Strategic Opportunities in Social Recreational Dance Markets

Booms & Fads

Dance booms and busts come and go; as do dance fads. At this time we are not in the middle of any dance boom or fad.

Ballroom

In the second and third season of Dancing with the Stars, and So You Think You Can Dance, we started to see hype about a "Ballroom Boom".  Most of it was PR related to existing or new ballroom teaching businesses. Some of it said they were experiencing growth of "20%" per year.

First, there was no Ballroom boom and isn't one now. Second, "20%" per year is not even close to a "boom". Third, while there is a continuing boom in watching these shows, that has not translated to participation as we all had hoped and some had hyped.

Respect - by Men - for Ballroom Dancing

But what the shows, especially Dancing with the Stars, did accomplish is creating respect among men for Ballroom dancing. No longer can men so easily get away with disrespectful gratuitous comments about "dancing" - and the incidence of that has diminished incredibly from what it was previous to those shows.

And not only has the disrespect been much reduced - even men who still express it seem to feel off-base, silly and awkward - but in general men now 'get it' and have come to have actual respect for dancing.

Many men who formerly expressed disrespect now have changed to some statement about themselves (such as they don't know how to dance).

This shift in attitude in the culture is a major accomplishment and development in the industry. It changes the entire foundation. And it has major implications.

Salsa Boom

The Salsa boom is much reduced from its peak years. But the Salsa part of the social recreational dance industry has stopped the slide and has made important changes and is coming to some stability from which it can achieve some long term re-growth.

A few of the players who went into hibernation during the bust period are now creating new involvements for themselves and positioning for the longer term.

Swing (Lindy) Boom

The "Swing Boom" was really a Lindy Hop Boom (Lindy being one of the many distinct variations of Swing); which unfortunately busted.

Fortunately the Lindy scene is being kept alive and is vibrantly swinging in some particular venues.

Country Western Boom

The Country Western boom is long busted and over.

Thanks to a few places (such as Cowboy Country in Long Beach, In Cahoots in Fullerton, and similar venues around the country) it is still being kept alive kicking and Two-Stepping.

Line Dancing

Line Dancing was part of the Country Western boom (along with CW 2-Step and other lesser partner dances) - but also has had its own booms.

Line Dancing went underground after the bust.

Now it is beginning to emerge in new ways; very early in the process now, but it's past the bottom and will grow again.

Argentine Tango ("AT")

Argentine Tango ("AT") enjoys little micro-spurts occassionally. Over time and mini-cycles AT is possibly on its way to becoming mainstreamed and shifted away from its long sort-of-novelty status (recall actor Robert Duvall as a devotee).

Hip Hop

Hip Hop dancing has developed over a long period of time without having a Boom period.

For some, the term that takes in the broad form of many dances related to pop and video music is "Hip Hop". "Urban Dance" is a better term since it includes and is not limited to Hip Hop.

Other Social Recreational Dances & Dancing

Beyond the few I've mentioned here there are a hundred other social recreational dances that are in various states of growth, stability, or decline.

This presentation focuses on dance booms and fads and isn't an overall status inventory of the many wonderful social recreational dances that are available (some of them offer meaningful business opportunity).

West Coast Swing ("WCS") is a dance mentioned by some (usually West Coast Swingers of course) as having a boom. But WCS is one of the dances that has some stability, has a loyal participatory base, and has patterns of forward a little, back a little.

There are other dances that also have some long term stability or slight growth that I don't discuss here in this presentation about dance booms and fads.

There are other wonderful dances that are in long term decline which are steadily dying out (and there are some very interesting opportunities in this group also).

Macarena

Macarena was the last big fad dance in the general culture; and that was quite a few years ago.