Rain City Rhythm Riders
The Rain City Rhythm Riders were founded in 2001 under the direction of Jim Drew and Ruby Luke. The Rhythm Riders have three core goals:
- Present entertaining examples of group choreography of country-western and related dance styles.
- Educate the dancers in dance styles and techniques that they would be unable to learn easily on their own or from casual “drop in” lessons.
- Increase the social aspects of dancing by making sure all the members have a larger set of potential dance partners to draw from who are at their own level.
Team Membership
The team's membership is typically around 10 dancers (about evenly split between men and women), although there are no specific limit to the number of dancers on the team. Open calls for new members are done a couple times a year, inviting dancers to come to a practice to meet and dance with the team – no strings attached. The Rhythm Riders welcome interested new members throughout the year in addition to during these open calls.
The Rhythm Riders practice once a week, for 90 minutes on Wednesday nights. When preparing for a performance, the team usually adds an extra practice on the weekend prior to the performance.
The requirements for joining the Rhythm Riders are fairly simple:
- Have your Wednesday nights free (with the exception of occassional special events, vacations, and work needs, of course). Performances are typically on weekend nights, so you'll need to be able to have such free on occasion as well.
- Know your dance basics: be comfortable with at least Two-Step and Waltz plus a handful of line dances. (The more you already know, the better, of course!)
- Be eager to learn new dance styles and line dances. We have done routines using Two-Step, Waltz, East Coast Swing, Shuffle, and West Coast Swing routines, plus numerous line dances (some familiar standards and some brand new) and even Square Dance and some special stunt moves.
- There is some cost associated with performing with the Rhythm Riders, in terms of costuming (boots or dance shoes, pants or skirts, and performance shirts) and sometimes out-of-town travel.
Dance Routines
Here is a list of songs the Rain City Rhythm Riders have performed to:
- Sleigh Ride, by Lorrie Morgan (Two-Step)
- In Between Dances, by Pam Tillis (Waltz)
- Dance (Club Mix), by Twister Alley (Shuffle/Line Dance/Square Dance; performed with the Timberline Bucks)
- 'Til the Answer Comes, by Paul Overstreet (Line Dance medley)
- Rock This Town, by The Stray Cats (East Coast Swing/Line Dance)
- Hold Your Horses, by E-Type (Line Dance medley)
- Girls With Guitars, by Wynonna (Shuffle/West Coast Swing/Line Dance)
- It's a Little Too Late, by Tanya Tucker (Line Dance/East Coast Swing/Shuffle/Square Dance)
More Information
For more information about the Rain City Rhythm Riders, including about joining the dance team or arranging for a performance, contact rhythmriders@raincountrydance.org.