Dance Instructors

Rick Dominguez (Los Angeles) has been a country-western DJ for more than 18 years. He has taught and choreographed line dances for the past 15 years in the Los Angeles area, merging pop and country styles into a unique style of dance. Rick is also the founder and lead choreographer for the award-winning line dance troupe, The LA Wranglers, now in its seventh year.

Todd Donahue (Phoenix) has been dancing and teaching for over 20 years. In 1989 he joined the line dance group “The North 40 Kickers," competing at United Country Western Dance Council events. in 1992 Todd and his partner Debbie won grand champion overall in an intermediate level UCWDC event. In 1993 he was named best dance instructor in the Midwest. He is very excited to be teaching again at the Stompede.

Jim Drew (Seattle) has been dancing country-western for over 16 years and teaching for eleven. He currently teaches and DJs for Rain Country dance events and dances with the Rain City Rhythm Riders dance team. During the 1990s, he lived in the Bay Area and performed with the San Jose Spurs and the San Francisco Saddletramps.

Matt Ellinger (San Francisco) has been performing with the award-winning Barbary Coast Cloggers since 1991 and has served as the Artistic Director since 1999. He finds great joy in clogging, and now teaches the dance form throughout the U.S. Matt Ellinger is a researcher by day and is often seen zooming around San Francisco on his bicycle.

Christa Erwin (Seattle) has been dancing for several years, incuding as one of the original members of Seattle's Rain City Rhythm Riders. In the last few years, she has become a devoted line dancer, traveling to numerous out-of-state line dance events. She was a featured instructor at the 2009 Emerald City Hoedown in Seattle.

Michael Frank (Washington, DC) has been teaching west coast swing for the last ten years. He has studied from many of the swing legends over the years. He never forgets the feeling he had when he first fell in love with the dance, and he makes sure that everyone that comes to his classes walks out feeling that same enthusiasm, finding joy and expression through dance.

Lee Fox (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), IAGLCWDC Dance Competition Director, has been teaching country-western dance for 19 years. He was a finalist in ballroom at the 1998 and 2002 Gay Games and IAGLCWDC’s first champion in 1998. He is a member of Southern Country South Florida and has served as choreographer for the Southern Country South Florida Dream Team and the SunDancers, and is a founding member of the 2005 IAGLCWDC champion team, Crossfire.

Dave Hayes (San Francisco) came out to country music in 1993 in Orlando Florida. He started teaching line dances in 1994. Dave jumped right into Sundance when he moved to SF in 2002. Not only is Dave one of Sundance Saloon’s regular line dance instructors, Dave is also the IAGLCWDC Webmaster, on the board of directors of the Sundance Association, and chair of the Sundance Stompede.

Troy Inman (Atlanta) has performed with Banevolks International, Dance Force, and DanceFx. He is the co-founder and Artistic Director for Contact Dance Theatre - UNstrictly Ballroom. Recent projects include the International Fitness Supershow, the UNICEF Party, Legendary Ball, Spoleto Festival, Ballroom Magic, and Androgyny. Troy also performs as an aerialist and in the Theatre Arts/Cabaret style of dance. When not dancing, Troy serves as a director for a healthcare advisory firm.

Michael McGee (Minneapolis) started dancing in 1989. A friend actually told him, “You may be one of those people that never quite gets it.” But since his first IAGLCWDC convention in 1993, you’d be hard pressed to keep him off the dance floor! Michael’s teaching career began with the debut of country dancing at The Town House Country Bar in St. Paul. People haven’t gotten tired of him yet, so he’s still doing it!

Michael Metzger (San Francisco) began country western dancing a modest four years ago, and was instantly hooked. Within the first year he learned over 40 line dances, and since then he has taken every opportunity he could to teach at Sundance Saloon in San Francisco and at Club 1220 in Walnut Creek. As a math tutor he even taught a line dance to sixth graders and their parents to demonstrate fractions and angles.

Stina Rogal (Chicago) started country-western dancing at Charlie’s in Chicago 14 years ago and has been teaching “Virgins” to dance for the last ten years. She loves the energy from people learning and loving to dance. She is a longtime member of US Figure Skating and has taught competitive figure skating for 33 years. She is very honored to be returning to teach at the Stompede.

Meredith Stead (New York) ran her own studio, Shall We Dance, in New York City for over a decade with her husband John Knapp. Meredith has many choreography and consulting credits for Broadway shows, video games, television and film. She has won a number of same-sex dance competitions and has judged at many LGBT events including the 1994 Gay Games and several IAGLCWDC events. She now splits her time between dancing and her law practice.

Susanna Stein (New York) traces her country-western dancing roots to San Francisco’s Rawhide Bar in the mid-1980’s. After moving to New York City, she began competing in and teaching dance, and co-founded the Manhattan Prairie Dogs. In 1997, Susanna co-founded the Big Apple Ranch, New York City’s only weekly country-western dance club, which she still runs with Jon Lee.

Mike Topel (Austin, TX) started line dancing in 1992, but then found dance partners who liked to be tossed in the air. He has been teaching dance since 1994, full-time since 1998. He has performed at several US Open Swing Dance Championships, UCWDC Country, and everywhere else in the NASDE and WSDC swing circuits. He's chief judge at most events he attends, emcees often, and created a swing dance convention in Madison, Wisconsin.

Patrick Turnbull (Los Angeles) caught the country-western dance craze at Los Angeles Gay Rodeo in 1990. When the opportunity presented itself, he started teaching 2-step, waltz and swing at the Rawhide (now Cobra) dance club, Los Angeles area gay pride festivals and rodeos, and privately. Along with his partner Collie, he brings his direct and easy-to-understand style of teaching to each workshop, reflecting his love of dance and desire to share.

Collie Valadez (Los Angeles) has been devoted to country-western dancing since 1990. Along with his humor, he brings his formal training in ballet, jazz and musical comedy to the dance floor, making novices feel comfortable in a matter of minutes. Together with Patrick Turnbull, his lover and dance partner of 40 years, he has taught in the Los Angeles dance scene since 1997, and currently teaches at the Cobra (formerly Rawhide) dance club.