I just moved to Utah and everyone love ballroom dancing. So I joined and now I know why. But I want to know why all the other states haven't gone big with it.
2007-02-17 16:05:27 · 5 answers · asked by Kitten 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Dancing
Other states that HAVE gone big with it: New York and California.
These two states are obviously not conservative, so I think Utah being religious isn't the reason why ballroom is big in Utah.
Massachussets has really good collegiate ballroom
In order for the Ballroom to be big and popular you need to have (a) high enough density of population (b) good professional coaches who happen to live there. You need both these ingredients to lift this thing off the grownd. As an example I can mention Seattle, WA. It hardly had any Ballroom whatsoever intil about 10-15 years ago (?) when several really good ballroom teachers moved there for their personal reasons. I actually know their names :-) Seattle now has pretty strong ballroom community but is still pretty small by comparison to NY.
I see a lot of questions here along the lines " How can I learn Ballroom from videotapes" and when people respond "you need a teacher and a partner for that" they say they live in a small town in the middle of nowhere....no teachers, no partners. This is where it is difficult. If you need an example of where Ballroom isn't big - Alaska would be the place. Don't just take my word for it - check USA Dance website, there is no Alaska chapter: http://www.usabda.org
If you ask why not more ballroom teachers move to a state where ballroom isn't big? Simple: how can they be sure they will find students? They would have to advertize it all anew in a new place, basically starting from zero. Another big one is if they are still dacning professioanlly themselves - where do they take lessons? Their teachers are not moving with them, because they in turn have other students as well.
2007-02-17 21:01:14 · answer #1 · answered by Snowflake 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Dance is a big part of Mormon recreation activities.
Ballroom is big in the Milwaukee, WI area. Actually I'm not sure of a place that doesn't have Ballroom dancing. All you have to do is look at the list of places that have competitions to know that it is a popular past time. Of course it has had a revival after the TV reality series like 'Dancing with the Stars', but it has aways had a presence.
Some people like to learn dances they can do at clubs or parties like salsa or swing. Others like the more formal smooth dances, maybe they want to be like Fred & Ginger.
If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. Although I don't know how anyone could not enjoy ballroom, I've been dancing and competing for 7 years and counting.
2007-02-18 09:08:26 · answer #2 · answered by Wiscdance 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hate to say it, but it has a lot to do with the religious conservative attitude of the area. If you go to N /S Carolina, and Tennessee, for ex, they are big into contra dancing (a type of country dance done in two rows like a minuet). Ballroom dancing requires a lot of skill, grace, and lush movement, but without the "bump-and-grind" sexuality of regular club dancing. There's less overt sexuality, so it's more appealing to those who are concerned about the sinfulness of the hip gyrations and self-massage of hip-hop, for example.
2007-02-17 17:12:22 · answer #3 · answered by Angela M 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, that's a good point
2016-07-28 08:43:57 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hurrah, that's what I was searching for! Thanks op of this question.
2016-08-23 18:25:12 · answer #5 · answered by paul 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋