Tropical Ballroom Brings West Coast Swing to State Fair

Woodbury’s Tropical Ballroom showed off some moves—while teaching fairgoers a few—at the Minnesota State Fair last Wednesday.

Tricia and James Wood, owners and dance instructors, were joined by students and social dancers to demonstrate the five most common and basic steps of West Coast Swing to fairgoers.

Couples were invited to come up onto the outdoor stage for a mini lesson to show the audience that they could learn it, according to Tricia Wood. There was also a jam session in which one male and one female paired up for a social dance, with a different partner jumping in for the male and the female so that partners alternated.

Tropical Ballroom presented two shows, with at least 250 people stopping to watch the exhibition on the outdoor stage between the Creative Activities and Education Buildings. The teamed up with members of the Minnesota West Coast Swing Club, which co-sponsored the demonstration.

“The first one (earlier in the day) had a crowd that appreciated more blues and jazz—it was more their era. The second one was a younger crowd, so we danced to a lot of different music, like we threw in some Lady Gaga,” said Wood. “What makes (the dance) so versatile is it can go blues, R&B, country, hip-hop, contemporary—pretty much any music. It’s a lot of fun. A lot of students come out to perform; if not, to come out and watch.”

“The goal is to make people more aware of West Coast Swing," said Dorothy Jones, Minnesota West Coast Swing Club Vice President and one of the performers. "We want to educate about what the dance is, and where to go for lessons. People have heard of Swing, but this is a little more of a compact dance where the man and the lady don’t do the same steps. It’s important to take lessons."

West Coast Swing started in the 1940s in California, hence its name. It made its way to Minnesota in 1982, thanks to the Minnesota West
Coast Swing Club, according to Jones.

“It’s a social lead-and-follow [(type of dance),” Wood said. “It’s non-choreographed; a little more advanced than East Coast Swing, which is more traditional 50s and 60s Jitterbug, from the Swing Dancing era which folks picked up from generations."

In their fourth year of business, Tropical Ballroom is the only ballroom dance studio located east of St. Paul that is still open, said Tricia, and “the only entertainment in Woodbury.” 

“We offer lessons that are about 90 percent for adults, 10 percent for kids—and we target adults. We teach Ballroom, Latin, Swing and Country; we have over 20 styles of those.”

Tropical Ballroom will offer another demo on Labor Day, Sept. 5 at 4:30 p.m. in the same location at the State Fair. For more information, visit them online at www.tropicalballroom.com.