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Hosting dances for New Mexicans since 2006!
USA Dance of North Central New Mexico (Chapter #5047) has been giving New Mexico ballroom and Latin dancers a place to dance since 2006. Below, you can learn all you need to know about us. See you on the dance floor!
We host dances on the first and third Sundays from 3 – 5 p.m., with a free lesson at 2:15 p.m. Our dances are at the Albuquerque Square Dance Center, 4915 Hawkins St. NE — not far from Balloon Fiesta Park.
We also sponsor occasional special events such as dinner dances and Santa Fe satellite dances. Visit our calendar page to see our schedule of upcoming dances.
Dances are usually two hours and are preceded by a free 45-minute lesson taught by professional dance teachers from Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We often feature performances by local professional and amateur dancers.
Our DJs play a mix of dance music for ballroom (waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, etc.), Latin (cha cha, rumba, samba, … ), swing, Argentine tango, and club (salsa, Country-Western, Night Club Two-Step, hustle, and more).
Admission is $5 for USA Dance members and $10 for everyone else. Members also get free admission to occasional dances during the year. Visit our Members page to learn more about how a USA Dance membership can save you money and make you a better dancer!
Our chapter is run entirely by volunteers, from an elected board of directors to the folks who help us check people in, set up for our dances, DJ our music, and do everything else required to put on a dance.
USA Dance of North Central New Mexico was founded in October 2005, when our chapter pioneers founded the original steering committee: Ben Porter, Shawna Hollen, Ed Jonas-Morrison, Sally Semm, Caren Waters, and Anna Watkins (chapter coordinator). Our first membership roster included all of eight names.
Our official birthday is Feb. 28, 2006, the day we were certified as USA Dance Chapter #5047. We have grown significantly from the original eight members and one dance per month!
Now we host parties twice a month, have an email list of some 800 people, and attract dancers from Albuquerque, Socorro, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and beyond. We invite you to become one of them
In addition to our twice-monthly dances, our USA Dance chapter has actively promoted ballroom dancing in the community. We worked with local dance instructors to offer “Ballroom 101” courses, designed to teach beginning dancers confidence along with basic skills. We‘ve sent groups out into the community — a deli, a gym, a grocery store — to break out into spontaneous dancing to demonstrate the fun of ballroom dancing.
We fielded a Dance Formation Team for more than five years that performed for several community organizations, primarily senior centers.
Our of our most enjoyable ventures was “Dancing@Work,” where we partnered with Intel and Presbyterian Healthcare Services to teach ballroom dance classes to their employees in the workplace.
With a grant from the Seidman Family Foundation, we awarded $300 scholarships to eight chapter applicants, enabling them to take dance lessons.
Some of our members have competed at USA Dance-sponsored competitions around the country, including USA Dance Nationals, the premiere event for amateur couples.
USA Dance of North Central New Mexico (Chapter #5047) is one of more than 150 local chapters of USA Dance, Inc., a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase the quality and quantity of ballroom dancing in the United States.
We encourage our local dancers to become USA Dance members.
USA Dance has chapters across the United States, and is a great resource for finding places to dance when traveling. USA Dance also sponsors competitions for amateur and pro/am dancers. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee recognizes USA Dance as the Recognized Sport Organization for DanceSport in the United States.
Want to stay on top of chapter events? Subscribe to our email list! We send reminders before every dance and keep you up to date with other news about the chapter and about USA Dance.
Looking to improve your dancing by taking classes or dance lessons? On our Dance Resources page, you can learn more about local dance studios and teachers.
Northern New Mexico has several accomplished teachers in all dance styles. (USA Dance works with many dance studios and instructors, but we do not endorse any particular studio or dance teacher.)
Have a question or a suggestion for our USA Dance chapter? Please send an email to us info@usadancenm.org — or fill out the contact form below.
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