How did you grow your balboa scene?

When I moved to Chicago in 2008, there were about ten balboa dancers in the city. These dancers were super committed and had been showing up for years to a weekly balboa practice. They had grown their skills and were solid intermediate/advanced balboa dancers. However, with no regular beginner class, the group had trouble replenishing new dancers as people moved on from the group. Here is what I did to grow my scene:

  1. I started traveling a lot more balboa events to grow my dancing and build my network.
  2. Along with others in the group, I helped establish regular beginner classes.
  3. I created a Facebook group and put everyone in it who even mentioned they might be interested in balboa.
  4. I started a weekly practice that was open to all. This helped grow the scene and gave dancers of all levels a place to focus on balboa.
  5. I used Facebook and email to market like crazy. I sent lots of personal invitations to balboa events and spent a lot of time marketing.
  6. I had balboa brunches that were potluck social events where individuals brainstormed how we could grow the scene.
  7. We did “bal bombs” where balboa dancers would show up to dance to bal-friendlly music.
  8. With another dancer, I helped establish a monthly social dancer with a beginner taster lesson. This really helped build our community and provided motivation for learning more balboa.
  9. As the scene grew, we had additional classes for intermediate and advanced dancers.
  10. I started offering private lessons. This was a great way for people to get lessons that worked in their schedules.
  11. I brought in instructors.  I started small by bringing in one instructor. Then, I brought in two instructors. Over time, it grew into an annual event: Great Lakes Balboa Escape.
  12. I delegated tasks to get more people involved in organizing.
  13. I taught workshops around Chicago to help build the regional scene.
  14. I encouraged people to travel to events – posting on our Facebook page, making announcements, and putting out fliers for other balboa events.
  15. I trained new teachers and gradually gave others more leadership and teaching opportunities.