What cities have thriving ballroom communities?

[JohnK]

Hi folks, I'm new to this board, been dancing for about a year now, and I'm hooked, can't get enough!

I'm curious what cities might be "ballroom friendly". If I had the freedom to visit (or live) anywhere in the country, where would I go to feed my dance addiction?

[SDsalsaguy]

Since this is in the Ballroom Forum I'll respond from that perspective. Also, are you more interested in a thriving social ballroom scene or in a competitive one? Also keep in mind that even cities withou many venues may very have a thriving dance community based out of a single studio as well...

From a competitive perspective, overall, nothing in the U.S. comes close to matching NY, both in quantity and quality. Depending what secific disciplines you are interested in, however, there are also oportunities in many other locations, LA and SF readily coming to mind. There also seems to be a solid base in FL, but I'm not sure what city is best... anyone out there know?

[pygmalion]

Florida has a bunch of thriving ballroom communities, from the perspective of sheer numbers of places to dance. Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, and some other smaller cities all have thriving ballroom communities, with dances multiple times per week, and lots of venues to enjoy. Central Florida is a nice place, because all of these are within a one to two-hour drive. I'm not sure about Miami, but I'll find out.

In terms of competitions, Florida also is good if you're interested in primarily small to medium sized comps (other than the USBallroon Dance Championship, which is huge, obviously.) Tons of comps in Florida.

[Spitfire]

Welcome JohnK,

I understand Boston has one of the best dancing scenes anywhere.

It's an up and down scene here; if you were to visit there's two studios with open dances plus a monthy USABDA function and a monthly swing dance. The club dancing is mainly C&W and some latin.

[Hank]

If you're willing to include west coast swing, lindy, salsa, and argentine tango in "ballroom," the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has a thriving dance scene. By being open to a variety of dances, I go dancing every night of the week and often have a hard time choosing between venues.

We have 3 franchise ballroom dance studios, at least 8 independent dance studios, 5 swing/lindy clubs, a latin club, a folk dancing club, and an argentine tango club. One of the west coast swing clubs is so successful that they have their own leased space in a shopping mall, which they rent out to others in addition to their own events, and the folk dancing club actually owns their own building. The local USABDA chapter holds a monthly dance and a yearly competition, and has hosted the national championships the last couple years.

[pygmalion]

That's cool, Hank. I wonder if cities that have one thriving dance community tend to attract others. Orlando, where I live, has a similarly busy scene -- pretty much across the board, not just ballroom dance. Hmm. :?