Thursday, January 12, 2012

Sacramento Dance Venues Part Three: The Ballroom of Sacramento

I will start this post with a reminder that I am an instructor at The Ballroom of Sacramento, lest a reader think I'm trying to hide anything!

The Ballroom of Sacramento at 6009 Folsom Blvd. is one of the oldest ballroom dancing studios in the Sacramento area--they opened in 1996 and a lot of studios have come and gone in that time. It is a very large studio and probably one of the largest in the state, if not the country. The main floor alone is 3,750 square feet--bigger than a competition floor, which makes it a great place to practice. There is tons of seating around it. In addition, there is a smaller, but still very large floor upstairs, plus four more smaller teaching rooms, a couple of which are big enough for group classes. As a result, the studio offers two or three group classes PER HOUR, three hours per night, Monday through Thursday. The full schedule is posted on the website.

The owner/manager is Linda Infante, the celebrated DJ, who makes everyone feel welcome. Many great friendships and marriages, including my own, came about because of The Ballroom. The atmosphere is very friendly, supportive, and encouraging to all.

There is country dancing (including swing, line dancing, couples dances, and partner dances like waltz and two step) with lessons on Friday and a ballroom dance with lessons on Saturday. You can find classes or private lessons here for almost any type of partner dance, including ballroom, country, lindy, west coast swing, and tango. There are classes and teachers who specialize in competition or social dancing, and all levels of students from the very beginner with "two left feet" to the open level competitor. People drop in to take a few lessons for their wedding or to start a lifelong hobby.

The latter is one of the things I love about The Ballroom of Sacramento. There IS something for everyone, but they do it all well. Because each teacher has his or her own specialty, they're good at what they do, and the classes are fun and inviting. Heck, I'm an instructor and from time to time you'll see me in someone else's class just because I enjoy taking them, and I always learn something.

The Friday and Saturday night dances are always fun, with good music that is all danceable, free snacks, and lots of people in attendance. There are mixers to make sure you get out on the floor and maybe meet someone new. I've had some nice surprises in those mixers!

Maybe I'm biased, but I honestly feel The Ballroom of Sacramento is a great place to dance, for lessons and social dancing. Visit their website for more info and schedules. New to dance or have never taken a private lesson? Check out the Introductory Special: just $79 for two private lessons and two passes to a Friday or Saturday night dance. A $126 value! Valid for a limited time only, for beginning dancers.

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