Every local has one or several "dance communities". Generally a few folks get together, dance the dance they love, the word gets out of how much fun they are having then before you know it... BOOM....the dance scene is created. Some scenes stay small and some just become huge!! AND... some die.

I have been very successful in establishing a salsa scene. I have studied what works and what doesn't. Over the years I have paid attention to the good stuff and very much aware of why dance communities fail.

Below are some reasons why dance scenes fail. This was copied from an article I wrote and it can be found at http://salseroblanko.net/Article7.html This applies to all dance scenes. My article was written with salsa in mind.

NO SUPPORT FROM THE DANCE COMMUNITY - This is huge if there are many
SALSA dancers in your area. It might seem obvious but you will be surprised as to how
many will not support an event or club for a wide variety of reasons. Some reasons are
intentional (mostly personal) and some are unintentional. The worse kind is the intentional.
This is a spider web by itself. It can get really ugly when the reason is intentional. Not only
will the club or event not survive, the "SALSA" scene itself will not grow. "DRAMA"
becomes more the focus instead of being supportive of the club or event. Generally the local
instructors play a big role in either encouraging or discouraging support of clubs or events in
your area.

DISCORD BETWEEN OTHER INSTRUCTORS/ORGANIZERS - Depending on
the size of your town/city, this could be a huge factor. Places like Los Angeles are not
necessarily affected much by this unless the instructors/organizers are in close proximity to
each other. When instructors/organizers in a small town are not in talking terms, the dance
community is divided and the dances are small. Thus it is more difficult to establish a
"SALSA" Club to go dancing regularly. It goes back to the first reason above. Some
instructors will make their students feel bad if their students attend another instructors' event.
Thus creating animosity. This in return either slows the growth of a SALSA scene or it will
not grow at all.

NOT BIG ENOUGH SALSA SCENE - In my opinion, this is a major factor. No
dancers, No "SALSA" scene, thus No club! If there is a very small "SALSA" scene in your
area, you will be extremely hard pressed to make a "SALSA" Club a success. You will
need "people" to support it. If you do not have the people, you won't have a club.

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE - It takes some "know how" as to what it takes to make a
"SALSA" Club a success. There are so many things that need to be in place prior to having
a "SALSA CLUB" or even a simple "SALSA" Social. Without experience or some
guidance from someone who has successfully ran a "SALSA" Club or "SALSA" Night,
your "SALSA" Club will have a rough road to success.

ATMOSPHERE OF THE CLUB - Once you have your "SALSA" Club up and running,
the atmosphere in the club is one of the major factors of the success (or failure) of the club.
Many so called "SALSA" Clubs or "SALSA" Nights have failed due to the atmosphere (or
lack of it). You as the organizer will have to create the atmosphere that will attract the
people you want to support your club or event.

THE MUSIC - This is one of the factors MOST take for granted. "SALSA" is "SALSA"
right? Well, yes it is however just like chicken, baked chicken is not the same as fried
chicken. There are many kinds of "SALSA" music. What kind would you play? Columbian
"SALSA"? NY "SALSA"? Puerto Rican "SALSA"? How about some MAMBO?
Knowing your crowd helps with this. You can establish the type of club or night you want
by the music you play. That in return attracts the people you want in your club. If you want
a HIP HOP crowd you would play HIP HOP music right? If the music you play doesn't
keep people on the dance floor, the event or club will fail.

There are so many more reasons why a "SALSA" Club, "SALSA" Night or "SALSA"
Social fails. I hope some of these have given you some insight as to why it isn't so easy to
have a successful "SALSA" Night, "SALSA" Club or "SALSA" Social.

Everyone has a role in the success or failure of a "SALSA" Club, "SALSA" Night or
"SALSA" Social.

Be a part of SUCCESS. Be a contributor. Be a supporter. Do it for the dance -
SALSA.

Good luck with your adventure.

SALSEROBLANKO

http://www.salseroblanko.net/

901-605-8246

salseroblanko@yahoo.com