The Rain Country Dance Association creates a safe and friendly environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+)  people and friends to meet and dance in the Pacific Northwest.  We support the Country Western dance community by providing opportunities to dance, learn, and perform.  We cater to the LGBTQ+ community of Seattle and Greater Puget Sound but are open to all.  We are a non-profit organization.  Members and event attendees are expected to adhere to our Code of Conduct.

We promote the teaching of country western, line, and related dance forms, providing venues for learning, practicing, and perfecting those skills.  We present the public performance of those dance forms, preserving the history and continuity of country-western and line dancing in our regional area.

We co-produce “Out Country” every Friday night at Century Ballroom from 7-10pm and "Line Dancing" every Tuesday night at All Pilgrims Church starting at 7-9pm. We schedule DJs and instructors and organize special theme nights, membership only dances and fundraisers. The organization also produces dance workshops throughout the year—including our premier event, Emerald City Hoedown—and a dance during Seattle Pride.

Rain Country was founded in 2006 by a group of dancers, teachers, performers, and DJs who wanted to ensure the continuation of dancing and dance venues in the Puget Sound area via an organization which would allow community ownership of the local country-western dance scene.  Rain Country works with community businesses and venues to provide for the needs of the dance community without relying on those businesses to be the sole support system for the dance community.

In March 2022, Rain Country presented its annual weekend-long event, the Emerald City Hoedown.  COVID-19 restrictions prevented the scheduled 2020 and 2021 events. The 2023 Emerald City Hoedown will be March 30-April 2, 2023. 

Typical dance schedule

Fridays at Century Ballroom (7-10pm, lessons at 7:15)

• First Friday: Basic Two-Step 
• Second Friday: Basic-Plus (a step more advanced) Two-Step 
• Third Friday: OutDancing
• Fourth Friday: a Basic lesson in Waltz, East Coast Swing, Night Club, or Shadow 
• Fifth Friday (if applicable) a Basic-Plus lesson in the dance style taught the previous week before

Tuesdays at All Pilgrims Church (7-9:00pm)

We do line dancing Tuesdays at All Pilgrims Church. Lesson at 7:45pm, with line dancing 7–7:45pm and 8:15–9:00pm) feature a line dance lesson, usually with a new-to-Seattle dance roughly every third night of dancing and reteaches of other line dances on the other Tuesdays. (As of July 2022, we are still requiring participants to be vaccinated to participate Tuesdays.)

Rain Country instructors and DJs are volunteers. We encourage you to tip the instructors following the lessons and the DJ at any time during the evening dancing.

Code of Conduct:

We seek to ensure that all those interested in participating in our community feel safe and welcome. We expect our members and event attendees to respect one another, including on social media. No form of discrimination, bullying, or harassment will be tolerated. We treat any concerns regarding these issues seriously and will review any brought to our attention promptly. For any questions or complaints, please contact us at info@raincountrydance.org. We invite all to support our community, to dance, and to have fun.

Disclaimer:

If you wish to have a picture of yourself removed from our site or social media channels, please contact us and we will edit or remove the image as soon as possible.