Generating interest in ballroom in a swing/salsa town

[smalltowndancer]

Like the title says, I live in a small-ish town where swing, salsa, NC2S, hustle, etc. are very popular (some dance events draw 100+ dancers). The dance scene is quite active. I have not been able to find, however, much interest in ballroom in this area. There is a university dance club, but the director is not interested in teaching anything but the aforementioned dances and country waltz. There are no American or International style instructors in the area, so dancers stick with what they know. I imagine ballroom would be popular if there was a venue, organization, studio, instructor(s) to keep it going, but these things don't exist. Any suggestions on how to get things started?

[Josh]

Like the title says, I live in a small-ish town where swing, salsa, NC2S, hustle, etc. are very popular (some dance events draw 100+ dancers). The dance scene is quite active. I have not been able to find, however, much interest in ballroom in this area. There is a university dance club, but the director is not interested in teaching anything but the aforementioned dances and country waltz. There are no American or International style instructors in the area, so dancers stick with what they know. I imagine ballroom would be popular if there was a venue, organization, studio, instructor(s) to keep it going, but these things don't exist. Any suggestions on how to get things started?

smalltowndancer-- welcome to DF!! :banana:

Remember that anything big always started small, and before it started, it was just an idea, a concept. So you're simply in the first phase of a potentially BIG thing!

You might take it upon yourself to get a couple of videos on dances you want to get going, learn the man's and lady's part, and begin teaching others yourself! In a small town with no dance exposure, you basically want to just get SOMEthing going--bring in the quality later, but right now just let people dance and have fun. You need to market through your local newspaper, radio ads, or some other way. Hold a "dance fair" and let people come see how fun it can be! Get creative! It's in your hands...!

[Me]

I agree with Josh, and would like to add that I strongly recommend starting a USA Dance chapter. Or at least, visit their Web site. There are many ideas and resources for getting a community ballroom program up and running.

[suburbaknght]

Talk to the people who run those dances about getting in a guest instructor to teach an intro lesson in waltz or tango. If they like the idea see if you can get someone from a nearby town (at this level even an advanced social dancer could teach an intro lesson) and see how people respond.