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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Show Your Style At Two-Step Contest

Ward Sanderson Correspondent

If you’re a boot-scooter who wouldn’t mind appearing in one of country singer Tanya Tucker’s videos, listen up.

The third annual “Smooth Steppin’ Showdown” is an amateur two-step couple’s dance competition. All proceeds from the $15 entry fee go to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Preliminary competition happens Wednesday at Chili D’s, 152 S. Browne. Registration is at 7 p.m.

The top three couples from the competition here will travel to Seattle for a regional competition in June. Tucker will present the awards there. The top two regional couples will then travel to Nashville, Tenn., to compete in the national finals. That event will be televised on TNN’s “Music City Tonight” on Aug. 7.

National winners will appear in one of Tucker’s videos and perform with her at one of her concerts.

You don’t have to go the distance to come home with some goods, though. Organizers of the local preliminary will raffle off prizes, including a weekend at Sandpoint’s Edgewater Resort, one free release from CD’s We Bee every month for a year and a $50 gift certificate from Indiana Harness.

Remember, the contest, sponsored by Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, is for amateurs only, and competitors must dance as couples. Dress is casual western wear.

There’s plenty of other opportunities to cut a rug in the Northwest, too. Carol Morgan, a local dance instructor and local coordinator of the “Smooth Steppin’ Showdown,” puts together a monthly newsletter called What’s Shakin! Her publication lists dozens of area dance lessons and competitions. Styles listed include just about everything - country, swing, tap, ballroom and clogging.

For information about the newsletter or any upcoming contest, call Morgan at 928-0924.