2024 Talent Search Dance Contest, Full California Round-Up!

It’s the new year, and that means the Stagecoach Country Music Festival is right around the corner! This year’s Stagecoach Festival is April 26-28!

This is exciting for SoCal country music fans of course, but even more for country dancers, because it means the talent search dance contests are starting soon! Hanging in the balance once again is the prize of a Stagecoach General Admission 3-day Pass (a 429.00 value) and a position on the Stagecoach Honky Tonk Dance Team! (Priceless!).

This year there will be 11 California bars that will be running contests soon! The contests will begin on January 20, with the last one happening on March 9.

This page provides a round-up for you of all the information. Here it is all in one place! Not only the important dates and times but all the dances you need to practice and be ready to dance!

You’ll also find that most of the dances have a link to the Copperknob step sheet page as well as a video for you to learn or brush up on each dance!

So check it out! Choose a place to sign up and then really focus on both the line dances and the partner dances you’ll be doing. The following are the official rules:

• ALL Contestants/Winners MUST be willing to accept a position on the “stage” team or “floor” team
• Contact Team Director Annemarie Dunn for team requirements, benefits, details & info at 951-522-6843
• Contestants MUST participate in ALL 6 selected partner & line dances at each location they compete.
• Contestants are judged individually, therefore contestants can be accompanied by a non-contestant as a partner for the “partner dance” portion of the contest, only participants with numbers will be judged.
• Passes are non-transferable & non-exchangeable

Also check out this link to Facebook, where one of the judges Jonno Liberman gives some great tips to give you an advantage in the competition!

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The Bars with Stagecoach Dance Contests 2024 (11).

See the list below of the 11 bars in California (Southern California, and Sacramento) and click to pop down to the details for each bar: What line dances, partner dances, and then detailed information including videos for each of the dances and links to Copperknob! Notice also links down to some quick at-a-glance lists of all the line dances and partner dances.

1. Stoney’s Rockin’ Rodeo in Sacramento (Jan. 20, Saturday)
2. Borderline @ The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills (Jan. 31, Wednesday)
3. InCahoots in Fullerton (Feb. 7, Wednesday)
4. THE RANCH Saloon in Anaheim (Feb. 8, Thursday)
5. Montana’s in San Dimas (Feb. 9, Friday)
6. Moonshine Flats in San Diego (Feb. 15, Thursday)
7. Cowboy Country in Long Beach (Feb. 23, Friday)
8. The Stampede in Temecula (Feb. 24, Saturday)
9. Buckle & Boots in Lancaster (Feb. 29, Thursday)
10. Aurea Vista Night Club (Mar. 6, Wednesday) – Late Added Contest!
11. FANTASY SPRINGS CASINO in Indio (Mar. 9, Saturday)

Quick At-A-Glance of All the Contest Line Dances
Quick At-A-Glance of All the Contest Partner Dances

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Quick At-A-Glance of All the Contest Line Dances

Here’s a quick list of all the contest line dances above (27) alphabetically with the links to Copperknob, the choreographer(s), and the bar contests where you will see them.

Line Dance	Level	Choreographer(s)	Bar Contests
3 Tequila Floor	Intermediate	Maddison Glover & Jo Thompson Szymanski	Buckle & Boots
Aces & Eights	Intermediate	Pat Esper	Fantasy Springs Casino
Add a Little Flavor	Novice	Mike Kruger	Borderline @ Canyon Club, InCahoots
Ain’t No Superman	Easy Beginner	Kat Painter	Stoney’s
>Around the Fire	Intermediate	Kate Sala, Chrystel Durand, Darren Bailey & Guillaume Richard	THE RANCH Saloon
Back It Up	Intermediate	Darren Bailey & Raymond Sarlemijn	Montana’s
Backwood Bump	Improver	Brandon Zahorsky and Stacy Ruggiero	Moonshine Flats
Bambalam	Phrased Easy Intermediate Contra	Rick Dominguez & Jonno Liberman	THE RANCH Saloon
Cooler Than Me	Intermediate	River Sadlon, Jevan Canada & StampedeRose	Temecula Stampede
Countdown	Improver	Abby Cahill	Stoney’s, Montana’s
Drive you out of my mind (needle hitting 90)	Intermediate	Elizabeth Banescu	InCahoots
Fire Burning	Intermediate	Nicolas Lachance	Borderline @ Canyon Club Agoura Hills
Flatliner	Beginner / Improver	Annemarie Dunn	Temecula Stampede
Girl Talk	Improver	Doug & Jackie Miranda	Buckle & Boots
Got Dirt? (Got Magic)	Intermediate	Rick Dominguez, Jonno Liberman & Mark Paulino	THE RANCH Saloon
Honky Tonk Way	Intermediate	Landin Purvis & Mark Paulino	Cowboy Country
Hot Out	Intermediate	Mark Paulino	Moonshine Flats
I’m Fabulous	Intermediate / Advanced	Rebecca Lee, Debbie Rushton, Jean-Pierre Madge & Niels Poulsen	Temecula Stampede
Jumanji	Phrased High Intermediate	Jose Miguel Belloque Vane & Guillaume Richard	Cowboy Country
MIB	–	James O Kellerman	Cowboy Country
Play That Sax	Intermediate	Michael Metzger	Moonshine Flats
Raised Like That	Improver / Intermediate	Darren Bailey	Buckle & Boots
Shady	Intermediate	Darren Bailey, Fred Whitehouse & Amy Glass	InCahoots
Shotgun Jenny	Beginner	Kathy Brown	Fantasy Springs Casino
The Vibe	Intermediate	Tim Johnson	Borderline @ Canyon Club, THE RANCH Saloon, Fantasy Springs Casino
Tropicana Parking Lot	Intermediate	Patrick W. Riley	Stoney’s
Walk The Line	Beginner / Intermediate	Sandi Larkins	Montana’s

Quick At-A-Glance of All the Contest Partner Dances

Here’s a quick list of all the partner dances above (14) alphabetically with the links to Copperknob if available, the choreographer(s), and the bar contests where you will see them.

Partner Dance	Choreographer	Bar Contests
Blue Rose (P)	Darrel & Doris Aldrich	Buckle & Boots
California Cha Cha	–	Cowboy Country
Continental Cowboy	Unknown	Moonshine Flats
Country Swing	–	Stoney’s
Country Two Step (mid-tempo)	–	Borderline @ Canyon Club in Agoura Hills
Cowboy ChaCha	Unknown	THE RANCH Saloon, Temecula Stampede, Fantasy Springs Casino,
Denver ChaCha*	Manny Rodela & Alice Rodela	InCahoots
Desperado Wrap	Harry Raymos (USA) & Norie Raymos (USA)	Borderline @ Canyon Club in Agoura Hills
Free Style Two Step	–	Moonshine Flats, Buckle & Boots
Progressive Two Step	–	Stoney’s, InCahoots, THE RANCH Saloon, Montana’s, Cowboy Country, Temecula Stampede, Fantasy Springs Casino
Queens Waltz	The Unknown Dancer	InCahoots
Riding Double	–	Cowboy Country
River City Cha Cha	Leslie Sinclair	Stoney’s
Sweetheart Schottische	Unknown	THE RANCH Saloon, Temecula Stampede
Texas Time	Stephen Pistoia (USA)	Borderline @ Canyon Club, Montana’s, Buckle & Boots
The Horseshoe	Unknown	Montana’s
Waltz	–	Fantasy Springs Casino
We Danced	Paula Frohn and Michael Silva	Moonshine Flats

*Denver Cha Cha Copperknob step sheet calls it “Cowboy Cha Cha (Colorado),” but this is the correct step sheet.

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Good Luck!

I hope this round-up is helpful and gives you a better shot at winning a place on the Honky Tonk Dance Team and of course, the coveted Stagecoach pass. Good luck! And even if you don’t win, I’m sure you will have a blast and be a better dancer afterward!

Note: Participants can have a non-contestant partner during the couples’ dances. Only participants will be judged. I have done this a couple of times. I helped out my friends by being their partner during the partner dances. I had a great time and got to be involved while not being an actual participant.

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