and 2023 Gay Games. Ron is also a founding member of Vima Vice Squad.
Michelle Kinkaid
Michelle Kinkaid
Michelle Kinkaid (San Francisco) is a 4-time US Open Swing Dance Champion. Numerous other titles and awards include both the World Swing Dance Council National Hall of Fame and the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame. In addition to running her own studio, Michelle has a line of instructional videos, and is the organizer of the Mountain Magic Swing Dance Convention in Lake Tahoe, NV and Sea Magic Dance Cruises. website
Jonno Liberman
Jonno Liberman
Jonno Liberman (Anaheim, CA), a former Olympic roller skater, stumbled into the world of line dancing at the Sundance Saloon in 2012. He soon began creating his own line dances which have earned several awards, including two UCWDC World titles. Some of his most popular line dances include "The Wolf" and "She's A Natural." Today, he is part of the choreography team for the L.A. Wranglers.
John Lindo
John Lindo
John Lindo (Houston) is an invaluable presence at West Coast Swing Dance events - from international conventions to regional workshops. John teaches, judges, coaches, choreographs, and is one of the most sought-after DJs on the circuit. But all of that pales in comparison to the way John consistently wows crowds with his exciting and entertaining competitive dancing. website
Michael Metzger
Michael Metzger
Michael Metzger (San Francisco) began dancing in 2005 and immediately felt like he had found his tribe. Within a couple years he began teaching, and not long after he began choreographing. He loves bringing the joy of line dancing to as many people as possible, and he enjoys creating dances of diverse styles and difficulty levels. He looks forward to seeing you in class, dancing, playing, and laughing.
Scott Schrank
Scott Schrank
Scott Schrank (Atlanta) has been line dancing since 1998. He has won top awards at numerous competitions in both IAGLCWDC and in the “Mainstream” dance world. Scott was the choreographer of Southern Line Atlanta since 2000. He has written over 60 line dances to date, including Georgia Winder, Somewhere WIth You, and Working It.
Meredith Stead
Meredith Stead
Meredith Stead (New York), with husband John Knapp, ran a dance studio for years, and won titles in Lindy Hop, Cabaret, Team, and Country-Western. She has choreographed and consulted for Broadway shows, television and film, and has judged, taught, and MC'd at mainstream and LGBT competitions and dance weekends. She and partner Daphna Locker took silver in Standard Ballroom in their age category at the 2014 Gay Games and were the 2015 U.S. Same-Sex Champions in Women's Standard.
Michael Sims
Michael Sims
Michael Sims (Washington, DC) has been providing dance lessons, choreography for special occasions, and artistic performances independently since 2006, specializing in a variety of dance styles including American Style Ballroom, Rhythm, Swing, Salsa, and Country-Western. He currently competes and provides lessons at various locations serving the Maryland, D.C. and Virginia. website
Sheba Thone
Sheba Thone
Sheba Thone (Rhode Island) is a 40-year-old (This year!) line dancer who feels (and thinks she looks?) much younger on the dance floor. She *maybe* only loves the Lord, her husband, her dog, and the Emerald City (shout out Rain Country!) more than line dancing. She started line dancing in 2011 and was hooked from the first 8-count. She can frequently be found line dancing in public whenever she “hears” a dance she knows. She line dances as often as she can, and when she’s not line dancing, she’s wishing she was line dancing.
Sara Willbrich
Sara Willbrich
Sara Willbrich (Washington, DC) was coerced onto the CW floor at Faces, Sacramento in 1994 and never looked back. Moving to DC a decade later, she converted to progressive 2-step and dove into the wild world of mainstream WCS. She competed as a leader and follower in WCS and in IAGLCWDC CW couples for several years. She founded DC Roleplay and helps produce DC Out.
Dance Exhibitions
Dance troupes from all over the country will perform between 8:00 and 9:00 pm at the Friday and Saturday night dances. Is your dance group interested in performing in Reno? Contact our exhibition coordinator at exhibitions@stompede.com.
Stompede Documentary
Director Graham Clayton-Chance has been hard at work with the documentary of last year's Sundance Stompede, appropriately called Last Dance at the Sundance Stompede. The project has taken longer than planned, as it became clear that the film needed to be more than a short and was expanded to a 50-minute feature film. The rough cut is done, and plans are being made to show the film at festivals in 2025. (We hope to show it in Reno!)
Unfortunately more funding is needed. The longer film means greater expense. We want to achieve the best picture and sound quality we can, we need to license music for the soundtrack, and we want to distribute the film as widely as possible.
Our target of £13,000 would help us finish the film and distribute it to a few locations over a year. Our stretch goal of £18,000 would help us create an exceptional film and distribute it widely over six years.