Balboa is a dance developed in the Balboa peninsula of California during the 1910s and 1920s. Check out LindyCircle.com/history/balboa for a more detailed history.

In the Milwaukee area swing scene, it’s the third most common swing dance style behind East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop. Nearly all experienced swing dancers eventually learn Balboa because of two very practical reasons:

1. It’s best danced at fast beats-per-minute when other dances styles are difficult and
2. it works really well on crowded floors.

If you dance in Milwaukee, you know that a good event means a crowded floor. You can do some big Lindy moves early and late in the night when the floor is more open. But, there is a decent chunk of time in the middle where you are in survival mode trying not to knock other dancers over. The bands we have also don’t shy away from faster tempos that are near impossible to keep up with doing Lindy or East Coast. This is where dancing Balboa comes in. Being able to dance Balboa basically doubles the amount of songs you can dance.

Beyond the practical reasons to dance Bal, this dance feels really good. It’s a dance that is done in ‘close embrace’. It’s a chest-to-chest dance where you are intimately dancing with both your partner and with the music. With that said, let’s get into the basic steps.

The Basics

There are two different basic steps. One is called “up-hold“, the other “down-hold“. Both basics are an 8-count step, like Lindy Hop. This video shows the foot movement for both basics.

The up-hold basic has both the lead and follow holding a foot slightly up on the 3rd and 7th beat. The down-hold basic has a foot held on the floor during the 4th and 8th beat. Technically, the lead and follow can be dancing different basic steps simultaneously. Usually the lead dances up-hold between moves and switches to down-hold prior to initiating a move. Switching between the up and down-hold simply occurs at the start of the 1 beat.

Unlike most other social swing dances, you can dance a whole song doing only the basic step and not feel bored. The suggestion is to take time being able to seamlessly switch between the two basics, then learn turns and fancier footwork.

Where to learn

Sierra Autumn Kane provides private, small group, and large group lessons. She can be contacted through Facebook Messenger.

A slew of Bal dancers use the Facebook Group Swing MKE Social to promote and discuss swing events. Most of these dancers also frequent the Cream City Swing and Jumpin’ Jive Club events. Also check MilwaukeeStomp.com/lessons.

If you want to dance Bal with someone, simply ask them to dance and then as you walk the floor – ask if they Bal. They will either say “yes” or “not yet”.