Last year we had 84 dancers and 6 instructors; they came from 10 states and British Columbia! We look forward to seeing you this year!
Dance for Joy! presents
Collaborative Cross-step Waltz Weekend 2025
October 10, 11 and 12, 2025
Join us for an extraordinary weekend of learning where the instructors will teach and collaborate, developing your Cross‑step Waltz repertoire while creating and developing the genre.
With Richard Powers, Stanford University; Nick and Melissa Enge, UT at Austin; and your friends Lilli Ann and Claire Carey.
With 12 hours of instruction, catered Saturday lunch and two dances!
- Early Bird Price — $195 through July 15
- Regular Price — $215 through September 20
- Late Registration — $235 through October 1
- Participants can select lead, follow or both.
Pre-requisite: Comfortable with Waltz basics, Cross‑step Waltz experience preferred. This workshop weekend is not recommended for beginning dancers.
Role balance will be maintained.
Location: Om Culture, 2210 N Pacific Street, Seattle.
Email Lilli Ann for more information.
Tentative Schedule — subject to change |
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Friday night |
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6–8pm |
The Devil (or Heaven) is in the detailsClass in basics done with finese and skill. Perfect for review, concept details for instructors, and understanding of moves that will be the building blocks for the weekend. Lilli Ann and Claire and Nick and Melissa |
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8–10:30pm |
Friday Evening Dance, DJ NickDance included for CCS Weekend participants, $20 for drop‑ins. Dance is a variety dance with lots of Waltzes. |
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Saturday |
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10-1pm |
Beautiful MovesBeautiful Moves that Highlight the Essence of Cross‑step Waltz
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1-2:15pm |
Catered Lunch — Lunch talk with all instructorsGluten-free and vegan options available Discussion: "Concepts for Creating Beautiful Partnering" — born of 135+ combined years of dancing and analyzing social dance. |
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2:30–5pm |
Ways To Hit Musical Moments
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5:05–6:55pm |
Dinner on your ownThe hall will be open if you’d like to stay during this time. |
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7–11pm |
Saturday Evening Dance, DJ RichardDance included for CCS Weekend participants, $20 for drop‑ins. Pre-dance lesson: Short bites — a Line Dance, a Cross‑step Waltz move; instructors choice. Dance is a variety dance with lots of Waltzes.
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Sunday |
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ReviewOne or two instructor favs from the weekend and one challenging new move that really “pays off” — worth the difficulty! |
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11:30am–12:45pm |
Nick and Melissa Favs |
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1–2:15pm |
Richard Favs |
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2:30–3:45pm |
Lilli Ann and Claire's Favs |
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4-5pm |
Practice Time: music will be on |
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Reviews
... it was a great weekend, packed with wonderful dance instructions and opportunities to apply what we learned. The mix of instructors and styles was inspiring, I really enjoyed your ideas of incorporating elements from WCS into cross step waltz. The instructors really worked well together and it set the tone for the whole group to enjoy each other in learning and exploring and sharing. Through the lessons and talks I came to develop a much better understanding of cross step waltz, the ease of its basic steps and opportunities for variations and how it compares to other social dances. I also really liked the lunch with several pre‑ordered choices, a few extras and special care for the recycling of the packaging and leftovers. Michael's instructions on the cleanup were exceptionally clear and helpful. His whole space embodied care and spiritual awareness, a welcome reprieve from the common industrial and run-of-the mill look and decor. — DM
I wanted to thank you for organizing a truly wonderful workshop weekend. Even if I didn’t always show it (severe back pain), I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. The collaborative theme was perfect and all of the instructors emulated this theme throughout the weekend. Further more all of the instructors seemed to have the same philosophy towards teaching cross step and the lessons dovetailed on each other seamlessly. The pacing of instruction and the workshop itself was just right. While the cookies were delicious, the real dessert after lunch were the instructor talks. I left on Sunday feeling full, yet curious and wanting to learn more, empowered to explore more of the creative side (hard to imagine a Westie wanting to be creative, I know), and appreciative of the depth of knowledge and quality of instruction for the weekend. — MO
Instructors
Richard Powers
Full-time instructor in dance history and contemporary social dance forms, Stanford University Dance Division, Department of Theater and Performance Studies.
His principal focus since 1975 has been social dance forms, from the Renaissance to today. Specializations include 19th century American and European social dance, dances of the Ragtime Era and Jazz Ages, and currently evolving vernacular dance forms.
Nick & Melissa Enge
Nick and Melissa Enge are social dance instructors and historians at the University of Texas at Austin. Before teaching at UT, they studied and taught with Richard Powers at Stanford University. In collaboration with Richard, they have written three books on social dance, Waltzing: A Manual for Dancing and Living, Cross‑Step Waltz: A Dancer’s Guide, and The Book of Mixers: 100 Easy‑Teach Dances for Getting Acquainted.
In addition to teaching and writing about dance, Nick and Melissa are co-founders of the Library of Dance (a website that features an annotated bibliography of over 6,700 primary sources relating to social dance from the 15th century to present as well as over 2,400 videos demonstrating selected dance steps), and the University of Dance (a website featuring full‑length teaching videos of selected dances).
In 2023, they won the Undergraduate Teaching Award in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at UT.
Lilli Ann Carey / Owner‑Instructor, Dance for Joy!
Lilli Ann Carey began partner dancing with Living Traditions in the 1990’s and then went on to teach for them for several years before leaving to start her own company, Dance for Joy! Lilli Ann loves to dance almost anything, but focuses her teaching on Waltz, East Coast Swing, Foxtrot, One‑Step, Blues, Fusion and a few vintage dance forms.
Lilli Ann promotes dance through classes, workshops and events through her company, Dance for Joy! She is known for producing larger scale events including the An Evening in Vienna Viennese Balls, The Cornucopia Balls and Christmas Balls and also as the coordinator of the highly successful Dancing 'til Dusk program for Seattle Parks and Recreation for 16 years. Lilli Ann has taught for over 20 years including in St. Petersburg, Russia; Vancouver, BC; Juneau, Fairbanks and Anchorage Alaska; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Atlanta, the Bay area and in Portland, Oregon.
Her creativity, love of the connected and playful dance and innovation has brought her national recognition and an ongoing and excited student base. You’ll often find her teaching with her daughter Claire. You may find her through her website at www.danceforjoy.biz and her Youtube channel @dancelilli
Claire Carey / Instructor, Dance for Joy!
Claire began learning swing dance at the age of seven in 1998, and began teaching partner dance in 2008. She discovered her passion for West Coast Swing in 2010, where she has achieved multiple first placements, and competed in the All Star division. She has loved teaching Cross Step Waltz, East Coast Swing, Blues, Foxtrot, Nightclub Two Step, and other vintage waltz forms in Seattle for Dance For Joy! Claire and her mom, Lilli Ann, have taught together both nationally and internationally, and are known for their fun, innovative, and technically‑minded teaching. In class, Claire specializes in empowering follows to have strong skills in connection, intuition, and self expression.
