In preparation for the Northwest Balboa Festival held here in Seattle, we're hosting a Balboa Bootcamp! Learn one of the original Swing Ear partner dances, Balboa! Whether you're a first time dancer or experienced in the Swing Era dances, this workshop is for you! It's a great opportunity to try out the other dance role, too!

This workshop will focus on the foundational moves and rhythms to get students comfortable with Balboa, and ready to take classes and join social dances.

90 minute workshop
Workshop only: $25
Buy social dance and workshop for $35!

--What is Balboa?--

Balboa is a refined and elegant swing dance that emerged in Southern California on the crowded dance floors of Orange County, CA in the 1920s and 1930s, with contributions coming from the socially and ethnically diverse SoCal dance communities. With some ballrooms mandating that couples stay in a close-embrace position, the swing music lovers created a dance that borrowed rhythms and movements from Fox Trot and Charleston, shrinking them down to an elegant and swinging shuffle dance and adapting its signature close embrace.

Later in the 1930s, the Balboa dancers of Orange County started combining their dance with another swing dance style from the Los Angeles area, simply called “Swing”. Over time, Balboa and Swing came to be known as Bal-Swing. Close embrace Balboa, referred to now as “Pure Balboa,” and “Bal-Swing” make up what we now call “Balboa,” a hugely popular swing dance around the world. Because of its mechanics and partner connection, Balboa has the widest range of comfortable tempos of any of the classic swing dances! Balboa is particularly well-suited to faster tempos, allowing dancers to glide smoothly across the floor with minimal movement while maintaining a strong connection with their partner.